With last night's SAG Awards, we're now heading into the final round of Awards Season. February 22nd will see the 87th Academy Awards take place.
It's been one of the most controversial years in Oscar history, with wide-ranging discussion about the nature of the Academy's nominees and the lack of diversity in their choices.
So, to the nominees in question. We've kept it to the well-known categories and formulated our analysis from previous winners, voting trends and a ouija board we found in one of the cabinets in the office.
Here we go:
Best Actress
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
And the winner is...
Julianne Moore. She picked up the winner at the Golden Globes and she's the most deserving. Redheads of the world, unite.
Best Actor
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
And the winner is...
If you asked us this before last night's SAG Awards, we'd have said Michael Keaton. Hands down, no question. Now with Eddie Redmayne winning the SAG Award for Best Actor, it evenly splits the vote. If you're putting money down, split your bet between Redmayne and Keaton. We'd like to see Keaton win because, y'know, he's Batman. In reality, it'll probably end up going to Redmayne.
Best Supporting Actor
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Edward Norton, Birdman
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
Robert Duvall, The Judge
And the winner is...
JK Simmons and his terrifying drill sergeant / band-leader in Whiplash.
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Emma Stone, Birdman
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
Laura Dern, Wild
And the winner is...
Patricia Arquette's been scooping up awards left and right for her powerhouse performance in Boyhood. We don't want to live in a world where she doesn't win this.
Best Director
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
And the winner is...
Again, like Arquette, Linklater's the heavy favourite here to win. It could potentially go to Birdman, but the smart money says to back Linklater and Boyhood. Late 90's nostalgia always wins the day.
Best Original Screenplay
Dan Futterman, E. Max Frye, Foxcatcher
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Armando Bo, Nicolás Giacobone, Birdman
Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
And the winner is...
If there was any justice, Nightcrawler and Dan Gilroy would win this. The reality, unfortunately, is that it's just too dark and weird for the Academy. So, most likely to win? Probably Birdman or Grand Budapest Hotel.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Graham Moore, The Imitation Game
Anthony McCarten, The Theory of Everything
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Jason Hall, American Sniper
Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice
And the winner is...
There's a real potential for an upset here. American Sniper has pretty much devastated all the other nominees in terms of box-office earnings. We're not saying that's an indicator of worth or quality, but it's definitely worth considering in terms of analysis. Whiplash should rightfully win here, but you could also see The Imitation Game or Theory of Everything sneak in and snag it.
Best Picture
Boyhood
The Imitation Game
Birdman
The Theory of Everything
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Whiplash
Selma
American Sniper
And the winner is...
It's a tie between Birdman and Boyhood. More than likely, Boyhood will win out on the night. However, there's a real chance that the Academy could vote against expectation and address the criticisms it's been getting about diversity and hand the award to Selma. It's highly unlikely, but it's still a possibility.
Best Animated Feature
Big Hero 6
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Boxtrolls
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
And the winner is...
Lego Movie. LEGO MOVIE. LEGO MOVIE. LEGO MOVIE. LEGO MOVIE. (It's not nominated, but we don't care. This category is a joke. We have to pick one? Fine. Song of the Sea, then. It's really great and all, but does it have Batman singing and a cameo from Lando Calrissian? NO. No, most likely it'll probably go to Big Hero 6 and Baymax's cute cuteness. Also, it's like this generation's Incredibles.)
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