Oscar Winners

I will be live-blogging throughout the ceremony. Refresh and sick with me through the night for updates and commentary on winners as they are announced.

Final Oscar Predictions: All the Categories

In just a few short hours, we’ll be able to finally put a cap on one of the most confusing Oscar races in recent history. After going months without a presumed frontrunner, “Boyhood” took the slot after winning the lion’s share of the critics’ prizes and critical acclaim. But despite its critical endorsement, something seemed off; no one seemed truly enthused about anointing Boyhood as the winner. For all of its revelatory scope (being filmed over a period of 12 years with the same actors), it’s a story we have heard dozens of times before. 

That feeling proved true, because as we moved into phase 2 (post-Oscar nominations/guild winners), it was Birdman that jumped in the driver’s seat, winning top honors from the Director’s, Actor’s and Producer’s Guilds. The only major guild award it has lost has been the British Academy Award (BAFTA) which went to Boyhood. Statistics will tell you that it’s between these two for the Best Picture win. 

But will it be a clean sweep? Will these two films dominate the ceremony? Hardly. It’s a competitive year, with a number of strong films threatening to spoil these two dog race. So, let’s a look through each category; Who will emerge the night’s biggest winner? 

Academy Award Nominations: The Whitest Oscars Since 1998

Sometimes, the critics do matter; Marion Cotillard was nominated in Best Actress in a Leading Role for "Two Days, One Night". 

"Wow" just about sums up my reaction to this year's Oscar nominations. As they always do, the Academy reminded us that they really do go their own way when it comes to what they see as 'the best'. 

Academy Award Nominations: What to Expect Tomorrow

Frontrunner "Boyhood" has a lot of momentum going into nomination day. 

We've heard from the Globes, and we're still awaiting on final decisions from SAG, the DGA, the PGA and the Broadcast Film Critics, but we finally have a consensus, at least.

*Yawn* DGA Nominations

Ava DuVernay was left off of the DGA shortlist this morning in favor of Clint Eastwood and Morten Teldum. 

In hindsight, awards don't mean anything. Year after year great films are produced and go unnoticed by voters in favor of mediocre awards-bait.

But what's so disappointing, is that a film that is not only great (the best of the year) on ever level, but socially relevant, is being shut out of awards contention. And as I sit here typing these words, maybe that's why "Selma" is being snubbed by all of the guilds (PGA, SAG and now the DGA).

"Selma" Snubbed Again at the BAFTA's

It's honestly mind-blowing to me that the year's best film is having such a hard time with awards season. Though I suppose a lot of the blame has to be placed upon distributor Paramount for the lack of screeners being released to voters, and the hackneyed release (though that apparently has to do with how late team "Selma" was in finishing the final cut of the film).

Still, the fact that BAFTA did not give the film a single nomination is a clear snub. Instead, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" showed some very robust, and unexpected strength and managed 11 nominations, the most for any film this year.

"The Theory of Everything" predictably did very well with BAFTA, while "Boyhood", "The Imitation Game" and "Birdman" continued their status as top-tier contenders.

See the full list of nominations (and commentary) below.

We're in for the Whitest, Male-ist Oscars Yet

Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne lead the several mediocre, white male-centric films destined for Oscar glory. 

After last year's Best Picture Oscar race, which including groundbreaking films such as "Gravity", "12 Years A Slave" and "Her", it's hard not to feel a sinking feeling of disappointment. 12 Years A Slave, on paper, fit into Oscar's wheelhouse, despite it's determination not to shy away from the atrocities of slavery, violence included. It was a period piece, and a biopic not to mention, it was an incredible achievement, one that Oscar couldn't look away from and still maintain it was the highest honor to receive in film.

In Gravity's case, a woman held the screen for the film's entire running time, going through her own character arc and overcoming hardship without the aid of a male character. Even "Philomela" found its way into the Best Picture race, which focused on an elderly woman grappling with being forced to give up her son by the Catholic Church. The film dealt with themes of faith, sexuality and love, and again was headlined by an 80 year old actress.

Sure, films focusing on white men overcoming hardship like "Nebraska" and "The Wolf of Wall Street" found their way into contention, but when you compare last year to this year, last year smells a little fresher. This year, you won't find films like Gravity or Philomena. Sure, there's Ava DuVernay's magnificent "Selma", but that film stands alone in a category filled with "The Theory of Everything", "The Imitation Game", "Foxcatcher", "American Sniper" and even "Boyhood". Gillian Flynn is the only woman screenwriter in contention for Best Adapted Screenplay, and of the acting contenders, Selma's David Oyelowo is the only person of color expected to receive a nomination.

