Academy Awards- Nominations, Winners And Industry Analysis

The List Of Nominations For The 87th Academy Awards

(By  Stephanie Merry, Washington Post, 15 January 2015)

(Richard’s picks for the winners are in blue, the winners are in red.)

Best Picture
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Immediate reaction: The academy can nominate up to 10 movies, but stopped short with eight this year. Most of these are what the prognosticators expected — Birdman, Boyhood, Selma, and the big British biopics, The Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game. The Grand Budapest Hotel, which won a best picture award at the Golden Globes, is starting to look like an unstoppable force. And another indie director, Damien Chazelle, is getting lots of attention with his directorial debut, Whiplash. Movies that could have made the list but didn’t: musical Into the Woods, Foxcatcher (despite its directing nom), Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken, and A Most Violent Year, which was completely shut out.

Actor in a Leading Role
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Immediate reactions: Hello there, Bradley Cooper. American Sniper didn’t get much love from the Golden Globes, but the academy was in a different frame of mind. Of course, that meant there was no space for David Oyelowo, who turned in a stunning performance as Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma. Both Keaton and Redmayne won acting awards at the Golden Globes — one for comedy, one for drama.

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

Immediate reaction: This list hews fairly closely to expectations. The biggest surprise is Marion Cotillard’s nomination. She edged out Jennifer Aniston, who was thought to have a shot for her buzzy performance in Cake. Amy Adams, who just won a Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy or musical, didn’t make the list either. Julianne Moore is the favorite here, playing a linguistics professor grappling with an early onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Actor in a Supporting Role
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Immediate reaction: Again, no huge jaw-droppers here. These nominees are identical to the Golden Globes, with J.K. Simmons as a favorite; he just won the Globe for his maniacal role in Whiplash.

Actress in a Supporting Role
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Emma Stone, Birdman
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Immediate reaction: When Dern’s name was announced there were audible gasps — not to mention a few excited whoops. She played the effervescent mother to Reese Witherspoon’s lead in Wild. It was a great performance, though Patricia Arquette (who also played a single mom, in Boyhood) is the clear favorite.

 

Directing
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game

Immediate reactions: Where are the women? There was talk of not one, but two women securing nominations in this category: Ava DuVernay for Selma and Angelina Jolie for Unbroken. Jolie’s movie didn’t get the praise that seemed assured prior to release, but DuVernay certainly deserved to be on this list. Miller’s nomination for Foxcatcher is the biggest surprise here; meanwhile, Anderson’s nod is his first ever directing nomination. He’s been previously nominated for best screenplay.

Animated Feature Film
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Immediate reaction: The big surprise here is that The LEGO Movie wasn’t nominated. Instead of the blockbuster (LEGO had the fourth-highest domestic box office returns in 2014), the under-the-radar, yet-to-be-released Song of the Sea scored a nom.

Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Robert D. Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lynzewski, Ida
Dick Pope, Mr. Turner
Roger Deakins, Unbroken

Immediate reaction: Aside from sound editing and sound mixing, this was the only nomination for Unbroken, which will have a tough time overcoming stiff competition from Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel. It’s interesting that Mr. Turner got so many nominations, although not the one some expected — Timothy Spall for best actor. It’s also interesting to see a foreign film in the mix with the black-and-white Ida.

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

Immediate reaction: This is the only nomination Maleficent managed to score and, while the costumes were extravagant, the movie is hardly a sure thing to win against the likes of The Grand Budapest Hotel and Into the Woods.

Documentary Feature
Citizenfour
Last Days in Vietnam
Virunga
The Salt of the Earth
Finding Vivian Maier

Immediate reaction: Citizenfour, Laura Poitras’s thrilling documentary about Edward Snowden, was a sure bet. The academy also showed love for Rory Kennedy’s documentary about the fall of Saigon, Last Days of Vietnam, and the universally-praised Virunga. If there’s a snub to be found, it’s for Life Itself, the much-praised doc about Roger Ebert.

Documentary Short Subject
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper
White Earth

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

Immediate reaction: Most of Birdman looked like it was filmed in one long take. It wasn’t; that was the magic of smart cuts and good editing, but that magic (by editors Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrione) was not recognized by the academy. Instead, Boyhood leads the charge with Sandra Adair nominated for piecing together a story that was shot over 12 years.

Foreign Language Film
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines (Estonia)
Wild Tales (Argentina)
Timbuktu (Mauritania)

Immediate reaction: It’s sad to see no mention of Force Majeure on this list, though these are worthy contenders. The Russian film Leviathan took home the Golden Globe on Sunday, but the Polish drama Ida has a good shot at the Oscar, with a 1960s-era story of an aspiring nun who finds out her family was Jewish.

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

Immediate reaction: Will it be Steve Carell’s prosthetic nose in Foxcatcher or an unrecognizable Tilda Swinton under an aged face in The Grand Budapest Hotel? Those jobs seem somewhat less onerous than covering Dave Bautista’s many muscles in green and red to transform him into Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Music – Original Score
Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar
Gary Yershon, Mr Turner
Jóhann Jóhannsson, The Theory of Everything

Immediate reaction: Lots of love for the prolific Desplat, who could have been nominated for three movies (he also did great work on Unbroken). Jóhannsson won the Globe on Sunday for his work on The Theory of Everything, though Zimmer certainly has a shot for his impossible-to-miss music in Interstellar. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross had a shot at making the list for Gone Girl, but Mr. Turner popped up instead.

Music – Original Song
Everything Is Awesome by Shawn Patterson, The LEGO Movie
Glory by Common and John Legend, Selma
Grateful by Diane Warren, Beyond the Lights
I’m Not Gonna Miss You by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond, Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
Lost Stars by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois, Begin Again

Immediate reaction: This was one of only two nominations for Selma. The nom for Beyond the Lights is a pleasant surprise. It was a great movie that far too few people saw.

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

Immediate reaction: Into the Woods was shut out of the best picture category and Timothy Spall failed to secure a nomination for his impressive acting in Mr. Turner, but both movies landed here, and deservedly so.

Short Film – Animated
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

Short Film – Live Action
Aya, Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
Boogaloo and Graham, Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
Butter lamp, Hu Wei and Julien Féret
Parvaneh, Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
The Phone Call, Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

Sound Editing
American Sniper, Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
Birdman, 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

Immediate reaction: Despite some complaints about the epic volume levels of Interstellar, Christopher Nolan’s movie managed to score nominations for both sound editing and sound mixing. This was the only nomination for Peter Jackson’s final (we think…?) Hobbit installment.

Sound Mixing
American Sniper, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
Birdman, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
Interstellar, Garry A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
Unbroken, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
Whiplash, Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

 

Visual Effects
Captain America: 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, Stephanie 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

Immediate reactions: This is the one category that consistently shows love for the blockbuster action and superhero movies, and this year was no exception. This was one of two nominations for Guardians of the Galaxy, the biggest moneymaker of 2014, which also happened to be well-liked by critics. Transformers had a rough week. This was the only real Oscar hope for the fourth installment of Transformers, and the movie led the Razzie nominations, which were announced earlier this week.

 

Writing – Adapted Screenplay
Jason Hall, American Sniper
Graham Moore, The Imitation Game
Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice
Anthony McCarten, The Theory of Everything
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash

Immediate reaction: The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything were sure to make the list, and Whiplash certainly deserves a spot. Inherent Vice was more of a wild card, with Paul Thomas Anderson’s occasionally (and intentionally) nonsensical adaptation of a loopy Thomas Pynchon novel.

 

Writing – Original Screenplay
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler

Immediate reaction: Boyhood and Birdman were locks, and the latter just won the Golden Globe. This seemed like a good place for A Most Violent Year to land with J.C. Chandor’s clever subversion of Godfather-style crime dramas. Instead, Dan Gilroy’s creepy Nightcrawler made the list.

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2015 Oscar Nominations Show Lack Of Diversity In A Year When Films Didn’t

(By Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 15 January 2015)

It’s altogether fitting that a movie called Whiplash was the last one named Thursday when the nominations for best picture were announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.  If the 87th Academy Awards line-up reflects anything, it’s an industry painfully — and occasionally exhilaratingly — torqued by social, technological and creative forces it can’t quite keep up with.  As the lucky nominees were identified — first by the directors J.J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuaron, then by actor Chris Pine and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, an organization that has already been criticized for being old, white and male looked increasingly so.

With such right-on exceptions as Sandra Adair in the editing category, precious few women were nominated for the top technical and creative awards. High-profile snubs included the author Gillian Flynn, who adapted her novel Gone Girl for the screen, and Selma director Ava DuVernay, who just a few days ago was the first African American woman ever nominated in that category at the Golden Globes. David Oyelowo, was also overlooked for what most critics and viewers agree is a stunning performance as Martin Luther King, Jr. in the film.

In a year when the stunning civil rights film, which chronicled the voting rights movement in 1965, dovetailed all too perfectly with current events — and when historians and former Washington officials aggressively campaigned against Selma’s depiction of Lyndon Baines Johnson — the oversight seems all the more stark.  Had DuVernay been nominated for best director, she would have been the first African American woman to have earned that honor. For now, that barrier will stand another year.

Instead, as photographs of the nominees flashed behind the announcers, what emerged was a depressingly monochrome, uni-gendered visual tableau — reflecting the statistical realities of a steadfastly un-diverse industry. On Tuesday, Martha Lauzen, executive director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, released her annual Celluloid Ceiling report tracking women’s progress within the film business. Her findings were underwhelming, at best.  In 2014, only 17 percent of behind-the-scenes workers on films were women, a mere 1 percent increase from 2013. Women accounted for 7 percent of directors, up 1 percentage point from 2013, but down 2 percentage points from way back in 1998. (If the Oscars are any indication, women have a better times of it in nonfiction: Both Laura Poitras and Rory Kennedy were deservedly nominated for their documentaries Citizenfour and Last Days of Vietnam.)

With the exception of Selma, which gratifyingly received a nod for best picture, the plots of the nominated movies mostly hewed to a monotonous story line, centered around great men either in fact or in the making, whether it’s the Iraq war hero Chris Kyle in American Sniper, Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, Alan Turing in The Imitation Game or the tortured artists played by Michael Keaton and Miles Teller in Birdman and Whiplash.

Boyhood and The Grand Budapest Hotel, also nominated for best picture, may not be about great men, exactly, but they are about great guys — in Boyhood’s case, a kid named Mason whom we see come of age over 12 years in a miraculous time-lapse exercise. In The Grand Budapest Hotel, Ralph Fiennes delivered a beguiling performance as a sensitive European concierge between the wars trying to do the right thing by one of the heiresses he’s made a career flattering and fawning over.  Still, even within a sea of male-driven stories, Boyhood and The Grand Budapest Hotel can’t be accused of giving audiences more of the same. Indeed, along with Selma, Birdman and The Theory of Everything, they represent the kind of vision and daring that only movies are capable of, and desperately need in order to survive a culture increasingly dominated by binge-friendly series on TV and the Web.

At a time when smarts, ambition and adult-friendly subject matter have found safe purchases on network, cable and such streaming upstarts as Netflix and Amazon, cinema has to prove its relevance. Boyhood, which director Richard Linklater filmed over 12 years, finally meshing real life and fiction in an absorbing coming-of-age drama, is just the kind of audacious experiment the medium needs right now. The single continuous shot with which Alejandro G. Inarritu seemed to film Birdman, reflects a similar, go-for-broke sensibility, as does Wes Anderson’s meticulous design, staging and framing throughout The Grand Budapest Hotel.  With Selma and The Theory of Everything, directors DuVernay and James Marsh bring sweep and deeply expressive emotion to biopics that would otherwise be relegated to a high-toned mini-series, giving viewers a theatrical experience all the more potent and affecting for being so gracefully compressed and choreographed for the big screen.  Whether they’re working with a bold, broad canvas or in exacting miniature, these filmmakers are making the most of a cinematic medium that increasingly must prove and re-invent itself.

When the Academy nominates a feature debut like Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash — a relatively conventional kid-and-tough-mentor tale graced by superb performances from Teller and J.K. Simmons, nominated for best supporting actor — it’s staking a claim for the Linklaters, DuVernays and Inarritus of the future. When the Academy nominates sturdy but unremarkable fare like American Sniper and The Imitation Game — both examples of lucid, engrossing storytelling, but neither a technical or artistic knock-out — it’s keeping one slow-moving foot stubbornly in its past. Even when it seems willing to swing for the fences, the risk-averse movie industry will always play it safe.  The 87th Academy Awards will air on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. on ABC.

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Oscar Noms: A Lot To Celebrate, Mourn And Ponder (Analysis)

(By Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 January 2015)

 I was at the announcement of the 87th Oscar nominations, bright and early on Thursday morning, and as the hosts announced the categories — all 24, for the first time — I quickly filled up page after page with notes about things to celebrate, mourn and ponder.  The eight films that landed best picture noms — Warner Bros.' American Sniper, Fox Searchlight's Birdman, IFC Films' Boyhood, Searchlight's The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Weinstein Co.'s The Imitation Game, Paramount's Selma, Focus Features' The Theory of Everything and Sony Pictures Classics' Whiplash — were my top eight picks. None were really shockers. If there had been two more, I think they would have been Nightcrawler and Foxcatcher, but there were not. Many are disappointed that Gone Girl and Unbroken — one about a woman, the other directed by a woman — were left off the list; had either of those films or Interstellar made the cut, they would have been the only ones on the list to have grossed more than $100 million.   Foxcatcher and Interstellar, meanwhile, become the films with the most nominations but no best picture nom (five) since, you guessed it, another film by the enigmatic Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight, the snub of which led to the expansion of the best picture Oscar category in the hope of increasing the diversity of the nominees.

Alas, even with the option of nominating as many as 10 films, the Academy continues to gravitate toward certain genres and subject matters and not others.  For point of reference, the BFCA's 10 best picture Critics' Choice nominees included seven of the eight (not American Sniper); the HFPA's 10 best picture Golden Globe nominees (five drama and five musical/comedy) included six of the eight (not American Sniper and Whiplash); the AFI's top 11 films included six of the eight (not The Theory of Everything and Whiplash); the PGA's top 10 films included seven of the eight (not Selma); and the National Board of Review's top 10 films included four of the eight (not The Grand Budapest Hotel, Selma, The Theory of Everything and Whiplash), and their best film (A Most Violent Year) was not nominated for best picture for the first time in 14 years (since Quills).

In the best director race, it was largely expected that nominations would go to Alejandro G. Inarritu (Birdman), a nominee eight years ago for Babel, as well as Richard Linklater (Boyhood), Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel) and Weinstein Co. special Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game), all first-timers in the category and DGA nominees on Wednesday. Many suspected that American Sniper's Clint Eastwood, long an Academy favorite and also a DGA nominee yesterday, would grab the fifth spot and, at 84, become the oldest best director nominee in history by more than five years. I suspected that the fifth spot would go to Whiplash's 29-year-old filmmaker Damien Chazelle, a "boy wonder" in the order of Beasts of the Southern Wild's Benh Zeitlin, who was nominated two years ago.  And I hoped that it might go to Selma's Ava DuVernay, a wonderful up-and-coming filmmaker who would have been the first black female ever nominated for this prize.   In the end, however, the members of the directors branch went with Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher — Cannes' choice, as well — whose film was not nominated by the full Academy (the last film to receive a directing nom without a picture nom was The Diving Bell and the Butterfly seven years ago), unlike his previous two films, Capote (for which Miller was also nominated) and Moneyball (for which he was not). DuVernay, meanwhile, becomes the eighth woman to direct a film that received a best picture nom but not a best director nom.

The best actor category was easily the most competitive this year, but slots were always thought to be sewn up by Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything (my projected frontrunner since Toronto), Michael Keaton for Birdman (the comeback kid) and Benedict Cumberbatch for The Imitation Game (the anchor of a very popular movie). Most thought that the fourth spot would go to Selma's David Oyelowo for his towering portrayal of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but he was excluded altogether (all 20 acting noms went to white actors). Alas, the final two slots went not to Nightcrawler's Jake Gyllenhaal or The Grand Budapest Hotel's Ralph Fiennes, whom some were picking, but to American Sniper's Bradley Cooper, who I predicted, and Foxcatcher's Steve Carell — two men whom nobody would have dreamed of as Oscar nominees a decade ago when they were the stars of Wedding Crashers and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, respectively. It's the first Oscar nom for Carell, but the third consecutive year in which Cooper has received one, something only nine other male actors have ever done: Spencer Tracy (1936-38), Gary Cooper (1941-43), Gregory Peck (1945-47), Marlon Brando (1951-54), Richard Burton (1964-66), Al Pacino (1972-75), Jack Nicholson (1973-75), William Hurt (1985-87) and Russell Crowe (1999-2001). Not bad company.

The best actress race was always thought to be a lot easier to predict, if only because there were so few viable options. The slam-dunks were always Still Alice's Julianne Moore (now a five-time nominee still seeking her first win), Wild's Reese Witherspoon (who won this category nine years ago), The Theory of Everything's Felicity Jones and Gone Girl's Rosamund Pike (both first-time nominees), all of whom received the three major precursor noms — Critics' Choice, Golden Globe and SAG — which collectively almost always guarantee an Oscar nom. So, too, however, did Cake's Jennifer Aniston, who, alas, was bounced on Thursday morning by Marion Cotillard for a remarkable, Critics' Choice-nominated performance in the Belgian film Two Days, One Night, marking the second time that the Frenchwoman has been nominated in this category for a performance in a foreign language. (The last time, seven years ago for La Vie en Rose, she won.)  I feel sorry for Aniston and just as much for her awards consultant Lisa Taback, who mounted one of the most impressive awards campaigns in history — which succeeded in changing the way people look at the former Friends star, if not quite getting her to the big show. It's also semi-noteworthy that the Academy resisted replacing Aniston with Big Eyes' Amy Adams, who won a Golden Globe over the weekend, and who has accrued more acting Oscar noms over the past decade than anyone else except Meryl Streep.

Best supporting actor went exactly as expected, with noms going to Whiplash's veteran character actor J.K. Simmons, a first-time nominee and the presumptive frontrunner, as well as Birdman's Edward Norton (whose two prior noms came back in the 1990s), Boyhood's Ethan Hawke (whose prior nom came, appropriately enough, 13 years ago, just before he started filming Boyhood), Foxcatcher's Mark Ruffalo (nominated four years ago) and The Judge's Robert Duvall (an Oscar winner in the lead category 31 years ago and now, at 84, the oldest person ever nominated in this category, surpassing Hal Holbrook, who was 82 when he was nominated for Into the Wild).

Best supporting actress, however, had one surprise — for most people. Everyone assumed Boyhood's Patricia Arquette and Birdman's Emma Stone (both first-time nominees), The Imitation Game's Keira Knightley (last nominated nine years ago) and Into the Woods' Meryl Streep (extending her record number of acting Oscar noms to 19) were in good shape, but that fifth spot was a nagging question. Would it go to Jessica Chastain, the Globes' pick for A Most Violent Year, or perhaps for Interstellar? Would it go to St. Vincent's Naomi Watts, SAG's pick? How about Rene Russo, a BAFTA nominee for her first film in years, Nightcrawler?  Or Snowpiercer's Tilda Swinton, whose screener reached voters before most others? In the end, it went — as I'm pleased to say I was the only one to predict — to Wild's Laura Dern, the actors' actor, who was last Oscar-nominated 23 years ago for Rambling Rose. My rationale for picking her is the she's a beloved vet who has worked all the time and with just about everybody, and this year, despite having only a few minutes of screen time in Wild, gave a great and emotionally provocative performance and benefited from making the rounds with her co-star Witherspoon, according her both attention and a partner with whom to discuss the issue of spousal abuse that the film highlights.

