We’re now less than 24 hours away from the 87th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood – the glitzy and usually entertaining affair that sees Hollywood pat itself on the back for its year on the silver screen in front of millions of viewers. Once again in Australia, Channel Nine will be live screening the ceremony (hosted by Neil Patrick Harris for the first time) from Noon, with Gem repeating it from 8.30pm that night.
No year goes without controversy and this year was no exception, with a lack of diversity exemplified by the largely snubbed film Selma (but we asked: does that even matter?), and a lack of Lego in the Animated category mystifying some. Films like Foxcatcher and even Gone Girl also missed out on a Best Picture nomination in spite of a slew of other nominations across other categories.
Australia – though not as prominent as it has been in past years – still has two solid chances for trophies in the visual effects category. Visual Effects Supervisor Tim Crosbie of Adelaide based Rising Sun Pictures was nominated for their work on the latest X-Men film, Days of Future Past (read more about their acclaimed sequence here) and David Lee has a shot for his Sound Mixing work on Angelina Jolie’s largely ignored film Unbroken.
But now that we’re so close to the winners being revealed – on what is widely considered the most important film awards of the year (and rightly so) – we thought we’d take our own annual look through some of the categories to make a judgement on who will win, and who should win…
Best Picture
Despite eight films being nominated, the race for the top prize is arguably down to three films: The Grand Budapest Hotel – which took home the Globe for Best Feature (Comedy or Musical), Boyhood – which won the Globe for Drama as well as the BAFTA, and Birdman – winner of the Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature as well as the top prizes awarded by the Screen Actors Guild, the Directors Guild of America and Producers Guild of America in recent weeks.
The BAFTA’s have correctly foreshadowed the last six films, but when the SAG, DGA and PGA have all agreed on awarding a film their highest honour in the same year, they’ve almost always been right. The last time they weren’t was when favourite Apollo 13 failed to take home the trophy – and that was some 19 years ago (for those playing along at home, it went to Braveheart). So that leaves us with Boyhood and Birdman as virtually even favourites, with Wes Anderson’s Budapest sneaking in behind as a potential upset – and a welcome one at that.
So, who should win? All three are incredible films in their own right and very deserving of the award – and a lot of it may come down to who takes home best Director. I think this year it’s safe to assume they’ll be awarded to different films as voters try to “spread the love” among films that are favourites across the board. Though we have to say that The Grand Budapest Hotel is most deserving of the trophy. Boyhood was conceptually brilliant and the originality of Birdman set it a few notes short of being a masterpiece – but there’s something about Budapest that sets it apart from the rest of Wes Anderson’s repertoire. It’s a film that harks back to the classic era of Hollywood. It’s lean, fast-paced and whether it wins or not, will go down as one of the greats – Wes Anderson’s masterpiece? Possibly. It would be fantastic to see it win.
And, who will win? Hollywood loves Hollywood, which gives Birdman the upper edge in this category. It’s our prediction to win, but as a virtual odds on favourite with Boyhood, your guess is as good as ours.
Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor
Outside of the Best Picture category, the other difficult-to-predict category seems to be in the Best Actor category. While Eddie Redmayne has won many of the awards leading up to the Oscars for his portrayal of Stephen Hawkings, so too has Michael Keaton for the film that’s seen as his “comeback”. Hollywood loves a comeback (see also: the similarly self-referential Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler) and this gives him an edge.
But Redmayne could certainly win, as he’s proven many times in the lead-up. And with comparisons made to past Oscar winning performances such as Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot and Jamie Foxx in Ray, the voting academy have certainly been happy to award for such a transformative performance in the past. With this in mind, we’re going to predict the British actor to walk away with the trophy. Meanwhile, Best Supporting Actor looks to be a sure thing for J.K. Simmons‘ intense portrayal of a music teacher who uses intimidation and a lot of expletives to get the best out of his students, in the brilliant Whiplash.
