Random Babble: 2015 Oscars/87th Academy Awards Predictions

Today is a great day, because the Oscars are taking place tonight and if you're a big movie fan and are into watching the great films of the year being recognized then you will be watching. Being that the 87th Academy Awards are today I have decided to make a post attempting to predict the winners. The list of nominees and categories is lengthy and quite honestly I don't think I can make accurate predictions on all of them, so I will only make predictions on the major categories. The format I will follow is listing the categories with the respective nominees with my prediction being highlighted in red. I hope you enjoy it and compare my prediction to your own. Here are my predictions for the 2015 Oscars/87th Academy Awards:

BEST PICTURE
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Bennett Miller – Foxcatcher
Morten Tyldum – The Imitation Game

BEST ACTOR
Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Duvall – The Judge
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Laura Dern – Wild
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Emma Stone – Birdman
Meryl Streep – Into the Woods

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Sniper – Jason Hall

The Imitation Game – Graham Moore
Inherent Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything – Anthony McCarten
Whiplash – Damien Chazelle

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman – Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo
Boyhood – Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher – E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler – Dan Gilroy

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman – Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Robert D. Yeoman
Ida – Ryszard Lenczweski, Lukasz Zal
Mr. Turner – Dick Pope
Unbroken – Roger Deakins

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past

2015 Academy Awards Nominations Announced

That special time of the year for movie fans is almost here, the 87th Academy Awards are close and today the nominations for the big event were announced. The 2015 Oscars will take place on February at 7pm ET/  4pm P and promise to be an exciting show as usual. Like I said, the nominations for the 87th Academy Awards were announced and they weren't short of a few surprises. I will get my comments out of the way now and then share the list, since my comments are many. My big surprise like it was for many others was not seeing The LEGO Movie nominated for best animated feature, no disrespect to the other nominees and I will not say which one shouldn't be there since I did not see all of the films, but I thought The LEGO Movie was such a special film that was enjoyed by children and adults alike so it deserved a spot among the nominees. Another surprise for me was the presence that American Sniper had among the nominations (6 total), since it wasn't really that present during other award shows, some people argue that Bradley Cooper's nomination should have gone to either Jake Gyllenhaal for Nightcrawler or David Oyelowo for Selma. Other than those few, I think the nominations were consistent, so here is the full list of nominees for the 87th Academy Awards:

BEST PICTURE
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Bennett Miller – Foxcatcher
Morten Tyldum – The Imitation Game

BEST ACTOR
Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Duvall – The Judge
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Laura Dern – Wild
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Emma Stone – Birdman
Meryl Streep – Into the Woods

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Sniper – Jason Hall
The Imitation Game – Graham Moore
Inherent Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything – Anthony McCarten
Whiplash – Damien Chazelle

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman – Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo
Boyhood – Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher – E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler – Dan Gilroy

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines (Estonia)
Timbuktu (Mauritania)
Wild Tales (Argentina)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

CITIZENFOUR
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Mr. Turner

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman – Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Robert D. Yeoman
Ida – Ryszard Lenczweski, Lukasz Zal
Mr. Turner – Dick Pope
Unbroken – Roger Deakins

BEST FILM EDITING
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash


BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Mr. Turner

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Alexandre Desplat
The Imitation Game – Alexandre Desplat
Interstellar – Hans Zimmer
Mr. Turner - Gary Yershon
The Theory of Everything – Johann Johannsson

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Begin Again – “Lost Stars”
Beyond the Lights – “Grateful”
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me – “I’m Not Gonna Miss You”
The LEGO Movie – “Everything Is Awesome”
Glory – “Selma”

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past

BEST SOUND EDITING
American Sniper
Birdman
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken

BEST SOUND MIXING
American Sniper
Birdman
Interstellar
Unbroken
Whiplash

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
The Bigger Picture
The Damn Keeper
Feast
Me and My Moulton
Single Life

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE-ACTION)
Aya
Boogalo and Graham
Butter Lamp
Parvaneh
The Phone Call

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper
White Earth

2015 Golden Globe Winners

Note: Better late than never, Happy New Year Babblers! I sincerely apologize for the delay in coming back to continue to give you the latest in movie news, trailers and reviews, but I am very happy to get back to it. So, without further delay, let's do this!