The screenplay noms went pretty much as expected. On the original side, Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Nightcrawler and Foxcatcher — the five that I and most others expected to get in — got in. (Selma was left out, perhaps because of the controversy that has been raised over its depiction of former President Lyndon B. Johnson.) On the adapted side, Whiplash, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything and American Sniper earned noms but, in the fifth slot, one highly divisive film edged out another: Paul Thomas Anderson's take on Thomas Pynchon's novel Inherent Vice was picked over Gone Girl, which was adapted for the screen by the woman who wrote the best-selling novel of the same title, Gillian Flynn. (Flynn would have been the first woman ever to earn an Oscar nom for adapting her own novel into a script. Still Alice and Wild, two films adapted by men from books by women, were also overlooked.)

One of the biggest shockers of the morning came when the critical and commercial hit The Lego Movie, which I and many others regarded as the best bet to win the best animated feature category, wasn't even nominated for it, clearing the way for another two-horse race between DreamWorks Animation (How to Train Your Dragon 2) and Disney (Big Hero 6), with Focus Features' 3D stop-motion pic The Boxtrolls — the third film in the last six years from the specialty production company Laika to earn a nom in this category, after Coraline and ParaNorman — potentially playing the spoiler. It's also noteworthy that GKIDS, a small distributor of Japanese films in America, received multiple noms for the second time in four years with both of its hand-drawn hopefuls, Song of the Sea and The Tale of Princess Kaguya, earning noms. How could Lego have missed and these much lower-profile films have made it? As one Academy member told me this morning, "They [the members of the animation branch] are old f—s and many are Europeans and they hate seeing traditional animation slip away."

Two of the biggest outrages of the morning came in the best documentary feature category with the snubs of Life Itself, the Roger Ebert pic directed by Steve James — who was famously screwed out of another "sure-thing" Oscar nom 20 years ago with Hoop Dreams — and Al Hicks' deeply moving music doc Keep On Keepin' On, an audience favorite since its premiere at Tribeca last spring. (It won the audience award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival just yesterday.) The five docs that did make the cut were Laura Poitras' controversial Edward Snowden portrait Citizenfour, which will now coast to an Oscar victory, as well as Orlando von Einsiedel's harrowing Virunga (which makes this the second year in a row in which a Netflix-distributed doc is nominated, following last year's The Square, and also, believe it or not, becomes the second doc about the Congo's Virunga National Park to be nominated in this category, following 1966's Le Volcan interdit), Rory Kennedy's archival footage assemblage Last Days in Vietnam and two photography-centric pics, Charlie Siskel and John Maloof's mystery Finding Vivian Maier and Wim Wenders (now a three-time nominee in the category) and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado's profile of the photographer Sebastiao Salgado, The Salt of the Earth.

The foreign-language film category was less surprising, with the four heaviest hitters emerging from the shortlist of nine — Poland's stark Ida (the critics' choice and also a nominee this morning for best cinematography), Argentina's hilarious Wild Tales (the people's choice), Russia's ballsy Leviathan (which won the Golden Globe last weekend) and Mauritania's frightening Timbuktu (the first film ever submitted for Oscar consideration by its country) — along with the Golden Globe-nominated Tangerines, the first Estonian film ever nominated, which held off Sweden's Force Majeure and three others. Four of the five nominees were among those who joined me earlier this month for a Palm Springs International Film Festival panel discussion, which you can watch here.

The cinematography category featured Birdman (Emmanuel Lubezki, last year's winner for Gravity, could repeat for this film's simulation of a single shot), Unbroken (by branch favorite Roger Deakins), the aforementioned Ida (these guys love black-and-white), The Grand Budapest Hotel and Mr. Turner. I thought a spot might go to Interstellar, a massive-scale undertaking by Hoyte van Hoytema; meanwhile, the highly respected Robert Elswit (Nightcrawler and Inherent Vice) and Bradford Young (Selma and A Most Violent Year) may well have canceled themselves out.

Widely expected costume design noms went to Into the Woods (marking the fourth time Colleen Atwood has been nominated for her work on a Rob Marshall film — she's won for two), Maleficent, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Mr. Turner. Inherent Vice, a '70s period piece costumed by The Artist Oscar winner Mark Bridges, held off the likes of The Immigrant, a '20s period piece costumed by the legendary Patricia Norris, and Interstellar, costumed by Mary Zophres.

Film editing noms went, as expected, to Boyhood (12 years of material cut together into one mind-freakingly flowing film), Whiplash (when else has drum-playing ever set your heart racing?), The Grand Budapest Hotel, American Sniper and The Imitation Game. (It was probably foolhardy of me to think that Birdman might sneak in here, considering how little editing is actually featured in the long-take film!)  The Grand Budapest Hotel, Foxcatcher and Guardians of the Galaxy claimed the three makeup and hairstyling slots. Maleficent and The Theory of Everything were among those left out.

For The Imitation Game and The Grand Budapest Hotel, the great French composer Alexandre Desplat landed his seventh and eighth best original score noms in the last nine years — a remarkable feat, all the more remarkable because he has yet to win. He's joined in the category by Johann Johannsson for The Theory of Everything (which won the Golden Globe), perennial nominee Hans Zimmer for Interstellar and Gary Yershon, a first-time nominee, for Mr. Turner. No luck this year for Gone Girl's Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who won five years ago for The Social Network, or the eminently worthy two-time nominee Marco Beltrami for The Homesman.

Best original song, a category I was thrilled to go five-for-five predicting, is hard to argue with. The nom for "Lost Stars" from Begin Again brings former New Radicals frontman Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois their first Oscar noms.  "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" from Glen Campbell … I'll Be Me is the poignant final song from the Alzheimer's-afflicted Glen Campbell and brings that legend his first-ever nom. "Glory" is Common and John Legend's rousing anthem from Selma, "Everything Is Awesome" is the theme song for The Lego Movie (at least the film got something) and "Grateful," from Beyond the Lights, increases the great Diane Warren's nomination tally to seven (it's her first in 13 years) — and somehow or other she's still seeking her first win. This category is gonna be a nail-biter.

The production design nom for The Grand Budapest Hotel is, if you can believe it, the first ever accorded to a Wes Anderson-directed film — I mean, what is more front-and-center in Wes Anderson films than production design?! — and the second nom in a row for Adam Stockhausen, who was up for 12 Years a Slave last year. He will compete this time with Into the Woods' Dennis Gassner, a winner 23 years ago for Bugsy — interestingly, set decorator Anna Pinnock is co-nominated on both projects — as well as Interstellar's Nathan Crowley and Gary Fettis, The Imitation Game's Maria Djurkovic and Tatiana Macdonald and Mr. Turner's Suzie Davies and Charlotte Watts. I thought Birdman might pick up another nom here, but it was not to be.  Birdman did, however, show up in both sound categories, editing and mixing, as did American Sniper, Interstellar and Unbroken. The fifth editing nom went to The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, while the fifth mixing nom went to Whiplash. (It's somewhat surprising that Into the Woods, a musical, missed on the latter, and that Interstellar, which has been much-maligned for its sound quality, landed noms in both.)

And the visual effects category's slam-dunks Interstellar, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Guardians of the Galaxy were joined by Captain America: The Winter Soldier and X-Men: Days of Future Past (whatever that title means), rather than The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (a rare snubbing of a WETA project, which, nevertheless, has its Dawn nom to comfort it) and Transformers: Age of Extinction.  Congratulations to all of the nominees — and also to Fox Searchlight, Sony Classics and Sundance Selects/IFC Films, which landed unprecedented numbers of noms for their companies: 20 (more than any major studio), 18 and eight, respectively.

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Oscars 2015: A Weird Season Ends With Something for Just About Everyone

(By Scott Feinberg, Hollywood Reporter, 23 February 2015)

The 87th Oscars ceremony took place on Sunday night in Hollywood. Now that the winners have been announced and the red carpets have been rolled up and put in storage — at least until May's Cannes Film Festival — it is incumbent upon me to try to perform a postmortem on the results (and my own performance as a prognosticator). What happened and why? Let's take a look. 

The main answer is that the Academy reminded us, as they last did four years ago when The King's Speech beat The Social Network to win best picture, that they are a unique beast — a different animal than the general public, which propelled American Sniper to higher grosses than all of the category's other nominees combined, and than the critical community, which almost uniformly backed Boyhood. Once the guilds started weighing in, they went, pretty much as a bloc, for Birdman.  Why did Birdman appeal more to filmmakers than to other constituencies? One major reason is surely that its story is relatable, on a certain level, in that it revolves around people from their same professional universe, just like two other movies that recently won best picture, The Artist and Argo — that's a grand total of three in four years. (Hollywood might be a little narcissistic? I'm shocked!) Conversely, Boyhood is about a family that couldn't be further from the sphere of Hollywood.

In the end, Birdman bagged four wins — not a huge total for a best picture winner, and one that was tied by The Grand Budapest Hotel, which won exclusively below-the-line categories — and the other seven best picture nominees all claimed at least one. (Who could have imagined, just a few weeks ago, that Whiplash would be awarded as many Oscars as Boyhood, American Sniper and Selma combined?!)

One of the big takeaways from this season is that releasing an awards contender in mid- to late December — especially one that engenders controversy and debate, as did Christmas releases Sniper and Selma — is something to be avoided, at least as long as the major guilds insist on beginning their nomination voting periods in the first week of the month. Why? Because it causes a distributor to spend its entire campaign trying to dig itself out of a hole. Neither Sniper nor Selma received a single SAG Award nom, for instance. Sniper's phenomenal box-office success enabled it to overcome that early setback and land Bradley Cooper an Oscar nom, but Selma had no such luxury and that — along with a late screener mailing and an outcry over some historical inaccuracies in its story — didn't do any favors for David Oyelowo. (Both films' directors, Clint Eastwood and Ava DuVernay, were also left out.) There is no reason why these major guilds need voting periods that start so early and last so long, especially when many of them conduct voting online.

Speaking of the acting categories, the outcomes of three of the four were never really in question: Still Alice's Julianne Moore was the obvious standout in an otherwise poor year for female performances, and I called her best actress win back in Toronto and never wavered. Whiplash's J.K. Simmons had the showiest part of the best supporting actor nominees and was never not the frontrunner. And Boyhood's Patricia Arquette essentially sealed the deal on best supporting actress the minute The Theory of Everything's Felicity Jones and/or her team opted for a push in the leading category; I believe that Jones might well have won had she stayed in the supporting category, in which people who played similar parts — i.e. My Left Foot's Brenda Fricker and A Beautiful Mind's Jennifer Connelly — did come away winners. But maybe it was more important to her/them to establish her as a leading lady, which has happened. To each their own.

The one acting race that was fascinating to watch right through Oscar night was best actor. Twenty men gave performances that were worthy of a nom this year, and of the five who got one I would argue that any one of them could have won in a lesser year. The fact that Theory's Eddie Redmayne — a young Brit who was certainly not a household name at the outset of this season — did is attributable to a variety of factors. First and foremost, he gave a performance for the ages — but that in itself is not enough, since many would argue that Birdman's Michael Keaton did the same thing. What he did that Keaton did not is he completely transformed himself in order to play another person — Stephen Hawking, who was familiar to just about everyone, making Redmayne's challenge harder — and he pulled it off so well that that Hawking himself offered him a ringing endorsement. In spite of all of this, Keaton, a popular veteran, might well have won had he embraced the fact that he was playing a version of himself, but he did not. Plus Redmayne simply out-campaigned him — good luck finding a hand in town that Redmayne has not shaken or a baby that he has not kissed.

Other takeaways? While one "rule" is now no more (no film had won best picture without a best film editing nom since Ordinary People until Birdman, with its simulated single-shot, did it), several others were reaffirmed. Do not bet against the DGA (the group, which picked Birdman's Alejandro G. Inarritu over Boyhood's Richard Linklater, has now called all but seven best director Oscar winners in 67 years). Do not bet against the PGA-DGA-SAG combo (like every other film that won the top prizes of all three groups except for Apollo 13, Birdman went on to win the best picture Oscar). SAG is a pretty solid predictor alone (all four of its winners repeated at the Oscars, and SAG has now anticipated each of the last 11 best actor winners). Muckraking docs tend to win (see best doc feature Oscar winner Citizenfour). Black-and-white and Holocaust-related films tend to win (see best foreign-language film Oscar winner Ida). Animated sequels tend not to win, even if they are very good (see Big Hero 6's victory over How to Train Your Dragon 2 in the best animated feature Oscar category). And the list goes on.  (Admittedly, I myself forgot or ignored some of these rules, as is reflected on my predictions tally this year, which was not nearly as strong as it usually is. I did, however, pick the correct best picture and best actor, which is more than a lot of people with better overall tallies this year can say.)

The Oscars ceremony itself — while always a great thrill to attend — did not strike me as one of the better ones in recent memory, despite the fact that it was hosted by the most capable person in the world for that job, Neil Patrick Harris. I was disappointed that the Harris that people know and love — the loose, singing, dancing and joking showman — was largely replaced by a guy with a few good, if not great, scripted one-liners, and a running gag about his own Oscar predictions that never really paid off. Fortunately, he was bailed out, in a sense, by several great music performances: all of the nominated songs were good and went over well — even if several of them were cut to pieces, apparently for time — especially "Glory" from Selma, and Lady Gaga's Sound of Music tribute and Jennifer Hudson's In Memoriam tribute were both showstoppers as well.

Also interesting was a return to acceptance speeches calling for social change — ironically, not as much from the Citizenfour folks as from Arquette (equal pay for equal work), Selma's Common and John Legend (reforms to laws that land blacks in prison in record numbers for nonviolent crimes) and The Imitation Game's best adapted screenplay winner Graham Moore (anti-bullying).

So, as we put another season in the books, let me congratulate all of the nominees and winners — including Fox Searchlight and New Regency, which had a best picture winner for the second year in a row; Focus Features, which had a best actor winner for the second year in a row; and Radius-TWC, which had a best documentary feature winner for the second year in a row. Also, Sony Classics had a second straight best actress winner and Disney has a second consecutive best animated feature winner.

Let me express my gratitude to my family, friends and colleagues for their support throughout the long Oscar season. And let me thank you, the readers of this blog, for your interest in what I have to say, which inspires me to work as hard as I can at a job that I love. We'll be in touch — the Tony season starts soon, the Emmy season not long after that and, before you know it, we'll be right back here talking Oscars all over again.

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Oscar Voter Reveals Brutally Honest Ballot: "There's No Art to 'Selma,'" 'Boyhood' "Uneven"

(By Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, February 2015)

This is a lightly edited transcript of a conversation with an Academy member who is not associated with any of this year's nominees about his/her ballot. A conversation with a different member will post each day leading up to the Oscars ceremony on Feb. 22. Needless to say, their views are not necessarily endorsed by Scott Feinberg or THR.

VOTER PROFILE: A longtime member of the Academy's 378-member public relations branch.

➻ BEST PICTURE

First, let me say that I'm tired of all of this talk about "snubs" — I thought for every one of [the snubs] there was a justifiable reason. What no one wants to say out loud is that Selma is a well-crafted movie, but there's no art to it. If the movie had been directed by a 60-year-old white male, I don't think that people would have been carrying on about it to the level that they were. And as far as the accusations about the Academy being racist?  Yes, most members are white males, but they are not the cast of Deliverance — they had to get into the Academy to begin with, so they're not cretinous, snaggletoothed hillbillies. When a movie about black people is good, members vote for it. But if the movie isn't that good, am I supposed to vote for it just because it has black people in it? I've got to tell you, having the cast show up in T-shirts saying "I can't breathe" [at their New York premiere] — I thought that stuff was offensive. Did they want to be known for making the best movie of the year or for stirring up shit?

American Sniper is the winner of the year, whether or not it gets a single statuette, because for all of us in the movie industry — I don't care what your politics are — it is literally the answer to a prayer for a midrange budget movie directed by an 84-year-old guy [Clint Eastwood] to do this kind of business. It shows that a movie can galvanize America and shows that people will go if you put something out that they want to see. With regard to what it did or didn't leave out, it's a movie, not a documentary. I enjoyed it, I thought it was well done, and I can separate out the politics from the filmmaking.

The Grand Budapest Hotel, like American Sniper, is a big hero this year because it shows that people can and will remember how much they loved a movie, even if it comes out in March. I am not a Wes Anderson fan, but as his movies go, I liked it.  Birdman is a great job by Fox Searchlight — it's a weird, quirky movie that they did a really good job of selling. I never thought that it would make it all the way to the finish line like it has — but then I remember that it's about a tortured actor, and when you think about who is doing the voting, at SAG and the Academy, it's a lot of other tortured actors. I just don't know how much it's resonating out in the world. I mean, American Sniper made more in its third weekend in wide release than Birdman has made in its entirety.

If you told me when I saw Boyhood that it would win best picture — or even be in the running — I would have told you that you were insane. Watching it, I thought it was ambitious and a directorial triumph, but the kid was uneven and Patricia Arquette probably was sorry she agreed to let them film her age over 12 years. I never thought, "Wow, this is the one!"

The funny thing about Whiplash is that while the rest of the world thinks that the J.K. Simmons character is an overbearing, horrible monster, there are many people in Hollywood who would model themselves on that character. As for the film itself, it's a very traditional story, in some ways, about mentoring and excellence — that kind of movie has existed since [the 1933 film] 42nd Street. "You're gonna go out there, and I'm gonna yell at you that you can do better, and you're not gonna like me for it but then you will."

The Theory of Everything is, to me, the Merchant-Ivory movie of the year — that and The Imitation Game both occupy that kind of Britishy slot. I liked it, but I didn't love it. They got a good start in Toronto, and [Eddie Redmayne's] performance is very strong. But it's what I call a "filler" nominee: It's one of those movies that people write in but that doesn't stand a chance of winning.

