by: Jay Carlson

It’s been a hell of a year in film, so many great films, both on this list of nominations and off. Tonight is the culmination of many hours of pressing the flesh and lobbying for a lot of people out there. Will the most deserving films win? We’ll have to see. Keep checking back and we’ll keep things updated.

Below you’ll find my picks broken up into who I think will win and who deserves to (as they are seldom the same).

What are your picks? Do you see anyone coming out of nowhere and upsetting in their respective category?

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Robert Duvall in The Judge
Ethan Hawke in Boyhood
Edward Norton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons in Whiplash

Jay:

Who Will Win: J.K. Simmons

Who Should Win: J.K. Simmons

Who Did Win: J.K. Simmons

Tight category but J.K. was head and shoulders above the rest! If nothing else I’m rooting for wins, I can be happy to see Simmons up there.

COSTUME DESIGN

The Grand Budapest Hotel Milena Canonero
Inherent Vice Mark Bridges
Into the Woods Colleen Atwood
Maleficent Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive
Mr. Turner Jacqueline Durran

Jay:

Who Will Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Who Should Win: Inherent Vice

Who Did Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel

MAKE UP AND HAIR STYLING

Foxcatcher Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
The Grand Budapest Hotel Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
Guardians of the Galaxy Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White

Jay:

Who Will Win: Foxcatcher

Who Should Win: Guardians of the Galaxy

Who Did Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel 

Grand Budapest is rolling. I need to watch it again, as it was far from my favorite Anderson film.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Ida Poland
Leviathan Russia
Tangerines Estonia
Timbuktu Mauritania
Wild Tales Argentina

Jay:

Who Will Win: Ida

Who Should Win: Ida

Who Did Win: Ida

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

Aya Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
Boogaloo and Graham Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak) Hu Wei and Julien Féret
Parvaneh Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
The Phone Call Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

Jay:

Who Will Win: Aya

Who Should Win: Aya

Who Did Win: The Phone Call

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
Joanna Aneta Kopacz
Our Curse Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki
The Reaper (La Parka) Gabriel Serra Arguello
White Earth J. Christian Jensen

Jay:

Who Will Win: White Earth

Who Should Win: Our Curse

Who Did Win: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1

SOUND MIXING

American Sniper John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, and Thomas Varga
Interstellar Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker, and Mark Weingarten
Unbroken Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, and David Lee
Whiplash Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins, and Thomas Curley

Jay:

Who Will Win: Whiplash

Who Should Win: Whiplash

Who Did Win: Whiplash

SOUND EDITING

American Sniper Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
Interstellar Richard King
Unbroken Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro

Jay:

Who Will Win: Birdman

Who Should Win: Birdman

Who Did Win: American Sniper

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Patricia Arquette in Boyhood
Laura Dern in Wild
Keira Knightley in The Imitation Game
Emma Stone in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Meryl Streep in Into the Woods

Jay:

Who Will Win: Patricia Arquette

Who Should Win: Patricia Arquette

Who Did Win: Patricia Arquette

VISUAL EFFECTS

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist
Guardians of the Galaxy Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould
Interstellar Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
X-Men: Days of Future Past Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer

Jay:

Who Will Win: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Who Should Win: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Who Did Win: Interstellar

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

The Bigger Picture Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees
The Dam Keeper Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi
Feast Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed
Me and My Moulton Torill Kove
A Single Life Joris Oprins

Jay:

Who Will Win: Feast

Who Should Win: Lightbox

Who Did Win: Feast

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Big Hero 6 Don Hall, Chris Williams, and Roy Conli
The Boxtrolls Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable, and Travis Knight
How to Train Your Dragon 2 Dean DeBlois, and Bonnie Arnold
Song of the Sea Tomm Moore and Paul Young
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura

Jay:

Who Will Win: Big Hero 6

Who Should Win: How to Train Your Dragon 2

Who Did Win: Big Hero 6

PRODUCTION DESIGN

The Grand Budapest Hotel Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
The Imitation Game Production Design: Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration: Tatiana Macdonald
Interstellar Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
Into the Woods Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
Mr. Turner Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Charlotte Watts

Jay:

Who Will Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Who Should Win: Interstellar

Who Did Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel Robert Yeoman
Ida Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
Mr. Turner Dick Pope
Unbroken Roger Deakins

Jay:

Who Will Win: Birdman

Who Should Win: Birdman

Who Did Win: Birdman

FILM EDITING

American Sniper Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach
Boyhood Sandra Adair
The Grand Budapest Hotel Barney Pilling
The Imitation Game William Goldenberg
Whiplash Tom Cross

Jay:

Who Will Win: Boyhood

Who Should Win: Whiplash

Who Did Win: Whiplash!

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

CitizenFour Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, and Dirk Wilutzky
Finding Vivian Maier John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
Last Days in Vietnam Rory Kennedy and Keven McAlester
The Salt of the Earth Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, and David Rosier
Virunga Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

Jay:

Who Will Win: CitizenFour

Who Should Win:CitizenFour

Who Did Win: CitizenFour

 

ORIGINAL SONG

Everything Is Awesome from The Lego Movie
Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
Glory from Selma
Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
Grateful from Beyond the Lights
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
I’m Not Gonna Miss You from Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me
Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
Lost Stars from Begin Again
Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Jay:

Who Will Win: Glory from Selma

Who Should Win: Glory from Selma

ORIGINAL SCORE

The Grand Budapest Hotel Alexandre Desplat
The Imitation Game Alexandre Desplat
Interstellar Hans Zimmer
Mr. Turner Gary Yershon
The Theory of Everything Jóhann Jóhannsson

Jay:

Who Will Win: The Theory of Everything

Who Should Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Who Did Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel

 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

American Sniper Written by Jason Hall
The Imitation Game Written by Graham Moore
Inherent Vice Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything Screenplay by Anthony McCarten
Whiplash Written by Damien Chazelle

Jay:

Who Will Win: The Imitation Game

Who Should Win: Whiplash

Who Did Win: The Imitation Game

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
Boyhood Written by Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
The Grand Budapest Hotel Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler Written by Dan Gilroy

Jay:

Who Will Win: Birdman

Who Should Win: Nightcrawler

Who Did Win: Birdman

DIRECTING

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Boyhood Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher Bennett Miller
The Grand Budapest Hotel Wes Anderson
The Imitation Game Morten Tyldum

Who Will Win: Richard Linklater

Who Should Win: Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Who Did Win: Alejandro G. Iñárritu

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Marion Cotillard in Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones in The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore in Still Alice
Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon in Wild

Jay:

Who Will Win: Julianne Moore

Who Should Win: Rosamund Pike

Who Did Win: Julianne Moore

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Steve Carell in Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper in American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything

Jay:

Who Will Win: Eddie Redmayne

Who Should Win: Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler (Not Nominated)

Who Did Win: Eddie Redmayne

BEST PICTURE

American Sniper: Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper, and Peter Morgan, Producers

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, and James W. Skotchdopole, Producers

Boyhood: Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland, Producers

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, and Jeremy Dawson, Producers

The Imitation Game: Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, and Teddy Schwarzman, Producers

Selma: Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers

The Theory of Everything: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, and Anthony McCarten, Producers

Whiplash: Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, and David Lancaster, Producers

Jay:

Who Will Win: Boyhood

Who Should Win: Whiplash

Who Did Win: Birdman