Oscars 2015- Oscar Winner Predictions
Welcome to the star studded conclusion of the Oscar coverage here on The Quite Nerdy Blog. Time to round up all the important(ish) categories and get putting in those final predictions. Now, let's get ready to get into the mindset of a bunch of old, white, American dudes and predict us some Academy Awards!
Best Animated Film- How to Train Your Dragon 2
Okay, so I haven't seen any of the films on this list. Basically, I was expecting The Lego Movie to just sweep this whole category. So, time for a random guess. How to Train Your Dragons 2 recently won best animated picture at an awards ceremony just for animated films so I guess it's pretty good. I've heard comparisons to The Empire Strikes Back and other similar, great sequels. My brother seems to like this series so I guess this film deserves the award. But given the shock over The Lego Movie, this category could go either way yet.
Best Visual Effects- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
This one is a clear win. 2014 was an incredible year for Action films if nothing else and they all had incredibly impressive special effects. But like Highlander, there can be only one. And in this case, it's undoubtedly Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Back in my review, I stated that it had a leap in special effects similar to Avatar or Terminator 2. I stand by that. But looking back, it's clear that nothing else has ever come this close to realistic CG ever. This is the most real that not-real can get, or at least, it is until the next Planet of the Apes film. Guardians could take this award and I'd still be pretty happy but come on! Give it to the monkeys!
Best Cinematography- Birdman
This category is far poncier than the last and also a close(ish) race. Basically, this comes down to which film this year was the prettiest and most visually impressive. It's a two horse race here between The grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman but for my money, I'd say Birdman. Sure, Grand Budapest looks utterly charming and has a style that is totally unique yet captivating, but to give it to Budapest would insult Birdman. This film was filmed to look like one long follow shot. That in itself is incredible but the degree of success that this film pulled it of to is commendable if nothing else. Films that dare to try things this risky and unorthodox deserve recognition, even if just for what it's tried. But fortunately for Birdman, it's also a great film underneath all that beautiful. Either film could win and while Boyhood might sweep in for the win (go white dudes!), it looks to be a two horse race. And these horses are total studs.
Best Adapted Screenplay- The Imitation Game
This is a category that I don't particularly care about. The films nominated in this category aren't particularly great (Whiplash aside) and they're pretty much all biopics, a genre which I really don't care for. In the end, I went for my favourite film of the category that wasn't Whiplash and went for The Imitation Game. Sure, it missed stuff out and added bits just for entertainment but it was an entertaining enough film and the story was coherent. I dunno, this category left me feeling kind of let down. No truly great scripts here. Still, at least Original Screenplay fared far better.
Best Original Screenplay- Birdman
Ah. It's nice to see a category where original and novel films are being recognised. There were many good choices here to go for. My first possibilty here would be Grand Budapest Hotel. It was probably one of the most original and charming films of last year and it had a delightfully far fetched plot. It was ridiculous but it was meant to be and worked wonderfully for it. Without a witty script, it wouldn't have been nearly as charming as it was. But the choice for me is Birdman. As you may have begun to see here, Birdman is my favourite film in this year's Oscars and it's script was quick, funny and oh so smart. It plots the downfall of an actor's career and is incredibly engaging. It's also just an amazing skill to plot a whole film around one, long follow shot and have it work. I've spoken at length about how much I love Birdman and I'd love it to win but The Grand Budapest Hotel could take this just as easily. Either would be a great result personally and for creativity in the industry.
Best Director- Alejandro G. Inarritu for Birdman
I'll keep this short and sweet. Inarritu recently won the best director award at the Director's Guild Awards. This award is famously correct damn near all the time and I can't see this being different. Grand Budapest was nice but no different to other Wes Anderson films and Boyhood, while being a neat achievement, isn't anywhere close to how impressive Birdman was. Put simply, Inarritu will almost certainly win this award and deservedly so.
Best Supporting Actress- Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
This is a fairly light category in my opinion. There aren't a lot, if any, excellent performances here but there are some of merit. The first of the two is Emma Stone for Birdman. I kind of love Emma Stone and this was one of many excellent performances in Birdman. She is a wonderful actress and she could really do with an award for all the good performances she's turned in. But this is the year of Boyhood and Patricia Arquette is the best thing about the whole film. Sure, it could just be that she's a clean spot on the world's most soiled underwear but I enjoyed her performance and it is far and away the strongest performance in this category. So here it is; the one category where I don't mind Boyhood winning.