On paper, The Imitation Game seemed to be the one to me. It's a great story, well-crafted, [Benedict Cumberbatch] is really good and it's been a big success. It's what you call "prestige filmmaking." So why isn't it receiving more recognition? I'd like to believe it's karma for Harvey [Weinstein]. But I'm going to hold my nose and vote for it anyway because when you vote for best picture, what you should try to do is vote for the movie that, years from now, people will still watch and talk about. For some years, it's like, "Huh?! Around the World in 80 Days [the winner for 1956] won best picture? Are you kidding me?" So I try to vote in a way so that, in 50 years, people aren't going to go, "Huh?!" MY VOTE: (1) The Imitation Game; (2) Birdman; (3) American Sniper; (4) Boyhood; (5) The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST DIRECTOR

I'm voting for Richard Linklater. I think that what he did — as a "thing" — is extraordinary. I'm absolutely comfortable with breaking up picture and director; I wouldn't know [The Imitation Game's] Morten Tyldum if I walked into him. I thought all of the others were fine except for one: I could have watched my hair grow during Foxcatcher — it was so slow. MY VOTE: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

➻ BEST ACTOR

I'm voting for [Birdman's] Michael Keaton because I love him and for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is he seems like a completely sane person who lives in the middle of the country and works when he wants to work. I've loved every interview that he's done. He seems grateful, not particularly needy, and I don't know when he'll ever get another chance at this; the other nominees will. What Keaton had to do was harder than what the others had to do because they had the benefit of playing real people. I mean, Eddie Redmayne did an amazing impression of Stephen Hawking, but Keaton created a character from whole cloth. MY VOTE: Michael Keaton (Birdman)

➻ BEST ACTRESS

I'm not sorry that Jennifer Aniston isn't nominated; she was fine, but I thought her movie [Cake] was ridiculous. [Two Days, One Night's] Marion Cotillard gave a really good performance, and I was glad she made it through. [The Theory of Everything's] Felicity Jones was fine, but she kind of came in on the ticket with [Redmayne]. I didn't like Gone Girl [which starred Rosamund Pike]. Reese [Witherspoon in Wild] was very good, but that movie was not. But the minute I saw Still Alice, I remember thinking, "This [best actress race] is over. Four other women are going to have to get dressed and go to 5,000 dinners knowing they have no chance." MY VOTE: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Robert Duvall [for The Judge] was an "Uh-huh, sure, fine." [Boyhood's] Ethan Hawke gave a very strong performance. Edward Norton was great in Birdman — he was hilarious. And even though I didn't like Foxcatcher, I have to say Mark Ruffalo was good. But J.K. Simmons' performance was in a different league. It's kind of ironic that he's in "supporting," right? I'm voting for him because he was great in the movie — and because he was in 5,000 episodes of Law & Order. In other words, he's been acting forever, I've seen enough of his work to know he is a journeyman, and I'm happy to be able to recognize him. MY VOTE: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

[Wild's] Laura Dern was good, but I didn't think she was as good as [A Most Violent Year's] Jessica Chastain. Keira Knightley was fine and got in on the [Imitation Game] ticket. Emma Stone was pretty good [in Birdman], but she can do no wrong — she's like Meryl Streep, although I wish [the film for which Streep is nominated] Into the Woods stopped after 20 minutes. But I'm voting for Arquette. She gets points for working on a film for 12 years and bonus points for having no work done during the 12 years. If she had had work done during the 12 years, she would not be collecting these statues. It's a bravery reward. It says, "You're braver than me. You didn't touch your face for 12 years. Way to freakin' go!" MY VOTE: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

➻ BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

I put in the Inherent Vice screener, and it became apparent that it's a terrible, incoherent movie, so I turned it off. I thought it was not possible for me to hate something more than I hated The Master, but I hated this more. MY VOTE: The Imitation Game

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

I'm not voting for Nightcrawler — that was really unpleasant. With Foxcatcher, they said seven words in the whole movie and the rest of it was people staring at each other, so I'm not voting for that. I didn't really get the sense of a screenplay with Boyhood — it was more like they just turned on the camera once a year. Birdman and Budapest were both pretty clever, but I liked Birdman more. MY VOTE: Birdman

➻ BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

If you can call anything a "snub," this year, it was The Lego Movie, which was one of the best movies of the year. I don't know what happened there, but it is inconceivable to me. Of the five they did nominate, my favorite is Big Hero 6, which was adorable and original. MY VOTE: Big Hero 6

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

I thought Finding Vivian Maier was the most interesting. I don't get the whole Citizenfour thing — he [Edward Snowden] is annoying, he has a little bit of a God complex and a lot of what's in there I felt I'd seen in other places. MY VOTE: Finding Vivian Maier

➻ BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

I haven't seen enough of them to vote. MY VOTE: I abstain.

➻ BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The Birdman single-shot thing gave me a headache. Roger Deakins did a great job on Unbroken and he deserves to finally win one of these, but the cinematography was amazing on Grand Budapest Hotel. MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST COSTUME DESIGN

If you're going to do it, do it. They went for it with the Budapest costumes. The rest of them just looked like the same old thing. I know some people are excited about Into the Woods, but to me it just looked like that fairy-tale show that ABC airs Sunday nights [Once Upon a Time]. MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST FILM EDITING

I usually talk to an editor before I vote for this category, and this year he confirmed what I already felt: Whiplash was very well edited, but Boyhood was a unique job. Cutting 12 years of crap down to a decent length can't be easy. MY VOTE: Boyhood

➻ BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

I was happy to have the chance to vote for Guardians of the Galaxy. It could have and should have been nominated for best picture; I nominated it. MY VOTE: Guardians of the Galaxy

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

[Double-nominee Alexandre] Desplat works so much that eventually he'll win, but I didn't particularly like the score for Budapest or The Imitation Game. I liked the score for The Theory of Everything. MY VOTE: The Theory of Everything

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SONG

It's not even close for me: "Everything Is Awesome" is a great song and voting for it is a way to give something to The Lego Movie. MY VOTE: "Everything Is Awesome"

➻ BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

It's taken awhile for the "tweeness" of [Wes Anderson's] movies to become accepted. It used to be much more of an acquired taste, but now it's become much more mainstream. MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST SOUND EDITING

➻ BEST SOUND MIXING

I never vote for these categories because I have no idea what's good sound or bad sound — and believe me, I'm not alone among Academy members. MY VOTE FOR BOTH: I abstain.

➻ BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

I don't think I should be able to vote for this category either, but I can't resist another opportunity to support Guardians of the Galaxy. It should get something. MY VOTE: Guardians of the Galaxy

➻ BEST ANIMATED SHORT

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

➻ BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

MY VOTE FOR ALL THREE: I abstain.

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Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot No. 2: Voter Finds 'Whiplash' "Offensive," Doesn't "Get" 'Birdman'

VOTER PROFILE: A longtime member of the Academy's 387-member short films and feature animation branch who has been nominated for an Oscar.

➻ BEST PICTURE

Whiplash is offensive — it’s a film about abuse and I don’t find that entertaining at all. My kid would have told me if he had an abusive teacher. I would have sat in on the class, talked to other kids in the class and then said, “This asshole has to go.” [The Grand] Budapest [Hotel] is beautifully made, but its story just isn’t special. I didn’t think Selma was a particularly good film, apart from the main actor [David Oyelowo], and I think the outcry about the Academy being racists for not nominating it for more awards is offensive — we have a two-term president who is a black woman [Cheryl Boone Isaacs] and we give out awards to black people when they deserve them, just like any other group. Birdman, I didn’t get it at all — I look around and it’s doing so well and I just don’t get it. American Sniper glosses over feelings — how do you feel when you kill 170 people? You just see him hesitating in the one scene with the boy who briefly picks up the rocket and then you see him sitting at a bar looking depressed; that’s not enough. As far as The Imitation Game, Alan Turing was very much defined by his repressed homosexuality, and I just don’t think the film deals with that very well. I admired Boyhood and it didn’t bore me, but it doesn’t totally work. But Theory [of Everything] I loved. It was the only one of the nominees that fully worked as a whole film — it was beautifully performed, nicely directed and it was about something — although Boyhood is pretty special for its own reasons. Just because the Academy gives you a preferential ballot with a bunch of lines doesn’t mean you have to fill them all out. Those are only two that I find worthy of the award. MY VOTE: (1) The Theory of Everything, (2) Boyhood

➻ BEST DIRECTOR

What he [Boyhood’s Richard Linklater] did is amazing. Trust me, it’s not easy to make a film over a few months. Twelve years? That’s incredible and demanded a lot of vision and effort. It’s not even close for me because I didn’t especially like the other nominees' pictures. If [The Theory of Everything director] James Marsh had been nominated, it would have been a tougher call for me. MY VOTE: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

➻ BEST ACTOR

I’ve met Stephen Hawking and this guy [The Theory of Everything’s Eddie Redmayne] got him just right — he was the most believable character in all of the movies this year and it’s an amazing performance. I can’t vote for [Birdman’s Michael] Keaton, [The Imitation Game’s Benedict] Cumberbatch or [American Sniper’s Bradley] Cooper because I didn’t really like their movies. [Foxcatcher’s] Steve Carell was interesting — I went to school with some of the du Ponts and I believe it [the film's story] — but the movie wasn’t great. MY VOTE: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

➻ BEST ACTRESS

I loved the movie [The Theory of Everything] and I thought [Felicity Jones] was great. [Still Alice’s] Julianne Moore and the others were all fine but in movies that leave a lot to be desired, and I just can’t separate a performance from the film it’s in. MY VOTE: Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

[The Judge’s Robert] Duvall was fine but he generally needs to do a better job of picking movies; like Bobby De Niro and Barbra Streisand, he would probably have a few more Oscars if he wasn’t in so many bad movies. The one who stood out to me was [Boyhood’s] Ethan Hawke — to sustain a performance over a decade is no easy thing. MY VOTE: Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

I loved Into the Woods a lot more than most people and her performance [Meryl Streep’s] is the main reason why. She’s unbelievable. And no, it doesn’t bother me that she’s won three times before; that’s not how you should be voting. The only other nominee who’s even close is [Boyhood’s] Patricia Arquette. MY VOTE: Meryl Streep (Into the Woods)

➻ BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Making a good film about a well-known real person is really challenging, so I again would go back to The Theory of Everything. Who knows if they got it right about the guys in American Sniper and The Imitation Game? And, to me, turning a short into a feature [Whiplash] is a lesser challenge. MY VOTE: The Theory of Everything

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Boyhood was a very good film but I feel like they came up with the story as they went along. I thought Nightcrawler was masterful. MY VOTE: Nightcrawler

➻ BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Where’s our Finding Nemo this year? It’s not a very great group. I liked Song [of the Sea] and The Tale [of the Princess Kaguya], but I’m voting for [How to Train Your] Dragon [2] because it was superbly entertaining and works on most levels, although its story could be a little better. MY VOTE: How to Train Your Dragon 2

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

I wasn’t blown away by [Finding] Vivian Maier or The Salt of the Earth. Last Days in Vietnam is a well-made film but it’s not entirely engaging. The [Edward] Snowden film [Citizenfour] isn’t that well-made but it has great power because of its content. But with Virunga you have both content and a director who knows how to make a movie. Mountain gorillas are not the sexiest subject matter, but it’s just terrific. MY VOTE: Virunga

➻ BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

I liked Ida a lot, but Leviathan, to me, is hands-down the best film. I was so impressed with the control and the story. He [Andrey Zvyagintsev] is truly one of the masters of film in the world. MY VOTE: Leviathan

➻ BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Ida worked on a lot of levels and it looks so good. MY VOTE: Ida

➻ BEST COSTUME DESIGN

To me, it’s between Maleficent and Into the Woods. How do you break the tie? Maleficent was a lightweight and Into the Woods was genius. MY VOTE: Into the Woods

➻ BEST FILM EDITING

No question it’s Boyhood. With Boyhood you couldn’t take footage from one period and shove it into the other to cover a mistake. I mean, what a hard movie. Each year worked. MY VOTE: Boyhood

➻ BEST MAKEUP and HAIRSTYLING

Here’s a chance to give Guardians of the Galaxy an award. It was a tremendously entertaining and fun movie. MY VOTE: Guardians of the Galaxy

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

My children make fun of me for my lack of knowledge about music, but I do actually sit and listen to the scores when they’re sent to us. I turned off Budapest after a few cuts. I was torn between Interstellar and The Theory of Everything, but concluded that [Interstellar composer] Hans Zimmer overdid it a little. MY VOTE: The Theory of Everything

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SONG

I wasn’t terribly impressed with any of them. There’s no Paul McCartney or Bob Dylan caliber song among them. I’m not a fan of Glen Campbell’s [co-nominated for “I’m Not Gonna Miss You”] at all. The Selma song [“Glory”] doesn’t do anything for me. I hated “Everything Is Awesome.” So, by process of elimination, that leaves “Lost Stars” and “Grateful” for me. MY VOTE: I abstain.

➻ BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

They did a difficult, brilliant, original job on Into the Woods — I mean, a lot of that was shot on sets built on a soundstage! To me, the movie worked on every possible level. MY VOTE: Into the Woods

➻ BEST SOUND EDITING

I loved Interstellar — I like science fiction and that’s a movie with balls. It doesn’t fully work, but what a nice piece of work. And how do you create a sound where there is no sound in a vacuum? I thought it was very creative. MY VOTE: Interstellar

➻ BEST SOUND MIXING

I don’t automatically vote for the same film for sound editing and sound mixing — I know the difference between the two, and as a filmmaker I have so much respect for sound people — but in this case I think the same film deserves both awards. MY VOTE: Interstellar

➻ BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

I give it to the apes! If you can make people believe and care about apes as credible performers, you deserve a lot of points. MY VOTE: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

➻ BEST ANIMATED SHORT

I watched them twice. They were all beautifully made — each one was terrific and I have no complaints. Funnily enough, the weakest was the Disney one [Feast]. But I was so charmed by [The] Dam Keeper. MY VOTE: The Dam Keeper

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Joanna is a very strong film. But I think the film about the suicidal veterans [Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1] is just spectacular, effective and moving. What that film has is what American Sniper is missing: heart. You actually get to the angst of the vets. I’m going for the vets. MY VOTE: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1

➻ BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

None of them are American, right? The weakest was the Israeli one about the woman who takes a guy in her car. I was torn between the other four. MY VOTE: Parvaneh

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Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot No. 3: 'Sniper' Attacks "Not Legitimate," Eddie Redmayne "Transformative"

VOTER PROFILE: A member of the Academy's 386-member writers branch who was nominated for an Oscar within the last decade.

➻ BEST PICTURE

I thought that the attacks on American Sniper were not legitimate. As a screenwriter, I feel like it has always been the case, throughout the history of films, that in order to dramatize someone's life, artistic liberties are taken. If you don't like that, that's why there are documentaries. This is one interpretation of Chris Kyle's journey. I admire it for having a carefully constructed screenplay, a performance so minimalist and nuanced that you could hardly see it, and direction and editing that were phenomenal, particularly in the war scenes.

Birdman I just thought was incredibly ambitious on all levels: directing, acting, the editing of those "continuous" shots. It's not like anything I have seen. It just stood for everything that I love about film.

I wasn't blown away by Boyhood, but I liked its simplicity and, more than anything, I loved experiencing Patricia Arquette's point-of-view as a mother, which was very moving.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a textbook example of what's great about Wes Anderson. His stuff is always amazing.

 

I thought The Imitation Game was one of the most complete films that I saw this year. It tells a historical story I knew very little about, as well as the personal story of Alan Turing that was just heartbreaking, moving and inspiring. I just thought it was fantastic.  Selma, to me, was an incredibly inspiring piece of history. What [director] Ava [DuVernay] did with it and [star] David [Oyelowo]'s performance were both incredible.  I thought that Eddie Redmayne gave the most transformative performance of the year in The Theory of Everything, and its love story was beautiful.

And Whiplash just blew my mind. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Both of those characters were incredible. I believed them. I don't know, it just spoke to me on every level — it was so ambitious and new and raw and revolutionary. MY VOTE: (1) The Imitation Game, (2) Birdman, (3) Whiplash, (4) The Theory of Everything, (5) American Sniper

➻ BEST DIRECTOR

I don't feel that the best director must be the director of the best picture. I'm open to the split because some directors deserve to be celebrated for their ambition and vision. Look at somebody like [Boyhood's Richard] Linklater: You might say, "Is that really an Oscar movie?" But when you think about how ambitious it was, what he set out to do and tell, you're like, "Yeah, I could see voting for him." This year, though, I just thought [Alejandro G. Inarritu]'s film was so ambitious and was such a great journey and so challenging that I felt like he deserved best director. MY VOTE: Alejandro G. Inarritu (Birdman)

➻ BEST ACTOR

Although every one of the nominated performances were incredible, this one is kind of easy for me because I always think in terms of what was the most transformative, and it seemed to me that Eddie Redmayne was clearly that. It just was so real. MY VOTE: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

➻ BEST ACTRESS

Again, [Still Alice] Julianne Moore's was the most transformative. She nailed it. MY VOTE: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

This was a tough one because I thought [Foxcatcher's Mark] Ruffalo was so nuanced and understated. But I don't know if he had as much screen time as [Whiplash's] J.K. [Simmons] — and J.K. was just unreal. His performance is in a category by itself. MY VOTE: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

None of them blew my mind, but [Boyhood's] Patricia Arquette stuck out the most. She captured this single mother raising children while trying to keep it all together so well. MY VOTE: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

➻ BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Inherent Vice I thought was a disaster, an embarrassment almost. I don't know, I was just so disappointed because [writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson] is one of my favorite filmmakers and it just felt lazy, incoherent and a waste of such talent and money. And Theory, I felt, was more about the performances than the dialogue or characterization. The others are all great in their own ways. Sniper is an incredibly difficult story to tell and [Jason Hall] pulled it off and I thought it was great, but, all-around, it had some problems; that third act was problematic. Whiplash was fantastic and introduces a great new voice [writer-director Damien Chazelle]. But when I look at all the factors — character, plot, story, dialogue — Imitation Game just stood out. MY VOTE: The Imitation Game

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

This is a tough category. Budapest just didn't grab me. Nightcrawler was more performance-driven than script-driven. Boyhood was a little simplistic. I loved Foxcatcher, but I just thought Birdman was so original and interesting and deserves to be awarded. MY VOTE: Birdman

➻ BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

I never got a chance to watch those screeners. There were so many films to watch and I just had to pick and choose. MY VOTE: I abstain.

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

I saw Last Days in Vietnam, Virunga and Citizenfour. For me, it was between Citizenfour, which is excellent, and Virunga. The makers of both films took huge risks to get them made, but I had to go with Virunga — which I watched on Netflix before I got the screener — because I just feel that the plight of the gorillas, matched with what's going on in the Congo, matched with what we do for oil, impacted me more. That was a really hard one, but I think more people need to know about what's going on over there, and I think if it wins then more people will. I guess I'm just a sucker for the gorilla. MY VOTE: Virunga

➻ BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM

I saw one film and I thought it was excellent: Ida. Everything about it was fantastic. MY VOTE: Ida

➻ BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

I voted for Ida because it was black-and-white, there were these incredible contrasts and the cinematography completely fed the mood of the film and felt like a character within the film. The way they shot it was just gorgeous and added so much gravitas to it. MY VOTE: Ida

➻ BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Unfortunately, I didn't see Maleficent or Mr. Turner. I went with Budapest. MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST FILM EDITING

I thought the editing was superb on Sniper, but I went with Whiplash because I felt it was a character in the film, those sequences of him drumming, you know? MY VOTE: Whiplash

➻ BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

I went with Guardians of the Galaxy just because I loved the film, I love Nicole [Perelman, its co-writer] and I thought the hair and makeup on Zoe Saldana and the tree was great. MY VOTE: Guardians of the Galaxy

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

I just remember [the score of] The Theory of Everything, which I thought was beautiful and moving, and I don't really remember [the scores of] any of the others except The Imitation Game. MY VOTE: The Theory of Everything

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SONG

I thought The Lego Movie [in which "Everything Is Awesome" is featured] was horrible. It was whack and I just did not like it at all — I mean, I couldn't even get through the film. But "Glory" I thought was fantastic — an inspiring song from an inspiring film. MY VOTE: "Glory" (Selma)

➻ BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

I didn't see Into the Woods or Mr. Turner. Budapest revolved so much around its production design — they created a whole world with this fantasy-land, fairy-tale hotel. Interstellar I just thought was an abomination — like, I just didn't get it on any level and I thought it was so boring and awful and fucking indulgent and stupid — and although the design was interesting, I just can't vote for it. I have a feeling, as I'm talking to you, that I may have misvoted because, from the trailer, the production design of Into the Woods looked pretty cool. MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST SOUND EDITING

In all honesty, I don't understand the distinction between sound editing and sound mixing. My guess, though, is that sound editing was probably crucial to Sniper. MY VOTE: American Sniper

➻ BEST SOUND MIXING

And my guess is that the sound mixing was probably crucial to Whiplash. MY VOTE: Whiplash

➻ BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

I went again with Guardians of the Galaxy, just to kind of recognize it. MY VOTE: Guardians of the Galaxy

➻ BEST ANIMATED SHORT

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

I didn't get around to seeing them.

