A war hero, an actor living in the shadow of his superhero movie past, 12 years of one boys life, an eclectic hotel, an inventor, a civil rights icon, a titan of modern science and a drummer.
These are some of the most recognized stories we were told in 2014. It’s not the entire picture of what turned out to be a wonderful year of film, but it is the group that has made it to Oscar night. As our own Scott Beggs explained prior to last year’s ceremony, “The Oscars are an annual reminder that our focus has been reduced from hundreds of movies down to a few. It’s also a reminder that there is artistic work worth celebrating – beyond hype, beyond internal politics, beyond surface-level silliness – every year. We’re awash in it. Dozens of titles that won’t even be name-dropped tonight. Inside and outside the ceremony’s spotlight, there are a powerful amount of brilliant films.”
2014 was no exception: there were a number of brilliant films. And as we get started with tonight’s show, it’s time to let the snubs go, remember that Oscar night can be fun and just enjoy the show. Neil Patrick Harris is hosting, Birdman is probably winning and the Super Bowl of the Movie Industry is ready to roll.
Follow along with us all night, as we’ll be tracking the 2015 Oscar winners (in red) live. You can also follow along with our live commentary on Twitter. Just follow @rejectnation, where yours truly will be making bad jokes. For those tracking our team’s pick accuracy, our predictions are marked with an *.
BEST PICTURE
American Sniper
Birdman*
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
BEST DIRECTOR
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman*
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
BEST ACTOR
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything*
BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice*
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash*
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood*
Laura Dern, Wild
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Sniper, Jason Hall
The Imitation Game, Graham Moore*
Inherent Vice, Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything, Anthony McCarten
Whiplash, Damien Chazelle
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo
Boyhood, Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher, E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson and Hugo Guiness*
Nightcrawler, Dan Gilroy
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman, Emmanuel Lubezki*
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Robert D. Yeoman
Ida, (Ryszard Lenczweski and Lukasz Zal
Mr. Turner, Dick Pope
Unbroken, Roger Deakins
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Milena Canonero*
Inherent Vice, Mark Bridges
Into the Woods, Colleen Atwood
Mr. Turner, Jacqueline Durran
Maleficent, Anna B. Sheppard
BEST FILM EDITING
American Sniper, Joel Cox and Gary Roach
Boyhood, Sandra Adair*
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Barney Pilling
The Imitation Game, William Goldenberg
Whiplash, Tom Cross
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Foxcatcher, Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier*
Guardians of the Galaxy, Eliazabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White
BEST 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
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Lost Stars” from Begin Again, Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me, Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
“Everything is Awesome” from The LEGO Movie, Shawn Patterson
“Glory” from Selma, John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn*
“Grateful” from Beyond the Lights, Diane Warren
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock*
The Imitation Game, Maria Djurkovic and Tatiana Macdonald
Interstellar, Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis and Paul Healy
Into the Woods, Dennis Gassner and Anna Pinnock
Mr. Turner, Suzie Davies and Charlotte Watts
BEST SOUND EDITING
American Sniper, Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman*
Birdman, Martin Hernandez 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
BEST SOUND MIXING
American Sniper, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
Birdman, 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*
BEST 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
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2*
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Wild Tales, Damián Szifrón; Argentina
Tangerines, Zaza Urushadze; Estonia
Timbuktu, Abderrahmane Sissako; Mauritania
Ida, Pawel Pawlikowski; Poland*
Leviathan, Andrey Zvyagintsev; Russia
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
CITIZENFOUR*
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1*
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper
White Earth
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Feast*
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp
Parvaneh
The Phone Call*
