For nearly a decade, I have predicted the Oscar winners. Last year, I got a personal record of 22 out of 24 categories right. Rather than listing all the categories by order, I have arranged the movies in order from the biggest winner to the single winners. I base my predictions off of the BAFTA and Guild Award Winners. 

Now, the movie with the most likely chance of winning the most awards. 

For the following categories:

Best Achievement in Art Direction/Production

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Best Writing for an Original Screenplay

Best Achievement in Original Musical Writing 

Will all most likely go to….

For the Categories of

Best Performance for an Actress in a Supporting Role

Best Film Editing

The Oscars will most likely go to….
 

For Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role and Best Adapted Screenplay

The Oscars will most likely go to….

For the following categories:

Best Achievement in Directing


Best Achievement in Cinematography


Best Picture of the Year

Will most likely go to… 

For the categories of Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Sound Mixing, 

The Oscars will most likely go to:

For Best Actress in a Leading Role

The Oscar will most likely go to: 

For Best Achievement in Sound Editing

The Oscar will probably go to:

For Best Achievement in Visual Effects


The Oscar will possibly go to... 

For Best Original Song

The Oscar will possibly go to...

For Best Animated Feature

The Oscar will go to...

For Best Foreign Film

The Oscar will go to:

For Best Documentary Film

The Oscar will go to:

For Best Achievement in Make-up & Hairstyling


The Oscar might go to: 

Final Tally:

The Grand Budapest Hotel: 4
Boyhood: 2
The Theory of Everything: 2
Birdman or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance: 3
Whiplash: 2
Still Alice: 1
American Sniper: 1
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: 1
Selma: 1
How To Train Your Dragon II: 1
Ida: 1
Citizenfour: 1
Guardians of the Galaxy: 1

I don't keep of the animation, video, and documentary shorts for I usually never get them right. Last year was the exception though. I do have some doubts about my choices. Interstellar makes a contender for the Visual Effects and Sound Categories and finger crossed, Michael Keaton might snag the Best Actor Award. We will see though on this Sunday! The Academy can have their surprise winners. 

While “Foxcatcher” is inspired by real people and events the film’s roots are in a psychological examination of its lonesome and disturbed characters. Channing Tatum plays Mark Schultz, the 1984 Gold Medalist in Men’s Wrestling. Going nowhere with employment and training, he receives a chance of a lifetime from being recruited by John E du Pont (Carrel), a reserved and awkward multi-millionaire, who wants America to win the gold again in the 1988 Olympics. At Du Pont’s mother’s farm, he organizes the new US wrestling team for the International games. Their relationship becomes the basis of this film and how it rises and then ultimately deflates.

From the first five minutes we are introduced to Du Pont, he is presented as a wealthy, charismatic individual with a peculiar way of speaking and an even more peculiar nose. Progressively, we get to see the type of man Mark has befriended as he spirals out of control, engaging in drug abuse, guns, and irrational behavior. Carrel has performed a role at first glance may seem hard to swallow. However, he portrays his character in such a style that it is truly terrifying. Beneath the hours of make-up, he can display absolute nothingness, uncontrollable rage, and even pure narcissism without even speaking. Director Bennett Miller relies heavily on non-verbal scenes, allowing the silence between the actors on camera to create tension and intriguing interactions. This is a tough accomplishment, and he hits it head-on at every point. 

The screenwriters supply the actors with straight-to-the-point, yet brilliant dialog, and the cast carry the weight of their characters superbly. Who could have imagined that Channing Tatum or even Steve Carrel could deliver such vulnerable and sophisticated characters? Mark Ruffalo is extremely limited in screen time but he is up to par with his leading co-stars as Mark’s caring brother. The only setback “Foxcatcher” has is the ending. The first 100 minutes are electrifying and engaging, but the final 20-30 minutes kind of meander and depict a series of events that feel thrown in together. Too much of Carrel and Tatum looking depressed make a snail’s pace for this timeframe. I wanted more character interaction and an actual conclusion that ties in with the violent tragedy of Dave Schultz’s murder. It merely happens and Du Pont is arrested. No trial. No final face-to-face showdown between Mark and Du Pont. Not even a moment where Mark mourns his brother. As a viewer, the ending is quite cold and rather withholding.