MY VOTE FOR BOTH: I abstain.

➻ BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

I saw The Phone Call at a film festival and I thought it was great. That was the only one I saw, unfortunately. MY VOTE: The Phone Call

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Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot No. 4: 'Birdman' "Bored Me to Death," Carell "Blew Me Away"

VOTER PROFILE: A member of the Academy's 1,150-member actors branch who accumulated most of his credits in the 1970s.

➻ BEST PICTURE

I do not think that there were any egregious snubs — Foxcatcher was wonderful and I hoped it would get in, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. And I think the "controversies" were overblown. I didn't think Selma made LBJ [Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson] into a bad guy; in reality, he was a foul-mouthed politician who was protecting himself, but he still came around and ultimately did the right thing, and the film shows that. The movie suggests he was arm-twisted into doing that, and maybe he was, but he still did it, so I had no problem with that at all. And I don't know enough about the real Chris Kyle to know if they got him right or wrong. He certainly comes off like a really good, gung-ho, A1 guy. Maybe he was an asshole — he certainly was not nice to his wife, spending four tours over in the Middle East — but you know what? It's a movie and you're entitled to take artistic liberties.

Overall, I thought Selma was a very good movie, but it didn't blow me away. Birdman bored me to death, although I could appreciate that Michael Keaton was brilliant. I kept postponing watching Boyhood because I didn't think I'd like it, but when I was finally saw it I was very impressed by the amount of work and care and thought that went into it over the years while everybody else was off doing other projects — that movie, to me, embodies movie-making.

I loved The Grand Budapest Hotel. It was a lot of fun, it was totally enjoyable and I love Wes Anderson's quirky, bizarre movies. [The] Imitation Game is a movie that I thought I was gonna like a lot more than I did like it, but I still liked it a lot and it stayed with me. The Theory of Everything is a movie that has two absolutely wonderful performances and I loved it while I was watching it, but it did not stay with me.

Whiplash just affected me. I thought it was so well done. It's a normal story, but all of the elements were working there.

MY VOTE: (1) Boyhood, (2) Whiplash, (3) American Sniper, (4) The Grand Budapest Hotel, (5) The Imitation Game

➻ BEST DIRECTOR

Boyhood was so well put-together that I have to say [Richard] Linklater — that was good filmmaking — although my next choice would have been Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher; that movie just worked for me.

MY VOTE: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

➻ BEST ACTOR

This is the toughest category of them all. They all were brilliant — these five actors were their movies. This was hard because the others were all within millimeters, but I'm gonna go with [Foxcatcher's] Steve Carell because he just blew me away. It was such an intense performance and totally unlike anything he's ever done before.

MY VOTE: Steve Carell (Foxcatcher)

➻ BEST ACTRESS

The immediate answer is [Still Alice's] Julianne Moore. It was such a subtle, wonderful, moving performance, and she's a delightful woman and a wonderful, wonderful actress. Gone Girl is another movie that didn't do much for me, but Rosamund [Pike, its star] was very good. I liked [Wild's] Reese Witherspoon, who I usually don't like. And Marion [Cotillard of Two Days, One Night] and Felicity [Jones of The Theory of Everything] were good. But there's no doubt that it's Julianne Moore.

MY VOTE: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

It's gotta be [J.K.] Simmons for Whiplash because he's what made that film, along with Miles [Teller, his costar]. I love [Foxcatcher's] Mark Ruffalo, and he definitely deserves to be there. Ethan Hawke, out of all of the elements of Boyhood, was probably the least interesting to me. Edward Norton didn't do anything for me in Birdman and may be one reason why I was so not into it. And I like Robert Duvall and The Judge, but not nearly as much as Simmons or Ruffalo.

MY VOTE: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

I'm gonna go for [Boyhood's] Patricia Arquette. I really liked her throughout the movie and I felt like she grew wonderfully well throughout it. Emma Stone, who I'm in lust with — I've always been — did not do it for me in Birdman; really nothing did in that movie except for Michael Keaton. I love [Into the Woods'] Meryl Streep and it looked like she was having so much fun. [Wild's] Laura Dern was very good. And [The Imitation Game's] Keira Knightley, who I'm hot and cold about, I liked very much. But it's Patricia Arquette's year.

MY VOTE: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

➻ BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Inherent Vice is another movie that just didn't do anything for me, so drop that one. Theory of Everything was a nice movie but it didn't hold up for me. Of the other three, I didn't really know how to choose. I wanted to vote for Whiplash, but American Sniper and The Imitation Game were damn well written movies. I went with Sniper — I thought it was a grander story.

MY VOTE: American Sniper

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

A tough one. Boyhood's kept it going. But I'm gonna go with Grand Budapest Hotel for this one because I loved the quirkiness and I loved what they did with it.

MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

I loved Big Hero 6. Then I saw The Boxtrolls and I thought the animation was great — but the movie didn't knock me out. I must admit that I have not seen How to Train Your Dragon 2. But I have seen Song of the Sea and The Tale of Princess Kaguya, both of which I loved very much — they were really unique. If I was just voting for animation, I'd have gone with Boxtrolls. But since you have to consider everything, I went with Big Hero 6.

MY VOTE: Big Hero 6

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

I have not seen Last Days in Vietnam. Picking from the others, I went with Finding Vivian Maier. I loved [The] Salt of the Earth. Citizenfour's topic is interesting and she [Laura Poitras] did a good job, but I grew bored with it, to be honest with you. And Virunga, too — it just got too broad. But I was most impressed with the story of Vivian Maier.

MY VOTE: Finding Vivian Maier

➻ BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Hands-down, Wild Tales. It was so unique, it was so funny — each one of those six episodes were good, sharp, biting fun stories of revenge or karma or however you want to put it. I've seen that movie now three times and I could watch it again. I loved Leviathan, which probably would have been my second choice; I thought it was really intense, good filmmaking, but it's not a movie I would want to watch three times.

MY VOTE: Wild Tales

➻ BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Mr. Turner is in a different class than the others, absolutely. It was an amazing movie to watch.

MY VOTE: Mr. Turner

➻ BEST COSTUME DESIGN

I didn't see Maleficent and, as I said, Inherent Vice just didn't do it for me, although the costume design was very good in it, I must say. Budapest and Into the Woods were so fun and stylized. And I liked the costumes and everything about Mr. Turner — it didn't feel like a Mike Leigh movie, did it?

MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST FILM EDITING

Sniper and Whiplash were edited perfectly, but putting 12 years of Boyhood together must have been an incredibly daunting thing and it was done seamlessly.

MY VOTE: Boyhood

➻ BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

I'm tempted to give it to Budapest on Tilda Swinton alone [the actress was aged decades and is virtually unrecognizable in the film]. But Guardians of the Galaxy I had a lot of fun with and it seemed like it was a much more massive job.

MY VOTE: Guardians of the Galaxy

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Hans Zimmer's score [for Interstellar] did not do it for me. Mr. Turner I really liked a lot. But The Imitation Game and Grand Budapest stand out to me.

MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SONG

I have not seen most of the films that the songs are in.

MY VOTE: I abstain.

➻ BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Another hard one. Even though I've thrown a lot of weight toward Budapest and Imitation Game, I just think Mr. Turner was so beautiful.

MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST SOUND EDITING

I have absolutely no idea what the difference is between this and sound mixing. [laughs] I vote for the movie that I like. I loved The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies and I think the sound is such a big part of it — I have a great sound system at home.

MY VOTE: The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

➻ BEST SOUND MIXING

Again, I don't know enough to make an informed decision. Obviously, the sound in Whiplash, with the drums and music, was so important.

MY VOTE: Whiplash

➻ BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

I haven't seen Captain America [: The Winter Soldier] and I haven't seen X-Men [: Days of Future Past]. Interstellar was okay. Guardians of the Galaxy was fun. But I loved Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

MY VOTE: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

➻ BEST ANIMATED SHORT

I have seen all of these. Feast is absolutely charming and delightful and lovely. But I really, really liked A Single Life.

MY VOTE: A Single Life

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

➻ BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

I didn't get to watch them.

MY VOTE FOR BOTH: I abstain.

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Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot No. 5: I "Love" 'Sniper,' "Just Can't Do It Again" With Streep

VOTER PROFILE: A member of the Academy's 428-member sound branch who has been nominated for an Oscar.

➻ BEST PICTURE

Selma was a really well-made film and very emotional for me. It did not benefit from coming out in the bottom of the ninth inning [an apparent reference to the film's late-year release of screeners]; if it had come out in the seventh inning, we might be looking at a very different situation, but it just got a bit lost because other movies' motors were already revving. Based on the way that we [the Academy] have been able to embrace 12 Years a Slave and various black actors and actresses through the years, I don't believe for one minute that race had anything to do with the director or actor from Selma not getting nominated. There were many people who deserved to be nominated in those categories and weren't — I mean, it was the biggest lead actor field I've ever seen. [Nightcrawler's] Jake Gyllenhaal [not getting nominated]? Come on. Why not talk about another black actor who was worthy of a nomination? There wasn't a better performance this year than Chadwick Boseman in Get On Up. But it [him not being nominated] had nothing to do with him being black. They could have put five other fucking guys in there! It's just that certain movies resonate and certain movies don't. Momentum has so much to do with things. Selma, in my opinion, just got to the party too late.

American Sniper? Bradley Cooper did just a ridiculously phenomenal job, the way that the movie was made brought me back to the way movies used to be made and I completely got who this guy was and his struggle. I don't condone killing in any way, shape or form, but what resonated with me was his motivation for making a change in his life: 9-1-1 [a reference to Sept. 11, 2001]. He wasn't arbitrarily killing people; he was protecting his men and that was his job. People can call him whatever they want; I took the movie just the way it was intended by Clint Eastwood. I mean, I love that movie.

Oh, boy, I didn't care for Birdman. I thought it was inventive and I thought the performances were great, but the style of filmmaking I didn't care for.  Boyhood was genuine and heartfelt. It was a very bold adventure and I was touched by it.  The Grand Budapest Hotel was really clever and I think it deserves more than it will get. Talk about an ensemble unlike any other.  The Imitation Game was powerful. I mean, Cumberbuck [Benedict Cumberbatch] — I don't know how to say his name — like all of these guys, deserves an Oscar. I really liked the movie.

I thought The Theory of Everything was absolutely brilliant and one of my favorite films of the year. It was similar to My Left Foot in the best ways — it's just a remarkable story portrayed impeccably.  Whiplash, to me, is about a performance. I believe this movie is riding on the coattails of [the supporting performance given by] J.K. Simmons. He was great and he made the movie great.

MY VOTE: (1) The Theory of Everything, (2) American Sniper, (3) Boyhood, (4) The Imitation Game, (5) The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST DIRECTOR

The Foxcatcher cat [Bennett Miller] was immediately out for me because I just didn't connect with the movie. [The Grand Budapest Hotel's] Wes Anderson is a really interesting filmmaker and is true to himself always and I find him to be very clever. I give kudos to the Birdman guy [Alejandro G. Inarritu] because I've never seen anything like that; I didn't like it [laughs], but I thought it was really bold. But I voted for [Boyhood's Richard] Linklater because when a passion project like that actually lands it's remarkable and you've got to applaud it.

MY VOTE: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

BEST ACTOR

Steve Carell did a great job [in Foxcatcher] — it was like, "Oh, my God, that's Steve Carell? That's fucking crazy!" — but that just wasn't my movie. Bradley Cooper couldn't have played that part [in American Sniper] any better — it was absolutely perfect. When you watch an actor transform so believably like [Theory's Eddie] Redmayne, it's hard to not vote for him. But I voted [for Birdman's Michael] Keaton because (1) I thought he gave an Oscar-worthy performance, (b) he has had a whole career that shows he's a true actor and (c) I've never seen someone more humble and grateful for this opportunity. I find that to be so endearing and I want a guy like that to win. All these other people will have other shots.

MY VOTE: Michael Keaton (Birdman)

➻ BEST ACTRESS

The Gutillard girl [Two Days, One Night's Marion Cotillard] was out 'cause I never saw the movie. I'm kind of done with [Wild's] Reese Witherspoon — I feel like she always plays the same character and I'm just done with it. I really loved Theory and she [Felicity Jones] was such an amazing complement to him [Redmayne]. The Still Alice thing, man, was just so depressing, and as much as I think she [Julianne Moore] did a phenomenal job, I just didn't like the movie — it depressed the shit out of me. I went with a real underdog: I liked Gone Girl — I didn't love the movie — and I thought she [Rosamund Pike] did a great job, so I voted for her.

MY VOTE: Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

[Foxcatcher's Mark] Ruffalo didn't have a chance because, like I said, I didn't like the movie. [Boyhood's] Ethan Hawke? Great job — I loved the commitment. [Whiplash's] Simmons will win because the entire movie is all about him, in my opinion, but I didn't vote for him. I voted for a guy who not only did an unbelievable job, but who, as a movie lover, I want to celebrate. He is dedicated and he has given us so many gifts. I voted for [The Judge's] Robert Duvall because I don't believe that this will happen for him again, and nothing would thrill me more than to hear his name called and get to see him get up on that stage. And I loved his movie — I don't think that movie got anywhere near the respect that it deserved.

MY VOTE: Robert Duvall (The Judge)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Nothing there for me with [Wild's Laura] Dern — I was bored by the movie. [The Imitation Game's Keira] Knightley has been better in other things. [Into the Woods' Meryl] Streep's out 'cause I just can't do it again. The role wasn't worthy — she did it as well as you can do it, but it just wasn't a great role — I mean, come on. [Birdman's] Emma Stone was great, quirky, cool — I know people who love it and think it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it just wasn't my thing. I'm rooting for [Boyhood's] Patricia [Arquette]. This woman has paid her dues and she earned it.

MY VOTE: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

➻ BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

I didn't see Inherent Vice because I had several people I respect tell me it was terrible and I said, "Okay, I don't need to go there." I voted Sniper because I wanted to give it some love.

MY VOTE: American Sniper

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Nightcrawler was a pretty bold-ass deal, but I I voted Boyhood because I'm really looking for Richard [Linklater] to have his night. He's someone who has spent so many years making small movies without getting a lot of appreciation.

MY VOTE: Boyhood

➻ BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

I only watch the ones that my kid wants to see, so I didn't see [The] Boxtrolls but I saw Big Hero 6 and I saw [How to Train Your] Dragon [2]. We both connected to Big Hero 6 — I just found it to be more satisfying. The biggest snub for me was Chris Miller and Phil Lord not getting in for [The] Lego [Movie]. When a movie is that successful and culturally hits all the right chords and does that kind of box-office — for that movie not to be in over these two obscure freakin' Chinese fuckin' things that nobody ever freakin' saw [an apparent reference to the Japanese film The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, as well as the Irish film Song of the Sea]? That is my biggest bitch. Most people didn't even know what they were! How does that happen? That, to me, is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.

MY VOTE: Big Hero 6

➻ BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

I didn't get around to seeing any of them. You want the truth? I shouldn't have voted, but I did. This is bad, but here's the power of advertising: everywhere I looked, I saw pictures of this stupid carcass — whatever the fuck that was — and I thought, "That's a cool-looking thing." And I fucking voted for a movie based on the dead whatever it was in the ad thinking that it looked cool. [laughs]

MY VOTE: Leviathan

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

It gets worse, for the same fucking reason. I didn't see any of the nominees, but goddamn Virunga is running commercials late-night every freaking hour, and those gorillas, man — I was like, "Wow, that looks heavy." I said, "That looks good," and I voted for it.

MY VOTE: Virunga

➻ BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

People are obsessed with the single-shot concept [employed on Birdman], but it wasn't my cup of tea — it's like, big fuckin' deal. When a cinematographer has a body of work like Roger Deakins [who has never won an Oscar], and did a beautiful job this year [on Unbroken], I'm gonna vote for him. He deserves to finally get up outta the goddamn chair [at the Oscars].

MY VOTE: Unbroken

➻ BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Mr. Turner I didn't see. I've just been there and done that with the [Into the Woods' Colleen] Atwood thing. [This is Atwood's eleventh nomination; she has three wins.] She's a brilliant lady, but I'm just done with it, and I was so unimpressed with the movie. I voted Maleficent because I watched it with my kid and I liked it and I thought, "Well, what the hell, man, it's got no love anywhere else in the whole deal. Let's give it something." But it really isn't something I should be voting on because I really don't know anything about costume designing. You know, we nominate our own [meaning the nominees in each category are chosen solely by the members of the corresponding branch of people who work/worked in that area], but then it goes out to the freakin' collective membership who have not a clue what anyone else does except their own shit. It shouldn't work like this. And yet I have a ballot, so I vote, you know?

MY VOTE: Maleficent

➻ BEST FILM EDITING

Billy Goldenberg did an amazing job [on The Imitation Game] — that was a complicated cut and Billy's a really brilliant guy — but I voted Sniper because, again, I really want it to get something and I liked what they [Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach] did with it.

MY VOTE: American Sniper

➻ BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

I hated Foxcatcher. I went Guardians [of the Galaxy], man. I loved the movie and the movie got no love anywhere else [except for the visual effects category] — it should have been nominated for sound but it didn't get in. I just saw the title and I went, "Well, goddamn it."

MY VOTE: Guardians of the Galaxy

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

I thought the Theory score was beautiful, but I voted for my friend Alexandre Desplat [who is nominated in the category for both The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Imitation Game] because I want him to win and, to be honest with you, I don't give a shit which movie he wins for. I texted a week-and-a-half ago and I said, "Okay, what do you feel is your strongest suit? Because I want to put some energy behind it." And he said, "I don't know." So I waited, and then when he won the BAFTA and a Grammy for Budapest, I wrote him back and said, "Well, dude, it's Budapest, baby!"

MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SONG

I voted for my friend Diane Warren. It happens to be a good song — I liked the song and I really liked the movie — but it doesn't matter who she's up against, she deserves one. [Warren has lost this Oscar all six times she was previously nominated for it.] Unfortunately Relativity didn't do a fucking thing for this movie.

MY VOTE: "Grateful" (Beyond the Lights)

➻ BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

I did not see Interstellar or Mr. Turner. I saw Into the Woods and I hated it — even my kid said, "Dad, that movie sucked." Imitation Game was fine. But I voted Budapest because I thought it had a great look to it. All of his [Wes Anderson's] movies have a great look to them — they're vibrant, they have depth and their use of color is so extraordinary.

MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST SOUND EDITING

Without question, hands down, the best sound editing work this year was on Sniper. It was very tasteful, it was all very authentic and, well, fuck me, if Zero Dark goddamn Thirty tied Skyfall, then this one better win.

