Oscars 2015: Winners!

It's Oscar Sunday! Lucky recipients of the 87th Oscars will be honored today at the Dolby in Hollywood! Come back often for updates on the winners. Check my predictions in the 8 major categories here: MY OSCARS 2015 PREDICTIONS

And the winners are...
(WINNERS ARE HIGHLIGHTED IN BOLD RED LETTERS)

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Steve Carell in “Foxcatcher”
Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper”
Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game”
Michael Keaton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Eddie Redmayne in “The Theory of Everything”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Robert Duvall in “The Judge”
Ethan Hawke in “Boyhood”
Edward Norton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Mark Ruffalo in “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons in “Whiplash”

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Marion Cotillard in “Two Days, One Night”
Felicity Jones in “The Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore in “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike in “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon in “Wild”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Patricia Arquette in “Boyhood”
Laura Dern in “Wild”
Keira Knightley in “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Meryl Streep in “Into the Woods”

Best animated feature film of the year
“Big Hero 6” Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
“The Boxtrolls” Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight
“How to Train Your Dragon 2” Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold
“Song of the Sea” Tomm Moore and Paul Young
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura

Achievement in cinematography
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Emmanuel Lubezki
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Robert Yeoman
“Ida” Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
“Mr. Turner” Dick Pope
“Unbroken” Roger Deakins

Achievement in costume design
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Milena Canonero
“Inherent Vice” Mark Bridges
“Into the Woods” Colleen Atwood
“Maleficent” Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive
“Mr. Turner” Jacqueline Durran

Achievement in directing
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu
“Boyhood” Richard Linklater
“Foxcatcher” Bennett Miller
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson
“The Imitation Game” Morten Tyldum

Best documentary feature
“CitizenFour” Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky
“Finding Vivian Maier” John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
“Last Days in Vietnam” Rory Kennedy and Keven McAlester
“The Salt of the Earth” Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and David Rosier
“Virunga” Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

Best documentary short subject
“Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1” Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
“Joanna” Aneta Kopacz
“Our Curse” Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki
“The Reaper (La Parka)” Gabriel Serra Arguello
“White Earth” J. Christian Jensen

Achievement in film editing
“American Sniper” Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach
“Boyhood” Sandra Adair
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Barney Pilling
“The Imitation Game” William Goldenberg
“Whiplash” Tom Cross

Best foreign language film of the year
“Ida” Poland
“Leviathan” Russia
“Tangerines” Estonia
“Timbuktu” Mauritania
“Wild Tales” Argentina

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
“Foxcatcher” Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
“Guardians of the Galaxy” Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Alexandre Desplat
“The Imitation Game” Alexandre Desplat
“Interstellar” Hans Zimmer
“Mr. Turner” Gary Yershon
“The Theory of Everything” Jóhann Jóhannsson

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Everything Is Awesome” from “The Lego Movie”, Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
“Glory” from “Selma”, Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
“Grateful” from “Beyond the Lights”, Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from “Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me”, Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
“Lost Stars” from “Begin Again”, Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Best motion picture of the year
“American Sniper” Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan, Producers
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole, Producers
“Boyhood” Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland, Producers
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson, Producers
“The Imitation Game” Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman, Producers
“Selma” Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers
“The Theory of Everything” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce and Anthony McCarten, Producers
“Whiplash” Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook and David Lancaster, Producers

Achievement in 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

Best animated short film
“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

Best live action short film
“Aya” Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
“Boogaloo and Graham” Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
“Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak)” Hu Wei and Julien Féret
“Parvaneh” Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
“The Phone Call” Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

Achievement in sound editing
“American Sniper” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” 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

Achievement in sound mixing
“American Sniper” John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
“Interstellar” Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
“Unbroken” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
“Whiplash” Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

Achievement in visual effects
“Captain America: The 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” Stephane 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

Adapted screenplay
“American Sniper” Written by Jason Hall
“The Imitation Game” Written by Graham Moore
“Inherent Vice” Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Theory of Everything” Screenplay by Anthony McCarten
“Whiplash” Written by Damien Chazelle

Original screenplay
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
“Boyhood” Written by Richard Linklater
“Foxcatcher” Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
“Nightcrawler” Written by Dan Gilroy

See you at the Oscars!