“Foxcatcher” is a great movie. I would definitely buy it when the Blu-Ray hits retail stores. Yet I don’t think it is as great as some of the other movies released in 2014. 

“American Sniper” is a movie that can be very easily interpreted as American propaganda. The use of the word “American” in the film’s title is enough for some to make this claim. The motto “God, country, and family” rings true to mind in what this film depicts. In actuality though, “American Sniper” is a feature that takes a patriotic individual, hoists him up as a legend and then brings him back down to the harsh level of a haunted soul. Clint Eastwood is a master director who knows how to show the flawed and imperfect nature of humanity. Just watch “Unforgiven,” “Mystic River,” and “Letters of Iwo Jima.”

With US Seal Sniper Chris Kyle, he is portrayed as an unsophisticated character. From youth, we get to see his life grow from a god-fearing hunter who dreams of being a cowboy to the deadliest sniper in American history. In response to 9/11, just like many American men and women, he enlists in the Navy to serve his country. We watch as he endures four tours of active duty in Iraq and tries to readjust in the safe confines of suburban America. Writer Jason Hall molds him as a sympathetic and likable person, whom is determined to eliminate the enemy and protect his home.

It is Bradley Cooper’s deeply expressive performance that captures the essence of this simple yet larger-than-life person. As an actor, Cooper has acquired a power to display in both voice and face great emotion. Without him even uttering a word, we can comprehend the thoughts going on in his head. His performance is nothing short of deserving an Oscar nomination. Clint Eastwood smartly keeps the camera on him for the majority of the film, allowing the audience to empathize and understand his character. He also gives us a parched, desolate, desert landscape plagued by violence and cruelty. The amount of dedication in the cinematography and production design give viewers a gritty look of Iraq, which rivals Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker.” The war sequences are quite brutal and intense. The final action scene alone is truly marvelous as a sandstorm blankets the battle-stricken Baghdad.

“American Sniper” unfortunately falls short on many other aspects, dragging what could have been a great movie down to mediocrity. While the focus is on Kyle, other parts of his life are introduced and then just as quickly dismissed. We get to see his younger brother join up the marines and then we never see him again. Likewise, the relationship between his strict father takes precedent in the first ten-minutes, and yet it goes nowhere afterwards. His war buddies appear, disappear, and then reappear usually for a plot device. As a viewer, we barely get a chance to know them like Kyle. When they are killed off, we really do not feel any emotional engagement or loss. The added subplot of a Middle Eastern sniper targeting US Soldiers feels clichéd and a poor attempt to draw a main antagonist for the lead character. Even the relationship between Kyle and his wife is limited in time. We are left with following a great American patriot consumed with torment. The frequent jumps between war and home grows old very quickly. An entire movie could have been just based upon one of Kyle’s tours and it would feel like a more completed film. 

In short, this movie left me wanting more than the 132-minutes had to offer. That is the sad problem with most biographical films. They are spread so thin that they actually show too little in too much time. I’m probably in the minority on this one, but “American Sniper” is a slightly above average film, and that is mainly because of Bradley Cooper’s performance. I wanted to love this, but I cannot. Regardless, I still appreciate the people who brought Chris Kyle’s story back to life.

The mightiest flaw that "The Battle of the Five Armies" faces is the lack of emotional engagement in the characters. Several important good guys die and while their deaths are unpleasant to watch, they never feel sad. The heightened musical score and slow-motion cinematography during these scenes are dull and a clichéd attempt to drive the viewer into an emotional state. It would be easier and more shocking for an important character to die quickly and suddenly versus being drug out like a dramatic opera performance. 

"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" is not a dreadful movie by any means. Neither is it epic nor is it memorable. It does serve a purpose. It entertains well, despite its flaws, and there are many.