Moviefone Editorial

Tag: academy-awards-2015

Oscars 2015: Stephen Hawking Congratulates Eddie Redmayne on Best Actor Win

Eddie Redmayne wasn’t the only one excited when he took home the Best Actor Oscar at last night’s Academy Awards ceremony: Stephen Hawking, the man Redmayne portrayed in “The Theory of Everything,” was thrilled, too.

In a Facebook post, Hawking praised Redmayne’s win, offering his congratulations to the actor, and adding, “I’m very proud of you.”

Post by Stephen Hawking.

Hawking had been a vocal supporter of the film, and Redmayne’s performance in particular, before, but his praise is no doubt especially appreciated by the newly-minted Oscar winner. In his acceptance speech, Redmayne thanked Hawking, his first wife Jane, and their children for letting him tell their story, and dedicated the statuette to them and to everyone around the globe battling ALS (the disease with which Hawking has been living since the 1960s).

“The Theory of Everything” was nominated for four other Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress.

[via: Stephen Hawking]

Photo credit: Getty Images

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February 23, 2015
Oscars 2015 Photos: Stars Celebrate at the After-Parties

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The real party doesn’t start until after the Oscars end.

Once all of the winners were announced and the 2015 Academy Awards ceremony promptly came to close, the stars left the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and ventured out to the most exclusive after-parties in L.A.

From big winners Eddie Redmayne and Julianne Moore to fellow stars Emma Stone and Ethan Hawke, here are some of the best photos from last night’s Oscar party circuit.

February 23, 2015
Oscars 2015: 9 Politically-Charged Acceptance Speeches

There may have been few surprises among the winners at Sunday night’s Academy Awards, but one surprise was how political their speeches were. After all, in recent years, political statements have largely been unwelcome guests at the Dolby Theater.

In past years, artists from Vanessa Redgrave to Richard Gere to Michael Moore have been criticized for using their time at the Oscar podium to raise controversial issues before a worldwide audience. In an evening of glitz, glamour, and self-congratulation, mentioning the sometimes cruel realities of life beyond Hollywood Boulevard makes winners seem like party poopers. Mentioning God, your cast and crew, your spouse and kids, and Harvey Weinstein is fine, but mentioning the plight of migrant farm workers is a little too much reality for the dream factory.

Nonetheless, several winners at the 87th annual Oscar ceremony used their victory speeches to mention causes important to them. Some of those causes were at least relevant to the movies they were being recognized for, and some were not. But in a year when the Academy was taken to task for its dearth of minority nominees, and when actresses used the #AskHerMore hashtag to prompt red-carpet interviewers to ask them about their achievements instead of treating them as walking fashion mannequins, it’s understandable that winners would feel encouraged to be more vocal about their politics. Here’s what the issue-minded winners had to say; judge for yourself if they did their causes a favor by touting them at the Oscars.

1. Patricia Arquette
The “Boyhood” Best Supporting Actress winner ended her speech with calls for wage equality and equal rights for women. Many viewers probably wondered what these issues had to do with her role as a mom in “Boyhood.” She did imply a connection between motherhood and her pet issues: “To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights,” she said. “It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America.”

2. Mat Kirkby and James Lucas
The Oscar-winning live-action short “The Phone Call” is about a suicide hotline, a topic close to the hearts of filmmakers Kirkby and Lucas. Though Kirkby started his speech with a joke that his Oscar entitled him to a free donut at his favorite bakery, he turned serious, saying, “We’d like to thank all the volunteers around the world in crisis centers who give their time for nothing, including our mums.”

3. Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
Kent and Perry won the Best Documentary Short prize for “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1.” Director Kent said that the honor “really goes to the veterans and their families who are brave enough to seek help.” The topic of suicide is one producer Perry knows all too well; her son Evan killed himself at 15, an event that was the subject of her 2009 film “Boy Interrupted.” In her brief remarks on behalf of “Crisis Hotline,” Perry said, “We should talk about suicide out loud.”

4. Laura Poitras
Poitras won the Best Documentary Feature prize for “Citizenfour,” chronicling her interview with fugitive National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden. “The disclosures that Edward Snowden reveals don’t only expose a threat to our privacy but to our democracy itself,” she said. “When the most important decisions being made affecting all of us are made in secret, we lose our ability to check the powers that control. Thank you to Edward Snowden for his courage and for the many other whistleblowers. And I share this with Glenn Greenwald and other journalists who are exposing truth.”

5. Common and John Legend
When they won Best Original Song for “Glory,” their tune from “Selma,” both men emphasized that the movie about the civil rights protest in Alabama 50 years ago remains relevant today. Common said that the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where the bloody confrontation depicted in “Selma” took place, is now a symbol of hope. “The spirit of this bridge connects the kid from the South Side of Chicago dreaming of a better life to those in France standing up for their freedom of expression, to the people in Hong Kong protesting for democracy.” Legend noted that the Voting Rights Act — the legislation passed as a result of the Selma march — was now being weakened (thanks to a 2013 Supreme Court decision that all but overturned the 1965 law). He also observed that America is “the most incarcerated country in the world. There are more black men under correctional control today than were under slavery in 1850.” The musicians’ speeches echoed the theme of the movie and the song, that the battle for human rights continues.

6. Graham Moore
Moore, who won Best Adapted Screenplay for “The Imitation Game,” noted that his film’s subject, World War II codebreaker and computing pioneer Alan Turing, never got to bask in adulation at a podium like the one at the Dolby Theater; instead, he was persecuted by the British legal system and hounded to suicide because he was gay. In perhaps the night’s most moving speech, Moore noted just how personal Turing’s story was for him because “when I was 16 years old, I tried to kill myself because I felt weird, and I felt different, and I felt like I did not belong. And now I’m standing here.” He encouraged kids who feel like he did to stick around and do something great so that they, too, can be recognized for their achievement and pass the message of hope on to a new generation. “Stay weird,” he advised. “Stay different.”