MY VOTE: American Sniper

➻ BEST SOUND MIXING

Same thing. In my opinion, it [Sniper] was great — well-mixed, well-balanced, very interesting choices. It was a top-notch job. I have to say that I'm surprised that the sound branch, as a whole, supported Interstellar — that was a complete shock to me after worldwide complaints about the sound of the film.

MY VOTE: American Sniper

➻ BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

I've never seen more freakin' frontrunner ads for VFX — covers, inside, back covers — than I have for Planet of the Apes. I mean, it was relentless. It brought me back to Apollo fuckin' 13, which took every cover of everything for like three weeks straight. But they did something that was really great, which was to show you the actors performing in stop-motion-capture or whatever side-by-side with what the shot in the film looked like.

MY VOTE: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

➻ BEST ANIMATED SHORT

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

➻ BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

I didn't do any of that.

MY VOTE FOR ALL THREE: I abstain.

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Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot No. 6: 'Birdman' "Genius on Many Levels," "Loved" 'Guardians of the Galaxy'

VOTER PROFILE: A member of the Academy's 386-member writers branch who has won an Oscar.

➻ BEST PICTURE

I try to watch all of the nominees in every category primarily because I love film — you can learn something from even a not very good film — and secondarily because I think it's the right thing to do if you're a voter. I know how hard people work on these things, and it's the least I can do. Plus, I'm a completist!  I always go with my visceral response to a film, meaning that I try to exclude things like my opinion of the director or the actors. The work is what's important. I mean, there are very famous geniuses who were not good people — for instance, Robert Frost was a horrible man, but he created beautiful art. I don't appreciate the man, but I love his poetry.

I am a huge Clint Eastwood fan, and I had a lot of different emotional responses to American Sniper. I applaud him for simply trying to tell the story of this man [Chris Kyle] in a straightforward way and then letting the viewer see it through the lens of their own experience. It was a very well-made film. What I came away from that film feeling — being reminded of — is that war is an awful thing, and if Chris Kyle can be faulted for anything, it's that he didn't put the guns down soon enough; it became an obsession for him that led to a lot of sadness for his family.

I loved Birdman. I thought it was genius on many levels. You know how sometimes when you watch a film, something will jump out at you that doesn't work? Everything in this film worked, even the magical realism, because I felt like I was inside the actor's head experiencing what he was experiencing. The casting was great. The actors did a tremendous job acting like actors — emotional and over-the-top and egotistical. [Laughs] The cinematography was brilliant — it was fascinating that they decided to do it as one long one-r [making the film appear to be done in one shot]. It was all just very entertaining for me, and I was very touched by it.

Boyhood was very touching, too. It was such an accomplishment for Richard Linklater. It gives you a very strong sense of timing passing in your own life, and for that reason, it's a film that anybody who watches it can relate to, young or old. You feel a little bit voyeuristic watching the family, but in a really good way — you feel privileged to be able to see them grow.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is one of my favorite Wes Anderson films, and I like almost all of his. I enjoy his style. He's quirky but interesting. He's eccentric but not an ego-maniac. His movies are a lot of fun.  I thought that The Imitation Game was an extremely interesting movie. It didn't move me the same way that Birdman did, but I like it a lot. I watch films hoping to learn something — maybe it's a life that's different from my own or some aspect of history that I knew nothing about — and I came away from that film feeling like I really had [learned something]: the fact that this man was such a genius, and yet he was arrested for being a homosexual. I'm very glad it was made because I think very few people were aware that there was that kind of law in place in Britain. And I think that Benedict Cumberbatch is one of the top actors around today — he can do just about anything convincingly.

I really liked Selma. The thing about LBJ [Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson] did bother me a little bit, not because he actually was an appealing man — he wasn't — but because he did do an amazing thing, as difficult as it was, by forcing through the most profound Civil Rights Act ever, which wasn't emphasized in the film. But I have no doubt that it was a very difficult film to make and I, frankly, was thrilled that it even got made — and with a woman director [Ava DuVernay]. It wasn't my favorite film, but it was a film I liked and it was a huge accomplishment.

I enjoyed The Theory of Everything very much. I'm a fan of Stephen Hawking because he's so smart — I love smart people — and I thought Eddie Redmayne did a terrific job portraying him. But it wasn't my favorite overall. I wasn't particularly moved by it.

Whiplash is a very realistic film, I thought. It's brutal to watch, but I think it was important to watch, because it's about the struggle of the artist. For my money, I thought that it was moving, interesting and important, in the sense that it shows how difficult it can be to become an artist.

MY VOTE: (1) Birdman, (2) Boyhood, (3) Whiplash, (4) Selma, (5) The Imitation Game

➻ BEST DIRECTOR

Foxcatcher was too slow and indulgent so Bennett Miller was out for me. I loved The Grand Budapest, but it's not all that different from what Wes Anderson always does. The Imitation Game's direction wasn't its standout quality. So for me it was between the directors of Birdman [Alejandro G. Inarritu] and Boyhood [Linklater], and I struggled with it. I really love Birdman but I had to go with Linklater because I thought it was a monumental achievement on his part — his film took relentlessness, tenacity and real vision that had to be sustained over 12 years. How do you do that in the entertainment business when there are so many things you're battling against?

MY VOTE: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

➻ BEST ACTOR

I thought [Birdman's] Michael Keaton was fantastic. I've always admired him as an actor because he's both comedic and touching at the same time, and to see him on the screen again was so refreshing because I haven't seen him in a long time. I also realized that all of the other actors who were nominated were playing real people; Michael had to take his role, without reference points, and make it his own just by virtue of his pure talent. That's not to say I didn't admire the other performances — Steve Carell, in particular, was excellent, although I didn't care for his film [Foxcatcher] — but this wasn't close for me.

MY VOTE: Michael Keaton (Birdman)

➻ BEST ACTRESS

[Two Days, One Night's] Marion Cotillard was brilliant. [The Theory of Everything's] Felicity Jones was exceptional. I didn't care for the movie Gone Girl, but Rosamund Pike, I thought, was very good. Reese [Witherspoon] is good in everything she does, and she was in virtually every shot of that movie [Wild]. But I was definitely for [Still Alice's] Julianne Moore. I tried to watch the movie a second time and couldn't because it was so sad and moving because I've known people with Alzheimer's Disease, and to imagine someone with early-onset Alzheimer's was a lot to handle. There's just something about her [Moore] — her expressions and her gestures were so convincing that I forgot it was her acting, and when an actor can do that? Oh, my goodness.

MY VOTE: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

[Whiplash's] J.K. Simmons is my choice. I kind of expected what I got from all of the other actors [nominated in the category] — really strong work, especially by [Foxcatcher's] Mark Ruffalo, who is terrific — but J.K. Simmons was such a surprise. It wasn't like anything I'd seen him do before. I always sort of thought of him as the guy selling insurance [in television commercials], you know, and then he came up on the screen in this, and I forgot all about that.

MY VOTE: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

[Into the Woods'] Meryl Streep is always brilliant so no argument from me about her. [Birdman's] Emma Stone was a delight. [The Imitation Game's] Keira Knightley is always beautiful, but I'm not very taken with her as an actress. And [Wild's] Laura Dern is very good in anything. But [Boyhood's] Patricia Arquette just jumped out at me as someone very real. I've always been a fan of hers — I watched Medium, and I loved her in that — and I just think she's so accessible and has this wonderful ability to be like every woman. I thought she was just brilliant. She's pretty special and she so deserves this acknowledgment.

MY VOTE: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

➻ BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Whiplash jumped out at me — I just thought it captured that world perfectly. The others were very fine scripts, but the source material was right there. [Whiplash was the only one of the category's nominees adapted from another film — a short version of the same story — as opposed to a book.]

MY VOTE: Whiplash

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

I was disappointed that Nightcrawler wasn't nominated for best picture — it was disturbing, but it was important that it was disturbing and it was a really fine film — so I was happy that it was at least acknowledged in this category. But I had to go with Birdman. I just couldn't find a flaw in that film, and a film starts with a script.

MY VOTE: Birdman

➻ BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

I saw all five. I like to sit down with [the young people in her family] and watch them. We all loved Big Hero 6 and there was no discussion, no argument, no nothing. The kids watched that one three times — what does that tell you?

MY VOTE: Big Hero 6

➻ BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

I really liked Ida, but Leviathan really moved me. When it comes down to two movies and I liked both a lot, it's really a visceral thing that you can't explain.

MY VOTE: Leviathan

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

I really enjoyed them all — I mean, I thought Citizenfour was brilliant and brave, I greatly admire the woman that directed that [Laura Poitras] and she made me proud to be a woman, actually, as did Selma, frankly — but there was no question about this one. I watched Last Days of Vietnam twice — the first time it was very emotional for me because [people very close to me] went to Vietnam and came back and were never the same again, and I went back to watch it again to try to be more objective about it. It's an important film, in the sense that there are generations of people who aren't really aware of that time and the effect that that war had on people. The film captures the layers of moral conflict over there and gives you a sense of how hard it is to be a human being in situations like that. How do you save people? Who do you save?

MY VOTE: Last Days in Vietnam

➻ BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

I just thought they did a brilliant job with Birdman — what a task to take on!

MY VOTE: Birdman

➻ BEST COSTUME DESIGN

The look of the film was delightful and the costumes were a big part of that.

MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST FILM EDITING

I went with Grand Budapest again because I wasn't conscious of the editing when I watched it — which is the way I like it — until my second viewing. I think I was more conscious of Boyhood's editing because I knew it was a 12-year film.

MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

I loved Guardians of the Galaxy! I was so happy that it got nominated for adapted screenplay [at the WGA Awards]. If you love film, you should take every genre seriously.

MY VOTE: Guardians of the Galaxy

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

I chose [the score of] Grand Budapest because it was so pleasant and enjoyable. Nothing else was really close.

MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SONG

I picked [Selma's] "Glory." I'm a big fan of John Legend, for one thing, and I was moved by that movie.

MY VOTE: "Glory" (Selma)

➻ BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

I picked Grand Budapest because the look of that film is integral to the entire experience of watching it. Nothing else was close.

MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST SOUND EDITING

There was considerable stuff they had to figure out with Sniper, but I went with Unbroken. I thought it was the best.

MY VOTE: Unbroken

➻ BEST SOUND MIXING

I felt the same way here [that I did about best sound editing]. Sometimes in American Sniper things would be way too loud — you know, I know what a gunshot sounds like, so it bothered me.

MY VOTE: Unbroken

➻ BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Out of all of the nominees, I suspect that Guardians of the Galaxy had the least amount of visual effects, but I voted for it anyway because I liked it so much.

MY VOTE: Guardians of the Galaxy

➻ BEST ANIMATED SHORT

I'm a dog lover, so this one was no contest.

MY VOTE: Feast

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

I feel strongly about our veterans and anyone who puts their life on the line for others, so I voted for Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1. In light of the horrifying rate of vets who have returned home and committed suicide, it is unbelievable that that's the only call center that there is. The film was an education for me.

MY VOTE: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1

➻ BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

I only got to see three of them, and Boogaloo and Graham was the best of those, but I didn't vote because I didn't see them all. It was a little lighter than the others!

MY VOTE: I abstain.

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Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot No. 7: "No Better Filmmaker" Than Eastwood, "Loved" 'Mr. Turner'

VOTER PROFILE: A member of the Academy's 1,150-member actors branch whose first credit came in the 1950s and who has acted in numerous films opposite people who received Oscar noms for their performances.

➻ BEST PICTURE

I saw most things two or three times, for one reason or another.

There is no better filmmaker than Clint [Eastwood] — he is a master. But my issue with American Sniper is the way they end the picture: he [Chris Kyle] says goodbye to his family, he leaves and then we see the postscript that he was killed. I was shocked that they did that because I think that they should have completed the arc of his story by showing him being killed — this man who lived by the gun also died by the gun. The story felt incomplete and dishonest without that scene.

I saw Whiplash twice. I think that a film that celebrates excellence rather than mediocrity is something to be admired. To go crazy over how he [J.K. Simmons] treated the kid [Miles Teller] is to miss the point.

I have always been very troubled by the race relations in this country, so when I see something like Selma it moves me a great deal. As far as the LBJ [President Lyndon B. Johnson] thing, I think it's like if you and I had dinner at my restaurant, that I picked, and you said, "Geez, the meal was wonderful, but I didn't like the bread." Come on, that's not the point!

Birdman is an amazing, unusual, original film from an incredible director [Alejandro G. Inarritu]. I got the theme — how do you survive as an artist in an environment where so many people are trying to kill you? He [Inarritu] himself is an artist who doesn't want to get pushed around by studios to do what they want. I liked everything about it.

I saw Boyhood three times. It's very personal, just like Birdman, but in a different way. He's talking about his life and growing up.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is also amazing. It takes you to a world that you never imagined and it's magical.

The Imitation Game I had a little more difficulty with. It was an interesting piece of history but not emotionally compelling in the way that several of the other films were for me. I got it intellectually but not emotionally.

More effective for me was The Theory of Everything. I greatly admired the courage of the character and the courage of the actor playing him.

And Whiplash, while a very successful first film — or almost first film — for this director [Damien Chazelle], was a bit more one-note. I found the music really interesting but, eh, it was OK.

MY VOTE: (1) Boyhood, (2) Birdman, (3) The Theory of Everything, (4) Selma, (5) The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST DIRECTOR

[The Imitation Game's Morten] Tyldum was my fifth choice because I explained how I reacted to that film. I went with the Birdman director [Inarritu] over the Boyhood director [Richard Linklater] because I think he took a bigger leap and I think he largely succeeded in getting it done in his way. He had to solve a lot of things. Linklater had a more controlled situation.

MY VOTE: Alejandro G. Inarritu (Birdman)

➻ BEST ACTOR

Did you see Locke? It was an amazing piece of work, but it got released at kind of an odd time and it got completely lost, which was an injustice to Tom Hardy. Anyway, I admire [The Imitation Game's Benedict] Cumberbatch's clarity, but he has the English approach: he shows you everything the character went through, but he doesn't go through it like American actors do, like [Birdman's Michael] Keaton did. I didn't buy it the same way; he didn't take me on the journey. [The Theory of Everything's Eddie] Redmayne, I think, made an American effort to embody his journey. He had a very challenging job and he was very successful at it. He reminds me of Albert Finney and Daniel Day-Lewis.

MY VOTE: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

➻ BEST ACTRESS

Gone Girl was OK, but it was a popcorn movie, so I didn't vote for Rosamund Pike. I was tempted to vote for the woman in The Theory of Everything [Felicity Jones], but [Two Days, One Night's] Marion Cotillard was my choice because, as you can tell, I like acting that's private, not public, that's internalized, not showy. It was simple and private, like a Kim Stanley.

MY VOTE: Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

I went to school with [The Judge's] Bobby Duvall at the Neighborhood Playhouse and I voted for him. He's a major talent, you know? Even in a bad picture he held his own, he did what he could do and he delivered. [Birdman's Edward] Norton was also very good. [Whiplash's J.K.] Simmons was one-color, mainly.

MY VOTE: Robert Duvall (The Judge)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

I voted for [Boyhood's] Patricia Arquette. She was there — I could tell how she raises her kids from that performance. [Birdman's] Emma Stone was next.

MY VOTE: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

➻ BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

A lot of people had a real problem with Inherent Vice, which is by a writer [Thomas Pynchon] who is pretty original and unusual. I admit I had to see it twice to be totally clear about the picture, but I think it's pretty amazing. He [Paul Thomas Anderson] very successfully captured the drug period in L.A. that some of us lived through — life upside-down in Hollywood. A very quick story: I was once at a party with Jack Nicholson in Laurel Canyon with a lot of pretty girls. We were blasting loud music and two young cops came to the door to say they were getting complaints. They saw all the pretty girls in there and inside of five minutes each of them had a girl and each of the two girls were wearing the cops' hats. I never forgot that. I think Inherent Vice captured that. Eric Roberts, in one scene, did some of the best work he's ever done.

MY VOTE: Inherent Vice

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

They all have good writing in them. It was between Birdman and Boyhood for me.

MY VOTE: Birdman

➻ BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Frankly, I didn't see any of them.

MY VOTE: I abstain.

➻ BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

I loved the humor of the one-acts [Wild Tales]. The one in the desert [Timbuktu] was simple but profound. But I liked Ida. I go to the movies to experience stories of humanity.

MY VOTE: Ida

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Virunga hit me like no other of the nominees. I just think it's amazing. Very moving, very profound, very sad, very hopeful. Nothing else was close. Citizenfour will win, but I like very much that [Netflix CEO] Reed Hastings made a fight for Virunga. He went dollar-for-dollar with Harvey [Weinstein of The Weinstein Co., the Radius division of which distributed Citizenfour].

MY VOTE: Virunga

➻ BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

I don't think Mr. Turner is gonna win anything, but I loved it. I think he [Mike Leigh] is a f—ing genius and it's visually stunning. It's like I was suddenly in that period, whatever it was — in the painting! How about that crazy art gallery, and the places they lived and the ocean? It's amazing.

MY VOTE: Mr. Turner

➻ BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Absolutely Mr. Turner again. The only other option was Grand Budapest.

MY VOTE: Mr. Turner

➻ BEST FILM EDITING

Boyhood was made over 12 years but flows so seamlessly. It propels your focus. Less is more. You never think about it and you never notice it.

MY VOTE: Boyhood

➻ BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

I chose The Grand Budapest Hotel not because I was especially impressed with its makeup and hairstyling, but because it was the best of the options. Foxcatcher was very good filmmaking, but I was not a fan of Guardians of the Galaxy.

MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Alexandre Desplat better win. [The still-winless composer scored his eighth and ninth noms this year for The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Imitation Game]. I liked Grand Budapest — Imitation Game not so much — so that's what I voted for.

MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SONG

I hadn't seen a few of the movies that had nominated songs.

MY VOTE: I abstain.

➻ BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

I voted for Mr. Turner here again, even though it doesn't have a shot, because it just transported me to another time and place.

MY VOTE: Mr. Turner

➻ BEST SOUND EDITING

Birdman has a canvas of sounds that just rang true to me. It was full of imagination.

MY VOTE: Birdman

➻ BEST SOUND MIXING

Birdman again.

MY VOTE: Birdman

➻ BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

I didn't vote here. I'm not so much into special effects pictures, you know? That's the world that we're in now, but I'm not in that world. I'm interested in character-driven stories.

MY VOTE: I abstain.

➻ BEST ANIMATED SHORT

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

➻ BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

The clock ran out on me for these.

MY VOTE FOR ALL THREE: I abstain.

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Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot No. 8: 'Grand Budapest' "Underrated," Gender Discrimination Hurt DuVernay

VOTER PROFILE: A member of the Academy's 378-member public relations branch.

➻ BEST PICTURE

American Sniper was highly entertaining, very well directed by Clint [Eastwood] and features a fantastic performance by Bradley [Cooper]. I didn't think that it glorified killing, as some people have suggested. Even when they show him killing an animal as a child, he didn't really jump up and down with glee. He took on his role to be a protector, not a killer. But he was tormented by what he did after he came home, and they didn't show that enough.

I felt Birdman was a masterful work of filmmaking. The problem with it is that its central character, played by Michael Keaton, is tormented and unlikable, which is the same problem that sunk The Social Network.

