2015 Oscar Predictions

Who will win this year? Reese or Julianne? Eddie or Benedict? These are my predictions for the 2015 Academy Awards.

Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

Via midwestmovieman.wordpress.com

Like Simmons, Arquette has already taken home a Golden Globe for her performance this year, and is likely to take home both SAG and a BAFTA awards, as well. A first time Oscar nominee, it seems Arquette is the Academy's top-pick this year for her performance as Olivia.

Other Nominees:

Laura Dern, Wild

Keira Knightly, The Imitation Game

Emma Stone, Birdman

Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Via grolschfilmworks.com

Whiplash is nominated in an impressive 5 categories this year, and Simmons' bid for supporting actor is likely its best shot for a win. Simmons plays Fletcher, a music teacher at the fictionally acclaimed Shaffer Conservatory, whose methods are unusual and drastic to say the least. Simmons is nominated in this category for the SAG awards, as well as for the BAFTA awards. He has already won a Golden Globe for this performance, as well as a New York Film Critics' Circle award.

Other Nominees:

Robert Duvall, The Judge

Ethan Hawke, Boyhood

Edward Norton, Birdman

Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher

Best Actress: Julianne Moore, Still Alice

Via grolschfilmworks.com

All I can say is Amen! It's about damn time. Julianne Moore has been nominated for 5 Academy Awards in the past, 3 of which have been in this category, and it seems as if she will finally win a golden statue. In Still Alice, Moore plays Dr. Alice Howland, an ivy-league professor of linguistics who has spent her life researching language, until, one day, she is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease and her world begins to change drastically. As with all of her performance, Moore is incomparable and irreplaceable. She brings a reality to Alice that is remarkable effortless...if the Academy gets this one wrong, then I will lose all faith in Hollywood.

Other Nominees:

Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night

Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything

Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Via people.com

Eddie Redmayne has worked on plenty of Oscar nominated films in the past several years: My Week With Marilyn (2011) and Les Miserables (2012), to name a few, but this year it's his turn in the spotlight. Redmayne is nominated in the 'Best Actor' category for his portrayal of Steven Hawking, the world-renown physicist living with Lou Gehrig's disease. Redmayne's performance is nuanced, delicate, and unfaltering. Though this is possibly the toughest category this year to decide with any confidence, I would be shocked to see Redmayne lose to any of his contenders.

Other Nominees:

Steve Carell, Foxcatcher

Bradley Cooper, American Sniper

Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game

Michael Keaton, Birdman

Best Picture: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Via oscar.go.com

Other Nominees:

American Sniper

Birdman

Boyhood

The Imitation Game

Selma

The Theory of Everything

Whiplash