Best Supporting Actor- J.K. Simmons for Whiplash
So, I haven't seen Whiplash yet but I plan to. Instead, I shall talk about this in terms of what other people have said because I'm a great writer and plagiarism still counts as writing. Whiplash has become a surprise hit and what most people seem to be raving about is the incredible performance of J.K. Simmons. He plays a music teacher who is pretty much the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket. Anyway, people love him/ hate his character so it seems likely that he's got it. Also standing a small chance are Ed Norton, who I will love eternally for Fight Club and Mark Ruffalo who is The Hulk and was also in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind but no one's seen that so no one cares. In short, Simmons is guaranteed it and I love Edward Norton.
Best Actress- Julianne Moore for Still Alice
So, Julianne Moore has got this one in the bag. Felicity Jones could well steal it and I'd love to see Rosamund Pike jump in and win for being a psycho bitch in Gone Girl but neither of them have the advantage of playing someone who has a mental condition. That's simply why Moore will win. The academy are famous for just eating up films starring white actors who must struggle through adversity. That's what this film is and it's basically just a vehicle for Moore's talent. In fairness, she has been due an award for a long time now and this is her year.
Best Actor- Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything
Michael Keaton. Poor Michael Keaton. Could you have chosen another year to have an incredible performance that blows everyone away? Because there is such little chance he will win when he's against Eddie Redmayne. Don't get me wrong, I love Michael Keaton in Birdman. In fact, I think that he deserves the award far more than Redmayne does. But this is the Oscars so the handsome British actor who plays a man overcoming adversity to do something incredible will win over the yank who plays an asshole actor perfectly. Redmayne has this in the bag for damn near certain but I'd love to see Keaton take this. His performance is incredible and should not be taken lightly.
Best Picture- Boyhood
So, the big one. Here it is. Lets look through all the nominations in no particular order. Unless you count alphabetical order, in which case there is a particular order. I have spoken at length about American Sniper. I really don't like it. The only notable thing is Bradley Cooper's performance but the film itself is not worthy of a best picture nomination. Then, Birdman. This is my favourite film on this list and I would love it to win. But it won't. Know why? Boyhood. Yeah, it was always going to be "Middle America- The film" that took the big prize. Won't stop me hoping that the charming and delightful Grand Budapest Hotel will take the prize. The Imitation Game is also here. It's not bad, but it's not a best picture winner either. Then I'm ignorant and haven't seen Selma, Theory of Everything or Whiplash so no comment. My choice from the list: Birdman. What the Oscars are damn near guaranteed to choose: Boyhood. But hey, I've been wrong before.
Best Animated Film- How to Train Your Dragon 2
Okay, so I haven't seen any of the films on this list. Basically, I was expecting The Lego Movie to just sweep this whole category. So, time for a random guess. How to Train Your Dragons 2 recently won best animated picture at an awards ceremony just for animated films so I guess it's pretty good. I've heard comparisons to The Empire Strikes Back and other similar, great sequels. My brother seems to like this series so I guess this film deserves the award. But given the shock over The Lego Movie, this category could go either way yet.
Best Visual Effects- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
This one is a clear win. 2014 was an incredible year for Action films if nothing else and they all had incredibly impressive special effects. But like Highlander, there can be only one. And in this case, it's undoubtedly Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Back in my review, I stated that it had a leap in special effects similar to Avatar or Terminator 2. I stand by that. But looking back, it's clear that nothing else has ever come this close to realistic CG ever. This is the most real that not-real can get, or at least, it is until the next Planet of the Apes film. Guardians could take this award and I'd still be pretty happy but come on! Give it to the monkeys!
Best Cinematography- Birdman
This category is far poncier than the last and also a close(ish) race. Basically, this comes down to which film this year was the prettiest and most visually impressive. It's a two horse race here between The grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman but for my money, I'd say Birdman. Sure, Grand Budapest looks utterly charming and has a style that is totally unique yet captivating, but to give it to Budapest would insult Birdman. This film was filmed to look like one long follow shot. That in itself is incredible but the degree of success that this film pulled it of to is commendable if nothing else. Films that dare to try things this risky and unorthodox deserve recognition, even if just for what it's tried. But fortunately for Birdman, it's also a great film underneath all that beautiful. Either film could win and while Boyhood might sweep in for the win (go white dudes!), it looks to be a two horse race. And these horses are total studs.
Best Adapted Screenplay- The Imitation Game
This is a category that I don't particularly care about. The films nominated in this category aren't particularly great (Whiplash aside) and they're pretty much all biopics, a genre which I really don't care for. In the end, I went for my favourite film of the category that wasn't Whiplash and went for The Imitation Game. Sure, it missed stuff out and added bits just for entertainment but it was an entertaining enough film and the story was coherent. I dunno, this category left me feeling kind of let down. No truly great scripts here. Still, at least Original Screenplay fared far better.
