The 2015 a2k Guess the Oscars Winners Dauntless Deathmatch!

Sure. Patriots, 17 - 7!

That's the only acceptable answer. You win. #sigh L(・o・)」

FIVE POINTS FOR PICKING THE BEST PICTURE:
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

TWO POINTS FOR PICKING THE WINNER FROM EACH CATEGORY:

ACTOR in a Leading Role
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

ACTRESS in a Leading Role
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

ACTOR in a Supporting Role
Robert Duvall. The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

ACTRESS in a Supporting Role
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

DIRECTING
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Boyhood, Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher, Bennett Miller
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson
The Imitation Game, Morten Tyldum

WRITING: Adapted Screenplay
American Sniper
The Imitation Game
Inherent Vice
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

WRITING: Original Screenplay
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Nightcrawler

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
CitizenFour
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
Mr. Turner
Unbroken

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ida: Poland
Leviathan: Russia
Tangerines: Estonia
Timbuktu: Mauritania
Wild Tales: Argentina

MUSIC: 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

ONE POINT FOR PICKING THE WINNER FROM EACH CATEGORY:

COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Mr. Turner

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper (La Parka)
White Earth

FILM EDITING
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy

MUSIC: Original Song
"Everything Is Awesome" from THE LEGO MOVIE
"Glory" from SELMA
"Grateful" from BEYOND THE LIGHTS
"I'm Not Gonna Miss You" from GLEN CAMPBELL...I'LL BE ME
"Lost Stars" from BEGIN AGAIN

PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Mr. Turner

SHORT FILM: Animated
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Feast
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life

SHORT FILM: Live Action
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak)
Parvaneh
The Phone Call

SOUND EDITING
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken

SOUND MIXING
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Interstellar
Unbroken
Whiplash

VISUAL EFFECTS
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past

I'll play. I'm movie stupid lately, so I'll make a perfect baseline score.

I mean to play. My picks will take some time.

Don't worry. I'm also taking my time percolating my answers as well.

I haven't even started percolating. Domani..

I've seen the following Best Picture nominees:
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Selma
The Theory of Everything

Still have to grab a view of ...
The Imitation Game
Whiplash
Leviathon
The Boxtrolls
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

They're the biggest ones I want to watch before the awards are given out.

I have a copy of Ida, the Polish foreign language nominee I got from the library.

I'm still percolating my ballot.

So far, I've seen all of the best picture nominees with the exception of The Imitation Game. It has been a very satisfying year for movies.

I'm trying to decide whether I'm going to vote for my favorite film or try and predict which the Academy is aiming for. Thankfully, there isn't a horrible train wreck like Crash (2004) that has been nominated this year. Well, at least I haven't seen it yet.

Well, I spent some time and made first choices. These will change as I hear more about different nominated films or people.

How Much Is an Oscar Worth?
http://mentalfloss.com/article/61292/how-much-oscar-worth

I, of course, have seen none of them.
I should post my picks so as not to let them float away.

Ok, subject to change up until the big night:


@tsarstepan,
FIVE POINTS FOR PICKING THE BEST PICTURE:
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
SELMA, with Boyhood lying in wait
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

TWO POINTS FOR PICKING THE WINNER FROM EACH CATEGORY:

ACTOR in a Leading Role
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

ACTRESS in a Leading Role
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
JULIANNE MOORE, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

ACTOR in a Supporting Role
Robert Duvall. The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. SIMMONS, Whiplash

ACTRESS in a Supporting Role
PATRICIA ARQUETTE, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

DIRECTING
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Alejandro G. Iñárritu
BOYHOOD, Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher, Bennett Miller
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson
The Imitation Game, Morten Tyldum

WRITING: Adapted Screenplay
American Sniper
The Imitation Game
Inherent Vice
The Theory of Everything
WHIPLASH

WRITING: Original Screenplay
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Nightcrawler

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
SONG OF THE SEA
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
CITIZENFOUR
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
MR. TURNER
Unbroken