PGA Nominees: Selma Snubbed

When it comes to predicting the Oscar's Best Picture line up, the Producer's Guild is the most important precursor there is. They're usually pretty accurate, though there are often 1 or 2 that miss with Oscar (last year's "Blue Jasmine", 2012's "Skyfall", 2011's "Bridesmaids").

The biggest surprise looking at this year's list of nominees, is in the inclusion of Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper" and Dan Gilroy's "Nightcrawler"  and the exclusion of Ava DuVernay's "Selma". In the case of Nightcrawler, the film seems to be beloved by many; Jake Gyllenhaal's performance has received substantial acclaim and the film itself is popping up in many other Best Picture lists, but it's always been perceived as an Oscar play for Gyllenhaal and not a serious Best Picture play. American Sniper, on the other hand, has received some positive reviews (mainly for leading man Bradley Cooper) and won big with the NBR, but hasn't really popped up anywhere else. Eastwood always registers better with the Academy, however, so I guess it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

But the fact it made it in over the universally acclaimed Selma, is shocking to me, and hopefully not telling of what's to come with Oscar. Both films have yet to expand in wide release, but have been doing very well at the box office. If anything, I think Selma will eventually edge out Nightcrawler come Oscar morning.

Despite raking in some major money over the holidays, neither Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken" or Rob Marshall's "Into the Woods" could find any love here. In the case of Jolie, her film failed to live up to the monumental expectations dumped upon it as the frontrunner from the moment it was announced. Woods, on the other hand, received some great notices, but not as a Best Picture play. That shouldn't keep it from receiving attention for Meryl Streep and the craft/tech work.

The big winner though, is "The Grand Budapest Hotel", which has been receiving just about every nod it needed to overcome its early release date, including SAG, the Globes and now the PGA. I think it has what it takes to be one of the film's with the most nominations. And "Whiplash", once seen as a vehicle for eventual Best Supporting Actor winner J.K. Simmons, could squeak in on passion as "the little indie that could". It'll be interesting to see what eventually ends up on Oscar's shortlist.

See the full list of nominees below.

Golden Globe Nominations

See the full list of Film nominees below.

21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Award Nominations

Full nomination list (and reactions) below.

The Calm Before the Storm: Where are we in the Oscar Race?

"Boyhood", "The Imitation Game", "The Theory of Everything", "Birdman", "Foxcatcher" and "Gone Girl" all look like Best Picture nominees, but who is leading?

The Oscar race is a fickle thing; the slightest bit of negative buzz can all but deter a film on the winning track to implosion. Your buzz can never peak too early, and your release date can't be too far away from the end of the year. Sure, you can skip the festivals (New York, Cannes, Venice, Telluride) but you better have a hell of a box office success story, or Meryl Streep playing a Holocaust victim in a film backed by Harvey Weinstein if you want to secure some major nominations.


At this point last year, we had "Gravity" breaking box office records, and "12 Years A Slave" had won the top prize at the Toronto Film Festival; these were undisputed frontrunners. It was going to come down to these 2 (and it did, with some heat from "American Hustle"). I can honestly say that as of right now, I have no idea what film will win Best Picture; we don't really have a front runner.

Reese Witherspoon & Benedict Cumberbatch: Serious Oscar Threats

About a month ago when "The Imitation Game"'s trailer debuted, there were some that thought that the film was one to watch on the Oscar circuit. A film backed by Harvey Weinstein featuring the internet's hero (and recent Emmy nominee) Benedict Cumberbatch about WWII (the Academy's favorite topic) is certainly something to watch out for. 

However, after watching the trailer, I felt like the film was very "been there done that", in the same way that I felt "The King's Speech" was, especially since this year we have film's like "Birdman" and "Interstellar" and even Disney's adaptation of dark musical "Into the Woods" on the horizon; in comparison, the film is reductive, it doesn't seem to be any different from the numerous amount of films that covered this subject matter before it. Besides, we have Angelina Jolie's WWII epic "Unbroken" coming out, which seems to be as every bit of inspirational and uplifting as The Imitation Game. 

According to many of those who caught the film at the Telluride Film Festival this past week, however, the film is a major player, and a real threat at winning some top awards.

Oscar Race: Turning Up the Heat

The end of the summer is upon us, and with the Venice Film Festival just around the corner (starting on the 27th and ending on the 6th of September), we're really about to get in the thick of Oscar season.

Of course, the summer has been dominated (mainly) by buzz; none of the films that are being predicted to be heavyweights in the season have premiered to the masses yet, except for Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" (more on that later). Of the films predicted to do well this season, even fewer have had premieres at all ("Whiplash" had Sundance, "Foxcatcher" had Cannes, "Birdman" will open Venice in a week's time); we've mainly been restricted to pictures, hearsay and trailers.

So, where does that leave us now?