Forecast for the 2015 Academy Awards

Here is how I think the nominees will fare in today's Oscars, in the order in which they could possibly win:


Best picture-

Boyhood
Birdman
American Sniper
The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Selma


Best director-

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Birdman
Richard Linklater for Boyhood
Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum for The Imitation Game
Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher


Best original screenplay-

Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Birdman
Foxcatcher
Nightcrawler


Best adapted screenplay-

The Imitation Game
American Sniper
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Inherent Vice


Best foreign language film-

Ida               (from Poland)
Leviathan    (from Russia)
Tangerines   (from Estonia)
Wild Tales    (from Argentina)
Timbuktu      (from Mauritania)


Best lead actor-

Michael Keaton in Birdman
Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything
Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game
Steve Carell in Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper in American Sniper


Best lead actress-

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


Best supporting actor-

JK Simmons in Whiplash
Edward Norton in Birdman
Ethan Hawke in Boyhood
Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher
Robert Duvall in The Judge


Best supporting actress-

Patricia Arquette in Boyhood
Emma Stone in Birdman
Keira Knightley in The Imitation Game
Meryl Streep in Into the Woods
Laura Dern in Wild



In other categories:

best production design - The Grand Budapest Hotel
best costume design - The Grand Budapest Hotel

best sound editing - American Sniper
best sound mixing - American Sniper

best editing - Boyhood

best cinematography - Birdman

best makeup and hairstyling - Foxcatcher

best visual effects - Interstellar

best score - The Theory of Everything

best original song - Selma

best animated feature - Big Hero 6

Forecast for the 2014 Academy Awards

Here is how I think the nominees will fare in Monday's Oscars, in the order in which they could possibly win:

Best picture

American Hustle
Gravity
12 Years a Slave
Her


Dallas Buyers Club

Nebraska
The Wolf of Wall Street
Captain Phillips
Philomena


Best director -

Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity
David O. Russell for American Hustle
Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave
Martin Scorsese for The Wolf of Wall Street
Alexander Payne for Nebraska


Best original screenplay -

Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell for American Hustle
Spike Jonze for Her
Woody Allen for Blue Jasmine
Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack for Dallas Buyers Club
Bob Nelson for Nebraska


Best adapted screenplay -

JohnRidley for 12 Years a Slave
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope for Philomena
Billy Ray for Captain Phillips
Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke for Before Midnight
Terence Winter for The Wolf of Wall Street


Best foreign-language film -

The Great Beauty (from Italy)
The Hunt (from Denmark)
The Broken Circle Breakdown (from Belgium)
Omar (from Palestine)
The Missing Picture (from Cambodia)


Best lead actor -

Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club
Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave
Bruce Dern in Nebraska
Christian Bale in American Hustle


Best lead actress -

Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine
Amy Adams in American Hustle
Judi Dench in Philomena
Sandra Bullock in Gravity
Meryl Streep in August: Osage County


Best supporting actor -

Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club
Bradley Cooper in American Hustle

Jonah Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street
Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave
Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips


Best supporting actress -

Lupita Nyong'o in 12 Years a Slave
Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle
June Squibb in Nebraska
Julia Roberts in August: Osage County
Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine

Academy Award Nominees 2012

The nominations for the 2012 Oscars have been announced.

best picture:

The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

best director:

Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Martin Scorsese for Hugo

best actor:

Demian Bichir in A Better Life
George Clooney in The Descendants
Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt in Moneyball

best actress:

Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis in The Help
Rooney Mara in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn

best supporting actor:

Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill in Moneyball
Nick Nolte in Warrior
Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Max von Sydow in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

best supporting actress:

Bérénice Bejo in The Artist
Jessica Chastain in The Help
Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer in The Help

best original screnplay:

Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig for Bridesmaids
J.C. Chandor for Margin Call
Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Asghar Farhadi for A Separation

best adapted screenplay:

Alexander Payne, Jim Rash, and Nat Faxon for The Descendants
John Logan for Hugo
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon for The Ides of March
Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian for Moneyball
Peter Straughan and Bridget O’Connor for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Oscars 2011

The King's Speech led the winners of the 83rd Academy Awards with four statuettes for best picture, best director (Tom Hooper), best actor (Colin Firth) and best original screenplay (David Seidler).