XXX
Raymond Lo

Oscars 2015: My Prediction!

The OSCARS in 3 Days!

Yesterday, i posted in my Twitter and Instagram accounts my predictions in the 8 major categories. In that, I had "Birdman" winning Best Picture and "Boyhood" director Richard Linklater for Best Director. Today, I am reversing that and calling the race again for "Boyhood" to take Best Picture and "Birdman's" Alejandro Innaritu for Best Director.

Now, if the opposite happens or if "Boyhood" takes both, i will be most happy. But if "Birdman" wins both and Michael Keaton upsets Eddie Redmayne, i will probably be bitching about the results all day Monday. LOL!

My predictions below! Clear your Sunday sked. Watch the Oscars!!

Below article originally appeared on print via The Philippine Star and online at http://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2015/02/20/1425576/guide-87th-oscars

Guide to the 87th Oscars
By Raymond Lo, L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star) | Updated February 20, 2015 - 12:00am


MANILA, Philippines - It’s that time of year again! On Sunday, Feb. 22 (Monday, Feb. 23, Manila time), the Oscars will once again bring movie lovers together for three hours of sheer movie fun. The 87th Oscars will be telecast live to over 100 countries and is expected to attract over a billion viewers!

And those billion viewers are probably still as perplexed as this writer is right now on which one movie will be rewarded by the Academy this year. 2014 was not a particularly strong year for Hollywood movies. Only a handful made an impression and that has been reflected by the wildly diverse selections of several Oscar precursors. Traditionally, about this time, we should have had a clear frontrunner leading to the show already but not this year. The Screen Actors Guild, the Directors Guild and the Producers Guild all picked Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) as the year’s Best Film. However, the BAFTAS, the very influential British bloc of the Academy, selected Boyhood as their Best Film. The critics were not of much help either. The BFCA, which for years has been considered as the most accurate predictor of the Oscars, selected Boyhood as their Best Film. The New York and Los Angeles Film Critics also named Boyhood as the year’s best.

So with no clear frontrunner for the all-important Best Picture prize, this writer will pick what he believes is the better movie between the two. Expect Boyhood to win the top Oscar but the Best Director trophy could go to Birdman director Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu. The picture/director awards will be split between the two films again similar to last year. It would be interesting to see two Mexican filmmakers win Hollywood’s top directing prizes two years in a row. Alfonso Cuaron won last year for Gravity.

On a personal note, this writer would love to see Boyhood’s Richard Linklater rewarded with a win for his 12-year labor of love. I hope the Academy shares my sentiments.

The nominees for Best Picture are: American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything and Whiplash.

The nominated directors are: Innaritu for Birdman, Linklater for Boyhood, Bennet Miller for Foxcatcher, Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel and Morten Tyldum for The Imitation Game.

While the Top 2 categories are pretty difficult to call, the acting categories will likely just end up as a coronation night for the four actors who have virtually swept all the awards haul this Oscar season.

Acclaimed actress Julianne Moore will win Best Actress for Still Alice. The beautiful star has been overdue for an Oscar and this year is going to be hers. Her performance as a mother and wife trying to cope with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease has been widely acclaimed since its debut in September. Her main competition in the category are previous Oscar-winners Reese Witherspoon for the very moving film Wild and French superstar Marion Cotillard for the brilliant film Two Days, One Night. Two Brits complete the nominees: Rosamund Pike for Gone Girl and Felicity Jones for The Theory of Everything.

In the Best Actor category, Felicity’s co-star and fellow Brit Eddie Redmayne is tipped to win the category for his excellent portrayal of wheelchair-bound astrophysicist Stephen Hawking. His performance has drawn comparison to Daniel Day-Lewis’ Oscar-winning turn in My Left Foot. Veteran Hollywood player Michael Keaton is the dark horse in this category. The former Batman star whose performance as an over-the-hill actor trying to stage a comeback in Birdman has resonated with Hollywood insiders and he could just earn the trophy and stage his own career comeback. The three other nominated actors are Steve Carell for Foxcatcher, Bradley Cooper in American Sniper and Benedict Cumberbatch in the heartbreaking film The Imitation Game.

