My 2014-2015 Oscar Predictions – Part 5: The Results

Another year, another Oscars.  Neil Patrick Harris made me laugh a few times, but he seemed to be falling flat a lot at the theater.  Oh well.  I also thought how it was interesting how there was a mini-rebellion against the play-off music.  Which is good.  The people who win these awards work hard for them and deserve their moment, and shouldn’t be played off immediately just because they aren’t shown on Entertainment Tonight.

Also, this was a very soapboxy Oscars, did anyone else notice that?

Last year I only had a 58% prediction rate.  Lets see if I did better this year.

BEST PICTURE:

Winner: Birdman

My Pick: Birdman

Boyhood still had a chance, but as expected Birdman came out ahead.

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DIRECTING:

Winner: Alejandro Iñárritu – Birdman

My Pick: Alejandro Iñárritu – Birdman

They went the last two years with a split, so I really didn’t think it was gonna happen again this year, though I would have liked to see Linklater get it.  But this was the right pick I think.

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ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

Winner:  Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

My Pick: Michael Keaton – Birdman

I know I was going against the front runner, but I really thought they’d give it to Keaton.  I forgot that the academy likes disabilities and impersonations of famous people, and this was both.  I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’d imagine it was a very hard performance to pull off and was likely well deserved.

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ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:

Winner: Julianne Moore – Still Alice

My Pick: Julianne Moore – Still Alice

I was just going with the front runner here.

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ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

Winner: J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

My Pick: J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

This was the first award of the night, so at this point I was batting 1000.

Lots of great actors in this category.  Must have been tough to vote.

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ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

Winner:  Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

My Pick: Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

I would have liked to have seen Emma Stone win, I like her.

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ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Winner: Birdman

My Pick: Birdman

Called it!

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ADAPTED  SCREENPLAY:

Winner: The Imitation Game

My Pick: The Theory of Everything

I picked the wrong scientist movie.

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FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

Winner: Ida

My Pick: Ida

When in doubt, choose the film you’ve actually heard something about.  It usually doesn’t work, but this time I did.

I like that the guy refused to leave despite the music.

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ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:

Winner: Big Hero 6

My Pick: How to Train Your Dragon 2

More like Big Upset 6.

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PRODUCTION DESIGN:

Winner: Grand Budapest Hotel

My Pick: Grand Budapest Hotel

Called it!  Imitation Game would have been a good pick too

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CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Winner: Birdman

My Pick: Birdman

After watching the film today I realize how important the camera work was for this movie.   Two for Luzbeski.

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COSTUME DESIGN:

Winner: Grand Budapest Hotel

My Pick: Mr. Turner

Cool.

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FILM EDITING:

Winner: Whiplash

My Pick: Boyhood

This is very surprising.  I thought for sure it would be Boyhood, a 12 year effort cut into on film. But Whiplash has done well tonight.

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DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

Winner: Citizen4

My Pick: Virunga

I knew I should have went with the more popular film.

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MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING:

Winner: Grand Budapest Hotel

My Pick: Guardians of the Galaxy

Looks like the academy was willing to back up all the nominations they gave Grand Budapest with a couple of awards as well.

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ORIGINAL SCORE:

Winner: Grand Budapest Hotel

My Pick: Imitation Game

Well I picked the right guy, wrong movie. Do I get half a point?

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ORIGINAL SONG:

Winner: Glory – Selma

My Pick: Glory – Selma

Last year I didn’t go with the exceedingly obvious choice of Let it Go.  I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.
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SOUND MIXING:

Winner:  Whiplash

My Pick: American Sniper

I should have thought about this one more.  A movie about drumming and other musical instruments? Yeah, of course it was going to go to Whiplash.
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SOUND EDITING:

Winner: American Sniper

My Pick: American Sniper

If you are a sound editor and want an Oscar, do a war film.

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VISUAL EFFECTS:

Winner: Interstellar

My Pick: Interstellar

I was hoping this would win but was doubting it would.  Glad it did.

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DOCUMENTARY SHORT:

Winner: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1

My Pick: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1

Its the hot topic issue this year apparently.

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ANIMATED SHORT FILM:

Winner: Feast

My Pick: Feast

Looks cute.

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LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM:

Winner: The Phone Call

My Pick: The Butter Lamp

Again, its the hot topic issue this year.

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MY SCORE: 14/24 = 58%

The same as last year.