Boyhood was basically a concept film, and as amazing as that concept was — 12 years with the same people — it was about people who were relatively mundane. They were common, middle-class people struggling with everyday problems; they didn't invent or create or accomplish anything extraordinary. The filmmaker [Richard Linklater] is the extraordinary aspect of the film. He enabled you to witness their maturation in three hours instead of a six-part miniseries or something like that, which I admired.

The Grand Budapest Hotel was the most underrated film. It is a very, very, very creative film — astoundingly original. This should have been an even more serious contender for best picture.

The Imitation Game had it all — Nazis, gays, World War II. Nobody does this sort of a movie better than Harvey [Weinstein, the co-chief of the film's distributor, The Weinstein Co.]. It was not The King's Speech, which was a home run, but everybody still loved it.

I think Selma was great but just came out too late. And if the director [Ava DuVernay] suffered from anything, it was gender discrimination, not race discrimination. This whole race thing was spun out of control by the press.

[The] Theory of Everything, I think, is an underrated film. It's an extraordinary exploration of a man's descent into being a cripple and how it wreaks havoc on those who loved him and his family. I mean, I have no idea, to this day, how he managed to have children, but I guess it worked, what can I tell you? Anyway, two beautiful performances by very likable people [Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones].  And Whiplash? There isn't a false note, and everyone loves it.

MY VOTE: (1) Boyhood, (2) Birdman, (3) The Grand Budapest Hotel, (4) American Sniper, (5) Whiplash

➻ BEST DIRECTOR

This was an excruciatingly tough call for me and I'm still not sure if I made the right decision.

MY VOTE: Alejandro G. Inarritu (Birdman)

➻ BEST ACTOR

I felt badly that there were seven or eight fabulous performances and only five could be nominated. I was particularly upset [and saddened] that [Selma's] David Oyelowo, who was amazing, thought that his snub was race-related, which was not the case at all. The Academy being racist is so far from the truth it's unbelievable — yes, it's 6,000 65-year-old white guys, but they couldn't be any more patriotic or democratic. I also thought that [Nightcrawler's] Jake Gyllenhaal gave an amazing performance — his heart and soul was in that movie — and it's a shame that he was left out yet again.

I was torn between [The Theory of Everything's] Eddie Redmayne and [Birdman's] Michael Keaton, but I voted for Eddie because I feel so passionately about him and because I feel like Birdman is going to win picture, which will take care of Keaton — he'll be able to say, for the rest of his life, "I starred in the Oscar-winning movie."

MY VOTE: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

➻ BEST ACTRESS

I think that [Cake's not nominated star] Jennifer Aniston is an adorable human being, but she is primarily a television comedienne and I was not a fan of the film or her performance in it — she has a very all-American, preppy kind of look, and it is really hard to believe her as anything but a peppy kind of California Valley girl — but I suspect that she will now be able to go on to do more varied roles.

Anyway, [Still Alice's] Julianne Moore, no contest, especially in a weak year for women.

MY VOTE: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

[Whiplash's] J.K. Simmons, no question. He's a journeyman actor who has always been good, he was amazing in the movie and this is a chance to give it something.

MY VOTE: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

[Patricia] Arquette was the mother in Boyhood and the mother of Boyhood — she's its heart and soul and the glue that kept it all together.

MY VOTE: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

➻ BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

I hated Inherent Vice. The others were all good. But I gave it to Whiplash because I loved it, and I have a crush on [its 30-year-old writer-director] Damien [Chazelle].

MY VOTE: Whiplash

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Birdman was complex, but Budapest was the most quirky and original and I want Wes Anderson to get something.

MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

I gave it to [How to Train Your Dragon 2] because I liked the movie and I like the people who worked on the movie.

MY VOTE: How to Train Your Dragon 2

➻ BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM

Wild Tales and Leviathan were both brilliant, but I gave it to Ida because I'm Jewish and I feel like you can never tell these sorts of [Holocaust-related] stories enough — I'm literally obsessed with stories about the Nazis and World War II. Show me a movie about a Jew and a Nazi, and I'm there.

MY VOTE: Ida

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

I voted for Virunga because I thought that Citizenfour was primarily about the "get" [an apparent reference to getting exclusive access to Edward Snowden], but wasn't a great film, while Virunga was a really interesting film.

MY VOTE: Virunga

➻ BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Hands-down Birdman because it was an original, masterful accomplishment. I liked the idea of trying to make it look like it was all done in one take.

MY VOTE: Birdman

➻ BEST COSTUME DESIGN

I loved Into the Woods, like most musicals, and the costumes were great, like a lot of other things. I see this as an opportunity to recognize it.

MY VOTE: Into the Woods

➻ BEST FILM EDITING

Has anyone ever faced an editing challenge like the one that they did on Boyhood? 12 years!

MY VOTE: Boyhood

➻ BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

No contest, Grand Budapest.

MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

I loved The Theory of Everything and I think this is a fitting place to recognize it. If Eddie [Redmayne] doesn't win, this might be it for it.

MY VOTE: The Theory of Everything

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SONG

I voted for "Glory" because I loved the song and that was my Selma vote. I feel badly for Diane Warren [who is nominated this year for the song "Grateful" from Beyond the Lights and could lose for the seventh time], who might have to be nominated four or five more times before she wins.

MY VOTE: "Glory" (Selma)

➻ BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

I was tempted to vote for Into the Woods, which I loved, but Grand Budapest was a better movie and its production design was gorgeous and original and clever. A million different sets that were just as much the star of the film as any castmember.

MY VOTE: The Grand Budapest Hotel

➻ BEST SOUND EDITING

[In response to my question] Do I feel qualified to vote for these categories? Yes, I can hear. The sound in American Sniper specifically and significantly enhanced the quality of the film.

MY VOTE: American Sniper

➻ BEST SOUND MIXING

The same goes for Whiplash.

MY VOTE: Whiplash

➻ BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Interstellar transported you to so many different places — from the Corn Belt to outer space to other dimensions — in a very original and fantastic way.

MY VOTE: Interstellar

➻ BEST ANIMATED SHORT

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

➻ BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

I didn't get around to them this year.

MY VOTE FOR ALL THREE: I abstain.

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Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot No. 9: 'Selma' "Incredibly Misleading," 'Inherent Vice' "Trash"

VOTER PROFILE: A member of the Academy's 386-member writers branch who has won an Oscar.

➻ BEST PICTURE

I lived through the '60s and my most heartfelt opinion is that Selma did not suffer from racism but is just inadequate to the events that it covered — to the civil rights movement and to [Dr. Martin Luther] King [Jr.] and to the various demonstrations that were held and to the people involved. The scenes with LBJ and [FBI director] J. Edgar Hoover conspiring together like two little white weasels bothered me; I thought that was incredibly misleading. And the portrayal of Malcolm X as having an alternative way is ridiculous — he had no alternative. The whole film is kind of a left-wing, modern, black rap version — there's no white people who have any speaking parts who are favorably depicted, when, in fact, there were white people on the scene, beyond a few ministers, who risked their lives and who died supporting the civil rights efforts.

American Sniper was very skillfully made — Clint Eastwood is a terrific director. I don't know  what the real story [of Chris Kyle] was, but I do know that the whole [Iraq] war was based on a lie and continues to damage people on both sides. When [Kyle] was shooting at people on the other side, I was thinking, "Why is he any better than that sniper who is defending his own territory?" It's terrible — [Kyle] was just doing his duty and he became a victim of George [W.] Bush and Dick Cheney. Anyway, I couldn't vote for it because it seems to be a right-wing ideological picture.

I liked Birdman a lot. I thought it was very playful. The whole business with the wings in his hallucinations was just a bit of inspired foolery. It was a delightful romp. Emma Stone was sensational and Edward Norton was fantastic. It was a worthy picture and I happily voted for it.

I thought Boyhood was a little bit overrated because of the patience that it required. I found myself wanting to rewrite many scenes. [Writer-director Richard Linklater] was very shrewd and very lucky to have a kid [Ellar Coltrane] who grew up into movie star looks and manner — I was really impressed with that kid and the man he became. I've loved [Patricia] Arquette in other movies but she seemed very awkward to me in this one.

The Grand Budapest Hotel was just precious silliness.  I liked The Imitation Game in most ways. I could imagine voting for it in most years. I had no particular objection to that one.  The Theory of Everything was a very good movie which underplayed a lot of things. It was short and sweet and kept things very charged up. The whole business about him falling in love with his sympathetic and sexy and devoted nurse was a strange thing because his wife was so terrific — he manages to shift women in one scene — but I thought it was done effectively because most people didn't ask too many questions about it.

Whiplash I liked less. I appreciated the music but I didn't believe the story — that the supporting actor [J.K. Simmons] could be such a jerk and have nobody ever give a whimper of protest. The acting was good but the villain was just over-the-top to me. I was happy to see a movie about jazz, but all the joy was gone from jazz in this particular movie.

MY VOTE: (1) Birdman, (2) The Theory of Everything, (3) The Imitation Game, (4) Boyhood, (5) [blank]

➻ BEST DIRECTOR

I agreed with four of the five nominations and I voted for the Birdman guy [Alejandro G. Inarritu].

MY VOTE: Alejandro G. Inarritu (Birdman)

➻ BEST ACTOR

I thought they were all good. I voted for [The Theory of Everything's Eddie] Redmayne because he had the toughest part — a young healthy man degenerating into an unhealthy middle-aged man — and he brought it off.

MY VOTE: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

➻ BEST ACTRESS

The Gone Girl one [Rosamund Pike] was out right away — I thought that movie suffered from having no sympathetic characters. I loved the other four, but I was particularly impressed with Eddie Redmayne's wife in The Theory of Everything [Felicity Jones]. She went from being a very young girl to being a very believable mother — still very attractive — with an unsolvable problem on her hands. It was a fascinating portrait. [Two Days, One Night's] Marion Cotillard was my second choice.

MY VOTE: Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

I eliminated Whiplash [J.K. Simmons]. I hated The Judge [which starred Robert Duvall] because I didn't care about Duvall or his son [played by Robert Downey Jr.] — just bad writing and bad directing. And then I was left with three good performances. I gave it to [Foxcatcher's Mark] Ruffalo because I thought he was really excellent and also because I thought he was great in another movie for which he didn't get a nomination, in which he was a gay activist urging people to speak out about AIDS [a reference to the television film The Normal Heart, which was ineligible for Oscar consideration but did land Ruffalo an Emmy nomination]. He was excellent in that and, as in this, he played a guy who had tremendous heart.

MY VOTE: Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

I love [Birdman's] Emma Stone and I know she's gonna have her day, but I thought this time around [Wild's] Laura Dern could not be overlooked. Her interactions with her co-star [Reese Witherspoon] were believable and touching. Good casting.

MY VOTE: Laura Dern (Wild)

➻ BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

I thought Inherent Vice was trash — anything that pretentious is automatically out for me. I also couldn't vote for Sniper and Whiplash. It was between The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything for me. Theory was the better movie.

MY VOTE: The Theory of Everything

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

I was torn between two: Birdman and Nightcrawler. Both were very good. Nightcrawler is a tremendous script — great lines, great characters, great ending — and the picture didn't get enough attention elsewhere. [Jake] Gyllenhaal deserved a [best actor] nomination.

MY VOTE: Nightcrawler

➻ BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

I haven't had a chance to watch them.

MY VOTE: I abstain.

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

All of them were good, but The Salt of the Earth was transcendent to me. I'm glad I had the chance to vote for it — [the film's subject, Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado] is one man in a billion. It was extraordinary.

MY VOTE: The Salt of the Earth

➻ BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM

This was a great category. I've seen all of the nominees except for [Russia's] Leviathan. [Poland's] Ida is a film that has a lot of integrity and subtlety. [Mauritania's] Timbuktu is a film that is haunting me. But I was really impressed by [Estonia's] Tangerines. It's a very morally complex film and it features a central character who is transcendent.

MY VOTE: Tangerines (Estonia)

➻ BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

I voted for Mr. Turner, which I thought was better than any other feature film this year. You have to be patient and hang in there for the first half-hour, and then you suddenly realize you're not watching a film about a difficult, eccentric man; you're watching a film by a unique artist [writer-director Mike Leigh] with subtle humor. He's a master who produces really original films.

MY VOTE: Mr. Turner

➻ BEST COSTUME DESIGN

For all of the reasons I've already stated, I voted for Mr. Turner — plus the costumes helped to make you believe that you were experiencing another period in time.

MY VOTE: Mr. Turner

➻ BEST FILM EDITING

[The Imitation Game] was very skillfully, compactly edited. Some of the others are, too, but this was the only one of the nominees that I really liked except for Boyhood, but I felt that the editing [for Boyhood] wasn't especially impressive; at times it felt like I was watching home movies.

MY VOTE: The Imitation Game

➻ BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

I liked Foxcatcher and this was a chance to vote for it.

MY VOTE: Foxcatcher

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

I didn't vote on the music. I just didn't have time to focus on listening to all of the nominees.

MY VOTE: I abstain.

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SONG

[See above.]

MY VOTE: I abstain.

➻ BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

I voted for Mr. Turner again.

MY VOTE: Mr. Turner

➻ BEST SOUND EDITING

Birdman had a tremendous variety of sounds — the beating of the wings and a lot of other things.

MY VOTE: Birdman

➻ BEST SOUND MIXING

Same thing.

MY VOTE: Birdman

➻ BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

These are not my kinds of movies — I haven't seen any of them, although I intend to see Interstellar because I've heard some good things — so I let this category go.

MY VOTE: I abstain.

➻ BEST ANIMATED SHORT

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

➻ BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

I did not watch them this year.

MY VOTE FOR ALL THREE: I abstain.

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Oscars 2015: Who Will Win, Who Should Win (Analysis)

(By Scott Feinberg, Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter, 17 February 2015)

 It's a year filled with no best pic frontrunner, too-tight-to-call face-offs and, in some cases, a pretty weak field, as THR's chief film critic Todd McCarthy first offers his picks for who should win and THR's awards analyst Scott Feinberg offers his predictions for who will win.  In anticipation of the 87th Academy Awards on Feb. 22 (voting for which ended at 5 p.m. PT on Feb. 17), THR's chief film critic Todd McCarthy offers his pics for who deserves to win in the major categories and awards analyst Scott Feinberg predicts who is most likely to win in all 24 races.

➻ BEST PICTURE

Birdman is the best of a very good, but not stellar, group of eight nominees. There's a distinctly indie, film-festival feel to this year's contenders, and American Sniper is the only one to have connected in a big way with the general public. But Birdman is the most vibrant, original, pulsating, unpredictable movie in the field. SHOULD WIN: BIRDMAN

It is not unlike anything that’s ever been done before (BAFTA winner Boyhood), about anything of great consequence (film fest favorite The Imitation Game), deeply moving (box-office hit American Sniper) or reflective of the zeitgeist (late-breaking Selma). But, like two of the past three winners (The Artist and Argo), it's about show business. Plus, only one film, Apollo 13, has won the top PGA, SAG and DGA awards — as Birdman has — and not won best picture. (And it's worth noting that Birdman won the PGA Award under the same preferential voting system that the Academy employs to determine its best pic.) So, even though a film without a best film editing nom hasn't won best pic since Ordinary People 34 years ago, it's still the safest bet. WILL WIN: BIRDMAN

➻ BEST DIRECTOR

All five nominated directors delivered bold work, but the one who flew closest to the sun, gambled most and showed the greatest creative resourcefulness was Alejandro G. Inarritu. If he wins, it would represent a stunning one-two punch from the vanguard of Mexican filmmakers, after Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity win in 2014. SHOULD WIN: ALEJANDRO G. INARRITU (BIRDMAN)

Winners of the top DGA Award — this year, Birdman's Alejandro G. Inarritu — and this prize have overlapped in all but seven of 66 years. But directors account for only 6 percent of the Academy's membership, so that's more coincidental than causal. Even those who don't love Boyhood appreciate the vision and 12-year commitment required from its helmer. WILL WIN: RICHARD LINKLATER (BOYHOOD)

➻ BEST ACTOR

At least three others belong in this category — Locke's Tom Hardy, Selma's David Oyelowo and Nightcrawler's Jake Gyllenhaal — and a very good case could be made for all five nominees. But the actor whose role has strong self-referential reverberations has the edge. Will the man with the underpants and wings, Michael Keaton, please stand up. SHOULD WIN: MICHAEL KEATON (BIRDMAN)

By playing a real person who has made his mark on the world despite a physical disability, Eddie Redmayne has followed the path of many past winners. He faces stiff competition, notably from Michael Keaton, but nobody has campaigned harder. Plus, he won nearly every major precursor prize — including Golden Globe and BAFTA awards, as well as the SAG Award (which has correctly predicted this category each of the last 10 years) — and got a ringing endorsement from Stephen Hawking. WILL WIN: EDDIE REDMAYNE (THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING)

➻ BEST ACTRESS

I love all of these actresses but it's a weak year for this category; none of these performances electrified. On a moment-to-moment basis, Julianne Moore is terrific and deserves to win — even if her film is medicine I have not, in good conscience, been able to urge anyone to see. SHOULD WIN: JULIANNE MOORE (STILL ALICE)

No active actress under the age of 60 who doesn't already have an Oscar is more respected by her peers than Julianne Moore, who heartbreakingly portrays a woman with early-onset Alzheimer's. Depressing subject matter can frighten off voters, but Moore is up against two past winners (Reese Witherspoon and Marion Cotillard) and two newbies (Felicity Jones and Rosamund Pike). WILL WIN: JULIANNE MOORE (STILL ALICE)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Not only does J.K. Simmons give a knockout performance as the type of teacher some recognize from experience, but also, how often does a lifelong character actor get a chance to break out with a meaty part that makes him a household name? And at 60, no less? Simmons had the great fortune to show what he's capable of and made the most of it. SHOULD WIN: J.K. SIMMONS (WHIPLASH)

J.K. Simmons' face has been well known for years; now the prolific character actor's name is catching up. For his portrait of a demanding music teacher — a tyrant in the vein of John Houseman in The Paper Chase and Louis Gossett Jr. in An Officer and a Gentleman, performances that won this trophy years ago — he has won every major precursor award. And though he's up against bigger names who also are overdue (Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton, Mark Ruffalo), it's his turn. WILL WIN: J.K. SIMMONS (WHIPLASH)

➻ BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

As in the best actress category, I was not lost in admiration for any of these performances. But who brought the most zing and unpredictability to the film in which she appeared? Emma Stone. I have little doubt she'll play more complex roles than this, but every scene of Birdman that she's in has a little something extra. SHOULD WIN: EMMA STONE (BIRDMAN)

Everyone loves a feel-good story, and Patricia Arquette certainly is one. A sexy star in her youth, she had fewer opportunities as she reached middle age — but unlike contemporaries, she had an ace in the hole: a project she began working on in 2002 that features her best work yet. She has swept the walk-up awards and stands as the prohibitive favorite. WILL WIN: PATRICIA ARQUETTE (BOYHOOD)

➻ BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Whiplash has the best screenplay in this category, but the script doesn't properly belong — though Academy rules dictated its inclusion here, rather than in original screenplay. What to do? Give it to Whiplash anyway because it's the best of the bunch; the others are good but flawed in ways that prevent their films from being even better. SHOULD WIN: WHIPLASH

The WGA Award and USC Scripter went to The Imitation Game, the BAFTA Award to The Theory of Everything and moviegoers voted for American Sniper. But I'm going with Whiplash because its 30-year-old screenwriter, Damien Chazelle, also directed it, and that's true of only one other nominee (Paul Thomas Anderson, for the divisive Inherent Vice) and is something voters like. WILL WIN: WHIPLASH

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

These screenplays really feel like originals: eccentric, individualistic. If one were to read any of them cold, doubts about their viability as films would be understandable. But they played beautifully onscreen. For its sheer originality, frisky humor and sophistication, I'm going with The Grand Budapest Hotel. SHOULD WIN: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

Foxcatcher and Nightcrawler are too dark to win, and Boyhood strikes many as less a script than an improvisation, which leaves this between Golden Globe winner Birdman and BAFTA winner The Grand Budapest Hotel. The latter is quirky in just the way this category tends to reward. WILL WIN: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

➻ BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Has anyone outside of the animation branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences seen all five films nominated for this award? Has anyone else seen more than one or two of them? I have not, and what I saw I didn't like, so I politely abstain from endorsing any nominee in this category. SHOULD WIN: ABSTAIN

The Lego Movie is (outrageously) out of the running, so it's between two other big-budget CG-animated films: Golden Globe/Annie winner How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Big Hero 6, the Visual Effects Society winner. It's a tossup: Disney's Frozen won in 2014, but this would be DreamWorks Animation's first win since 2006, and voters might boost the embattled studio. WILL WIN: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

It's hard to find a negative thing to say about any of these documentaries, a first-class collection. That opens the discussion to such nonartistic factors as social significance, personal daring and journalistic timeliness. Aesthetically I prefer The Salt of the Earth, but there can be no question the documentary "of the moment" is Citizenfour. SHOULD WIN: CITIZENFOUR

Muckrakers have a long history of success here, and Citizenfour subject Edward Snowden and director Laura Poitras are the embodiment of the word. One can't write off Virunga or Last Days in Vietnam — voters also have rewarded docs about animals and the Vietnam War — but this portrait of Edward Snowden has won every precursor not claimed by the Academy-snubbed Life Itself. WILL WIN: CITIZENFOUR

➻ BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM

Leviathan is the year's best film, period. Ida and Wild Tales aren't far behind, and Timbuktu and Tangerines are nothing to sneeze at. If Leviathan, critical of the Russian regime, were to win, Putin critics would view it as a sanctioned middle finger — while his supporters could cite it as proof that in the new Russia, all points of view are permitted. SHOULD WIN: LEVIATHAN

It would be hard to design a movie more suited to the Academy's taste than Pawel Pawlikowski's BAFTA-winning black-and-white Holocaust-connected drama Ida, which could become the first Polish film ever to win this prize. But don't count out Argentina's hilarious Wild Tales or Russia's ballsy Leviathan, both of which boast substantial bases of support. WILL WIN: IDA

And Feinberg predicts the rest...