In the supporting categories, two veteran actors, who rightfully deserve all the honors and accolades for their compelling performances and for their impressive body of work as well, have staked their respective claims in their categories very early on in the race.

Patricia Arquette, who aged 12 years on screen for her role in Boyhood, has racked up virtually every trophy available this season. Her performance has inspired so many that perhaps the other actresses nominated alongside her end up voting for her, too! The other actresses nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category include Laura Dern for Wild, Keira Knightley for The Imitation Game, Emma Stone for Birdman and the acting goddess Meryl Streep, who is nominated for an unbelievable 19th time this year for her performance as a wicked witch in Disney’s Into the Woods.

For Best Supporting Actor, J.K. Simmons is expected to receive his Oscar on his first nomination as a stern teacher who expects nothing but greatness from his students in Whiplash. Other actors nominated in the category include Robert Duvall for The Judge, Ethan Hawke for Boyhood, Mark Ruffalo for Foxcatcher and Edward Norton whose performance in Birdman poses the biggest competition to Simmons.

This year, the one category that this writer is most excited about is the Best Foreign Language Film category. All the five nominated films are excellent works and each one deserves to win. But my heart was captured by the Argentine film Wild Tales when I saw it last December. It’s one of those rare films that combine all the elements of a commercial film and the quality of an art film. Its biggest competitions are the films from Russia, Leviathan, a tale of Russian corruption based on the parable of Job and the Polish entry Ida, the story of novitiate nun who discovers that she was Jewish on the eve of her dedication. Ida has been the frontrunner since day one and is likely to win. The other nominated films are the harrowing Timbuktu from Mauritania and the powerful anti-war film Tangerines from Estonia.

But Wild Tales will win. Fingers crossed.

With no particular film leading the Oscar race this year, the trophies will most likely be spread among five movies. The Grand Budapest Hotel, which is nominated for nine Oscars will likely end up with the most trophy with four. Birdman and The Theory of Everything will likely net three trophies each. Interstellar, the disappointing sci-fi from Christopher Nolan, will sweep the technical categories and will likely win three Oscars. Boyhood will likely end up with just two Oscars.

Among the announced performers this year are pop superstars Lady Gaga and John Legend. Neil Patrick Harris, known to many Filipinos as the Doogie Howser M.D., will be hosting the Oscars for the first time this year.

See you at the Oscars!

Quick Review: "American Sniper"

"American Sniper"
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller

Finally got time to watch this film. It's been reigning as the top box office champ for two weeks now and it's because it's incredibly well-made and the story well-told. This is Clint Eastwood's best film since "Million Dollar Baby", Bradley Cooper's best performance to date, and the best American film (next to "Boyhood") among the best picture nominees at the Oscars.

Watch it! It's how movies based on heroic lives of real people are supposed to be made. This is Eastwood's crowning glory!

On Facebook, a friend is insisting that "But The Hurt Locker is still better. LOL,", to which i replied, "Both are masterpieces but Hurt Locker had a weightier subject matter although the filmmaking and storytelling in American Sniper is way, way better!

Another friend suggested that "Still can't excuse that fake rubber baby! LOL." I had a ready reply, too. I said, "Haha! Well, that's Economics of Filmmaking 101, i suppose."

Rating: 5 stars

XXX
Raymond Lo

Oscars 2015: #WildTalesforBestForeignLanguageFilmOscar

The Academy poster tells us to "Imagine what's possible."

My reply?

"WILD TALES for Best Foreign Language Film!"

The Oscars will be handed out on February 22nd. The race for the Best Foreign Language film is considered by many as the most competitive in many years! There are three front-runners: "Wild Tales" from Argentina, "Leviathan" from Russia and "Ida" from Poland. The other two nominees: "Tangerines" from Estonia and "Timbuktu" from Mauritania are not too far back in the race. But, if i were voting, "Wild Tales" gets my vote, followed by "Leviathan", "Timbuktu" and "Tangerines". "Ida" is one movie that is well-made but, in my opinion, there are far better films among the submitted films including the shortlisted films "Corn Island" from Georgia and "Accused" from the Netherlands.

