Monthly Archives: February 2015

Feb 22 2015
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Oscar 2015 – Complete Winners List

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And here they are, the winners of the 87th Academy Awards. My predictions were decent this year – 19 correct out of 24. Not a lot of surprises, even in many of the tightest races. The biggest shocker was Big Hero 6 beating out How to Train Your Dragon 2 for Animated Feature, and that was bound to be a close race anyway. Still I was thrilled to see Whiplash get Editing and Sound.

What are your thought on how the race turned out? Leave a comment below!

Best Picture – Birdman
Best Director – Alexandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman
Best Actor – Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Best Actress – Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Best Supporting Actor – J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Best Supporting Actress – Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Best Adapted Screenplay – The Imitation Game
Best Original Screenplay – Birdman
Best Film Editing – Whiplash
Best Music (Original Score) – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Music (Original Song) – “Glory,” Selma
Best Sound Mixing – Whiplash
Best Sound Editing – American Sniper
Best Cinematography – Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Best Costume Design – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Makeup and Hairstyling – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Production Design – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Visual Effects – Interstellar
Best Animated Feature – Big Hero 6
Best Foreign Language Film – Ida
Best Documentary Feature – CITIZENFOUR
Best Short Film: Animated – Feast
Best Short Film: Live Action – The Phone Call
Best Short Film: Documentary – Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1

Winners by the numbers:
4 – Birdman
4 – The Grand Budapest Hotel
3 – Whiplash
(everything else – 1 or 0)

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Feb 22 2015
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The Oscars’ Real, True, ACTUAL Start Time

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The 87th Academy Awards begin tonight, Sunday, February 22, 2015 at 8:30pm Eastern Time (7:30pm Central, 6:30pm Mountain, 5:30pm Pacific).

For years, every time the Oscars come around I search online for the start time, plan my party around that, and then get annoyed with an extra 30-90 minutes of Red Carpet coverage that I could care less about. The Oscars’ OFFICIAL WEBSITE, for instance, lists the start time at “7e/4p.”

Last year I decided to dig a little deeper and discovered that the real answer is a full HOUR AND A HALF LATER than advertised. My blog post to that effect was subsequently the single most viewed post in the history of this blog – by several orders of magnitude!

In a brazen attempt to capture lightening in a bottle twice, I have done my research again and have returned to tell you that, yes, the real, true, actual start time is indeed 90 minutes later than advertised. In fact, the LA Times has a complete breakdown of the entire day’s broadcasting events and times. (Note: their times are all Pacific, so if you live in Central or Eastern, etc. just do the math.)

So once again, if you want to avoid all the Red Carpet nonsense, the Oscars REALLY start at 8:30pm EST/5:30pm PST.

Enjoy the show!

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Feb 22 2015
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Birdman, Whiplash Skewered in Brilliant Indy Spirit Awards Opening Sketch

Last night’s Independent Spirit Awards opened with an amazing Birdman/Whiplash spoof. Fred Armisen, Kristen Bell, Miles Teller and Bill Hader definitely throw down the gauntlet for NPH at the Oscars tonight!

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Feb 21 2015
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Oscar Predictions 2015

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The 87th Academy Awards presentation is tomorrow night: Sunday, February 22, 2015 at 8:30pm EST. Here, just in the nick of time, are The Screen Life’s official ranked predictions.

Several of these races are completely locked at this point. There should be no surprises when it comes to Supporting Actor, Lead AND Supporting Actress, Cinematography, and almost every craft category The Grand Budapest Hotel is eligible for.

On the other hand, many of the biggest races are an incredibly close toss-up between 2 or even 3 movies: Picture, Director, Actor, BOTH Screenplays, Editing, even VFX could all go a number of different ways. These rankings are intended to give you an idea of the closest challengers and dark horses.

While I’m probably bound to get a few of these wrong (I admit a bit of a bias toward Whiplash), I believe that sticking with these predictions are the best way to win your office Oscar pool.

Happy Oscaring!!!

Best Picture

  1. Birdman
  2. Boyhood
  3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
  4. American Sniper
  5. Selma
  6. The Imitation Game
  7. Whiplash
  8. The Theory of Everything

Best Director

  1. Alexandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman
  2. Richard Linklater, Boyhood
  3. Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
  4. Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
  5. Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher

Best Actor

  1. Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
  2. Michael Keaton, Birdman
  3. Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
  4. Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
  5. Steve Carell, Foxcatcher

Best Actress

  1. Julianne Moore, Still Alice
  2. Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
  3. Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
  4. Reese Witherspoon, Wild
  5. Marion Cotillard, Two Days One Night

Best Supporting Actor

  1. K. Simmons, Whiplash
  2. Edward Norton, Birdman
  3. Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
  4. Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
  5. Robert Duvall, The Judge

Best Supporting Actress

  1. Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
  2. Emma Stone, Birdman
  3. Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
  4. Laura Dern, Wild
  5. Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Best Adapted Screenplay

  1. Whiplash
  2. The Imitation Game
  3. American Sniper
  4. Inherent Vice
  5. The Theory of Everything

Best Original Screenplay

  1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
  2. Birdman
  3. Boyhood
  4. Foxcatcher
  5. Nightcrawler

Best Animated Feature

  1. How to Train Your Dragon 2
  2. Big Hero 6
  3. The Boxtrolls
  4. The Tale of Princess Kaguya
  5. Song of the Sea

Best Cinematography

  1. Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
  2. Robert Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
  3. Roger Deakins, Unbroken
  4. Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski, Ida
  5. Dick Pope, Turner

Best Costume Design

  1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
  2. Inherent Vice
  3. Into the Woods
  4. Maleficent
  5. Turner

Best Film Editing

  1. Whiplash
  2. Boyhood
  3. American Sniper
  4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
  5. The Imitation Game

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

  1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
  2. Guardians of the Galaxy
  3. Foxcatcher

Best Original Score

  1. Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
  2. Johann Johannsson, The Theory of Everything
  3. Hans Zimmer, Interstellar
  4. Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
  5. Gary Yershon, Turner

Best Original Song

  1. “Glory,” Selma
  2. “Everything is Awesome,” The LEGO Movie
  3. “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me
  4. “Lost Stars,” Begin Again
  5. “Grateful,” Beyond the Lights

Best Production Design

  1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
  2. The Imitation Game
  3. Interstellar
  4. Turner
  5. Into the Woods

Best Sound Editing

  1. American Sniper
  2. Birdman
  3. Interstellar
  4. Unbroken
  5. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Best Sound Mixing

  1. Whiplash
  2. American Sniper
  3. Birdman
  4. Interstellar
  5. Unbroken

Best Visual Effects

  1. Interstellar
  2. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
  3. Guardians of the Galaxy
  4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
  5. X-Men: Days of Future Past

Best Foreign Language Film

  1. Ida
  2. Leviathan
  3. Tangerines
  4. Timbuktu
  5. Wild Tales

Best Documentary — Feature

  1. CITIZENFOUR
  2. Virunga
  3. Last Days of Vietnam
  4. Finding Vivien Maier
  5. The Salt of the Earth

Best Documentary — Short

  1. The Reaper
  2. Joanna
  3. Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
  4. Our Curse
  5. White Earth

Best Live Action Short

  1. Butter Lamp
  2. The Phone Call
  3. Boogaloo and Graham
  4. Parvaneh
  5. Aya

Best Animated Short

  1. Feast
  2. Me and My Moulton
  3. The Dam Keeper
  4. The Bigger Picture
  5. A Single Life

Total predicted wins per film:
Birdman – 3
The Grand Budapest Hotel – 5
Whiplash – 4
(everything else – 1 or 0)

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