Another big winner was Inception, which won four of its eight nominations: best cinematography, visual effects, sound mixing and sound editing.

On the other hand, The Social Network copped three prizes: best adapted screenplay (Aaron Sorkin), best original score (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) and best editing (Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter).

Christian Bale and Melissa Leo received the Oscars for acting in a supporting role, for their turn in The Fighter.

Toy Story 3 earned statuettes for best animated feature film and best original song (for "We Belong Together" by Randy Newman).

Alice in Wonderland was a surprise winner of two Oscars (out of three nominations): best art direction and costume design.

Other winners were:

Natalie Portman (in Black Swan) - best actress

The Wolfman - best makeup

In a Better World (Denmark) - best foreign language film

Inside Job - best documentary feature

Strangers No More - best short-subject documentary

God of Love - best live action short film

The Lost Thing - best animated short film

2011 Academy Award nominations

The nominees for the 83rd Academy Award have been announced.


best picture-

Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King's Speech

127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone


best director-

Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan
David O. Russell for The Fighter
Tom Hooper for The King's Speech
David Fincher for The Social Network
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for True Grit


best original screenplay

Mike Leigh for Another Year
Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson and Keith Dorrington for The Fighter
Christopher Nolan for Inception
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg for The Kids are All Right
David Seidler for The King's Speech


best adapted screenplay-

Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy for 127 Hours
Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network
Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich for Toy Story 3
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for True Grit
Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini for Winter's Bone


best actor-

Javier Bardem in Biutiful
Jeff Bridges in True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
Colin Firth in The King's Speech
James Franco in 127 Hours


best actress-

Annette Bening in The Kids are All Right
Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman in Black Swan
Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine


best supporting actor-

Christian Bale in The Fighter
John Hawkes in Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner in The Town
Mark Ruffalo in The Kids are All Right
Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech


best supporting actress-

Amy Adams in The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter in The King's Speech
Melissa Leo in The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit
Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom


best cinematography-

Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
True Grit


best film editing-

Black Swan
The Fighter
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network


best original score-

How to Train Your Dragon
Inception
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network


best original song-

Coming Home from Country Strong
I See the Light from Tangled
If I Rise from 127 Hours
We Belong Together from Toy Story 3


best art direction-

Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit


best costume-

Alice in Wonderland
I Am Love
The King's Speech
The Tempest
True Grit




best sound mixing-

Inception
The King's Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit


best sound editing-

Inception
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable


best makeup-

Barney's Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman


best visual effects-

Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2


best animated feature film-

How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3


best foreign-language film

Biutiful (Mexico)
Dogtooth (Greece)
In a Better World (Denmark)
Incendies (Canada)
Outside the Law [Hors-la-loi] (Algeria)


best documentary feature-

Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waste Land


best short-subject documentary -

Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang


best live action short film-

The Confession
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143


best animated short film-

Day and Night
The Gruffalo
Let's Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)

A Little Hurt

Here are the winners at the 82nd annual Academy Awards today:

best picture- The Hurt Locker

best director- Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker

best original screenplay: Mark Boal for The Hurt Locker

best adapted screenplay: Geoffrey Fletcher for Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

best actor- Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart

best actress- Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side

best supporting actor- Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds

best supporting actress: Mo'Nique in Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

best foreign language film- El Secreto de Sus Ojos from Argentina

best animated feature- Up

best cinematography- Avatar

best editing- The Hurt Locker

best art direction- Avatar

best costume- The Young Victoria

best makeup- Star Trek


best visual effects- Avatar

best sound mixing- The Hurt Locker

best sound editing- The Hurt Locker

best original score- Up (Michael Giacchino)

best original song- The Weary Kind (Theme From Crazy Heart) from Crazy Heart (Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett)

best documentary feature- The Cove

best documentary short- Music by Prudence

best live action short- The New Tenants

best animated short- Logorama

10 for 2010

The nominees for the 82nd annual Academy Awards were announced last night (Manila time). The nominees are:

best picture: Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire, A Serious Man, Up, Up in the Air