#WildTalesforBestForeignLanguageFilmOscar

Oscars 2015: Nominees React!

Now that the Oscar nominations are in, the next step in the dance is usually the series of statements that the elated nominees share with the public on the recognition they received from the highly-coveted film award in the world.

ABC News gathered the following statements:

Ethan Hawke, first-time nominee for Best Actor, "Boyhood"
"There are many reasons why this nomination means so much to me. As I get older, I realize the only thing any artist wants is the respect of others who have dedicated their lives to same goals we have. I am so grateful to the members of the Academy for recognizing such a long labor of love. The uniqueness of "Boyhood" is not lost on any of us involved; I never have and never will be associated with an artistic endeavor that was as unique in its DNA. I am so thankful for this collaboration with Rick, Patricia, Ellar and Lorelai. Truly."

Emma Stone, first time nominee for Best Supporting Actress, "Birdman"
"Well, this is surreal... Thank you to the Academy for this incredible honor," she said in a statement. "I am very proud and lucky to be a part of 'Birdman' and can't believe it came to this. I am so fucking excited. Are you allowed to say fuck when you're making a statement for the Oscars? I'm just really fucking excited."

Keira Knightly, Best Supporting Actress nominee, "The Imitation Game"
"I'm so honoured 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 recognition the Academy has given our movie is a celebration of Alan Turing's legacy."

Benedict Cumberbatch, first time nominee for Best Actor, "The Imitation Game"
"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.”

Julianne Moore, leading contender for Best Actress, "Still Alice"
"Thank u everyone for the congratulations! i am so happy i can barely breathe #makingmyselfdizzy #AcademyAwards"

Reese Witherspoon, Best Actress nominee, "Wild"
"So happy to celebrate 2 #Oscarnominations for #WILDmovie with my deeply beautiful & talented costar @lauradern!" 

Eddie Redmayne, first time nominee for Best Actor, "The Theory of Everything" 
"I cannot tell you how surreal this is. I’ve literally gone from an incredibly deep sleep to a 100 mile an hour insane euphoria in about three seconds – so I have no idea what planet I’m on. I wasn’t watching like everyone else. I’m in Los Angeles and I was asleep and there’s suddenly this rap on the door and I was in pitch black and I stumble towards the door and it was my manager Jason who was staying at the same hotel with this wonderful group of people who were all on the phone who I’ve been working with for years and there was just this eclectic company of screaming going on on the phone."

Felicity Jones, first time nominee for Best Actress, "The Theory of Everything"
"We’ve been screaming together. And my brother so it’s just so, I can’t quite believe it’s happened. It’s something you never quite expect. It’s been one of those films that we just have had cared so so deeply about. So it’s just unbelievable. And it’s so great that the film has been nominated. And Eddie and Antoine. So it’s just yeah it’s fantastic, fantastic news."

Mark Ruffalo, Best Supporting Actor nominee, "Foxcatcher"
"Thank You @TheAcademy for the #Foxcatcher nomination! Honored and humbled. Thanks @channingtatum @SteveCarell and Bennett Miller. The best. Thanks to all you folks with so many congratulations tweets. Heart warming support. You are too damn good."

Common, Best Song nominee, "Glory" for the movie "Selma"
"Such an honor for me, @johnlegend @AVAETC and my @selmamovie family. Thanks to @TheAcademy #oscars"

John Legend, Best Song nominee, "Glory" for the movie "Selma"
"So grateful for @TheAcademy Award nomination for GLORY!!! On MLK's birthday!!"

Hans Zimmer, Best Original Score nominee, "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."

From Hitfix:

Marion Cotillard, Best Actress nominee for "Two Days, One Night"
"My phone started to ring like constantly and the phone of the hotel where I'm staying started to ring, too. I got a little worried that something had happened and, actually, something happened, but that was a good thing! So, my wonderful publicist called me this morning at five something and that's how I found out. I was totally in shock. These past few days, every time someone would talk to me about a nomination I would make fun of them because I didn't think it was possible. I didn't even think it was impossible. I didn't think about it at all."

See you at the Oscars!