7. Julianne Moore
Moore won Best Actress for playing an early-onset Alzheimer’s patient in “Still Alice.” Said Moore, “I’m thrilled that we were able to shine a light on Alzheimer’s disease, So many people who have this disease feel marginalized. People who have Alzheimer’s disease deserve to be seen so we can find a cure.”

8. Eddie Redmayne
Like Julianne Moore, “The Theory of Everything” star Redmayne won his lead acting prize for playing someone with a debilitating ailment — Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis-afflicted physicist Stephen Hawking. “This Oscar belongs to all of those people around the world suffering with ALS,” Redmayne said. “It belongs to one exceptional family — Stephen, Jane and the Hawking children,” Of the Oscar trophy, he said. “I will be his custodian.”

9. Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu
The “Birdman” filmmaker, who took home three trophies (for Best Original Screenplay, Best Directing, and Best Picture), noted that he was the second Mexican in a row to win the Directing prize. (Last year, his pal Alfonso Cuaron won for “Gravity.”) In his Best Picture speech, Iñarritu called for justice for Mexicans, both at home and in the United States. He expressed a wish that his countrymen in Mexico could “find and build a government that we deserve.” As for Mexicans in America, he said, “I just pray they can be treated with the same dignity and respect of the ones that came before and built this incredible, immigrant nation.”
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February 23, 2015
The 15 Most Memorable Moments From the 2015 Oscars

“Stay weird. Stay different.” That was the advice of Best Adapted Screenplay winner Graham Moore (“The Imitation Game“) to kids out there who might one day follow in his footsteps, but it also could have been the motto for the 87th annual Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday night. The weirdness of the Neil Patrick Harris-hosted Oscars wasn’t in the results — for the record, I went 18 for 24 in my predictions, which is more a testimony to how closely the voting followed conventional wisdom than it is to my crystal-ball skills — but in the presentation. The show was full of WTF? moments, some wonderful, some cringeworthy, some merely bizarre, and all of them memorable. Here are some of the weird and different Oscar moments that viewers won’t soon forget.

1. “Moving Pictures”
Neil Patrick Harris‘s opening number was penned by Robert Lopez and Kristin Anderson-Lopez, the composers who won the Oscar last year for “Let It Go”; suffice it to say that your kids won’t be memorizing this one and singing it over and over again like they did that “Frozen” anthem. A few funny lines aside (particularly the one suggesting a homoerotic reading of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s on- and off-screen friendship), it was a mostly earnest tribute to the ability of movies to capture our imagination. Which is fine, and so was having Anna Kendrick step in to give sort of a reprise of her Cinderella from “Into the Woods.” The song got weirder when Jack Black showed up, singing lyrics that dripped with cynicism about the movie business — it was actually sort of a welcome antidote to the gee-whiz enthusiasm of Harris and Kendrick — but it was also kind of a buzzkill for a party meant to celebrate movies, and it ended mercifully when Kendrick, still in Cinderella mode, threw her shoe at Black.

2. J.K. Simmons’s public service announcement
Many of the winners used their speeches to forward a cause, but the message of Simmons’ victory speech for his supporting role in “Whiplash” was to value your parents, to call them (not just e-mail or text them), and to listen to everything they had to say. It didn’t seem at all relevant to his role as a scary music teacher, but it was certainly sweet.

3. Neil Patrick Harris Crushes on Channing Tatum
Introducing presenter Tatum, Harris gushed about how great Tatum looks, whether in “Magic Mike” stripper garb or in his “Foxcatcher” wrestling unitard. He pretended to make a Freudian slip and used the phrase “pants down” instead of “hands down.” Maybe this was Harris’ way of joking about his own sexual orientation; at any rate, having a male host eye a male presenter was probably a historic first for an Oscar ceremony.

4. Pawel Pawikowkski wins for “Ida”
The first-ever Polish winner for Best Foreign Language film marveled at his good fortune, winning for a contemplative, black-and-white movie from a previously unheralded country. “How did I get here?” the filmmaker wondered aloud. He made the most of his moment in the spotlight; the orchestra had to play him off twice before he managed to thank everyone.

5. Harris Editorializes
Or maybe it was just his joke writers doing the editorializing. Either way, the host seemed to have a lot of pointed opinions about the ceremony, the winners, and the snubs. He introduced presenters David Oyelowo and Jennifer Aniston as “two people who absolutely deserve to be here tonight,” referring to their surprising omissions from the acting nominees’ list (Oyelowo for “Selma” and Aniston for “Cake“). He also did a comedy bit with Oyelowo, and when the audience applauded for the British actor, Harris said, “Oh, now you like him?” Most jarringly, moments after Laura Poitras won Best Documentary Feature for “Citizenfour,” which depicts her suspenseful interview with fugitive National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, Harris punned that Snowden himself was unavailable to attend the Oscars, “for some treason.” Whether you think Snowden is a heroic whistleblower who’s standing up for Fourth Amendment privacy rights or an attention-seeker whose leaks jeopardized national security, wouldn’t the classy thing to do be to let Poitras enjoy the recognition of her achievement for at least 20 seconds before pissing all over it for a cheap laugh?

6. “Everything Is Awesome”
No surprise that the performance of this nominated tune from “The Lego Movie,” with Tegan and Sara singing the chorus and Andy Samberg’s Lonely Island comedy trio rapping the verses, would feature a troupe of dancers dressed like characters from the movie. But there were also some surprise guests, including Questlove on drums and Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh (complete with trademark flowerpot hat) on keyboards. Bonus points for the Oscar statuettes made of Lego bricks (a pointed reference to the film’s inexplicable snub from the Best Animated Feature category), which were circulating on stage and among the audience for the rest of the evening. Compared to a real Oscar, the Lego ones were, well, awesome.