best director: Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker"; James Cameron for "Avatar"; Lee Daniels for "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"; Jason Reitman for "Up in the Air"; Quentin Tarantino for "Inglourious Basterds"

best original screenplay: Mark Boal for "The Hurt Locker"; Quentin Tarantino for "Inglourious Basterds"; Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman for "The Messenger"; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for "A Serious Man"; Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, and Tom McCarthy for "Up"

best adapted screenplay: Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell for "District 9"; Nick Hornby for "An Education"; Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, and Tony Roche for "In the Loop"; Geoffrey Fletcher for "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"; Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for "Up in the Air"

best actor: Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart"; George Clooney in "Up in the Air"; Colin Firth in "A Single Man"; Morgan Freeman in "Invictus"; Jeremy Renner in "The Hurt Locker"

best actress: Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side"; Helen Mirren in "The Last Station"; Carey Mulligan in "An Education"; Gabourey Sidibe in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"; Meryl Streep in "Julie & Julia"

best supporting actor: Matt Damon in "Invictus"; Woody Harrelson in "The Messenger"; Christopher Plummer in "The Last Station"; Stanley Tucci in "The Lovely Bones"; Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds"

best supporting actress: Penelope Cruz in "Nine"; Vera Farmiga in "Up in the Air"; Maggie Gyllenhaal in "Crazy Heart"; Anna Kendrick in "Up in the Air"; Mo'Nique in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

best foreign language film: "Ajami" (Israel); "El Secreto de Sus Ojos" (Argentina); "The Milk of Sorrow" (Peru); "Un Prophete" (France); "The White Ribbon" (Germany)

best animated feature film: "Coraline"; "Fantastic Mr. Fox"; "The Princess and the Frog"; "The Secret of Kells"; "Up"

best cinematography: "Avatar," "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "The White Ribbon"

best editing: "Avatar," "District 9," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

best art direction: "Avatar," "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," "Nine," "Sherlock Holmes," "The Young Victoria"

best costume: "Bright Star," "Coco Before Chanel," "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," "Nine," "The Young Victoria"

best makeup: "Il Divo," "Star Trek," "The Young Victoria"

best sound mixing: "Avatar," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Star Trek," "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"

best sound editing: "Avatar," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Star Trek," "Up"

best visual effects: "Avatar," "District 9," "Star Trek"

best original score: James Horner (Avatar); Alexandre Desplat (Fantastic Mr. Fox); Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders (The Hurt Locker); Hans Zimmer (Sherlock Holmes); Michael Giacchino (Up)

best original song:

"Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog," Randy Newman;

"Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog," Randy Newman;

"Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36," Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas;

"Take It All" from "Nine," Maury Yeston;

"The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart," Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

best documentary feature: "Burma VJ," "The Cove," "Food, Inc." "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers," "Which Way Home"

best documentary (short subject): "China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province," "The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner," "The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant," "Music by Prudence," "Rabbit a la Berlin"

best animated short film: "French Roast," "Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty," "The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)," "Logorama," "A Matter of Loaf and Death"

best live action short film: "The Door," "Instead of Abracadabra," "Kavi," "Miracle Fish," "The New Tenants"

Wrestling Over Oscar

Midnight at a coffee shop. (No, it's not Moby Dicks.)

Over coffee me and my college friends discuss who should have won this year's Academy Award for best actor. It's been two weeks already, and the aftershock still reverberates.

While Sean Penn received the precious paperweight, darkspark feels it should have gone to Mickey Rourke- the star of such movies as Diner, Rumble Fish, 9 1/2 Weeks, Barfly, and Angel Heart.

Withavengeance agrees: He wonders how Penn could have won when he had taken it home already five years ago.

Lamplighter thinks it's because of Proposition No. 8. Penn is the respected actor they can look to who can give a voice to the Hollywood community.

I think Penn had a lot of advantages over Rourke. He was in the bigger movie- a studio movie- with more earnings and nominations, and better machinery.

Penn was already on his fifth nod, while Rourke was just having his first. Recently, we saw Alan Arkin (three-time nominee) go away with the Oscar, beating front-runner Eddie Murphy (who was on his first nod).