XXX
Raymond Lo

Oscars 2015: Full 87th Oscars® Nominations List

"Boyhood" and "Wild Tales", my top two favorite films of the year were recognized by the Academy!!! 

"Birdman", "The Grand Budapest Hotel" lead noms with 9 each!

Jennifer Aniston, "The Lego Movie", Ebert Documentary, Jake Gyllenhaal all snubbed!

Meryl Streep earns 19th Oscar Nomination!

BOYHOOD

WILD TALES

And the nominees are...

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Steve Carell in “Foxcatcher”
Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper”
Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game”
Michael Keaton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Eddie Redmayne in “The Theory of Everything”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Robert Duvall in “The Judge”
Ethan Hawke in “Boyhood”
Edward Norton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Mark Ruffalo in “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons in “Whiplash”

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Marion Cotillard in “Two Days, One Night”
Felicity Jones in “The Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore in “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike in “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon in “Wild”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Patricia Arquette in “Boyhood”
Laura Dern in “Wild”
Keira Knightley in “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Meryl Streep in “Into the Woods”

Best animated feature film of the year
“Big Hero 6” Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
“The Boxtrolls” Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight
“How to Train Your Dragon 2” Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold
“Song of the Sea” Tomm Moore and Paul Young
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura

Achievement in cinematography
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Emmanuel Lubezki
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Robert Yeoman
“Ida” Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
“Mr. Turner” Dick Pope
“Unbroken” Roger Deakins

Achievement in costume design
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Milena Canonero
“Inherent Vice” Mark Bridges
“Into the Woods” Colleen Atwood
“Maleficent” Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive
“Mr. Turner” Jacqueline Durran

Achievement in directing
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu
“Boyhood” Richard Linklater
“Foxcatcher” Bennett Miller
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson
“The Imitation Game” Morten Tyldum

Best documentary feature
“CitizenFour” Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky
“Finding Vivian Maier” John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
“Last Days in Vietnam” Rory Kennedy and Keven McAlester
“The Salt of the Earth” Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and David Rosier
“Virunga” Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

Best documentary short subject
“Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1” Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
“Joanna” Aneta Kopacz
“Our Curse” Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki
“The Reaper (La Parka)” Gabriel Serra Arguello
“White Earth” J. Christian Jensen

Achievement in film editing
“American Sniper” Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach
“Boyhood” Sandra Adair
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Barney Pilling
“The Imitation Game” William Goldenberg
“Whiplash” Tom Cross

LEVIATHAN

Best foreign language film of the year
“Ida” Poland
“Leviathan” Russia
“Tangerines” Estonia
“Timbuktu” Mauritania
“Wild Tales” Argentina

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
“Foxcatcher” Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
“Guardians of the Galaxy” Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Alexandre Desplat
“The Imitation Game” Alexandre Desplat
“Interstellar” Hans Zimmer
“Mr. Turner” Gary Yershon
“The Theory of Everything” Jóhann Jóhannsson

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Everything Is Awesome” from “The Lego Movie”, Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
“Glory” from “Selma”, Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
“Grateful” from “Beyond the Lights”, Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from “Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me”, Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
“Lost Stars” from “Begin Again”, Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Best motion picture of the year
“American Sniper” Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan, Producers
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole, Producers
“Boyhood” Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland, Producers
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson, Producers
“The Imitation Game” Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman, Producers
“Selma” Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers
“The Theory of Everything” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce and Anthony McCarten, Producers
“Whiplash” Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook and David Lancaster, Producers

Achievement in 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

Best animated short film
“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

Best live action short film
“Aya” Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
“Boogaloo and Graham” Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
“Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak)” Hu Wei and Julien Féret
“Parvaneh” Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
“The Phone Call” Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

Achievement in sound editing
“American Sniper” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” 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

Achievement in sound mixing
“American Sniper” John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
“Interstellar” Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
“Unbroken” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
“Whiplash” Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

Achievement in visual effects
“Captain America: The 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” Stephane 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

Adapted screenplay
“American Sniper” Written by Jason Hall
“The Imitation Game” Written by Graham Moore
“Inherent Vice” Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Theory of Everything” Screenplay by Anthony McCarten
“Whiplash” Written by Damien Chazelle

Original screenplay
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
“Boyhood” Written by Richard Linklater
“Foxcatcher” Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
“Nightcrawler” Written by Dan Gilroy

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2014 will be presented on Oscar® Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on the ABC Television Network.  The Oscars, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

See you at the Oscars!