Best Original Screenplay- Birdman
Ah. It's nice to see a category where original and novel films are being recognised. There were many good choices here to go for. My first possibilty here would be Grand Budapest Hotel. It was probably one of the most original and charming films of last year and it had a delightfully far fetched plot. It was ridiculous but it was meant to be and worked wonderfully for it. Without a witty script, it wouldn't have been nearly as charming as it was. But the choice for me is Birdman. As you may have begun to see here, Birdman is my favourite film in this year's Oscars and it's script was quick, funny and oh so smart. It plots the downfall of an actor's career and is incredibly engaging. It's also just an amazing skill to plot a whole film around one, long follow shot and have it work. I've spoken at length about how much I love Birdman and I'd love it to win but The Grand Budapest Hotel could take this just as easily. Either would be a great result personally and for creativity in the industry.
Best Director- Alejandro G. Inarritu for Birdman
I'll keep this short and sweet. Inarritu recently won the best director award at the Director's Guild Awards. This award is famously correct damn near all the time and I can't see this being different. Grand Budapest was nice but no different to other Wes Anderson films and Boyhood, while being a neat achievement, isn't anywhere close to how impressive Birdman was. Put simply, Inarritu will almost certainly win this award and deservedly so.
Best Supporting Actress- Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
This is a fairly light category in my opinion. There aren't a lot, if any, excellent performances here but there are some of merit. The first of the two is Emma Stone for Birdman. I kind of love Emma Stone and this was one of many excellent performances in Birdman. She is a wonderful actress and she could really do with an award for all the good performances she's turned in. But this is the year of Boyhood and Patricia Arquette is the best thing about the whole film. Sure, it could just be that she's a clean spot on the world's most soiled underwear but I enjoyed her performance and it is far and away the strongest performance in this category. So here it is; the one category where I don't mind Boyhood winning.
Best Supporting Actor- J.K. Simmons for Whiplash
So, I haven't seen Whiplash yet but I plan to. Instead, I shall talk about this in terms of what other people have said because I'm a great writer and plagiarism still counts as writing. Whiplash has become a surprise hit and what most people seem to be raving about is the incredible performance of J.K. Simmons. He plays a music teacher who is pretty much the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket. Anyway, people love him/ hate his character so it seems likely that he's got it. Also standing a small chance are Ed Norton, who I will love eternally for Fight Club and Mark Ruffalo who is The Hulk and was also in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind but no one's seen that so no one cares. In short, Simmons is guaranteed it and I love Edward Norton.
Best Actress- Julianne Moore for Still Alice
So, Julianne Moore has got this one in the bag. Felicity Jones could well steal it and I'd love to see Rosamund Pike jump in and win for being a psycho bitch in Gone Girl but neither of them have the advantage of playing someone who has a mental condition. That's simply why Moore will win. The academy are famous for just eating up films starring white actors who must struggle through adversity. That's what this film is and it's basically just a vehicle for Moore's talent. In fairness, she has been due an award for a long time now and this is her year.
Best Actor- Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything
Michael Keaton. Poor Michael Keaton. Could you have chosen another year to have an incredible performance that blows everyone away? Because there is such little chance he will win when he's against Eddie Redmayne. Don't get me wrong, I love Michael Keaton in Birdman. In fact, I think that he deserves the award far more than Redmayne does. But this is the Oscars so the handsome British actor who plays a man overcoming adversity to do something incredible will win over the yank who plays an asshole actor perfectly. Redmayne has this in the bag for damn near certain but I'd love to see Keaton take this. His performance is incredible and should not be taken lightly.
Best Picture- Boyhood
So, the big one. Here it is. Lets look through all the nominations in no particular order. Unless you count alphabetical order, in which case there is a particular order. I have spoken at length about American Sniper. I really don't like it. The only notable thing is Bradley Cooper's performance but the film itself is not worthy of a best picture nomination. Then, Birdman. This is my favourite film on this list and I would love it to win. But it won't. Know why? Boyhood. Yeah, it was always going to be "Middle America- The film" that took the big prize. Won't stop me hoping that the charming and delightful Grand Budapest Hotel will take the prize. The Imitation Game is also here. It's not bad, but it's not a best picture winner either. Then I'm ignorant and haven't seen Selma, Theory of Everything or Whiplash so no comment. My choice from the list: Birdman. What the Oscars are damn near guaranteed to choose: Boyhood. But hey, I've been wrong before.
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