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ida: Poland
LEVIATHAN: Russia
Tangerines: Estonia
Timbuktu: Mauritania
Wild Tales: Argentina

MUSIC: 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

ONE POINT FOR PICKING THE WINNER FROM EACH CATEGORY:

COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into the Woods
Maleficent
MR. TURNER

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
CRISIS HOTLINE - I think it was on the awards list.. will have to recheck
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper (La Parka)
White Earth

FILM EDITING
American Sniper
BOYHOOD
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

MUSIC: Original Song
"Everything Is Awesome" from THE LEGO MOVIE
"Glory" from SELMA
"Grateful" from BEYOND THE LIGHTS
"I'm Not Gonna Miss You" from GLEN CAMPBELL...I'LL BE ME
"Lost Stars" from BEGIN AGAIN

PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into the Woods
MR. TURNER

SHORT FILM: Animated
The Bigger Picture
THE DAM KEEPER
Feast
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life

SHORT FILM: Live Action
AYA
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak)
Parvaneh
The Phone Call

SOUND EDITING
American Sniper
BIRDMAN or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken

SOUND MIXING
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Interstellar
Unbroken
WHIPLASH

VISUAL EFFECTS
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
INTERSTELLAR
X-Men: Days of Future Past

Yep, one was skipped on the list for Documentary Short Subject -

here's the list from Variety -
Documentary Short Subject
“Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1” Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
“Joanna” Aneta Kopacz
“Our Curse” Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki
“The Reaper (La Parka)” Gabriel Serra Arguello
“White Earth” J. Christian Jensen

FIVE POINTS FOR PICKING THE BEST PICTURE:
The Grand Budapest Hotel

TWO POINTS FOR PICKING THE WINNER FROM EACH CATEGORY:
ACTOR in a Leading Role
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

ACTRESS in a Leading Role
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything

ACTOR in a Supporting Role
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

ACTRESS in a Supporting Role
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

DIRECTING
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson

WRITING: Adapted Screenplay
The Imitation Game

WRITING: Original Screenplay
The Grand Budapest Hotel

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Big Hero 6

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
CitizenFour

CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Grand Budapest Hotel

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Timbuktu: Mauritania

MUSIC: Original Score
The Grand Budapest Hotel: Alexandre Desplat

ONE POINT FOR PICKING THE WINNER FROM EACH CATEGORY:

COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Crisis Hotline

FILM EDITING
The Grand Budapest Hotel

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Guardians of the Galaxy

MUSIC: Original Song
"Everything Is Awesome" from THE LEGO MOVIE

PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel

SHORT FILM: Animated
Feast

SHORT FILM: Live Action
Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak): Come on! It's about yak butter.... I think.

SOUND EDITING
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

SOUND MIXING
Whiplash

VISUAL EFFECTS
Interstellar


[/quote]

I believe we've got a consensus on Julianne Moore.

unless the imitation game wins the big prize, i'm gonna guess the best picture winner will be a film i'll never see

Huh? There isn't a bad movie nominated for Best Picture this year.

American Sniper: Rated 9/10 as it's a powerful look how war truly screws up the soldiers involved. One of the most complex antiwar movies ever. Chris Kylie is both sympathetic wounded veteran and meatheaded scumbag.
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): Rated 10/10. It's funny and bittersweet and freaky cool. My favorite of the 8 best pic nominees.
Boyhood:2 The weakest movie in my opinion but it still deserves an 8/10 for technical achievement and it's a straightforward character study.
The Grand Budapest Hotel: Rated 10/10. But I'm a massive Wes Anderson fanboy.( ＾◡＾)っ❤
Selma: Rated 8/10. Much better then the poorly done homework assignment that was Lee Daniel's The Butler (2013). The case for the director's and the lead actor's snub was well made.
The Theory of Everything: 9/10. Wonderful chemistry between Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones. A wonderful and intelligent romantic film.
Whiplash: Great movie with an iconic performance by JK Simmons. Rated 10/10.