Another year of great film can mean only one thing – the 87th Academy Awards are upon us. The Oscars are perhaps the most anticipated awards of the season and Her Campus Nottingham are on hand to fill you in with everything you need to know before the big night this Sunday (or very early on Monday if you’re watching from the UK like us). Here are our predictions for some of the main awards up for grabs:
Best Picture:
This category seems to be a two horse race between Boyhood and Birdman as they have both been winners at other awards shows this year. Boyhood has already won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Drama, The BAFTA and Critic’s Choice Award for Best Picture so it’s definitely a firm favourite. However Birdman has recently done well at the Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) and the Directors Guild of America Awards (DGA). Her Campus is championing the emotional Boyhood which was filmed over 12 years – surely it deserves an Oscar just for that?!
Best Actor in a Leading Role:
A couple of months ago, everyone would have told you that Michael Keaton had this award in the bag for his performance in Birdman, playing a washed-up actor who wants to reinvent his career on Broadway. However our fellow Brit and latest obsession Eddie Redmayne has now emerged as the new favourite to win the coveted statuette after his success at the Globes, BAFTAs and SAGs. Eddie definitely gets our vote for his masterful portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.
Best Actress in a Leading Role:
Julianne Moore has swept the pre-Oscar awards this year and we’d be very surprised if she wasn’t victorious this Sunday. Moore plays an academic who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s and although we’re yet to see Still Alice in UK cinemas (due for release on the 6th of March), we’re still rooting for her to finally add Academy Award winner to her name.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
Like Julianne Moore, J.K. Simmons is the overwhelming favourite in this category for his role in Whiplash. He plays an abusive jazz instructor who persistently insults and manipulates his students. After claiming all of the supporting actor accolades this season, our money’s on him.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role:
This year there seems to be little uncertainty as to who will take home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Patricia Arquette’s involvement in Boyhood’s 12 year journey has made her a shoe-in to win in this category. As much as we’d like to see Meryl Streep up on stage once again, I don’t think they’ll be any shockers here.
Best Directing:
The general consensus this year is that if Boyhood wins Best Picture, then Birdman’s director, Alejandro González Iñárritu will get the nod for his directing, and vice versa if Birdman scoops Best Picture. Seeing as we’ve gone with Boyhood, we’re predicting that Iñárritu will claim glory for his dark comedy filmmaking.
We’ve taken our best guesses but anything could happen at this year’s Oscars!
Sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-30432198
http://awards.bafta.org/award/2015/film
https://www.dga.org/Awards/Annual.aspx
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/25/screen-actors-guild-awards-2015-the-winners
http://www.criticschoice.com/movie-awards/
Image sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Awards
http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php
http://www.people.com/article/eddie-redmayne-the-theory-of-everything-q-and-a-twitter
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/toronto-why-julianne-moore-could-731623