7. “I’m Not Gonna Miss You”
Presenter Gwyneth Paltrow reminded everyone of the moving story of how Glen Campbell made a point of writing and recording this song after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and knowing that the disease would soon ravage his memory. The rendition of the tune by Paltrow’s “Country Strong” co-star Tim McGraw was one of the evening’s most poignant moments. Just wondering, though: does McGraw ever take off that black cowboy hat?

8. The “Birdman” parody
Harris proved he’s not just a nimble emcee but also a good sport by spoofing Michael Keaton’s dash through Times Square in nothing but his briefs. Here, a backstage camera showed Harris locked out of his dressing room, with his robe caught in the door. He abandoned the robe and dashed to the stage, with pulse-pounding drumming supplied by Miles Teller (in character from “Whiplash”). Standing before a billion people in his underwear, Harris delivered the punchline, with a speech that began, “Acting is a noble profession…”

9. Patricia Arquette speaks out
Arquette’s victory as Best Supporting Actress was a foregone conclusion (though, surprisingly, it was the only win for “Boyhood” out of six nominations), so viewers shouldn’t have been surprised that she had prepared a written list of people to thank. What was odd was that she ended her speech with a plea for wage equality and equal rights for women. She was far from the only winner to use her speech as an opportunity to raise a political or philanthropic issue, but it probably wasn’t evident to most viewers what those issues had to do with her “Boyhood” performance. Later, Harris scoffed at Arquette’s political statement, referring to it as her “Norma Rae moment.”

10. In Memoriam
Meryl Streep gave an eloquent speech suggesting that the departed movie artists live on in the unforgettable work they created. The usual montage followed, but instead of clips of the actors and directors at work, it just showed still portraits, painted from photographs. OK, still classy. (Not classy: omitting Joan Rivers.) Director Mike Nichols seemed to win the applause-meter, but maybe he just got the loudest applause because he closed out the montage. Jennifer Hudson followed with an emotional ballad, which was also classy. But you know what would have been even classier? A moment of silence.

11. “Glory”
Staging matters. Here’s proof: “Glory,” John Legend and Common’s nominated song from “Selma,” is an emotional number, but when you stage it with a backing choir that reenacts the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, that puts it over the top. It brought the audience in the Dolby Theater to tears (or at least David Oyelowo and Chris Pine, both of whom the camera caught crying), and maybe some viewers at home as well. That the singer and rapper won the Oscar for the song a few minutes later seemed entirely apt, and their eloquent speeches continued the theme expressed in their song: that “Selma” isn’t just about events in Alabama 50 years ago but about the struggle for justice that continues today, all over the world.

12. “The Sound of Music” tribute
OK, I understand the impulse to want to pay homage to one of the most beloved movies ever, a Best Picture winner whose 50th anniversary arrives next week. But to put it two hours and 45 minutes into the show, with seven major awards left to be handed out? Not sure why Scarlett Johansson, of all people, was picked to introduce the tribute, or why Lady Gaga, of all people, got to sing the medley. (She did fine, by the way, though it was a little disconcerting to see arm tattoos on a woman belting out tunes made famous by a nun-turned-nanny. Couldn’t she have covered them up with gloves like Rita Ora did?) This would have been the most superfluous musical number of the evening had it not ended with Gaga’s introduction of surprise presenter Julie Andrews. That the “Sound of Music” star showed up at all was an emotional high point of the show; that she graciously thanked Gaga and then presented the award for Best Original Score was icing on the cake. Couldn’t they have skipped the manufactured nostalgia, brought to you by two performers born 20 years after the film’s release, and just had Andrews show up?

13. Graham Moore’s speech
Moore’s victory for writing the “Imitation Game” screenplay wasn’t the least bit surprising, but his acceptance speech was a stunner. What, after all, had drawn him to write about Alan Turing, the brilliant World War II codebreaker who, instead of being celebrated as a hero, was hounded to his death because of his homosexuality? Moore made the political personal, revealing to billions that, “When I was 16 years old, I tried to kill myself because I felt weird, and I felt different, and I felt like I did not belong. And now I’m standing here.” That instead he lived to become an Oscar-winning screenwriter was Moore’s proof that, as the public service ad campaign a few years ago suggested, It Gets Better. He urged gay kids, or any kids who feel alienated, to stick it out and do something great, so that one day they can stand at the podium and pay it forward.

14. The briefcase gag
At the beginning of the show, Harris boasted of his prowess at predicting the Oscars and pointed to a briefcase in a glass box, which he said held predictions he’d made earlier in the week, predictions he’d read from at the end of the show to prove his prophetic skills. To make sure no one tampered with the case, he enlisted Octavia Spencer, sitting in the front row, to keep an eye on it for the next three and a half hours. (Great, the woman wins an Oscar, and now Harris is once again making her into The Help.) Throughout the show, Harris turned to Spencer to ask if she was still guarding the case. Finally he read his predictions, which were not about the winners but about the funny things that happened during the show. Smuggling that list, printed out on gold cards and shown on camera, into the locked case was a neat magic trick, but the lengthy setup wasn’t really worth the slight, jokey payoff.