XXX
Raymond Lo

Oscars 2015: Nominations are in!

The nominations for the 87th Annual Oscar Awards will be announced in just over 10 hours. The announcement will be made live on TV at 5:00 AM Pacific Time / 8:00 AM Eastern Time. You can watch it live on TV or come back here through the special LIVE! internet feed courtesy of AMPAS below.

You can also check out my fearless predictions below on which actors, directors and movies are going to wake up really, really happy tomorrow morning!



BEST PICTURE
For Best Picture, I expect "Boyhood", "Birdman", "The Imitation Game" and "The Theory of Everything" to get in right away. The Academy can opt to nominate up to as many as ten films in this category. I believe, with the dearth of really strong movies this year, we will likely see a full category with "The Grand Budapest Hotel" leading the next set of probable nominees. The 6th to 10th slots could probably go to "Wild", "Selma", "American Sniper", "Whiplash" and "Gone Girl".

BEST DIRECTOR
This category is Richard Linklater's Oscar to lose for his groundbreaking and deeply moving masterpiece “Boyhood”. Joining him in a ceremonial dance in this category are Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, the acclaimed Mexican master behind “Birdman”, Morten Tyldum for “The Imitation Game”, Wes Anderson for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and Academy favorite Clint Eastwood  for “American Sniper”. I wish the Academy would nominate the Dardenne Brothers from Belgium for their masterful "Two Days, One Night."

BEST ACTOR 
This category features one of the great Oscar contests this year. Relative newcomer Eddie Redmayne and veteran Michael Keaton are going to duke it out for their highly acclaimed performances in "The Theory of Everything" and "Birdman", respectively. Possible nominees include Benedict Cumberbatch, who was simply magnificent in "The Imitation Game", Jake Gyllenhaal, whose creepy turn in "Nightcrawler" is one the year's best. Bradley Cooper ("American Sniper") and David Oyelowo ("Selma") would contest the last spot.

BEST ACTRESS
Two years ago, in one of the junkets I attended, I told Julianne Moore that I wanted her to win an Oscar. At the time, the beautiful actress just won an Emmy. She responded with a winded answer that basically avoided addressing the subject. Today, i am very excited to predict that she will finally get an Oscar, which she truly deserves. Julianne's turn in "Still Alice" will be likely joined by previous Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon for "Wild" and hot Brits Felicity Jones "The Theory of Everything" and Rosamund Pike ("Gone Girl"). The 5th slot is a toss-up between Jennifer Aniston for "Cake" and Oscar winning French superstar Marion Cotillard for her marvelous turn in "Two Days, One Night."

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
J.K. Simmon's commanding performance in "Whiplash" carried the movie to greatness and this is one category that could either go his way or to Edward Norton, a highly respected actor who is overdue for a recognition. Edward is up for his richly textured supporting performance in "Birdman." The duo will be likely joined by Ethan Hawke ("Boyhood") and two stars from "Foxcatcher", Steve Carrell and Mark Ruffalo.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
This category is also exciting. The contest is between Patricia Arquette for her indelible performance as a single mom raising two kids in "Boyhood" and perennial nominee Jessica Chastain who could finally snag her first Oscar for her turn in "A Most Violent Year." Possible nominees are Emma Stone ("Boyhood"), Imelda Staunton ("Pride") and Rene Russo for her brilliant turn in "Nightcrawler."

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
This is one category that I am looking forward to this year. I have seen all the 9 shortlisted films and my favorites are: Wild Tales, Leviathan, Tangerines, Timbuktu and Corn Island but the final nominees could vary with "Ida" from Poland likely bumping off "Corn Island" from the final list. Perhaps "Force Majeure" from Sweden and "Accused" from the Netherlands could also make the list and I also will not be surprised if "The Liberator" from Venezuela makes the list, too! This category is so hard to predict but i will be very disappointed if "Wild Tales" from Argentina ends up being cut.

See you at the Oscars!

XXX
Raymond Lo