If you follow movies closely, you probably know that the 2015 or 72nd Golden Globe Awards took place last night. I enjoyed the show, it was hard not to with great hosting from Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and some pretty nice speeches from some of the winners. If you saw the show or just looked it up, you probably know who won, but I'm still going to share the results for those who don't know them and those who also want to know what I thought about the results. Keep in mind that I will only talk about the major movie categories since this is a movie site, you can check out the complete list of winners in the Golden Globes website. Now, I am embarrassed to say that I have not yet seen every winning film so some of my comments might not be as insightful as you or I would like, I will fix that by the time The Oscars come around. So, here is the list of winners in the major film categories including my comments:

Best Motion Picture - Drama: Boyhood
Boyhood was my favorite film of 2014, so naturally I was very happy when the film was announced as the winner. What I am interested in seeing is if it will happen again at The Oscars (I think it's safe to say it will be nominated), where the best picture category isn't divided into drama or comedy (rightfully so in my opinion) so the competition is greater.

Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama: Julianne Moore
Being the great year in film 2014 was, this category like most others was packed and really hard for me to call. Still Alice is one of the films I haven't seen yet, but when I saw the trailer a while ago I was really attracted by it and you can get a feel of the powerful performance Moore gives just from that trailer. Felicity Jones, Reese Witherspoon and Rosamund Pike I could have also seen winning and would have been happy with too (Yeah I know that they make up the entire category also with Jennifer Aniston, I just said it was packed).

Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama: Eddie Redmayne
I still haven't watched The Theory of Everything but was aware of the award buzz surrounding Redmayne for this role, so this was also a result I was on board with. When I get a chance to see the film I am sure I will agree even more.

Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy: The Grand Budapest Hotel
I haven't seen The Grand Budapest Hotel yet, but I remember being interested when I watched the trailer for it. But, without having seen the film I'm about to mention either, I really thought Birdman would win this category.

Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical: Amy Adams
I have yet to see any of the films in this category, but from what little I know about the films, out of every other nominee in the category Amy Adams makes most sense to me as the winner.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical: Michael Keaton
Like I said, I have yet to see Birdman, but even from what little I know I thought Keaton would be the winner. Like with best picture I think best actor and also best actress will be so interesting at The Oscars, the spots are more limited and the competition is so close that it will be something to watch.

Best Animated Feature Film: How to Train Your Dragon 2
This was an animated film I didn't watch (I keep noticing how many films I'm missing as I go down the list and am feeling really embarrassed), but heard was really good. I was rooting for The Lego Movie which I did see, and I thought it would win. But apparently I'm missing something and should go watch How to Train Your Dragon 2.

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Patricia Arquette
Even though I enjoyed her performance a lot in Boyhood, I really didn't think Patricia Arquette would get the win, so I was pleasantly surprised when I heard her name.

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: J.K. Simmons
I have heard and read so many good thing about Whiplash that I can'
t wait to see it, specially for the acclaim that Simmons is getting for his role. Even without seeing the film I thought this would be the result.

Best Director - Motion Picture: Richard Linklater
This was really a no brainer for me, with no intention to offend any of the other nominees. Such a groundbreaking film and concept, 12 years in the making. This was directing like it has never been done before, so the win is rightly deserved.

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo
Screenplay is really something I can't comment on without having seen the film, but great for Birdman to get a second win.

Those were the winners in the major film categories and my thoughts, but I would love to know yours so leave them in the comment section and start a conversation with other movie fans.

20th Critics' Choice Movie Awards Announced

Award season is well under way and the critics have added their input to what the best films and performances of the year 2014 will be, revealing the nominations for the 20th Critics' Choice Movie Awards. Birdman is ahead of the rest with 13 nominations, The Grand Budapest Hotel follows with 11 nominations, and Boyhood received 8 nominations. The awards will air on A&E on January 15th at 9pm EST/ 6pm PT. 