15. The “Birdman” sweep
The arty, surreal drama about a former superhero-movie star seeking redemption on Broadway won four prizes — Best Cinematography, Best Original Screenplay, Best Directing, and Best Picture. Three of those trophies ended up in the hands of writer/director/producer Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu, the Mexican filmmaker whose imaginative mind and fractured English led to some of the most offbeat acceptance speeches of the night. He claimed that, as a good-luck talisman, he was wearing Michael Keaton’s famed tighty-whities from the film. He also tried to express humility and share the credit, derisively referring to “that little prick called ego” (a phrase that surprisingly went unbleeped by the ABC censors). He also called for a more sensible immigration policy — this after Best Picture presenter Sean Penn made a green-card joke about him. (Penn starred in Iñarritu’s “21 Grams” a decade ago, so maybe he was just razzing an old friend, not making a slur.) Michael Keaton didn’t win Best Actor (that went to the bouncy and excited Eddie Redmayne for “The Theory of Everything“), but Iñarritu let him speak anyway. Keaton started to thank his colleagues but then the 63-year-old first-time Oscar nominee interrupted himself, saying, “Look, who am I kidding? It’s great to be here.” Indeed it is.
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February 23, 2015
Oscars 2015: Best Picture Winner Is ‘Birdman’

And the winner of the 2015 Oscar for Best Picture is… “Birdman.”

This year, there were nine nominees up for Best Picture: “American Sniper,” “Birdman,” “Boyhood,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Imitation Game,” “Selma,” “The Theory of Everything,” and “Whiplash.” But, as “Highlander” tells us, there can be only one.

All of the films were, we’re sure, just honored to be nominated, but only “Birdman” walked away with the win. Since the nominations were announced, the consensus has always been that it’s really just a race between “Boyhood” and “Birdman,” so tonight’s winner wasn’t really a surprise. Well, it kinda was.

Now that the Oscars are over, we can dream about next year’s nominees. Or not. Your call.
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February 23, 2015
Oscars 2015: Best Actress Winner Is Julianne Moore

And the 2015 Oscar for Best Actress goes to… Julianne Moore for “Still Alice.”

Of all the 2015 Oscar races, the Best Actress award had pretty much been decided since the end of 2014. Most pundits and film critics predicted that Moore would win for her moving and undeniably heartbreaking performance in “Still Alice.” The other nominees this year — Marion Cotillard for “Two Days, One Night,” Felicity Jones for “The Theory of Everything,” Rosamond Pike for “Gone Girl,” and Reese Witherspoon for “Wild — never really stood a chance. Except maybe Witherspoon, whose turn as a former addict literally walking the road to recovery was considered a dark horse.

All the Moviefone editors chose Moore to win, so it’s not really a surprise. Let’s all revel in this wonderful actress’s victory.

Now that the Oscars are over, we can dream about next year’s nominees. Or not. Your call.
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February 22, 2015
Final Predictions for the 2015 Oscars

When it comes to predicting success and failure in Hollywood, as “The Princess Bride” screenwriter William Goldman famously said, “Nobody knows anything.” Well, nobody except the accountants at PricewaterhouseCooper, who are currently counting the Oscar ballots in anticipation of Sunday’s Academy Awards. But the rest of us know nothing, even experienced Oscar prognosticators.

That’s especially true this year, when only a handful of the 24 categories seem like foregone conclusions. The rest are tight races, all the way down to Best Picture. This should make the Feb. 22 telecast suspenseful, but it also makes filling out your own Oscar ballot harder. Still, here are my predictions, based on nearly three decades of covering the Academy Awards, attending the ceremony a few times, having kept a close watch on the current race, and a wet index finger held up to the wind. If I do well, I’ll be bragging on Monday; if not, remember what Goldman said.

1. Best Original Song
Let’s start with an easy one. “Selma” got only two nominations, and this is one. Sounds cynical, but giving the prize to “Glory” will help Academy members feel like they’ve erased some of the #OscarsSoWhite stigma that greeted this year’s less-than-diverse nomination slate. That’ll outweigh the sentimental vote for Alzheimer’s-afflicted Glen Campbell (“I’m Not Gonna Miss You”) and the awesome vote (for “Everything Is Awesome,” a humorous tune that was actually integral to “The LEGO Movie.”

2. Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat is nominated twice (for “The Imitation Game” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel”), but the award will go to Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson, whose score really makes “The Theory of Everything,” and which has won the major precursor awards so far.

3. Best Sound Editing
This award, for sound effects, typically goes to the loudest movie. In this case, the gun battles of “American Sniper” should hit the mark.

4. Best Sound Mixing
This award represents a movie’s overall soundtrack. Last weekend, the Cinema Audio Society, representing Hollywood’s sound mixers, gave its prize to “Birdman,” and that’s also the likely pick for the Oscar.

5. Best Visual Effects
It’s really between Marvel’s smash “Guardians of the Galaxy” and Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar.” Nolan’s films tend to clean up in the technical categories, and the movie’s striking space-travel sequences mean the rest of the contenders are likely to be sucked into a wormhole.

6. Best Makeup and Hairstyling
The primary contenders here are “Guardians,” again, and “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” Given the Academy’s general disdain for comic-book films and fondness for period pictures — not to mention the Wes Anderson comedy’s impressive array of facial hair and turning Tilda Swinton into an ancient dowager, I’ll go with “Budapest.”

7. Best Costume Design
Again, handsome period pictures rule, which rules out “Into the Woods” and “Maleficent,” the scruffy hippie-wear of “Inherent Vice,” and the too-subtle 19th-century England of “Mr. Turner.” The more flamboyant 1930s costumes of “Budapest” should take the prize.

8. Best Foreign Language Film
Russia’s “Leviathan” has been a strong contender so far, but when in doubt, pick the movie about the Holocaust. That would be Poland’s “Ida,” which also happens to be a standout for its stark black-and-white cinematography and its not-too-taxing running time.

9. Best Live-Action Short
Three of the shorts are fascinating glimpses of remote cultures that most Hollywood viewers will find too exotic. “Boogaloo and Graham” has the cute-Irish-kids factor going for it, but it’ll be trumped by the Academy’s Anglophilia. “The Phone Call,” starring well-respected British thespians Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent, in a movie with a tearjerking suicide-hotline plot, will win.

