The subtitle to this post could be a Game of Thrones book, no? Well the Oscar season often feels as though you are going toe to toe with the Mountain for months on end, and right now is sort of the calm before everything begins to hit. In the next three months, we’ll be inundated with festivals, premieres and reviews so here’s some picks before that happens.

-If you listened to the Awards Circuit Power Hour podcast, you know that one of the hot items discussed was Selma. I am now feeling good at putting it in various places as word came from the set that the production was good. Of note, an actor spoke about how amazing Carmen Ejogo was as Corretta Scott King. Now normally I don’t pay onset reports any mind, but I am intrigued by the singling out of Carmen. The Lead Actress lineup is so plain (read: white) that surely a Black woman playing a famous woman could shake up the race? For now, she’s not predicted (partially cause I need to hear word on screen time) but she’s certainly in contention.

-Speaking of, the Supporting Actress and Lead Actress categories look like it could be a never ending conversation about category fraud and who should be placed where. There’s already controversy/discussion about Patricia Arquette, and I can foresee much more coming down the pike with Ejogo, the Into the Woods gals, and more interestingly Felicity Jones. Jones looked great in the trailer for The Theory of Everything but already I am foreseeing her being like Jennifer Connelly in A Beautiful Mind, huge role but since she’s the wife, they could try and make her supporting. Again, I haven’t seen the movies (except for Boyhood) but we know this foolishness will happen.

-Speaking of here are what Oscar’s favorite roles per category: Actor (grizzled veteran), Actress (deglam), supporting actor (charismatic villain) and Supporting Actress (supportive/long suffering wife/mom)

-Also on Awards Circuit, is an exclusive with someone who saw Unbroken at a test screening. It’s a really great read, even if the version they saw wasn’t completely finished. What struck me in that piece were the raves for Domnhal Gleeson in supporting. For the moment, I’m inclined to stick with Takamasa Ishihara, because everyone who has read the book or seen the film has made comparisons to Ralph Fiennes and Michael Fassbender and the supporting category loves them a good villain.

-Amidst all the film festival news we’ve gotten, Fury has decided to move it’s release date up a month to October 17. On the one hand I totally why they would do it, as being sanwhiched between Interstellar and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 is a recipe for not making gazillions. However, October is a month filled with not just horror movies people will flock to like Horns, Ouija and Annabelle, but Fury now shares a date with Dracula Untold and animated film The Book of Life, and we’ll be two weeks removed from Gone Girl. I don’t expect the movie to make Gravity money but it’s not like the stars have aligned to make this movie that big of a money maker because of this date switch.

-Nathaniel Rodgers, who is awesome and whom you all need to be reading at The Film Experience, started to breakdown the foreign language contenders. I’m not anywhere near ready to start predicting this category but it’s an interesting read.

-This just in, Into the Woods doesn’t have an original song submission. [insert blank stare here]

Best Picture

  1. Foxcatcher
  2. Unbroken
  3. Birdman
  4. Interstellar
  5. Gone Girl
  6. Fury
  7. Boyhood
  8. Selma
  9. Into the Woods

Best Director

  1. Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
  2. Angelina Jolie, Unbroken
  3. Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Birdman
  4. David Fincher, Gone Girl
  5. Christopher Nolan, Interstellar

Best Actor

  1. Michael Keaton, Birdman
  2. Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
  3. Brad Pitt, Fury
  4. David Oyelowo, Selma
  5. Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Dropped: Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner

Best Actress

  1. Amy Adams, Big Eyes
  2. Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
  3. Reese Witherspoon, Wild
  4. Rosemund Pike, Gone Girl
  5. Hilary Swank, The Homesman

Dropped: Michelle Williams, Suite française

Best Supporting Actress

  1. Emily Blunt, Into the Woods
  2. Anna Kendrick, Into the Woods
  3. Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
  4. Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
  5. Kiera Knightley, The Imitation Game

Dropped: Rosemund Pike (moved to lead)

Best Supporting Actor

  1. Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
  2. J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
  3. Tom Wilkinson, Selma
  4. Logan Lerman, Fury
  5. Takamasa Ishihara, Unbroken

Best Original Screenplay

  1. Birdman
  2. Boyhood
  3. Mr. Turner
  4. Interstellar
  5. Selma

Best Adapted Screenplay

  1. Foxcatcher
  2. Unbroken
  3. Gone Girl
  4. The Theory of Everything
  5. Wild

Dropped: Inherent Vice

Best Animated Feature

  1. The Lego Movie
  2. The Boxtrolls
  3. How to Train Your Dragon 2
  4. Big Hero 6
  5. The Book of Life

Film Editing

  1. Interstellar
  2. Unbroken
  3. Foxcatcher
  4. Fury
  5. Gone Girl

Production Design

  1. Into the Woods
  2. Interstellar
  3. Unbroken
  4. Fury
  5. The Imitation Game

Cinematography

  1. Unbroken
  2. Interstellar
  3. Foxcatcher
  4. Fury
  5. Into the Woods

Costume Design

  1. Into the Woods
  2. Mr. Turner
  3. Maleficent
  4. Big Eyes
  5. Selma

Makeup and Hairstyling

  1. Into the Woods
  2. Foxcatcher
  3. Unbroken

Visual Effects

  1. Interstellar
  2. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
  3. Godzilla
  4. Marvel’s The Guardians of the Galaxy
  5. Edge of Tomorrow

Sound Editing

  1. Interstellar
  2. Godzilla
  3. Into the Woods
  4. Fury
  5. Unbroken

Sound Mixing

  1. Interstellar
  2. Into the Woods
  3. Fury
  4. Godzilla
  5. Unbroken

Original Score

  1. Unbroken
  2. Interstellar
  3. Big Eyes
  4. Fury
  5. Gone Girl

Original Song

  1. The Lego Movie
  2. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
  3. Big Hero 6