I wanted to better my score of 16/24 from last year. I got 19/24 categories right, so I am very happy!
A result that the statistics pointed towards that I simply refused to accept, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) rose above all else to claim the two most prestigious Academy Awards: Best Director and Best Picture. Many, including myself, predicted a two-way split between Inarritu's tale of a washed up movie actor trying to realise his artistic value and self importance and Linklater's coming off age, 12 year passion project Boyhood. However, Birdman soared and claimed both prizes in what may turn out to be one of the biggest snubs in recent history.
I loved the movie Birdman, make no mistake, even more so than Boyhood, but I am genuinely surprised with the way the Academy decided to go. Boyhood won the Golden Globe and the BAFTA and looked like an unstoppable force on its quest for Best Picture glory. However, gaining momentum at the last minute with numerous Guild Award victories came the dark comedy Birdman who, in the end, crushed all before it.
I find it funny how the film can win Best Picture, Director and Original Screenplay without a Best Actor triumph, as Michael Keaton's brilliant performance was the literal and metaphorical heart beat of the film. Nevertheless, Eddie Redmayne's portrayal of Stephen Hawking which saw him change his physical performance countlessly as his character's health deteriorated was a worthy winner. There were no surprises with the other Acting categories; Moore, Arquette and Simmons were all predictable, yet very deserving, winners.
That was to be the only win for Boyhood on a night where people were predicting a double hall for the film. The other 2 big winners of the night were The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson's dreamlike comedy/drama stealing 4 awards in the "art direction categories") and Whiplash (Damien Chazelle's thriller taking 3 ranging from acting, editing and sound). All other 4 nominees for Best Picture took awards.
Below are some of the categories I got wrong, and I'll try to reason as to why:
Best Picture - Birdman (Boyhood)
I thought the Academy would recognise the 12 year effort and give the grand prize to Boyhood. But, Birdman is a film all about an artists self importance and is all about the movie industry (acting, directing, critiquing etc.) Because it is a film about film making, I have a feeling the Academy were swayed by this. It's a worthy winner, if not a controversial one.
Best Original Screenplay - Birdman (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
The Academy usually goes for the most original, wacky and creative film for this award. But I did not predict the Birdman juggernaut to be in full force, so I predicted incorrectly. Again, Birdman is a worthy claimant for this award, but The Grand Budapest Hotel, Nightcrawler and Boyhood would've also been welcome winners.
Best Film Editing - Whiplash (Boyhood)
I thought Boyhood would win Best Picture, so I thought it would have editing in the bag. With 12 years of footage to collate and coherently organise, it would have been a worthy winner. Whiplash has astonishing editing, and was the choice I would have given had I gone with my heart and not my head.
Best Original Score - The Grand Budapest Hotel (The Theory of Everything)
Because Alexandre Desplat was nominated for both "Budapest" and "Imitation", I thought he would split the vote and Johan Johansson would swoop in with his sombre melody for "Theory". "Budapest" may well have been my second choice to win this award.
Best Animated Feature Film - Big Hero 6 (How to Train your Dragon 2)
The fact that The Lego Movie wasn't even one of the 5 up for this category makes my blood boil. I went with "Dragon" as I thought they'd award its mature themes and excellent animation. Ultimately, "Dragon" was a sequel whereas Big Hero 6 was not and that's what gave it the edge on the night. I like Big Hero 6 don't get me wrong, but "Dragon" would've been a more worthy recipient in my eyes.
Despite being very unhappy with the lack of nominations for certain films (The Lego Movie, Interstellar, Nightcrawler, Gone Girl) I was happy with who won what award. There were a lot of surprises which I couldn't predict coupled with the seemingly tightest race in years, which played out to be not as tight as we all thought. Its not often you correctly predict Best Live Action, Animated and Documentary Short without guessing what Best Picture was going to be, but that just shows you how much I know!
Hope you all enjoyed the Academy Awards and here's to another 12 months of excellent filmmaking!
Thanks for reading,
Matt
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