➻ BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Though some will realize that a vote for Unbroken is a vote for the long-overdue Roger Deakins, while others will be drawn to Ida's black-and-white palette, expect Emmanuel "Chivo" Lubezki to win this prize for the second year in a row — he won for Gravity last year — for creating the appearance that Birdman was lensed in one continuous shot, a la sequences of Touch of Evil and The Player. WILL WIN: BIRDMAN

➻ BEST COSTUME DESIGN

There are many great options in this category — the work of three-time winner Colleen Atwood and three-time nominee Anna B. Sheppard were the best parts of Into the Woods and Maleficent, respectively — but this award will go to Milena Canonero, who already has three, for her kitschy costuming of Budapest. (She has already won the BAFTA and Critics' Choice prizes and will probably win one from the Costume Designers Guild on Feb. 17.) WILL WIN: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

➻ BEST FILM EDITING

While Whiplash was rhythmically edited to feel like the music at its center, Sniper was cut in a way to build maximal tension, and both Budapest and Imitation Game have very little fat on their bones, it seems likely that this honor will go to Sandra Adair, Richard Linklater's cutter of more than 25 years, who faced and met the most obvious editing challenge: making footage from 12 different years flow seamlessly together. WILL WIN: BOYHOOD

➻ BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

Some voters may have been lured to Foxcatcher by Steve Carell's enhanced schnoz or Guardians of the Galaxy by this rare opportunity to support a popular film. But, more often than not, this is a coattail category, which bodes well for the team behind Budapest — which recently won two top prizes at the Make-up and Hair Stylists Guild Awards, and one-half of which's team won in this category just three years ago for The Iron Lady — not least for making Tilda Swinton completely unrecognizable. WILL WIN: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Many found Hans Zimmer's score for Interstellar to be overly assertive and failed to watch Mr. Turner at all. So this is a nail-biter between Golden Globe winner Theory and BAFTA winner Budapest, with The Imitation Game possibly playing the role of a spoiler. (Budapest and Imitation Game were both composed by perennial bridesmaid Alexandre Desplat.) People just seem to remember Theory's traditional, sweeping tracks by Johann Johannsson more than they do the other scores. WILL WIN: THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

➻ BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Diane Warren could win for the first time on her seventh nom, for "Grateful," but few saw Beyond the Lights and her name doesn't appear on the ballot (only the song and the film in which it is featured do). "Lost Stars" is the most commercially successful of the nominees, but that's not a reliable predictor of a win (ask Warren). "Everything Is Awesome" is a catchy and cute tune from an animated film, like last year's "Happy," but just like "Happy" it annoys a lot of people, too. Most are putting their chips on "Glory," anticipating an attempt to disprove the notion that the Academy has a problem with Selma and give it something, and they may be right — but my sense is that voters don't think that way. Instead, I suspect they'll go with the familiar name, Glen Campbell, an icon of their own era, alongside "I'm Not Gonna Miss You," and back him. WILL WIN: "I'M NOT GONNA MISS YOU" (GLEN CAMPBELL: I'LL BE ME)

➻ BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

The designers branch rightly nominated fine production work from Interstellar, Into the Woods and Mr. Turner, but those movies were treated as toxic by much of the rest of the Academy, so I wouldn't bet on any of them surpassing either Imitation Game or, more likely, Budapest, a big winner at the Art Directors Guild Awards and the first Wes Anderson movie ever even nominated in this category. Since this Anderson film, like all before it, features such eccentric and distinct production design, it gets the edge. WILL WIN: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

➻ BEST SOUND EDITING

The vast majority of voters have no idea what sound editing really entails. That means that Birdman could win on coattail votes — but the prize usually goes to a big, loud blockbuster that a lot of people like but won't be able to justify recognizing much elsewhere, which is why I think American Sniper will take this one. WILL WIN: AMERICAN SNIPER

➻ BEST SOUND MIXING

Again, most voters have no idea how to evaluate this category, and therefore consider other criteria, such as being loud (why effects-driven movies often win here) and/or featuring a lot of music (why musicals often win here). While Birdman could overcome this and win on coattails, I think it's between BAFTA winner Whiplash and Sniper, with the edge going to the bigger film (and hit). WILL WIN: AMERICAN SNIPER

➻ BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

This is yet another category that is overwhelmingly decided by people who have no idea what they're talking about. That's why it has always gone to the best pic nominee in the group when there is one. In a year like this, when one is not, it could go to the nominee that is most popular overall (Guardians) or that revolves around VFX the most (the Visual Effects Society's pick, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes). But I think that Interstellar, the closest thing to a straight drama in the field, will eek it out. WILL WIN: INTERSTELLAR

➻ BEST ANIMATED SHORT

A Single Life is witty but slight. Me and My Moulton is cute but austere, and The Bigger Picture is creative but dark. Feast, a charming pic about a dog, is the most traditionally animated (it comes via Disney) and was seen by the most people (it ran before Big Hero 6), which is why many are picking it. But my gut is that the prize will go to another pic featuring anthropomorphic animals, The Dam Keeper, which was made by Pixar alums, deals with bullying, has the longest runtime and, in my view, the most substance. WILL WIN: THE DAM KEEPER

➻ BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

This is a field filled with bleak stories. White Earth and The Reaper are a bit slow and meandering. Our Curse is oppressively sad. The two longest and meatiest are Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, via HBO, and Joanna, which is in Polish (both about 40 minutes). The former is about the heroes at a call center who try to dissuade suicidal vets from taking their own lives. The latter is about a dying mother's last days with her young son. It's a coin-toss, but I think more people will emotionally connect with Joanna and Joanna. WILL WIN: JOANNA

➻ BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

Butter Lamp is too weird for most. Israel's Aya is the longest, and it starts to feel that way. The Phone Call features Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins and Oscar winner Jim Broadbent's voice, but doesn't really go anywhere. Boogaloo and Graham could take it — it's intermittently funny and features cute kids. But my guess is that Parvaneh, a Student Academy Award winner, has the most appealing balance of quality filmmaking, appealing characters and social relevance. WILL WIN: PARVANEH

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/oscars-predictions-2015-who-will-774490?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_therace_ff&utm_campaign=THR%20Feinberg%20Forecast_now_2015-02-18%2010%3A54%3A50_ehayden

 

Oscar Reactions: What The Nominees Are Saying

(By The Hollywood Reporter Staff, 15 January 2015)

Chris Pine, J.J. Abrams, Alfonso Cuarón and Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced the nominations for the 87th Academy Awards on Thursday morning at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Eight films were nominated for best picture, including American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything and Whiplash.  As nominees react, The Hollywood Reporter will include their responses below:

Bradley Cooper, best actor nominee for American Sniper: "This is a tribute to Chris Kyle, his family and all of the service men and women who sacrifice their lives for their countries and their families. It is a privilege and an honor to play Chris and I share this with Sienna [Miller], Clint [Eastwood], Jason Hall, the rest of SEAL Team 3 and everyone involved with the film."

Michael Keaton, best actor nominee for Birdman: Keaton had been following the weekslong record-making ascent of two climbers of Yosemite National Park's El Capitan peak, which they finished Wednesday. He saw parallels in the timing and the accomplishment of the feat with his own career climb with his work in Birdman and the early-morning Oscar announcement. "It's symbolic and cool," said the Birdman star. "I'm grateful and thankful. I'm excited about the film's nine nominations, [director] Alejandro [G. Inarritu]'s especially. People are not quite getting what he accomplished in 29 days." Earlier, Keaton was woken up to the sound of his phone ringing. It was his brother Paul calling from the East Coast. "The first thing he said was 'Well, what do you think?!' and I go, 'What do I think about what?'" Keaton recounted. "And of course, then it hit me." A deluge of calls and texts followed. "Grateful. If there's one word right now, it's grateful."

Benedict Cumberbatch, best actor nominee for The Imitation Game: "I am knocked for six by this. So excited and honored to receive this recognition. It's wonderful to be included by the Academy in this exceptional year of performances. To ring my parents, who are both actors, and tell them that their only son has been nominated for an Oscar is one of the proudest moments of my life."

Eddie Redmayne, best actor nominee for The Theory of Everything: The actor woke up to rapping on the door of his pitch-black room at the Sunset Tower. When he opened it, there was his manager, breathlessly holding a phone with screaming at the other end. "I was hoping it was good news," he recalled. "I went from sleep to a hundred miles an hour." Less than an hour later, he was on the phone with THR, still trying to process the news. "I'm trying to collect how I'm feeling. The extremes of excitement of too much to take in. But it's a great privilege." Everything received a nomination for best picture, best actress for Felicity Jones, and best adapted screenplay among others, but no nomination for its director, James Marsh. "For Felicity and I, we know what he gave us. For me personally, my performance is down to him. He allowed me to fail, to try, to investigate." Redmayne is rehearsing for his next movie, The Danish Girl, and in the early hour didn't have any plans to celebrate. Yet. "At what point can I start drinking?"

Marion Cotillard, best actress nominee for Two Days, One Night: "I really didn't expect this nomination this morning. I was sleeping in my bed, and then the phone started to ring, and I thought, 'Oh my god, what's going on? Something's happened,' but I didn't expect this at all. I knew the nominations were this morning and I made fun of people who would think I had a chance to be nominated, and I honestly genuinely thought they were out of their mind. I'm in shock, and I'm super happy for the movie, and I'm super happy for the brothers [writer-directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne]. I really wanted to take their movie to the Oscars and I was sad when we didn't make the shortlist. I thought that was it, that I couldn't take the movie to the Oscars, and today it's changed, I'm actually taking this movie, or this movie is taking me, anywhere it goes. It makes me so happy."

Rosamund Pike, best actress nominee for Gone Girl: "It was the first time in more than six weeks that I was woken up by someone that wasn't my baby," said Pike of getting a call from her manager about her nomination for best actress. Pike, who had her second child in December, was home with both her kids when she found out about her nomination. "It feels like we've been on a journey. I sent one email to David Fincher just saying thank you. That's the main thing. I wouldn't be here without him," she said. Even Pike's calls with press were interrupted by her 2-year-old son, who needed some attention. "It's not going to mean anything to him," she said. "We'll go to the park. This is life. It's grounding." Pike said she hasn't thought of what she'd wear to the big show. "I'm literally operating on a minute-by-minute basis," she said. "I'm literally on the roller coaster. I don't see the drop until I'm at the top of the hill. I don't even know what day the Oscars are."

Felicity Jones, best actress nominee for The Theory of Everything: "I never thought I would find out about an Oscar nomination in my PJs," said Jones, who received the news in her hotel room in L.A. "It's unbelievable. You make the film, and you never know how it's going to turn out. This is a huge honor. This is a film and a part that I cared so deeply about. It was one of those projects that you can't have any distance from. We were all so emotional and passionate about it." She hasn't yet talked to fellow nominee Eddie Redmayne. "I've spoken to my mom, my family, my friends, but I need to speak to Eddie and [director] James [Marsh] and celebrate with them because it was such a huge collaborative effort. There probably won't be many words. Just lots of screaming and excitement."

Ethan Hawke, best supporting actor nominee for Boyhood: "I was just taking my kids to school [when I got the news]. Today's also my son's birthday — he turned 13 today. It really is wonderful. When Rick and I first started talking about this, making his movie, he'd just been born. I've found it incredibly moving. There's never been a time in his life I wasn't working on Boyhood. I've never made a more challenging or personal film in my life, and usually when you put those two words together, it means a little indie movie that plays OK at festivals. There's an ethos to this movie, that's what I believe in. It's a movie that's incredibly humble, a movie that is celebrating the smallest events in our lives, and I knew that people would care about it. It makes me feel like we like our own lives more than we let on. It's really powerful for Rick and I. This is our eighth film together, and it's is our craziest pipe dream. This makes Before Sunrise look mainstream. It's transcended all that. There's an emotional core to the movie that becomes more important than how experimental and how unique the architecture of the film is."

J.K. Simmons, best supporting actor nominee for Whiplash: Simmons is in Atlanta for work, but is suffering from a cold that's made his voice raspy. "I'm a little under the weather but I gotta go to work in half an hour," said Simmons. Of Whiplash's nominations, which included one for best adapted screenplay, Simmons said: "The whole thing is very exciting. I'm so glad that [director] Damien [Chazelle] is getting some of the recognition he deserves." Awards season has already been eventful for Simmons, who won the supporting actor Golden Globe over the past weekend. "The most fun is being in a room with all the people I'm in the room with, many of whom are colleagues that I don't see often," he said. "And then many are guys I haven't had a chance to meet. I walked up and met Bill Murray at the Golden Globes. The whole 'Welcome to the club' aspect is pretty fun." He calls his work as the abusive band teacher in Whiplash a highlight of his career. "This will always be near the top of the movies that I'm proud of," he said.

Laura Dern, best supporting actress nominee for Wild: "It's a lovely morning and I feel very honored and I feel super excited," said Dern, who was asleep with her child — who was suffering from the flu — when she found out about her nomination. Dern said she is especially happy that many of her friends including Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo have also been nominated. "I think this year it really is about partying with friends," she said about attending the Oscars. She said she's been flooded with calls and texts from well-wishers, including John Green, the author of The Fault in Our Stars (she starred in the film adaptation). "I think it'll just be a day filled with wonderful conversation," she said. "It's so amazing."

Keira Knightley, best supporting actress nominee for The Imitation Game: "What an exciting morning! I'm so honored and grateful for this nomination and to be in the company of such talented and inspiring actresses. Thank you to the Academy for this recognition and also for honoring so many of the film's storytellers. I would like to think the many recognitions the Academy has given our movie is a celebration of Alan Turing's legacy."

Emma Stone, best supporting actress nominee for Birdman: "Well, this is surreal. I am completely knocked out. Thank you to the Academy for this incredible honor. I am very proud and lucky to be a part of Birdman and can't believe it came to this. I am so f—ing excited. Are you allowed to say 'f—' when you're making a statement for the Oscars? I'm just really f—ing excited."

Wes Anderson, best director, best original screenplay and best picture nominee for The Grand Budapest Hotel: "I've been asked to make a 'statement' even though I feel it does sound more like bragging. Nevertheless, my producers and I send our very deepest thanks to the Academy and its 8,000 members for a whole slew of Oscar nominations, especially for my longtime collaborators Robert Yeoman (our cinematographer who has worked with me on seven movies, if I count them right), Milena Canonero (our Italian costume designer), Alexandre Desplat (our French composer), Barney Pilling (our English editor), Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier (more English, hair/makeup), and Adam Stockhausen out of Wisconsin. Also, my friend Hugo Guinness (who co-wrote the movie with me) expresses his own gratitude. We feel very deeply honored and thrilled and, frankly, very, very pleased with ourselves all around."

Morten Tyldum, best director nominee for The Imitation Game: "I'm honored and thrilled beyond my wildest dreams to be recognized today alongside four other filmmakers whom I respect immeasurably. Being a part of The Imitation Game and paying homage to the exquisite genius Alan Turing has been quite simply the experience of a lifetime. My immense gratitude goes to the Academy and my congratulations to the rest of the team on this film, who to me is second to none."

Cathleen Sutherland, producer of best picture nominee Boyhood: "I feel truly graced by this honor, to know that all the energy and time and talent devoted by so many people was not unwarranted, that it meant something. The heart of this film beats with the heart of each and every person who gave so much of themselves; from our wonderful cast to our hardworking and dedicated crew. It took a family to create a family and I could not be more proud of them. Richard Linklater had a vision for all of us and for this film. It has been an unparalleled pleasure to work beside him all these years."

Nora Grossman and Ido Ostrowsky, producers of best picture nominee The Imitation Game: While Ostrowsky tried to sleep in this morning but was awoken by all the phone calls, Grossman was awake and watching the announcement with Imitation Game screenwriter Graham Moore. "We were with some friends from up the street — and a baby. There was lots of jumping up and down, high fives and a lot of hugs," said Grossman of hearing The Imitation Game nominated for eight awards. "I think to get eight nominations was overwhelming and unexpected and really thrilling." Ostrowsky and Grossman will be in a very celebratory mood tonight when they head to the Critics' Choice Awards together. "I think it's safe to say that five years ago when we first read about Alan Turing we did not, ever, in our wildest dreams, think it would get to this point. We're completely thrilled and elated that it has," said Ostrowsky.

Teddy Schwarzman, producer of best picture nominee The Imitation Game: "Our third child was born a month ago, so she was up well before the announcements came out, as were my wife and I, so we'd had time to have breakfast and put the announcements on. I've just moved to L.A. about six days ago, so we were at our place, and got to watch it on TV. It's a wonderful thing, it's exciting for our crew, it's exciting for our cast, it's exiting for Morten. This is a film that everyone made a lot of sacrifices for, and we did for all the right reasons. Everyone knew the importance of telling Alan Turing's story, of getting it into the public consciousness, and doing our best to tell that story right. A morning like this, it's incredibly satisfying and incredibly rewarding — to know that Turing's story is going to be heard."

Anthony McCarten, producer of best picture nominee The Theory of Everything and best adapted screenplay nominee for same: "Thank you, members of the Academy! I am humbled to learn of our most prestigious nominations. To be in the company of such great writers and producers and artists is a tribute to our film, to our talented team who worked so hard to bring this story to life, and, most importantly, to the extraordinary example provided us all by Jane and Stephen Hawking."

Tim Bevan, producer of best picture nominee The Theory of Everything: "It's a great day for British film and a great day for The Theory of Everything, great for Felicity and Eddie. I think they're both getting quite used to it. But it's fantastic to have an academy nomination because it is the big one." He added: "It's particularly great, from our point of view, to see Anthony McCarten recognized for his script because that's where it all began and it was a labor of love. And he's our fellow producer so he's got two nominations, so that's fantastic." The producer also said, "There's one that we didn't get, which would have been great, which is for the director because it's always odd when you get a script, two actors and a film and you think, hang on a second, there was someone who created this alchemy, as it were. Sad for us that James Marsh didn't get recognized because in many ways all of the awards are because of him. We were lucky enough to partner with Focus Features in February after we wrapped, and we knew that we were headed in the right direction creatively. Since then, the film has taken on a bit of a life of its own but in a wonderful way, and people are seeing themselves in this film or understanding the historical significance of this film, seeing the prejudices people faced and seeing the triumph of an outsider who was willing to do things his own way and not give up. It's probably the most important film I'll ever be a part of in my career, and it's a wonderful morning to get the recognition."

Lisa Bruce, producer of best picture nominee The Theory of Everything: "I am thrilled that the Academy members have embraced The Theory of Everything, as it is truly one of the most inspirational stories I have ever known. I hope our movie inspires people around the world to do as Jane and Stephen Hawking did: to reach beyond their realities and discover the unimaginable."

 

Gary Michael Walters, executive producer of best picture nominee Whiplash: "I'm super excited that both of Bold Films' projects, Nightcrawler and Whiplash, were honored with a total of six Oscar nominations today. Our mission is to support passionate, creative voices and tell unique stories. We feel incredibly fortunate to have collaborated with such amazing talent as Dan Gilroy and Jake Gyllenhaal and Damien Chazelle and J.K. Simmons, who all delivered extraordinary work."

 

Tom Bernard, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, distributor of best picture nominee Whiplash: The specialty label received 18 nominations Thursday, eclipsing its previous best showing of 13 nominations in 2001, when Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a major contender. "A best picture nomination for Whiplash is incredible," Bernard said. "And it is a movie that just keeps growing. We opened it up quite a while ago. Word of mouth continues, and this will just put it in the forefront." Whiplash, which SPC bought one year ago at the Sundance Film Festival, made a strong showing Thursday morning with five nominations, including best supporting actor for J.K. Simmons. "We thought we had a shot [at a best picture nomination]," added Bernard, who watched the nominations on his iPad in his New York City apartment. "There were Academy discussions when we were buying it. We saw it as on the Academy track from the beginning."

 

Don Hall and Roy Conli, director (Hall) and producer (Conli) of best animated feature nominee Big Hero 6: "As kids growing up in Canada and Iowa, Chris and I both dreamt of becoming Disney animators. Never could we have imagined that, one day, we would get to make a film like Big Hero 6, and that one day, the film and all of the talented artists who made it would be recognized by the Academy. Roy, Chris and I are deeply honored by the nomination and thank everyone at Disney Animation who made this possible."

 

Chris Williams, director of best animated feature nominee Big Hero 6: "It's been a pretty exciting morning," said Williams, noting that he has exchanged texts and emails with co-director Don Hall and producer Roy Conli, who are in South Korea promoting the film. "I'm most excited that the crew will be so excited. Hundreds spend years of their lives on these films." He said he was surprised by the omission of The Lego Movie from the animated feature nominations, "though it's hard to argue that any on list are not worthy." While nothing is determined regarding a possible Big Hero 6 sequel, he said, "The idea of working with the characters again is appealing for sure."

 

Dean DeBlois, director of best animated feature nominee How to Train Your Dragon 2: The writer-director says he woke up to "wonderful, blurry positivity." His Oscar nomination for the sequel (he was also nominated for the first Dragon) capped an "amazing week" during which he also received a Golden Globe, and the film also earned nominations from groups including the VES and CAS. He said of the Oscar nomination: "For me it's recognition is validation for what I believe were the risky, more daring elements of the story [notably, the decision to kill protagonist Hiccup's father, Stoick]. I was able to include ideas that were personal for me and challenging for the audience. Tearful, emotional moments."

 

Bonnie Arnold, producer of best animated feature nominee How to Train Your Dragon 2: "I could not be more thrilled for our artists by this recognition from the Academy and just so proud of our fearless leader, writer-director Dean DeBlois. There is a great line from the script that Cate Blanchett's character says to Hiccup: 'You have the heart of a chief and the soul of a dragon.' The same can be said of our entire cast and crew. They are the soul of this movie and we could not have gotten this far without each and every one of them; they make my job such a pleasure!"

 

Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable, directors of best animated feature nominee The Boxtrolls: Heading to Los Angeles for tonight's Critics Choice Awards, the directors were going through airport security when they learned of their nomination. "I dropped my phone and my shoes," Stacchi said, adding that they were congratulated by the TSA representative after he learned what was going on.

 

Travis Knight, producer of best animated feature nominee The Boxtrolls: "Not bad, a decent batting average," said a happy Knight, who is also CEO of LAIKA, the stop-motion animation house that made the film. LAIKA is now three for three, having also earned Oscar nominations for its prior two features, Coraline and ParaNorman. He joked that in keeping with The Boxtrolls' setting of Cheeseville, the team would break out the "most ostentatious cheese plate" to celebrate. The Boxtrolls is based on the novel Here Be Monsters by Alan Snow, which LAIKA found nearly 10 years ago. The stop-motion process is such that these films take years to make, and they also don't do test screenings at LAIKA. "We have to trust our instincts," Knight said. "Every time out, each film is a fairly pure representation of the filmmakers' [vision], so we have no sense of how people are going to react. This validation is really meaningful."

 

Torill Kove, director of best animated short nominee Me and My Moulton: "This is really wonderful news! One of the many great things about an Oscar nomination is that I will get some chances to express my gratitude publicly to all my colleagues and collaborators. They are all amazing people and I can't wait to rave about them."

 

Patrick Osborne, director of best animated short nominee Feast: "In a year with so many beautiful animated shorts, we are surprised, humbled, thrilled to be included among the nominees by the Academy. Making Feast alongside my favorite artists and best friends at Disney Animation was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It is their hard work and talent that made the film what it is and I am so excited to share this nomination with them."

 

Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi, directors of best animated short nominee The Dam Keeper: "We are excited and surprised," said co-director Tsutsumi, saying that they did a Google Hangout to watch the nominations with the team. "Duncan Ramsay, our producer, was in London. It was a staggered cheer. It was like a wave going through a stadium."

 

Alexander Dinelaris Jr., best original screenplay nominee for Birdman: "I think looking back at this, we weren't expecting to be in this position six months ago, let alone three years, when we started this process. I think the film, starting with Alejandro and our team, was an act of courage. He had a crazy idea, and we kind of jumped off a ledge with him. The actors were walking a tightrope every day, that was courage, the producers had courage to tackle so experimental a film, even the audiences and the critics have an amount of courage to accept this movie. That's the most amazing part — we all took the leap together."

 

Nicolas Giacobone, best original screenplay nominee for Birdman: "This movie comes from Alejandro, from this need he had to do something new, do something that would put him out of his comfort zone. It was so surprising that the only thing we could say was yes. Then, of course, when you discover what the story behind that first impulse is, it became about the four of us, and it became such a fascinating ride. Being part of it is fantastic, and having this recognition, we couldn't ask for more."

 

Dan Futterman, best original screenplay nominee for Foxcatcher: "I was in the dog park with the dog when the wife finally called me," said Futterman. "I'm honestly surprised. We've been on the bubble a little bit. It's been a little unclear what's been going on with the movie. It's a total thrill, and in particular to share it with Max Frye." When asked about the scathing comments from one of the film's subjects, Mark Schultz, Futterman said: "He was really brave in sharing his life with all of us. It can't ever go perfect with everybody. It's an upsetting period of his life," he said. Futterman said he will celebrate tonight with a night out with his wife and his friend Amy Ryan.

 

Dan Gilroy, best original screenplay nominee for Nightcrawler: Amazingly, Dan Gilroy, the writer-director of Nightcrawler who was up to hear his name called out for best original screenplay, did not wake up his wife, Nightcrawler actress Rene Russo, to tell her his news. Russo has to present Kevin Costner with an award at Thursday's Critics' Choice Awards but was fighting laryngitis, Gilroy said. "She's still sleeping. She told me to wake her if there was exciting news but I'm going to give her an extra hour," he said. For him, the experience of hearing his name was a trip. "I've never had that experience before. You start to hear your name announced, it becomes surreal for a second or two, and then they move on, and you're left to process the news." Another piece of news he processed was his actor Jake Gyllenhaal not receiving a best actor nomination despite the accolades. "I'm probably being very subjective but I thought Jake gave the performance of not just the year, but the performance of any year. He threaded the needle for that character. He deserved every award out there, at least every nomination." Gilroy is working on a new script and said he would tackle that today. "I'll be able to stay focused [despite the excitement of the nomination]," he insists. "There are always distractions, every day. This is just a bigger distraction than most."

 

Graham Moore, best adapted screenplay nominee for The Imitation Game: "I've been working on this film for five years, pretty much every day of my life for five years, so I got up for [the nominations announcement] because I am simply too obsessive compulsive to let even the chance that our movie might get something go by without being awake," said Moore. When the screenwriter heard his name announced for best adapted screenplay, he said it was "crazy." "I yelled. I was fiddling with how to use my coffee maker and I was literally spilling water all over myself," he said. "To have been involved with this film has been the most fulfilling experience of my life. I've been obsessed with Alan Turing since I was a teenager, so to be involved with a film about him is everything I could have dreamed of." Moore said he may go out to dinner with his Imitation Game cast to celebrate tonight but he also "may crash by 2 p.m." He added: "Among my New Year's resolutions is going to be figuring out how to take effective naps."

 

Helen Estabrook, producer of best adapted screenplay nominee Whiplash: "I was at home [in Silver Lake] on my couch with my laptop on my lap when I saw the nominations. As soon as they announced Tom Cross [nominated for best film editing for Whiplash], I started crying because Tom is one of the loveliest humans. At that point, I was like, 'We've done something great if this is the recognition that this guy is getting.' And then I continued to cry throughout. I just drove over to Santa Monica to have breakfast with [director] Damien [Chazelle]. He and I were hanging out and absorbing all this." Estabrook added: "I think everybody who worked on this movie worked on it because they loved it. I know they certainly weren't doing it for the money," she said. "It's a real thrill to be a part of this crazy journey." She'll celebrate again tonight with Chazelle at the Critics' Choice Awards. When asked about the film's surprise nomination for adapted screenplay (despite the fact that the movie is based on an original script by Chazelle, it was nominated as adapted because a short was first made and played at Sundance), Estabrook said: "The way that all worked out was quite a surprise. But listen, I'm certainly not going to complain about it. It's really incredible."

 

Alexandre Desplat, best original score nominee for The Imitation Game and The Grand Budapest Hotel: "When you get one, already it's a miracle, so to have two is a double miracle. It's like being hit twice over the head. I remember John Williams got two not long ago [2011's War Horse and The Adventures of Tintin]. I am very fortunate. How will I celebrate? I'll be on the phone for the next two hours."

 

Gary Yershon, best original score nominee for Mr. Turner: "I'm honored to be nominated. It's a testament to my brilliant team of musicians, conductor Terry Davis, and our recording engineer Nick Taylor. I am delighted that my colleagues Dick, Suzie and Jacqueline have been recognized too. I'm proud to be associated with Mike Leigh and his amazing work. A nomination for me is a nomination for Mr. Turner."

 

Jóhann Jóhannsson, best original score nominee for The Theory of Everything: "I'm deeply honored to be nominated for composing this score. Filmmaking is a collaborative medium, and I was lucky to work with artists of amazing caliber on The Theory of Everything: the actors, the screenwriter, and the director, James Marsh — who has my gratitude for inviting me to be a part of his team and for being a brilliant, inspiring and generous collaborator. My thanks to the AMPAS members for this recognition."


 

Hans Zimmer, best original score nominee for Interstellar: "Without a shadow of doubt, the score for Interstellar was Chris and I at our most collaborative. Even in this modern world of texting and emailing, sometimes all you need is a simple, type-written letter from your director to spark what undoubtedly became one of the most personal scores I've ever written. Chris and I make movies family-style — so much of the film's music was written with our children in mind, and that's what makes this honor by the Academy really special. This is as much his score as it is mine."

 

Julian Raymond, best original song nominee for "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" from Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me: "I kept notes forever about things Glen said, and one of them was, 'What are all these people worried about, I'm not gonna miss any of 'em anyway.' The song had to be simple so he could sing it — it couldn't be something complicated like 'Wichita Lineman.' He loved that piano vibe, like John Lennon sitting down to play piano. Not to compare it to Lennon, but it's a simple melody, a heartfelt song, like 'Imagine.' He wanted to sing what he felt. He said, 'Wow, this is a hit song!' like he was a kid and all his friends and family were around him. It was a pretty cool day. I saw him a few weeks ago, but he didn't know me."

 

Gregg Alexander, best original song nominee for "Lost Stars" from Begin Again: "[The nomination represents] the idea that the underdogs can sneak into the ball, that sometimes the girl you least expect might become the prom queen, or the skinny kid that throws the touchdown — that's us. There's so many studio films, big-budgeted films in the running, that that's kind of where we see ourselves. We're the kid that snuck in."

 

Danielle Brisebois, best original song nominee for "Lost Stars" from Begin Again: "I was up all night, probably more because I have 1-year-old twins. So I was up anyway, and I was watching the announcements come on, and they did songs, and then they announced our song — but last, so my heart was pounding. The first thing I did was call Gregg and I was like, 'Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!' I'm screaming and Gregg didn't know why we were screaming at first."

 

Diane Warren, best original song nominee for "Grateful" from Beyond the Lights: "I woke up at 5 a.m. I'm kinda like thinking, it's so competitive this year of all years, there's Coldplay, there's everybody. I got a text saying, 'Congratulations!' and I thought, 'Could that be an old text? Oh my God, holy shit, I got nominated!' I love it, I think it's one of my best songs, it's got a great message. I should listen to it. Why can't you be more grateful, bitch? You wrote that song! But a seventh nomination is good. Seven is good. My birthday's on the seventh. I don't expect to win, I'm a six-time loser. But seven times a charm! Stay tuned. And the nomination lunches are always fun because nobody's lost. For the day, you're cool."

 

Laura Poitras, director of best documentary feature nominee Citizenfour: "The reaction to the film is incredibly overwhelming. It was made by a really small circle of people taking huge risks — the people in the film, the people who made it, and all the funders and distributors. So its popularity has been a testament for not playing it safe. To have it recognized as a film, it's incredible. I haven't talked with [Edward Snowden] since the nomination. I have been in touch with him via encryption, which I don't have set up here, but hopefully I'll speak to him soon. But I hope he's gotten the news."

 

Rory Kennedy, director of best documentary feature nominee Last Days in Vietnam: "Yaaaay! Isn't it thrilling? I was in my house in L.A. watching but the streaming was delayed here, so I got a text from Amy Grey just saying, 'Yes,' and then I jumped up and down in an old-fashioned kind of way. My father [Robert F. Kennedy] really jumped into that last campaign [for president], desperate for us to get out of the war in Vietnam. He saw the writing on the wall before a lot of people. That was certainly part of my childhood, and so it's nice to have this moment and have it be recognized by so many people."

 

Orlando von Einsiedel, director of best documentary feature nominee Virunga: "We're all over the moon. This is all very new to me. Netflix does very interesting things with docs — E Team, The Square — it's great for filmmakers and reaches unprecedented audiences, 53 million homes in 50 countries. When we got the BAFTA and DGA and PGA noms, for five minutes it's great, and then you go back to being nervous. It's all been overwhelming, but it's all about making more people to stop these mountain gorillas from being destroyed in the name of greed."

 

Leonardo DiCaprio, executive producer of best documentary feature nominee Virunga: "Congrats to Orlando and Joanna [Natasegara]. Everyone is incredibly humbled by this nomination. This film has always been about telling the stories of the incredible rangers of Virunga National Park. The work they do is truly heroic, and this recognition is a salute to their bravery. With only about 800 eastern lowland gorillas left in the wild, we hope that this honor will help to further raise awareness for this cause. Thank you to the Academy for recognizing our film in this way, and congratulations to all fellow nominees."

 

Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, co-directors of best documentary feature nominee The Salt of the Earth: "We are delighted to learn of this nomination for The Salt of the Earth, and we are especially happy that our subject has received so much attention — that is, both the photography of Sebastiao Salgado, as well as his other life's work, the reforestation of the tropical rain forest."

 

Jeff Garlin, executive producer of best documentary feature nominee Finding Vivian Maier: "I'm thrilled. Even though we're up for best documentary, I feel it's the best acting I've ever done."

 

Mat Kirkby and James Lucas, director (Kirkby) and writers (Kirkby and Lucas) of best live-action short nominee The Phone Call: "We are utterly thrilled and honored that The Phone Call starring Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent has been nominated at the 2015 Oscars. Sally Hawkins, who was Oscar nominated last year for Blue Jasmine, gives an incredible performance here as a helpline call center worker trying to save a man's life."

 

Damián Szifrón, director of best foreign-language film nominee Wild Tales: "I'm on the beach in Argentina with my family, not watching TV. I didn't want to watch — ours was the last one announced, I would have died. When I was writing the film in my bathtub, I never thought this could happen. But it makes sense. Everybody is angry about something, some injustice or abuse of power, and the film works as an experience to release the anger, for so many audiences. Brazil, Dubai, France, Telluride, Toronto, AFI, Palm Springs — it connects with audiences in a physical way."

 

Pawel Pawlikowski, writer and director of best foreign-language film nominee Ida: "I was in Mexico at a café with a TV, and started seeing familiar faces — to get two nominations [for cinematography and foreign-language film] is even more astounding. It's a strange, ongoing fairy tale and it gets better and better. I'm very happy for Poland, and half of Poland will be celebrating — the half that embraced Ida, that loves cinema, poetry, the open-minded Poland. The other half will be really pissed off now. The ones who think it's unpatriotic, the suspicious, envious, other Poland, full of complexes."

 

Abderrahmane Sissako, director of best foreign-language film nominee Timbuktu: "As I learn of this nomination, I am overwhelmed by an indescribable feeling, it is an honor for me and a great sign for Mauritania and Africa. It is the acknowledgement of work accomplished through the passion and commitment of women and men of different countries, united to defend our universal values of love, peace and justice. I am extremely touched that the Academy in the United States of America has opened the way for Timbuktu to receive the greatest recognition in world cinema, I thank all those who made this possible from the bottom of my heart. I would like to thank France for its unfailing support."

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