I made some last-second Oscar picks about an hour before the ceremony, and, well, I’m quite pleased with my performance. I went 17 of 24, probably one of my best results ever.
Here are my picks, followed by the result.
Best Picture
My pick: Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) – Alejandro González Iñárritu, John Lesher, and James W. Skotchdopole
CORRECT
Best Directing
My pick: Alejandro González Iñárritu – Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
CORRECT
Best Actor
My pick: Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything as Stephen Hawkin
CORRECT
Best Actress
My pick: Julianne Moore – Still Alice as Dr. Alice Howland
CORRECT
Best Supporting Actor
My pick: J. K. Simmons – Whiplash as Terence Fletcher
CORRECT
Best Supporting Actress
My pick: Patricia Arquette – Boyhood as Olivia Evans
CORRECT
Best Original Screenplay
My pick: The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness
INCORRECT (Winner: Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) – Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo)
Best Adapted Screenplay
My pick: The Imitation Game – Graham Moore from Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges
CORRECT
Best Animated Feature Film
My pick: How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold
INCORRECT (Winner: Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
Best Foreign Language Film
My pick: Ida (Poland) in Polish – Paweł Pawlikowski
CORRECT
Best Documentary – Feature
My pick: Citizenfour – Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutsky
CORRECT
Best Documentary – Short Subject
My pick: Our Curse – Tomasz Śliwiński and Maciej Ślesicki
INCORRECT (Winner: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 – Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry)
Best Live Action Short Film
My pick: The Phone Call – Mat Kirkby and James Lucas
CORRECT
Best Animated Short Film
My pick: The Bigger Picture – Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees
INCORRECT (Winner: Feast – Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed)
Best Original Score
My pick:The Theory of Everything – Jóhann Jóhannsson
INCORRECT (Winner: The Grand Budapest Hotel – Alexandre Desplat)
Best Original Song
My pick: “Glory” from Selma – Music and Lyric by John Legend and Common
CORRECT
Best Sound Editing
My pick: American Sniper – Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
CORRECT
Best Sound Mixing
My pick: Whiplash – Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley
CORRECT
Best Production Design
My pick: The Grand Budapest Hotel – Adam Stockhausen (Production Design); Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration)
CORRECT
Best Cinematography
My pick: Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) – Emmanuel Lubezki
CORRECT
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
My pick: The Grand Budapest Hotel – Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
CORRECT
Best Costume Design
My pick: The Grand Budapest Hotel – Milena Canonero
CORRECT
Best Film Editing
My pick: American Sniper – Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach
INCORRECT (Winner: Whiplash – Tom Cross)
Best Visual Effects
My pick: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist
INCORRECT (Winner: Interstellar – Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher)