The Envelope Please: Who Will Win, Deserves to Win, Or Was Snubbed
After allegations of historical inaccuracies, Selma’s Academy Awards hoped gurgled down the drain. American Sniper, at the same time rocketed skywards, thanks to booming box-office returns and positive word of mouth and positive all-American conservative press.
the early favorite in the Best Picture sweepstakes was Birdman, and Sniper couldn’t get a clear shot at the frontrunning.
In the “most awards” stakes, I see Birdman garnering four overall, followed by The Grand Budapest Hotel, with three.
The other multiple winners I foresee are Boyhood, Whiplash and The Theory of Everything, each with two.
You may remember that a year ago, yours truly accurately predicted the results in 21 of 21 categories (I skipped the short films), so anyone who used my picks in their office pool fared pretty well. However, past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Besides forecasting the winners below, I also suggest which nominees are the most deserving. Furthermore, because some great performances are invariably overlooked by the Academy entirely, I also point out those who should have been nominated.
The 87th Academy Awards will air live on ABC this Sunday, February 22nd at 8:30 PM ET/5:30 PM PT, and will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris.
Best Picture
Will Win: Birdman
Deserves to Win: Selma
Overlooked: Nightcrawler
Watch the Birdman trailer:
Best Director
Will Win: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman)
Deserves to Win: Ava Duvernay (Selma)
Overlooked: Damien Chazelle (Whiplash)
Best Actor
Will Win: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)
Deserves to Win: Michael Keaton (Birdman)
Overlooked: Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)
Watch The Theory of Everything trailer:
Best Actress
Will Win: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
Deserves to Win: Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night)
Overlooked: Jennifer Aniston (Cake)
Watch the Still Alice trailer:
Best Supporting Actor
Will Win: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)
Deserves to Win: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)
Overlooked: Rick Garcia (Nightcrawler)
Watch the Whiplash trailer:
Best Supporting Actress
Will Win: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)
Deserves to Win: Emma Stone (Birdman)
Overlooked: Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year)
Watch the Boyhood trailer:
Best Original Screenplay:
Will Win: Alejandro G. Irritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo (Birdman)
Deserves to Win: Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler)
Overlooked: Paul Webb (Selma)
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Will Win: Graham Moore (The Imitation Game)
Deserves to Win: Damien Chazelle (Whiplash)
Overlooked: Peter Landesman, Gary Webb and Nick Schou (Kill the Messenger)
Watch the The Imitation Game trailer:
Predictions for Secondary Categories
Animated Feature: How to Train Your Dragon 2
Foreign Language Film: Ida
Documentary Feature: Citizenfour
Cinematography: Birdman Costume Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Production Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel Film Editing: Boyhood
Makeup and Hairstyling: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Original Score: The Theory of Everything
Best Song: Glory (Selma)
Sound Editing: American Sniper
Sound Mixing: Whiplash
Visual Effects: Interstellar