10. Best Documentary Short
All five films are about extraordinary bleak subjects, so the most accessible one will win. That rules out the two Polish entries (“Joanna” and “Our Curse”) and Mexican slaughterhouse tale “La Parka (The Reaper).” That leaves American entries “White Earth” and “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1.” Not only does this tie neatly into the likelihood of a Live-Action Short win for “The Phone Call,” but it also gives the voters a way to prove they support the troops without having to honor “American Sniper.” Plus, it’s made by HBO, usually a quality seal of approval for documentaries.

11. Best Documentary Feature
I’ve seen indications of support for jungle doc “Virunga,” and artist bio “Finding Vivian Maier.” “Last Days in Vietnam” and “The Salt of the Earth” are by filmmakers (Rory Kennedy and Wim Wenders, respectively) who are familiar enough that they could get votes on name recognition alone. But the standout, as a work of reportage, as a treatment of a timely subject, and as a winner of numerous precursor awards, is Laura Poitras’s documentary about her interaction with Edward Snowden, “Citizenfour.” It seems all but unstoppable.

12. Best Animated Short
When in doubt, go with the Disney cartoon. That means “Feast,” the endearing tale about a dog’s life that some wags have dubbed “Puppyhood.”

13. Best Animated Feature
With the snub of “The LEGO Movie” and the absence of a Pixar entry, this is a tough category to guess. Leaving aside the little-seen “Song of the Sea” and “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya,” that leaves “The Boxtrolls” (too weird, not popular enough), “Big Hero 6,” and “How to Train Your Dragon 2.” “Dragon” has won most of the precursor awards, so it’s the favorite.

14. Best Production Design
Production design is practically a character in Wes Anderson’s movies, never more so than in the extravagant life-size dollhouse that is the Grand Budapest Hotel. The Academy is bound to recognize that.

15. Best Cinematography
Someday, the Academy will give “Unbroken”‘s Roger Deakins an honorary trophy for a career’s worth of painterly imagery, to make up for the fact that he’s been nominated 12 times without winning. That’ll include this year, since the award will go to last year’s winner, Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki, for his seemingly seamless work on the long tracking shots of “Birdman.”

16. Best Editing
This is an especially difficult category, with many strong contenders. The comic rhythms of “Budapest,” the tightly-wound jazz tempo of “Whiplash,” the battleground suspense of “American Sniper” — all are worthy choices. But the prize will probably go to Sandra Adair for the monumental achievement of cutting 12 years worth of footage on “Boyhood.”

17. Best Adapted Screenplay
“Whiplash” doesn’t even belong here; it should be in the Original Screenplay category, but for a hairsplitting technicality in Academy rules. That Paul Thomas Anderson was able to make even a semi-coherent script out of Thomas Pynchon’s shaggy-dog detective novel ought to win the prize for “Inherent Vice,” but the movie is too polarizing. Jason Hall has been accused of copping out by not making any moral or political judgments about Chris Kyle, so “American Sniper” is out. That leaves the British biopics “The Theory of Everything” and “The Imitation Game.” Of the two, “Imitation” is less conventional, and criticism that it downplayed Alan Turing’s homosexuality hasn’t stuck. Plus, it has the mighty Weinstein campaign apparatus behind it. So Graham Moore gets the trophy.

18. Best Original Screenplay
“Birdman” is kinda weird and surreal, “Boyhood” seems like it was more improvised than written, and “Foxcatcher” and “Nightcrawler” are lucky just to be nominated. So that leaves Wes Anderson’s clever comedy-drama “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” a screenplay everyone admires and likes, if not loves.

19. Best Supporting Actress
It’s so patronizing when critics and industry insiders talk about how “brave” an actress’s performance is. Usually, that’s code for “she took off her clothes” or “she went without makeup.” In the case of Patricia Arquette, it’s that she allowed herself to be seen aging 12 years on screen, without the crutches of cosmetics or plastic surgery. Of course, she also acted the hell out of her motherly “Boyhood” role. Which is why she’s had a lock on this category since day one.

20. Best Supporting Actor
Again, despite all the fine work done by the competition, J.K. Simmons’s whip-cracking “Whiplash” music teacher has steamrollered everyone since the film was released.

21. Best Actress
This category was Julianne Moore’s to lose even before most people had seen her performance as an early-onset Alzheimer’s patient in “Still Alice.” Once the movie finally opened in January, the buzz was confirmed. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that this is the kind of physical/mental challenge role that routinely wins Oscars, or that people feel Moore is due after being nominated four previous times without winning.

22. Best Actor
This is the only acting category with any suspense. Still, as great as Benedict Cumberbatch was in “The Imitation Game,” his character may be too chilly to be the kind of hero the Academy can line up behind. Steve Carell made an astonishing transformation from comic actor to weirdo villain in “Foxcatcher,” but there’s not much love for the movie. Bradley Cooper earned his third nomination in three years for playing Chris Kyle in “American Sniper,” and his only flaw was that he’s not Eddie Redmayne or Michael Keaton this year. In “The Theory of Everything,” Redmayne had the more physically challenging role, as the increasingly immobile Stephen Hawking, but Keaton’s role in “Birdman” offers the semi-autobiographical comeback narrative that the Academy loves. Plus, it’s his first nomination, despite a three-decade career as a beloved star. And can you imagine anyone else in the part? The category is a tough call, with Redmayne and Keaton so close that Cooper could step in as a spoiler if they cancel each other out. But I’ll give the edge to Keaton, especially since “Birdman” will be riding a wave of good will.

23. Best Directing
You can forget “Foxcatcher’s” Bennett Miller and “Imitation Game’s” Morten Tyldum (who?) People love “Grand Budapest Hotel,” but Wes Anderson will be happy to settle for a screenplay Oscar. That leaves “Boyhood” creator Richard Linklater and “Birdman” auteur Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu. The latter won the Director’s Guild prize, but we’ve seen Best Picture and Best Director split six times over the past 16 years. Which is why I think this prize will go to frequent precursor award winner Linklater. More than the story (which is obviously autobiographical and very personal to Linklater), the Academy admires the sheer nervy feat of seeing his vision through over the course of 12 years. “Birdman” may be a work of art, but “Boyhood” is a labor of love.

