Feature | Lights, Camera, Action! Special – Oscar 2015 Predictions Page 1

Feature | Lights, Camera, Action! Special – Oscar 2015 Predictions

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The voting's over, the campaigning has stopped and now all that's left to do is speculate. The members of the American Academy had until Tuesday to make up their minds, and the week before the deadline saw an upsurge in campaigning, especially from the Best Picture contenders. After its disappointment at the BAFTAs, the team behind Birdman came out in force, emphasising the risk-taking side of the film. Not, of course, that the other big players were keeping quiet. Join Freda Cooper as she takes readers through some of the potential winners in this predictions special edition of Lights, Camera, Action!

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There are some familiar names from the BAFTAs in contention. The Grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman both topped the nominations with nine nods each. The Imitation Game received eight, while Boyhood and American Sniper got six apiece. Just as much attention was paid to the film that was noticeable by its near-total absence, Selma: with just two nominations, for Best Picture and Best Song, it was deemed to have been well and truly snubbed.

All the gold envelopes will have been opened by around 5:30am on Monday, so, in the meantime, the crystal ball's been given an extra polish to see the results looking like this…

Best Picture

There's no change in the front runners since the BAFTAs. They only took place just over a week ago, but a week is a long time in the movies - especially when the race is this close.

Should win: Boyhood. It's a beautiful achievement and has plenty of supporters.

Will win: Birdman. Word is that the film's latest campaign seems to have resonated with Academy voters.

Best Director

After Richard Linklater's win at the BAFTAs, the Birdman team will be looking to redress the balance.

Should win: Alejandro Inarritu for Birdman. The "one long take" cinematography style is a technical achievement in itself.

Will win: Inarritu. He may not have won the BAFTA but, on the same night, he took the American Directors' Guild Award. Oscar predictors don't come much more reliable.

Best Actor

Birdman's in the frame again but, once more, its leading actor is up against a Brit…

Should win: Michael Keaton, Birdman. The resurgent actor would be a popular winner.

Will win: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything. British actors are taking Hollywood by storm at the moment, and Redmayne's performance is superb.

Best Actress

This one, without a doubt, is no contest at all.

Should win: Julianne Moore, Still Alice. She's the front runner and more or less has her hands on the trophy already.

Will win: Julianne Moore.

Best Supporting Actor

Should win: J. K. Simmons, Whiplash. If Julianne Moore nearly has the trophy in her grasp, Simmons' name should have been engraved on his months ago!

Will win: J. K. Simmons. Next…

Best Supporting Actress

Should win: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood - yet another front runner who's unlikely to be beaten.

Will win: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood. It's almost a done deal.

If the crystal ball has worked its magic once again, then, it will be Birdman's night, although Boyhood won't go away empty-handed. That dubious honour will probably be reserved for The Imitation Game, which, again, looks likely to be there just to make up the numbers. American Sniper and Foxcatcher could easily have similar experiences, not something that either Clint Eastwood or Bennett Miller are used to.

The Oscar ceremony starts at midnight UK time on Sunday, 22nd February, so check back on Monday morning, the 23rd, to find out about the winners and the also-rans. In the meantime, the full list of nominees is to be found here.

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crackedthesky 19.02.2015#1

I'm hoping The Tale of Princess Kaguya wins Best Animated Feature, but it's up against some tough competition. In any case, I'm sure Big Hero 6 will win because Disney always wins it. They didn't give it to Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki's final movie, so they're probably not going to do it now.

Pretty cool that Isao Takahata is showing up though. Maybe he'll do some cool interviews while he's in town.