Oscar Predictions 2015: Kam Williams’ Official Picks

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

Kam Williams is a popular and top NewsBlaze reviewer, our chief critic. Kam gives his unvarnished opinion on movies, DVDs and books, plus many in-depth and revealing celebrity interviews.

Sadly, Lloyd Kam Williams passed away in 2019, leaving behind a huge body of work focused on America’s black entertainment community. We were as sad to hear of his passing as we were overjoyed to have him as part of our team.