24. Best Picture
The complicated proportional-voting rules, which urge voters to pick their top five movies in order of preference, encourage consensus choices and weed out divisive movies. That’s why “American Sniper” and “Selma” won’t win. Movies that don’t have broad consensus support — “The Theory of Everything,” “The Imitation Game,” and “Whiplash” — won’t make it either. There is a lot of support for “Grand Budapest Hotel,” which is tied with “Birdman” for the most nominations this year (both have nine, compared to six for “Boyhood”), so there’s a slim chance that it could sneak in if “Boyhood” and “Birdman” cancel each other out. But the race has been between “Boyhood” and “Birdman” for months now, and while “Boyhood” was the early frontrunner, a backlash has now set in against it.

Why the sudden turn against “Boyhood”? There have been all kinds of crazy rationales floated in the last couple of weeks. One Academy member couldn’t relate to the everyday struggles of its ordinary characters, calling them “garbage and losers.” The movie’s 12-year shoot supposedly made it derivative of Michael Apted’s “Up” documentaries. Its allegedly patronizing treatment of its sole substantive Latino character (the one who takes up the suggestion by Patricia Arquette’s character that he should go to college) makes the film even more insidiously racist than “Birth of a Nation.” But the simplest explanation, and the one that holds the most water, is that it peaked too early. It was dubbed the frontrunner from the time it was released eight months ago. (Yes, “Grand Budapest Hotel” came out even earlier, but no one was making the extravagant claims for it that “Boyhood” enjoyed.) And it’s hard to be the frontrunner for that long without getting a big fat target painted on your back.

“Birdman” pulled up even with “Boyhood” as soon as it was released last fall. As with “Boyhood,” everyone respected its craftsmanship, artistry, and daring structure (though not its prickly cynicism). While “Boyhood” won a lot of early awards, especially at the Golden Globes, “Birdman” won the ones that matter — the Producers Guild, Screen Actors Guild, and Directors Guild, picked by industry insiders who are often Academy voters as well. The movie has a better backstage narrative than “Boyhood,” not only as Michael Keaton’s vindicating comeback, but as the underdog for being slightly behind “Boyhood” for so much of the Oscar race. Finally, it’s a movie about self-absorbed showbiz folk, people Academy voters will find a lot more relatable than “Boyhood”‘s middle-American nobodies. The underdog/showbiz angle means Iñarritu could lose Best Director to Linklater and still have the movie win Best Picture, à la “Argo.”

It’s going to be close — how close, we’ll never know, since the Academy never releases vote tallies — but in the end, I expect “Birdman” to soar.
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February 21, 2015
Oscars 2015: 16 Things You’ll See at This Year’s Academy Awards

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Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony should actually be pretty exciting, in a Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots kind of way. Like the Super Bowl contenders earlier this month, the two top movies are pretty evenly matched, and the victory won’t be decided until the final seconds. The same is true in the Best Actor contest, where Stephen Hawking fights it out with a guy running through Times Square in his underwear. It could go either way.

Perennial Oscar show producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan have a lot going for them this year. Besides the genuine suspense in the “Birdman” vs. “Boyhood” and Eddie Redmayne vs. Michael Keaton contests, they have awards-show pro Neil Patrick Harris hosting. They have all the “American Sniper” fans encouraged to tune in (don’t worry, folks, the Academy won’t let your film go home empty-handed; they’ll give it at least Best Sound Editing in order to prove that they love America and the troops). And if they’re smart, they’ll have tyrannical “Whiplash” music teacher J.K. Simmons conducting the orchestra, ready to play off any winner whose rambling speech threatens to further elongate the already overstuffed ceremony.

Whether you’re watching the Feb. 22 ABC telecast out of genuine rooting interest in the nominated films, out of fondness for all the glitzy excess, or out of laziness and boredom, here’s what Zadan, Meron, Harris, and the Academy are cooking up for you.

February 19, 2015
Oscar Predictions 2015: Who Will Win Best Actor?

With the 2015 Oscars almost here, Moviefone will be releasing a set of staff predictions each day this week (in countdown fashion) for the four major categories. We kicked it off yesterday with Best Actress, and now turn our attention to a hotly-contested race: Best Actor.

We’ve already given you the beat on the 2015 Oscars race, so now let’s break down our favorites to win the award. Here, we’ve listed the actors we expect to win, and then, more importantly, who we think should win.

Tim Hayne
Who Will Win: Eddie Redmayne. The actor’s transformative performance as physics genius Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything” is, perhaps, the most talked about of the year, and it’s already earned him a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award. The only person who could possibly upset the race at this point is Bradley Cooper, whose performance in “American Sniper” has been celebrated by audiences to the tune of more than $300M at the box office.

Who Should Win: Michael Keaton. If not for his performance in “Birdman,” than for his career as a whole. Keaton is the dark horse in this race, for sure, but his dramatic (and comedic) turn as, basically, a version of himself in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s dark comedy is fantastically nuanced and powerful. No disrespect to Redmayne, but it’s pretty early in the 33-year-old’s career; let’s give the Oscar to someone who’s filmography includes iconic turns in “Beetlejuice,” “Batman,” and, one my personal favorites, “Mr. Mom.”

Alana Altmann
Who Will Win: Eddie Redmayne, but by a narrow margin. A physically transformative portrayal of a real-life figure will most likely trump an actor playing an… actor. (Hello, “Birdman.”) The visually stunning “Theory of Everything” is the kind of Oscar-friendly biopic that lands its leading men gold. See: Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech,” Jamie Foxx in “Ray,” and Daniel Day-Lewis in “My Left Foot” and “Lincoln.” The same logic could be used for Bradley Cooper and Benedict Cumberbatch’s roles, but Redmayne’s face looked all different and stuff.

