Oscar Predictions 2015

Going through some of the old archives last night (LiveJournal fo LIFE!), I realized that this will be my 11th year live-blogging the Oscars.  Technically, it'll be my 10th year to ACTUALLY live-blog it b/c about 4-5 years ago, I had to play a show in front of about 6 people so I missed out, but I did watch the next day and do a thorough recap, so I'll say that counts for half....so 10.5 years.  Either way, my point is I didn't realize I had been doing this for so long which is pretty awesome/sad/weird and of course, officially makes me an expert now.  This was made evident by my perfect score last year, NBD #humblebrag. That being said, of course this year appears to have some of the most difficult calls in recent memory so I wouldn't be shocked if I miss on quite a few, but nonetheless, I feel pretty prepared, I've done my research, I've seen pretty much everything and am currently covered in sweat after doing my workout for the day, so WHO'S READY TO RUMBLE?!  Also, like last year, I'm just going to state my predictions and not who I think should win or anything like that, I'll save it for the actual ceremony.  I can't just give you the entire steak right out of the gate, c'mon now.

Best Picture: Birdman
Best Director: Richard Linklater - Boyhood
Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything
Best Actress: Julianne Moore - Still Alice
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons - Whiplash
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette - Boyhood
Best Original Screenplay: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Adapted Screenplay: Whiplash
Best Cinematography: Birdman
Best Costume Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Sound Mixing: American Sniper
Best Editing: Boyhood
Best Sound Editing: Interstellar
Best Visual Effects: Interstellar
Best Makeup/Hairstyling: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Original Song: Selma
Best Score: The Theory of Everything
Best Documentary: Citizenfour
Best Foreign Language Film: Ida
Best Animated Film: How To Train Your Dragon 2
Best Production Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Ok so I'm betting big on The Grand Budapest Hotel in terms of tech categories mainly b/c it was somewhat surprisingly the leading nominations getter (tied with Birdman) so I'm assuming there's a lot of Oscar love for it to put it over the top in several categories.  Another thing I'm curious to see is the level of love for Whiplash.  A couple of years ago, I incorrectly assumed there was a groundswell of love and support for Amour so I predicted it to win several categories and it didn't, so the moral of the story is, fuck you Amour. Anyway, if in fact, there is a strong Whiplash contingent (as there fucking should be b/c it's one of the best films of the year), then it could make categories like Adapted Screenplay and Sound Mixing interesting, so I learned from my Amour lesson and just split the difference.

I'm also going with the split Picture/Director vote.  Don't get me wrong, nothing would make my little heart flutter more than to see ol' Dicky Linklater take home director and Boyhood win Best Picture, but I just don't see it.  Birdman has turned into an unstoppable juggernaut throughout award season and has won pretty much every guild award imaginable.  I even think they made some up for fun and it won those too.  And for whatever it's worth, I think the odds are better that Birdman wins both Picture and Director than Boyhood getting both, but as they say, that's why they play the games.  Speculation and predictions won't get you 5 cent hobo handjob.  I don't know what that means or why I said that.  Anyway, even though it may cause me great anxiety, it should be a fun awards show with so many categories being up in the air.  And I may take this all way too seriously.  See ya in a bit!