Best Director: This year's Best Director race is as close as ever, with many people predicting a 3 horse race between Richard Linklater (Boyhood), Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman) and Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel). All of the directors nominated made excellent films, and it is certainly a tough call, but personally I would tend to lean towards Alejandro González Iñárritu for Birdman, as despite Richard Linklater's excellent achievement in making Boyhood, I personally believe that Birdman is probably the most well made film I have seen, and Iñárritu got so much out of his excellent ensemble of actors including Michael Keaton, Edward Norton and Emma Stone. I certainly believe he will emerge from this race victorious over Linklater.
Best Screenplay: Firstly beginning with Best Original Screenplay, again this is a close race between Linklater and González Iñárritu, with Boyhood and Birdman both leading in this category, despite competition from Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler) and Wes Anderson again. Another close race that I feel Birdman will come out on top, with González Iñárritu again picking up a prize. For Best Adapted Screenplay, there are two stand-outs, Whiplash (Damien Chazelle) and The Theory of Everything (Anthony McCarten). Both were good films, but generally I would have to go for The Theory of Everything, as the story of the great Stephen Hawking was very well adapted to the silver screen.
Best Supporting Actor: This is a race that was decided months ago, and is essentially J.K Simmons's (Whiplash) title to lose. His portrayal of the slightly psycho yet comedic music conductor Fletcher really was head and shoulders above every other actor in this category, and this has been reflected in the awards season, picking up handfuls of awards. There were other good nominations, such as Edward Norton (Birdman) and Ethan Hawke (Boyhood), but Simmons really is the star of this category, and it is 99% certain he will be crowned Best Supporting Actor in a few weeks time.
Best Supporting Actress: This category, featuring now 19-time nominee Meryl Streep (Into The Woods) is again strong, but generally across the awards season we have seen Patricia Arquette (Boyhood), pick up the majority of the awards. This is why personally she would be my pick to emerge as the winner, her captivating and very life-like performance of the Mother in Boyhood was excellent, and that's what set her apart from the rest of the field in this category.
Best Leading Actress: One of the strongest categories at this years Oscars, featuring already winners Marion Cotillard (Deux jours, une nuit) and Reese Witherspoon (Wild) and now 5-time nominee Julianne Moore (Still Alice), the Best Leading Actress category is very competitive. Two strong British newcomers, Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) and Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl), are also very much in the mix, The race leading up to the Oscars has mainly been between Jones and Moore, but it is safe to say now the award looks to be heading to Julianne Moore for the first time, for her portrayal of a woman who has an early stage of Alzheimer's disease in Still Alice. She has picked up the Golden Globe and now the SAG award, and looks set I think to claim the Oscar too.
Best Leading Actor: This was by far the most competitive category this year. So competitive many have called for the category to be expanded, due to the emissions of Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler) and David Oyelowo (Selma), but certainly all those nominated are in with a huge shout of winning. Every single actor, Steve Carrell (Foxcatcher), Bradley Cooper (American Sniper), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) and Michael Keaton (Birdman) were outstanding. The awards season hasn't really picked out a clear winner either, with both Keaton and Redmayne, the front runners, picking up Golden Globes. However there was a twist in the turn as Redmayne picked up the SAG award, which came as a shock to many, including myself. Overall, despite this being one the hardest races to call in a long time, I would have to go with my gut feeling of Keaton, who really made an excellent comeback in Birdman, and despite Redmayne's excellent performance, I felt Keaton stood out and deserves to pick up the award.
Best Motion Picture: Again this category, full of so many excellent nominees, is dominated by Boyhood and Birdman. Despite many strong unexpected candidates, like Whiplash and The Grand Budapest Hotel, those two films really stood above the rest. There are obviously honourable mentions to The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Selma and American Sniper too, but they didn't quite match Birdman or Boyhood either. Overall, despite personally favouring Birdman for winning Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Leading Actor, I have to favour Boyhood to win Best Motion Picture. It was truly an amazing film, a huge project that came together so well to produce a great representation of real life, in tandem with a great ensemble of actors and a great story. There is strong competition from Birdman, but Boyhood is certainly my pick to come out with the big one, as it was the Best Motion Picture this year.
Of course these are just my picks, and the Oscars may turnout completely different as the competition this year is so strong, but it is certain whoever wins will be totally deserved.
