Best Picture: Birdman. Brushing aside the fact that this film won at the PGA (the Producers Guild, not the golf one), which has predicated the Oscar winner seven years in a row, Birdman is an all around unusual and fresh film that shines a ray of hope on more indie-like productions for Hollywood. This film has garnered massive critical success, Michael Keaton is at his best, the cinematography is breathtaking and it has a great ensemble of supporting cast to boot. Now I would have loved for Boyhood to win seeing as I cried like a baby through many a scene in that film, but the prevailing winds of the Academy do not blow in its favor this season. So, my apologies to Richard Linklater and friends, but maybe next time.
Best Director: Richard Linklater. His victory can be summed up as, “12 years on one film?” The amount of things that could have gone wrong while making this film are mind boggling, but somehow he managed to pull it off. The feelings pulled from the actors in this film feel so genuine and the way it plays off of periods of our generation’s lives is so exact that it would be a crime not to have Linklater win.
Best Actor: Having seen American Sniper most recently, I think that my main man B-Coops (Bradley Cooper for the uninitiated) has this one on wraps. His performance was so crushingly haunting and beautifully hollow, and his dedication to character so intense, that he deserves this and then some. Yes Steve Carrel was a breakout success in Foxcatcher and Michael Keaton had the performance of a lifetime in Birdman, but Cooper presented something very different from what we are used to, and for that I give the golden guy to Bradley Cooper.
Best Actress: In lieu of no Meryl Streep nominations, this year’s goes to Julianne Moore for her performance in Still Alice. Though I have not seen this film yet, my mom did, and I trust her reviews for many movies. Julianne Moore has been a historically multi-faceted and all around solid actress, and apparently her performance is something to behold. So, congrats to you Julianne Moore, the Leonardo Dicaprio of actresses. The Oscar goes to you.
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons. I thought I saw the end of sadistic music teachers in elementary school after learning the recorder for a year and half and only getting through Hot Cross Buns… but I digress. J.K. Simmons, a nice looking old man by day and a terrifying music teacher by night, gives a tour-de-intesitè™ (new French word) that has been sweeping away all awards shows in his path this season. Simmons’ reign of terror easily warrants the Oscar, though I hope he doesn’t smack it and tell it to stop dragging.
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette. The supporting actresses this year are all very strong contenders. Sadly, however, all but one are sorely lacking in one category. What category is that? The “I am Patricia Arquette” category. Watching her character struggle and eventually get chewed up and spat out by life feels so deeply personal and real that the movie almost appears a documentary. She plays off of her cast and the on-screen chemistry they share in such a way that the little golden man is barely recompense for her performance. •
Best Original Screenplay: Nightcrawler by Dan Gilroy
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Theory of Everything by Anthony McCarten
Animated Film: How To Train Your Dragon 2: The Boxtrolls by Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight
Cinematography: Birdman
Costume Design: Into the Woods, The Grand Budapest Hotel – Milena Canonero
Documentary Feature: Virunga
Short Documentary: Our Curse
Best Film Editing: Grand Budapest Hotel, by Barney Pilling
Foreign Film: Leviathan, by Pawel Pawlikowski
Makeup and Hairstyling: Guardians of the Galaxy, David White
Music: Interstellar, Hans Zimmer
Animated Short Film: Feast
Live Short Film: Boogaloo and Graham, Aya by Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
Best Production Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel – Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock
Sound Editing: Interstellar, Richard King
Sound Mixing: Interstellar, Gregg Landaker and Gary Rizzo
Visual Effects: Interstellar – Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
Best Original Score: Interstellar – Hans Zimmer
Best Original Song: “Glory” by John Legend and Common, from Selma
