It’s that time of year, when blogs and armchair critics all over the world make their educated (and uneducated) guesses of who will win the awards at the upcoming Big Dance on February 22. Since Thimblerig’s Ark has become the internet’s #1 penultimate film review site, the place where industry insiders come on a daily basis to get the latest scoop on everything Hollywood, Thimblerig thought he’d take a stab at picking the winners.
Quite often, people base their predictions on what films and actors are most likely to win. Thimblerig? He’s basing his predictions mostly on the choices of who he wants to win, with a few exceptions. If he hasn’t had the chance to see all the films in a particular category, then he’ll recuse himself and simply not vote.
So, without further ado, Thimblerig’s 2015 Oscar Picks.
UPDATE: Thimblerig’s miserable score: 8/21
Best Costume Design:
Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White, Guardians of the Galaxy – Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Sound Editing:
Interstellar – American Sniper
Best Sound Mixing:
Whiplash
Best Visual Effects:
Interstellar
Best Production Design:
Interstellar, Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Cinematography:
Robert D. Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel – Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
How did Interstellar not get a nomination in this category?
Best Film Editing:
Tom Cross, Whiplash
Best Original Song:
“Glory” from Selma – Music and lyrics by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
Best Live Action Short Film:
Aya, Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis, directors – The Phone Call
Best Foreign Language Film:
Ida (Poland), Paweł Pawlikowski, director
Best Screenplay (Adaptation):
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash – Graham Moore, The Imitation Game
Best Screenplay (Original):
Richard Linklater, Boyhood – Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo,Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Best Original Score:
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar – Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
This soundtrack is on constant play on Thimblerig’s Spotify account. He’s a big Zimmer fan, and thinks that Interstellar is one of his best.
Best Animated Feature Film:
How to Train your Dragon 2 – Big Hero 6
What Thimblerig wishes would win: Song of the Sea. Thimblerig hasn’t had the chance to see this yet, but The Secret of the Kells is one of his all-time favorite movies, and he guesses that Song of the Sea must be pretty spectacular, too. But, it came out pretty late, and didn’t have the exposure of Dragon, so Thimblerig’s going with the safe bet.
Best Supporting Actress:
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Who Thimblerig wishes would win: Mackenzie Foy. This girl blew Thimblerig away in Interstellar, and he was really disappointed that she didn’t at least get a nomination. Thimblerig expects great things from this young actress!
Best Supporting Actor:
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Thimblerig knows he’s the favorite to win, but he’s giving J.K. the vote because his performance blew him away in Whiplash: the subtle changes in character from moment to moment; the way he owned every scene; the man was fantastic – or so says Thimblerig.
Best Actress:
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night – Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Thimblerig acknowledges that he should recuse himself from this category, because he hasn’t seen the majority of the films represented. However, he’s going with a gut vote and voting for Cotillard, because he loves her as an actress.
Best Actor:
Michael Keaton, Birdman – Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Thimblerig did NOT like Birdman. He appreciated what the filmmakers were doing, but the film just didn’t do it for him. That being said, Thimblerig acknowledges that it was a commanding performance by Keaton, and considering that he’s been winning all the leadup awards, he would be absolutely shocked if Keaton didn’t get the statue.
Who Thimblerig wishes would have been nominated: Yeah, Thimblerig and the rest of the world – David Oyelowo’s name should have been on that list. To make room for him, ThimbIerig would bump Carrell or Cumberbatch. He loves both actors, but their performances didn’t come close to Oyelowo’s stunning portrayal of Martin Luther King in Selma.
Actually, go ahead and get rid of both Carrell and Cumberbatch, give one slot to Oyelowo, and the other to Brendan Gleeson for his powerful performance in Calvary.
Best Director:
Richard Linklater, Boyhood – Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Who Thimblerig wishes would have been nominated: Christopher Nolan for Interstellar and Ava DuVernay for Selma. Take away Bennett Miller and and Morten Tyldum, as far as he’s concerned. But Thimblerig knows that you have to admire Linklater’s work with Boyhood, even though it’s not his favorite movie of the year. Either he or Iñárritu will win.
Best Picture:
Selma – Birdman
Thimblerig says that this choice has nothing to do with race, and everything to do with the fact that the film was a fantastic film, and had all the elements that make a worthy Best Picture film. It was epic, powerful, passionate, amazingly well-acted and directed. It was a beautiful, haunting film, and it made Thimblerig both appreciate and lament the actions of those who came before him.
That being said, Thimblerig has a feeling that Boyhood will probably win.
But Selma should.
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Thank you for taking the time to read Thimblerig’s picks for the 2015 Academy Awards! What about you? What are your predictions?
And by the way, Thimblerig asked me to let you know that he had nothing to do with that groundhog in Pennsylvania seeing his shadow, so he says don’t blame him.
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