‘Twas the night before Oscar nominations and all the bloggers/critics/awards enthusiasts are hedging their bets at what will be announced tomorrow. For me, this has been one incredibly interesting phase 1 with films like Nightcrawler, American Sniper and The Grand Budapest Hotel making strong cases while the likes of Unbroken and Fury have faded a bit. There are so many ways the awards can go given that all categories are being announced live. Will we get 9 Best Picture nominations again? Will one of the big front runners miss? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Best Picture

  1. Boyhood
  2. Birdman
  3. The Imitation Game
  4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
  5. The Theory of Everything
  6. Selma
  7. Whiplash
  8. Gone Girl
  9. American Sniper

Dropped: Unbroken

Best Director

  1. Richard Linklater, Boyhood
  2. Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Birdman
  3. Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
  4. Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
  5. Ava DuVernay, Selma

Best Actor

  1. Michael Keaton, Birdman
  2. Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
  3. Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
  4. David Oyelowo, Selma
  5. Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler

Best Actress

  1. Julianne Moore, Still Alice
  2. Reese Witherspoon, Wild
  3. Jennifer Anniston, Cake
  4. Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
  5. Rosemund Pike, Gone Girl

Best Supporting Actress

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

Dropped: Jessica Chastain

Best Supporting Actor

  1. J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
  2. Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
  3. Edward Norton, Birdman
  4. Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
  5. Robert Duvall, The Judge

Best Original Screenplay

  1. Boyhood
  2. Birdman
  3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
  4. Nightcrawler
  5. Foxcatcher

Dropped: Selma

Best Adapted Screenplay

  1. The Imitation Game
  2. Gone Girl
  3. Whiplash
  4. The Theory of Everything
  5. American Sniper

Dropped: Unbroken, Wild

Best Animated Feature

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

Film Editing

  1. Boyhood
  2. Birdman
  3. The Imitation Game
  4. Whiplash
  5. Gone Girl

Dropped: Interstellar, Selma

Production Design

  1. Into the Woods
  2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
  3. Unbroken
  4. Interstellar
  5. The Imitation Game

Dropped: Fury, Exodus: Gods and Kings

Cinematography

  1. Birdman
  2. Unbroken
  3. Mr. Turner
  4. Interstellar
  5. The Imitation Game

Dropped: The Theory of Everything, Selma

Costume Design

  1. Into the Woods
  2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
  3. Mr. Turner
  4. Maleficent
  5. Selma

Dropped: The Theory of Everything

Makeup and Hairstyling

  1. Guardians of the Galaxy
  2. The Theory of Everything
  3. Foxcatcher

Visual Effects

  1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
  2. Interstellar
  3. Guardians of the Galaxy
  4. Godzilla
  5. Transformers: Age of Extinction

Sound Editing

  1. American Sniper
  2. Interstellar
  3. Unbroken
  4. Fury
  5. Godzilla

Sound Mixing

  1. Into the Woods
  2. American Sniper
  3. Transformers: Age of Extinction
  4. Interstellar
  5. Godzilla

Dropped: Fury, Unbroken

Original Score

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

Original Song

  1. “Glory” – Selma
  2. “Lost Stars” – Begin Again
  3. “Miracles” – Unbroken
  4. “Yellow Flicker Beat” – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1
  5. “Everything is Awesome” – The LEGO Movie

Dropped:“We’re Making a Sequel” – Muppets Most Wanted

Documentary Feature

  1. Citizenfour
  2. Tales of the Grim Sleeper
  3. Life Itself
  4. The Case Against 8
  5. Finding Vivian Maier

Foreign Language Film

  1. Ida
  2. Force Majeure
  3. Leviathan
  4. Wild Tales
  5. The Liberator