And more than anything, the win is rooted in their respective personas as celebrities.

Because The Wrestler is like art imitating life (Rourke's back story), a lot of voters might have thought, "Is this acting?"

On the other hand, Penn is seen as the brash macho who plays it gay. Now, that's acting. Hence, the Oscar.

Handicapped

That you have not seen all the nominees will not stop you.

animated feature- Wall-E

original screenplay- Milk

adapted screenplay- Slumdog Millionaire

foreign language film- Waltz with Bashir

cinmeatography, editing, and original score- Slumdog Millionaire

art direction and makeup- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

sound editing and visual effects- The Dark Knight

sound mixing- Wall-E

costume design- The Duchess

original song- Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire

Look out for Wall-E in original screenplay, The Class in foreign language film, The Dark Knight in sound mixing, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in visual effects.

AR Rahman might split his votes, so Wall-E could take original song. If he wins it, it will be for the song in the finale. Remember that this is the category in which Eminem, Three 6 Mafia and Jorge Drexler (Al otro lado del rio, 2004) had won in this decade.

If Slumdog Millionaire can be considered a musical, you might look at sound mixing. Previously trophies had gone to Ray and Dreamgirls, although Walk the Line did not take it (It went to King Kong).

Sean Kate Oscar

Here are the nominees in today's Academy Awards, in the order in which they could possibly win:

best picture- Slumdog Millionaire; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Milk; Frost/Nixon; The Reader

best director- Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire; David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Gus Van Sant for Milk; Stephen Daldry for The Reader; Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon

best actor- Sean Penn in Milk; Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler; Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon; Richard Jenkins in The Visitor; Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

best actress- Kate Winslet in The Reader; Meryl Streep in Doubt; Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married; Melissa Leo in Frozen River; Angelina Jolie in Changeling

best supporting actor- Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight; Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder; Josh Brolin in Milk; Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt; Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road

best supporting actress- Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona; Viola Davis in Doubt; Amy Adams in Doubt; Taraji P. Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler

Heavenly Creature

It's so good to see Kate Winslet win the Golden Globe.

This boosts her chances of bagging the Academy Award.

When she got a lead actress Oscar nod for Titanic in 1997, she became the youngest person to receive a second nomination. She was 22.

At 26, she was the youngest person to get a third nod (Iris, 2001).

At 29, the youngest for a fourth nomination (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004).

At 31, the youngest for a fifth (Little Children, 2006).

She has a double shot this year for Revolutionary Road and The Reader.

Imagine breaking and setting records every time you get nominated. She's only 33, and it is scary to think of what else she is going to achieve.

Next stop: the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Please Give Her the Oscar

I have not seen any of the movies gunning for the next Academy Awards, but I'm aware of which ones have got the buzz.

My friends and I are hoping to see Leo in the running again, this time for Revolutionay Road.

Personally, I would like to see Kate Winslet bag an Oscar. She has two shots: one for the Road, and another for The Reader. She has better chances at the best supporting actress prize for The Reader. I have read the reviews, and it looks like one of those performances that's really a lead role, much like those of Jennifer Connelly in A Beautiful Mind, Catherine Zeta-Jones in Chicago and Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls.

She has been nominated previously for :

Sense and Sensibility, supporting actress, 1995

Titanic, lead actress, 1997

Iris, supporting actress, 2001

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, lead actress, 2004

Little Children, lead actress, 2006

Her credits also include Heavenly Creatures (1994), Quills (2000), and Finding Neverland (2004).

"I can't deny it would mean a huge deal. Whether that's going to happen ever in my life, of course, remains to be seen," said Winslet in an interview with David Germain.

"I'm a very good loser. I've actually got it down, I think. I have a formula I could sell. I'm 33 years old, for God's sake. I've been there five times before. It's been incredible every single time, and I'm nothing other than just genuinely amazed and truly, truly grateful to have had those moments in my life."

If she gets nominated for both roles and loses them, she will hold the record of most nominations without a win among actresses. (Deborah Kerr and Thelma Ritter each have six nods and no wins.) Which is okay, because they would be nominations six and seven for her, and that's a lot. But I would really like to see her win.