Who Should Win? Michael Keaton and J.K. Simmons
Who Will Win? Eddie Redmayne and J.K. Simmons
Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress
Both categories seem to be pre-ordained, with Julianne Moore‘s gripping portrayal of an Alzheimer’s sufferer in Still Alice sweeping awards to now. This would be her first win out of five Oscar Nominations, which only seems to increase her chances. Meanwhile, Patricia Arquette‘s incredible performance as the mother in Boyhood seems to set to deliver the actress with not only her first ever nomination by the Academy, but the first ever win, too.
Who Should Win? Julianne Moore and Patricia Arquette
Who Will Win? Julianne Moore and Patricia Arquette
Animated Feature Film
Surprisingly, the most glaring omission of the entire list of Oscar Nominations this year seemed to be in this category, with the critically acclaimed box office hit The Lego Movie missing out on what was to be a sure thing. In its place are films like Song of the Sea and Studio Ghibli’s The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. Surprisingly, How To Train A Dragon 2 has emerged the favourite after taking home the Globe and the Annie, though we would love to see one of our favourites of the year – Big Hero 6 – rewarded for bringing some real heart back to the Disney community, without the need to sing their way through it. We all need a caring robot in our lives.
Who Should Win? Big Hero 6
Who Will Win? How To Train a Dragon 2
Best Director
Like Best Picture, this is a tough call between Boyhood and Birdman – with Wes Anderson sitting quietly behind, waiting for an upset. We think whoever takes home Best Picture will probably miss out on Best Director – and vice versa. So, to remain consistent, we’re going to give this category to Richard Linklater for delivering one of the most ambitious films to ever be recognized by the Academy. The award wouldn’t just be for this production, however, but like most of the Best Director wins over the years (see: Scorsese’s Departed), it’s as much as an appreciation for their body of work than just the film they’re nominated for. And Linklater’s been more than deserving of these trophies for a long time now. He just had to work on a film for 12 years to get there. Easy, right?
Who Should Win? Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Who Will Win? Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki’s work in Birdman is nothing short of astounding. He weaves his way through the backstage areas of the theatre, through the streets of New York and into the sky – and back again – in a seamless cut that seems to never stop moving. It is one of the most technically brilliant works we’ve ever seen, and it’s sure to take home the award.
Who Should Win? Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Who Will Win? Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Costume Design
Colleen Atwood has been nominated 11 times since her work in 1994’s Little Women, and has won three of them. Meanwhile, Milena Canonero has been nominated nine times and also won three since taking it home for Barry Lyndon in 1975. For their respective work this year in Into The Woods and The Grand Budapest Hotel, they sit as favourites in this category and both could easily take it home. But our money is on Canonero, having just won the BAFTA for the same award over Atwood, which is generally a fairly strong indicator of the winner. And with the glamour in that film – it’s strongly deserving of the award, too.
Who Should Win? Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Who Will Win? Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Documentary Feature
CitizenFour, the film about Edward Snowden, has been winning Documentary awards all over the place – including this weekend’s Independent Spirit Awards. It’s the favourite to win, and we see no argument why it shouldn’t…
Who Should Win? CitizenFour.
Who Will Win? CitizenFour.
Film Editing
The Grand Budapest Hotel certainly deserves to be awarded here, for its fast-paced cuts, clever in camera effects (The Iris no less!) and the typical Anderson flair. But for its 12 year production, Richard Linklater’s long time editor Sandra Adair looks set to be awarded for Boyhood. But with Tom Cross taking home the Independent Spirit award in recent days for Whiplash, don’t be surprised by an upset here. Even American Sniper is in with a shot. Pun intended.
Who Should Win? The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Who Will Win? Boyhood.
Foreign Language Film
Though Leviathan did win the Best Foreign Language Film gong at the Globes, Academy voters have a tendency to be a lot more political. Given this is a Russian film, with everything happening over there at the moment by way of Ukraine, it’s likely voters may shy away from giving it the trophy, opting instead of the beautiful Polish film Ida. They’re certainly as deserving as each other, and though the Russian film was our favourite of the two, it’s likely that the Polish film about a young woman, about to take her vows to become a Nun, discovering that she is in fact Jewish, will win this one.