We are seeing many of the same movies get nominations for different award events, and that will probably happen with most of the events, so you better go and see these movies that are receiving so much acclaim. The list of nominations is quite extensive so I apologize in advance for the long list, these are the nominees for the 20th Critics' Choice Movie Awards (via CriticsChoice.com):

BEST PICTURE

Birdman

Boyhood

Gone Girl

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Nightcrawler

Selma

The Theory of Everything

Unbroken

Whiplash

BEST ACTOR

Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game

Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler

Michael Keaton – Birdman

David Oyelowo – Selma

Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

BEST ACTRESS

Jennifer Aniston – Cake

Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night

Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything

Julianne Moore – Still Alice

Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl

Reese Witherspoon – Wild

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Josh Brolin – Inherent Vice

Robert Duvall – The Judge

Ethan Hawke – Boyhood

Edward Norton – Birdman

Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher

J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year

Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game

Emma Stone – Birdman

Meryl Streep – Into the Woods

Tilda Swinton – Snowpiercer

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

Ellar Coltrane – Boyhood

Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars

Mackenzie Foy – Interstellar

Jaeden Lieberher – St. Vincent

Tony Revolori – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Quvenzhane Wallis – Annie

Noah Wiseman – The Babadook

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

Birdman

Boyhood

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Into the Woods

Selma

BEST DIRECTOR

Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Ava DuVernay – Selma

David Fincher – Gone Girl

Alejandro G. Inarritu – Birdman

Angelina Jolie – Unbroken

Richard Linklater – Boyhood

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Birdman – Alejandro G. Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., Armando Bo

Boyhood – Richard Linklater

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness

Nightcrawler – Dan Gilroy

Whiplash – Damien Chazelle

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn

The Imitation Game – Graham Moore

Inherent Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson

The Theory of Everything – Anthony McCarten

Unbroken – Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese, William Nicholson

Wild – Nick Hornby

BEST CINEMATOGRAPY

Birdman – Emmanuel Lubezki

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Robert Yeoman

Interstellar – Hoyte Van Hoytema

Mr. Turner – Dick Pope

Unbroken – Roger Deakins

BEST ART DIRECTION

Birdman – Kevin Thompson/Production Designer, George DeTitta Jr./Set Decorator

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Adam Stockhausen/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator

Inherent Vice – David Crank/Production Designer, Amy Wells/Set Decorator

Interstellar – Nathan Crowley/Production Designer, Gary Fettis/Set Decorator

Into the Woods – Dennis Gassner/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator

Snowpiercer – Ondrej Nekvasil/Production Designer, Beatrice Brentnerova/Set Decorator

BEST EDITING

Birdman – Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione

Boyhood – Sandra Adair

Gone Girl – Kirk Baxter

Interstellar – Lee Smith

Whiplash – Tom Cross

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Milena Canonero

Inherent Vice – Mark Bridges

Into the Woods – Colleen Atwood

Maleficent – Anna B. Sheppard

Mr. Turner – Jacqueline Durran

BEST HAIR & MAKEUP

Foxcatcher

Guardians of the Galaxy

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Into the Woods

Maleficent

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Edge of Tomorrow

Guardians of the Galaxy

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Interstellar

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Big Hero 6

The Book of Life

The Boxtrolls

How to Train Your Dragon 2

The Lego Movie

BEST ACTION MOVIE

American Sniper

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Edge of Tomorrow

Fury

Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE

Bradley Cooper – American Sniper

Tom Cruise – Edge of Tomorrow

Chris Evans – Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Brad Pitt – Fury

Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE

Emily Blunt – Edge of Tomorrow

Scarlett Johansson – Lucy

Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Zoe Saldana – Guardians of the Galaxy

Shailene Woodley – Divergent

BEST COMEDY

Birdman

The Grand Budapest Hotel

St. Vincent

Top Five

22 Jump Street

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY

Jon Favreau – Chef

Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Michael Keaton – Birdman

Bill Murray – St. Vincent

Chris Rock – Top Five

Channing Tatum – 22 Jump Street

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

Rose Byrne – Neighbors

Rosario Dawson – Top Five

Melissa McCarthy – St. Vincent

Jenny Slate – Obvious Child

Kristen Wiig – The Skeleton Twins

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE

The Babadook

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Interstellar

Snowpiercer

Under the Skin

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Force Majeure

Ida

Leviathan

Two Days, One Night

Wild Tales

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Citizenfour

Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me

Jodorowsky’s Dune

Last Days in Vietnam

Life Itself

The Overnighters

BEST SONG

Big Eyes – Lana Del Rey – Big Eyes

Everything Is Awesome – Jo Li and the Lonely Island – The Lego Movie

Glory – Common/John Legend – Selma

Lost Stars – Keira Knightley – Begin Again

Yellow Flicker Beat – Lorde – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

BEST SCORE

Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game

Johann Johannsson – The Theory of Everything

Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Gone Girl

Antonio Sanchez – Birdman

Hans Zimmer – Interstellar