Who Should Win: Michael “Birdman” Keaton. He flies high (JK — I’ll spare you those bird puns!) shines while bringing tormented washed up Hollywood actor Riggan Thomson to life in a way we couldn’t imagine another actor doing. Whether you enjoyed the overwhelming, chaotic meta-ness of “Birdman” or not, it’s hard to deny his riveting performance. Keaton musters his own special blend of magical manic restlessness while embodying vulnerability, bitterness, and the universal fear of failure. To not give him this award would be a total fowl. (Sorry, we had to.)

Jonny Black
Who Will Win: Michael Keaton. “Birdman” director Alejandro González Iñárritu said prior to the film’s release that he wanted Keaton for the role because he could navigate drama and comedy, adding “a meta-dialogue to the film.” Keaton was thrown the perfect pass and he delivers, beautifully handling the self-loathing and struggles of former superhero star Riggan Thomson. There’s no denying Eddie Redmayne’s momentum leading up to the Oscars after taking home a Golden Globe and a SAG award and, frankly, there’s no denying his talent — he’s unbelievable in “The Theory of Everything.” Redmayne could take the Oscar home and it would hardly be a steal, but Keaton’s long history with the Academy will give him the win by a nose.

Who Should Win: Michael Keaton. Ehhh… Eddie Redmayne? Redmayne turns in a hell of a performance, one that is now getting the backlash label of “physical acting,” but who are we kidding? The young Brit let Stephen Hawking’s struggles, emotional and physical, seep into his being and he delivers a raw and moving performance. Ultimately, though, Michael Keaton just is Riggan Thomson. Is there anyone else you can even imagine in that role? It’s impossible to take your eyes off him and he should take home the Oscar.

Who’s your pick? Tell us in the comments below, and find out which star wins Best Actor when the Oscars air live Sunday, February 22 at 7 ET / 4 PT on ABC.

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February 19, 2015
Oscars 2015: 7 Burning Questions Remain

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The Oscars aren’t until next Sunday, but the race will be all over by Tuesday. The 17th is the day ballots are due; after that, it’s all in the hands of the number-crunchers at Pricewaterhouse Cooper. Still, there were a lot of last-minute awards given out over the weekend by several of the professional groups — writers, cinematographers, sound editors, sound mixers, and makeup artists and hairstylists — whose members will also be turning in their Oscar ballots this week. Their decisions should help you, not only to determine who’ll win the prizes in the more obscure corners of your Oscar pool ballot, but also which movies have broad enough support to win the more coveted prizes.

What did we learn from this weekend’s guild awards?

Well, the Writers Guild of America gave its original screenplay prize to “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and its adapted screenplay prize to “The Imitation Game.” Those are safe bets for the Oscars as well. The American Society of Cinematographers gave its top prize to “Birdman,” and even though Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki also won this Oscar last year for “Gravity,” he’s likely to win again this year for his stunning long-take tracking shots that comprise “Birdman.”

The Cinema Audio Society, which recognizes the work of sound mixers, gave its live-action prize to “Birdman,” which not only makes that film the favorite for the Sound Mixing Oscar but adds yet another burst to its momentum for Best Picture. Don’t confuse this group with the Sound Editors (who handle sound effects, rather than the overall soundtrack), whose Golden Reel award this weekend went to “American Sniper.” That film is a safe bet for the Sound Editing Oscar, which, after all, usually goes to the loudest movie. (Yes, there are three war movies competing; besides “Sniper,” there’s “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” and “Unbroken,” but the Academy will want to give at least one Oscar to “Sniper,” and this is about the only one it’s likely to get. As for the other two nominees, “Interstellar” had sound problems, according to many listener complaints, and “Birdman” hardly seems to belong in this category.)

As for the Makeup and Hairstylist Guild Awards, they gave two prizes each to “Budapest” (Best Period Makeup, Best Period Hairstyling) and “Guardians of the Galaxy” (Best Contemporary Makeup, Best Special Makeup Effects). Since these two films are competing for the Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar (along with “Foxcatcher,” which went unrewarded by the guild), they seem to be evenly matched going into the final stretch. It’s a tough call; “Budapest” has an impressive array of whimsical mustaches and beards, not to mention Tilda Swinton’s elaborate old-age makeup, but “Guardians” had impressive makeup as well, was one of the year’s biggest hits, and is unlikely to win any other Oscars except maybe Visual Effects. So this category looks neck and neck.

So, is it gonna be “Boyhood” or “Birdman”?

Tough to say. There’s a precedent either way. “Boyhood” won the BAFTA for Best Picture last weekend, along with many precursor awards earlier in the season, and the last six BAFTA winners have gone on to win the Best Picture Oscar as well. Then again, it’s not clear that people in Hollywood actually care what the British Academy thinks; rather, the BAFTAs seem to reflect conventional wisdom, not generate it.

“Birdman” has won the three major guild awards (Producers, Screen Actors, and Directors), and it’s been 19 years since a movie (“Apollo 13”) won all three of those and failed to win Best Picture. Also, the Academy seems to have gotten over its long-standing bias against movies about show business (see recent winners “The Artist” and “Argo”). Plus, there’s the simple fact that it has nine nominations to six for “Boyhood.” On the other hand, it’s very hard to win Best Picture without even scoring an Editing nomination (as “Birdman” failed to do), and there’s also just the general weirdness factor, contrasted with the more traditionally heartfelt “Boyhood.” So I’d say the odds favor “Birdman,” but it’s going to be very close.

Does any other movie have a chance?

