BEST PICTURE

Should Win: Birdman
Will Win: Boyhood
Unsurprisingly, the praise for the Best Picture generally falls
quite neatly into the lap of the respective Director, who’s most likely to
scoop the double. That said, the last two ceremonies have seen unexpected
imbalance in this respect, last year’s ceremony honouring Alfonso Cuaron’s
technical wizardry over Best Picture winner Steve McQueen’s unflinching
storytelling, while 2013 forgot Ben Affleck altogether from the directing
category, awarding Ang Lee for his sublime effort on Life of Pi. No such mismatch should occur here: Linklater, forever
a darling of the independent cinema, has stepped up to the challenge and taken
an indie experiment to blockbusting and mainsteam award success, and deserves
every bit of the praise he gets. Boyhood
reads not only as a fascinating mapping of the last 12 years, or as an
intriguing coming-of-age story, but as a loving anecdote of Linklater’s film
history, combining the best elements of his Before Sunrise trilogy amongst others. Linklater, once too cool for
the Oscars, has really come into his own here.
Should Win: Richard Linklater
Will Win: Richard Linklater
BEST ACTOR
Considerably harder to predict than in recent years, the Best Actor
category is not only hotly contested but extremely varied in its offerings.
Once a front runner, Benedict Cumberbatch’s superb performance as Alan Turing
has been somewhat forgotten, perhaps over shadowed by his English counterpart
Redmayne. Bradley Cooper, despite picking up some flak for the questionable
motivations of American Sniper, puts
in an unrecognizable stint, the weight gain an Academy favourite and one which
might ordinarily end in awards. Steve Carrell, in any other year, would have
been a stand out favourite in a Supporting Actor field (which his performance
certainly ought to be placed in), for one of the more chilling roles of the
year. The two heavyweights, however, are separated by barely anything, and thus
makes this a considerably harder category to predict. Redmayne has, up until
now, received the bulk of the awards for an unforgettable performance as genius
ALS sufferer Stephen Hawking, Michael Keaton, however, is a seasoned favourite,
making a comeback in spectacular fashion, in a role that’s comedy and tragedy
in equal measure, with Keaton not only striking the balance, but knocking it
out the park. Redmayne, it seems, would just clinch it.
Should Win: Michael Keaton (Birdman)
Will Win: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)
BEST ACTRESS

Should Win: Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
Will Win: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
Bar Robert Duvall’s not entirely deserved nomination for The Judge, this is perhaps the
strongest category of the year. Edward Norton, whose outstanding commitment to
the method has made him one of the most sought after actors of decade, is on
stunning form as a semi-caricature of himself – a screen-to-stage actor who
takes himself just that bit too seriously – and provides some of the year’s
best deadpan in his onscreen rivalry with Keaton. Mark Ruffalo’s wonderfully
understated role in Foxcatcher plays
perfectly off the surreal characters of Channing Tatum and Steve Carrell, but
isn’t quite enough to make him the bride rather than the bridesmaid. The ever
impressive Ethan Hawke, the perfect counterpart to Linklater as we’ve come to
learn, in any other year a sure winner, is charming, loveable, and despicable
as the rarely present father in Boyhood.
None match up to J.K. Simmons, in a role tailor-made for his ability to effuse
anger in every way possible, gives what might be the performance of the year:
so wonderfully hateable you miss him every time he’s not on screen, his jazz
afficianado in Whiplash is the
aggressive PE coach or pushy music teacher we all had at some point in our
lives. Simmons is truly one of the greatest character actors of our generation,
and this is an Oscar hard-earned.
Should Win: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)
Will Win: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)
The obvious talking point of this category is, as it always has
been, Meryl Streep: receiving her 19th nomination for Into the Woods is an unimaginable feat,
and one which perhaps daunts the other nominees. She’ll most likely, however,
have to save it for lucky number 20, since unusually she is a clear outsider in
a highly commendable category. Clear favourite is Patricia Arquette, the mother
to Ethan Hawke’s father in Boyhood,
and a role which sees her character arc through the most fantastic yet tragic
process possible: motherhood comes so naturally to Arquette that her on-screen
relationship with son Coltrane is never unconvincing. An outside shout has to
go to Emma Stone, meanwhile, in a performance which has perhaps redefined her
career: steering worryingly close to the romcom ‘girl-next-door’, Stone has
taken the wheel of her own career, to incredible effect. Her recovering
drug-addict in Birdman is powerfully
destructive both to herself and to those around her, a real force to be
reckoned with in the midst of her overbearing father Keaton and aspiring alpha
Norton.
Will Win: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)
BEST OF THE REST
Original Screenplay – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Adapted Screenplay – Whiplash
Cinematography - Birdman
Costume – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Editing - Whiplash
Documentary Feature - CitizenFour
Animated Feature – Big Hero 6
Foreign Language - Ida
Music – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Top 5: Biggest Snubs
5. The Lego Movie (Best
Animated Feature/Best Picture)
Certainly the most surprisingly brilliant film of the year,
displaying extraordinarily clever themes for an animated film, it’s a travesty
this masterpiece didn’t make it onto the Best Animated Feature list, let alone
the Best Picture category.
4. Gillian Flynn/Gone Girl
(Best Adapted Screenplay)
A bestseller in novel form, Flynn provided the exhilarating screenplay
for last year’s tensest plotline, magnificently transforming her own book into
on-screen gold.
3. Scarlett
Johansson/Under the Skin (Best Actress)
A performance that unfortunately disappeared off the radar,
Johansson’s extraterrestrial portrayal redefined onscreen aliens, in seductive
and chilling in equal measure.
2. Jake
Gyllenhaal/Nightcrawler (Best Actor)
Hands down Gyllenhaal’s finest performance, and easily more exciting
and watchable than some of the more, say, formulaic nominations in this
category.
1. Gone Girl/David Fincher
(Best Picture/Best Director)
Fincher’s a genius, and this was the film of the year. Enough said.