Best Picture:
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Who I think will win: Boyhood. There's been a lot of discussion about Birdman becoming the frontrunner late in the season, but I personally think the films subject matter - it's unflattering discussion of both the film industry and its critics - will deter Academy voters from picking it for best picture.
Who I want to win: For the same reason I think it won't win, I think it's why Birdman should win.
Best Director:
Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Richard Linklater - Boyhood
Bennett Miller - Foxcatcher
Morten Tyldum - The Imitation Game
Who I think will win: As a consolation prize for not winning best picture, I think Alejandro Gonzalez will win for directing Birdman.
Who I want to win: Wes Anderson's alternative style of direction has been ignored for too long, so it would be nice to see him win.
Best Actor:
Steve Carell - Foxcatcher as John Eleuthere du Pont
Bradley Cooper - American Sniper as Chris Kyle
Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game as Alan Turing
Michael Keaton - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) as Riggan Thomson/ Birman
Eddie Redmayne- The Theory of Everything as Stephen Hawking
Who I think will win: Eddie Redmayne.
Who I want to win: Eddie Redmayne. The relative unknown actor had the difficult job of portraying one of the worlds most prolific scientists, and he does a remarkable job.
Best Actress:
Marion Cottillard - Two Days, One Night as Sandra By a
Felicity Jones - The Theory of Everything as Jane Wilde Hawking
Julianne Moore - Still Alice as Dr. Alice Howland
Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl as Amy Elliott-Dunne
Reese Witherspoon - Wild as Cheryl Strayed
Who I think will win: Julianne Moore.
Who I want to win: I personally think this is the hardest category of this year's awards, with every actress truly deserving to be nominated. While I'm partial to Rosamund Pike's portrayal of the complex Amy Dunne, I think the fact the Felicity Jones could could not only hold her own acting against Redmayne's portrayal of Stephen Hawking - but to make Jane a compelling character in her own right means that she's deserving to win.
Best Supporting Actor:
Robert Duvall - The Judge as Judge Joseph Palmer
Ethan Hawke - Boyhood as Mason Evans, Sr.
Edward Norton - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) as Mike Shiner
Mark Ruffalo - Foxcatcher as Dave Schultz
J.K. Simmons - Whiplash as Terence Flecther
Who I think will win: Everyone can't seem to stop praising J.K. Simmons' yelling.
Who I want to win: Birdman's enigmatic nature posed a problem for it as a film, but Norton's performance was the most grounding and compelling of its very talented cast.
Best Supporting Actress:
Patricia Arquette - Boyhood as Olivia Evans
Laura Dern - Wild as Barbara "Bobbi" Grey
Keira Knightley - The Imitation Game as Joan Clarke
Emma Stone - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) as Sam Thomson
Meryl Streep - Into The Woods as The Witch
Who I think will win: Patricia Arquette.
Who I want to win: Much like Norton, Emma Stone was a standout in Birdman.
Best Original Screensplay:
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo
Boyhood - Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher - E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler - Dan Gilroy
Who I think will win: As another consolation prize, Birdman will also take home best original screenplay.
Who I want to win: As with the best director category, Wes Anderson's alternative style of writing and direction have been ignored for too long, and the world of The Grand Budapest Hotel in terms of place and characters was undoubtedly the most original of this years nominees.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
American Sniper - Jason Hall from American Sniper by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwan and Jim DeFelice
The Imitation Game - Graham Moore from Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges
Inherent Vice - Paul Thomas Anderson from Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon
The Theory of Everything - Anthony McCarten from Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen by Jane Wilde Hawking
Whiplash - Damien Chazelle from his short film of the same name
Who I think will win: The Imitation Game.
Who I want to win: It's a shame that the ending of Chris Kyle's story wasn't a happy one, but the film does a good job at highlighting the significance of the honourable American Sniper.
Best Animated Feature Film:
Big Hero 6 - Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
The Boxtrolls - Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight
How To Train Your Dragon 2 - Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold
Song of the Sea - Tomm Moore and Paul Young
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya - Osao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura
Who I think will win: How To Train Your Dragon 2 (because there's no other film remotely buzz-worthy among the nominees).
Who I want to win: In lieu of The Lego Movie being nominated, Big Hero 6 was surprisingly fun.
Be sure to watch the awards and come back to read my recap/ review.