Not really. The way the weighted voting system works for Best Picture ballots favors movies that are widely admired (if not loved) over movies that inspire passionate feelings for or against. So movies that are divisive or don’t inspire much enthusiasm will fall by the wayside. Not everyone loves “Boyhood” or “Birdman,” but they’re both widely admired.

As for the others, “American Sniper” may be far and away the most populist movie among the Best Picture nominees, having earned more than $300 million to date, but to the Academy, it’s still too controversial. “Grand Budapest Hotel” has as many nominations as “Birdman,” but it’s a more overt comedy, and comedies almost never win. “The Imitation Game” and “The Theory of Everything” are pretty standard-issue biopics, with only their strong lead acting performances to distinguish them. “Selma” is as divisive in its own way as “American Sniper,” though it’ll probably win Best Original Song and have to be satisfied with that. “Whiplash” doesn’t feel like the kind of grand, ambitious movie that says “Best Picture,” though tyrannical music teacher J.K. Simmons is a lock for Best Supporting Actor.

Who’ll win the acting prizes?

Along with Simmons, “Still Alice” star Julianne Moore and “Boyhood” co-star Patricia Arquette have been locks for Actress and Supporting Actress since day one. That leaves Best Actor as the only truly suspenseful race.

Let’s see, Benedict Cumberbatch did a solid job playing Alan Turing in “The Imitation Game,” but the role isn’t as flashy as the others in the category. Bradley Cooper is nominated for the third time in three years, but the Academy’s ambivalence toward the real-life story of Chris Kyle, which will keep “American Sniper” from winning Best Picture, will extend to Cooper’s performance as well. (Indeed many pundits were surprised he was even nominated.) Steve Carell’s physical and dramatic transformation for his creepy “Foxcatcher” role is impressive, but it’s not clear that the movie is all that well regarded or even widely seen. Besides, if the narrative behind the performance is what a great job a comedian did with a dark and dramatic role, it’s easier to go with Michael Keaton for “Birdman,” which also has the virtue of being the actor’s comeback role and his first recognition by the Academy during a long and celebrated career. The only one who can trump him is Eddie Redmayne, for his striking physical transformation as Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything.” Playing someone who overcomes tremendous physical or mental disability is often a sure path to Oscar success. Both actors have won a number of precursor awards this season, so this category remains a toss-up, to be decided according to which personal narrative the Academy prefers.

Is Oscar campaigning getting out of hand?

Seems so. After all, it’s kind of silly that personal narrative should matter so much (as opposed to, you know, merit), but it does. The “For Your Consideration” ads for “The Imitation Game” popping up on the trade websites are just the latest symptom. They hint that Academy members should pick the film (and Cumberbatch) because it’s a way of honoring Turing as a gay martyr. That’s pretty rich for a film that’s been accused of downplaying the World War II codebreaker’s homosexuality. Plus, it’s a tactic likely to backfire, as it did nine years ago for “Brokeback Mountain.”

Meanwhile, songwriting nominee Diane Warren, who’s been nominated six previous times without a win, is griping that neither singer Rita Ora nor the Relativity record label are doing enough to campaign for her tune “Grateful,” from the film “Beyond the Lights.” She may have a point — the song is certainly an underdog in a category that contains “Glory” (from “Selma”), “Everything Is Awesome” (from “The LEGO Movie”) and “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” (from “Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me.”). “Glory” is the favorite (because “Selma” has to win something), and everyone loves “Everything Is Awesome” (though not enough to overcome the Academy’s aversion to satirical songs). Campbell’s tune, inspired by his valiant struggle against Alzheimer’s, has sentiment and personal narrative on its side. The other nominee, “Lost Stars,” from the little-seen musical “Begin Again,” has even less of a shot than “Grateful.” Which makes Warren’s carping seem, well, less than “Grateful.” To the extent that personal narrative matters, she’s not helping her cause.

Is it really an honor just to be nominated?

Yes. In fact, it’s lucrative. Not only to the nominees enjoy the likelihood of salary raises the next time they’re up for a role, but even if they don’t win, they’ll take home a swag bag this year worth a reported $125,000. This collection of luxury goods and travel gift certificates isn’t an official Academy gift (it’s put together by an outside firm, without the Academy’s endorsement), but it’s still a pretty nice consolation prize for the 80 percent of nominees who won’t go home with trophies.

In the grand scheme of things, how much does all this matter?

Not much, perhaps. As film critic Richard Roeper pointed out in a tweet, “Fifty Shades of Grey” earned more during its Valentine’s Day weekend debut than “Boyhood,” “The Theory of Everything” and “Whiplash” have earned all together during their entire runs. Of course, “Grey” isn’t going to win any Oscars next year, but swag bags aside, it looks like this year’s Best Picture contenders are fighting over who gets to be king of an awfully small anthill. The winner, whether it’s “Birdman” or “Boyhood,” will be celebrated for a moment and forgotten by the time next year’s Oscars roll around. After all, last year was the year of “12 Years a Slave,” and yet this year, the Academy seems to have forgotten that black people exist, either as story subjects or as performers and filmmakers.

Then again, who’s to say this year’s Oscar race will have no larger impact? Five years ago, “The Hurt Locker” became the lowest-grossing Best Picture winner in ages, and yet it seems Clint Eastwood must have seen it. What else is “American Sniper” but his “Hurt Locker,” an Iraq War movie that is careful not to take a political position on the war itself, that celebrates the heroism of the troops while reckoning the moral and soul-destroying cost of combat on the lives of individual servicemen and their families? Five years ago, that seemed a radical artistic approach; today, it’s a mainstream blockbuster. Whose to say that, a few years from now, we won’t be seeing mainstream hits that incorporate the structural innovations of “Boyhood” and “Birdman”? For all the seasonal squabbling over politics, ego, wounded pride, and money, the art of storytelling through moving pictures continues to advance, and it’s good to have an annual excuse to stop and recognize that.

February 17, 2015