Who Should Win? Leviathan, Russia
Who Will Win? Ida, Poland
Makeup and Hair Styling
There are only three nominees in this category, and any of them could easily take it home. The Grand Budapest Hotel seems set to win quite a few of the more technical awards, so it’s the favourite to win. And while the makeup in both Foxcatcher and Guardians Of The Galaxy are phenomenal, we’d love to see the latter – one of our favourite films of 2014 – take home something.
Who Should Win? Guardians Of The Galaxy
Who Will Win? The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat may be up against himself in this category, having scored brilliantly for both The Imitation Game and The Grand Budapest Hotel, but its Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson we predict to take home a trophy for The Theory of Everything, having won earlier in the year at the Globes and delivering a truly engaging score.
Who Should Win? Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game OR The Grand Budapest Hotel
Who Will Win? Jóhann Jóhannsson, The Theory of Everything
Best Original Song
Common and John Legend look set to add to their collection of awards an Oscar, for their track “Glory” from the movie Selma. Though it does little to rectify its limited recognition at these awards, it will be the chance voters are looking for to give the film some glory (pun intended). That said, you could start making the same argument for The Lego Movie, whose track “Everything Is Awesome” is probably stuck in your head now that I’ve mentioned it. Still, it should be glory for “Glory” come tomorrow.
Who Should Win? “Glory”, Selma
Who Will Win? “Glory”, Selma
Production Design
The world of Wes Anderson deserves a Production Design trophy with every film he releases. But The Grand Budapest Hotel seems to finally be giving the filmmaker’s team the recognition they deserve, and Adam Stockhausen (Production Design) and Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration) look set to win in 2015. Anna has given herself a bit of competition, however, with Into The Woods, as she’s also been nominated for her work on the Disney film.
Who Should Win? The Grand Budapest Hotel
Who Will Win? The Grand Budapest Hotel
Sound Editing and Mixing
War movies are often favourites to win in the sound category, delivering all the tension that the film needs. As such, American Sniper is the favourite in both categories – edging out the other War film in contention, Jolie’s Unbroken, primarily due to Eastwood’s gravitas. But with the stunning sound of Interstellar, and the impressive use of the drums in Whiplash, they’re the films we are hoping to take home the prize, respectively.
Who Should Win? Interstellar and Whiplash
Who Will Win? American Sniper (in both categories)
Best Adapted and Original Screenplays
While the best original screenplay is almost certainly set to go the way of Wes Anderson in lieu of a Best Film or Best Director trophy (with Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Birdman perched close behind), the best Adapted Screenplay is harder to predict. The Imitation Game took home the WGA award, however, which does usually indicate the Oscar winner. Though finding originality in the category of Adaptation is difficult, which is why Whiplash should take it home. The “adaptation” is of the writer’s own short film, and Damien Chazelle also directed the film. It’s incredibly worthy of the award, and it would be great to see voters acknowledge it. Given they did give it a Best Picture nod, it’s certainly in with a good shot – in site of other wins working against it.
Who Should Win? Whiplash and The Grand Budapest Hotel
Who Will Win? The Imitation Game and The Grand Budapest Hotel
Visual Effects
While we’d love to see X-Men: Days of Future Past deliver a trophy to Australia’s Rising Sun Pictures, Interstellar is sure to win in this category for its stunning sequences in space, and everything that came along with it. As usual, Nolan’s ability to shoot the vast majority of his film worlds in camera only makes things look better, and a win for Nolan and his team is just a win for film making in general, really. Using effects as a way to better a production – not as a crutch to rely on to save space on the reel. Also, as the final film to be shot in IMAX 70mm, this is worthy of some sort of technical award in its own right.
Who Should Win? Interstellar
Who Will Win? Interstellar
For the rest of the awards, head to oscar.go.com for the full list – and don’t miss the LIVE telecast from 12 noon tomorrow on Channel Nine, repeated again from 8.30pm on GEM.
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