Hello fellow Oscar obsessives, did you miss me? It’s been a while since I updated my Oscar predictions but now seems like as good a time as any.

It’s interesting coming back to do these having taken like a 3 week break from movie conversation in general, let alone Oscar convos. As such, I did some massive tweaking amongst my nominees and have been trying to read a lot to gain a feel for the season. Here are some brief thoughts:

-The biggest change was moving Fury out of a ton of categories. Now this isn’t because its a bad film, on the contrary it’s a good film with wonderful performances. However, the buzz is nonexistent. Unlike say Gone Girl, Fury isn’t much contributing to the film conversation and there are much showier prospects that could easily bump it out of nominations.

-Moving into and up several categories is The Theory of Everything. Many people are talking about this film and how Eddie Redmayne could My Left Foot himself to a Best Actor win and with that kind of buzz usually comes nominations in other categories as the film will be watched by many voters.

-A Most Violent Year just dropped a trailer and I feel good about moving Jessica Chastain into that Actress lineup. Idk what to make of the preview we got other than that cause it strikes a weird tone between trying to make the lead seem complicit and innocent and the cinematography is a bit too sepia toned for my liking. I’ll still see it tho.

-I have finally gotten into the Foreign Language and Documentary Feature predicting land and the nominees are as wild as you’d expect. If it’s anything I’ve learned in the few years I’ve spent closely following the Oscars is that these two races can never accurately be predicted because of the fact that committees decide on what gets on the shortlist.

Best Picture

  1. Foxcatcher
  2. Unbroken
  3. Birdman
  4. The Imitation Game
  5. Boyhood
  6. The Theory of Everything
  7. Interstellar
  8. Gone Girl
  9. Selma

Dropped: Fury

Best Director

  1. Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
  2. Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Birdman
  3. Angelina Jolie, Unbroken
  4. Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
  5. Christopher Nolan, Interstellar

Dropped: David Fincher, Gone Girl

Best Actor

  1. Michael Keaton, Birdman
  2. Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
  3. Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
  4. Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
  5. David Oyelowo, Selma

Best Actress

  1. Julianne Moore, Still Alice
  2. Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
  3. Rosemund Pike, Gone Girl
  4. Reese Witherspoon, Wild
  5. Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year

Dropped: Amy Adams, Big Eyes, Meryl Streep, Into the Woods (Moved to Supporting)

Best Supporting Actress

  1. Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
  2. Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
  3. Anna Kendrick, Into the Woods
  4. Emma Stone, Birdman
  5. Kiera Knightley, The Imitation Game

Dropped: Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year (moved to lead), Emily Blunt, Into the Woods

Best Supporting Actor

  1. J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
  2. Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
  3. Edward Norton, Birdman
  4. Tom Wilkinson, Selma
  5. Takamasa Ishihara, Unbroken

Dropped: Logan Lerman, Fury

Best Original Screenplay

  1. Foxcatcher
  2. Boyhood
  3. Whiplash
  4. Birdman
  5. Selma

Dropped: Interstellar

Best Adapted Screenplay

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

Best Animated Feature

  1. The Lego Movie
  2. Big Hero 6
  3. How to Train Your Dragon 2
  4. The Boxtrolls
  5. Song of the Sea

Dropped: The Book of Life

Film Editing

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

Dropped: Fury

Production Design

  1. Into the Woods
  2. Exodus: Gods and Kings
  3. Interstellar
  4. Unbroken
  5. Fury

Dropped: The Imitation Game

Cinematography

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

Dropped: Fury

Costume Design

  1. Into the Woods
  2. Mr. Turner
  3. Maleficent
  4. Exodus: Gods and Kings
  5. The Imitation Game

Dropped: Big Eyes

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

Original Score

  1. Unbroken
  2. Interstellar
  3. The Imitation Game
  4. Foxcatcher
  5. Gone Girl

Dropped: Big Eyes, Fury

Original Song

  1. Begin Again
  2. Selma
  3. Unbroken
  4. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
  5. Big Hero 6

Dropped: The Lego Movie

Documentary Feature

  1. Citizenfour
  2. Life Itself
  3. Tales of the Grim Sleeper
  4. The Salt of the Earth
  5. Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me

Foreign Language Film

  1. Leviathan
  2. Ida
  3. Winter’s Sleep
  4. Mommy
  5. Force Majeure