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The Badger Herald

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The Badger Herald

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Oscars 2015 Scorecard

Keep track of film expertise (and Meryl Streep mentions, if you like) with this handy checklist
J-Law guessed Best Picture correctly.
Gif courtesy of perezhilton.com
J-Law guessed Best Picture correctly.

It’s that time of year again. This Sunday, millions of people will tune into ABC to witness celebrities figuratively fight over those little gold statues. That’s right. The Oscars are upon us once more.

The 2015 Academy Awards are sure to be filled with winners, losers, jokesters delivering uncomfortable sketches and Meryl Streep jokes. Here is a scorecard to make your Oscars party as competitive as the show itself, including brief synopses of the Best Picture nominees in case the champagne starts to go to your head. 

Best Picture

“American Sniper”
This Clint Eastwood film is dedicated to the life of America’s most effective sniper, Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper). The story takes the audience from Kyle’s young days in Texas to his transition into a Navy SEAL serving four different tours to the Middle East.

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“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
This is the fifth academy award nomination for Alejandro G. Iñárritu. His film portrays the life-long challenges of an actor, Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton), who once starred as a superhero in a series of films and is putting on a serious Broadway play in order to repair his reputation.

 

“Boyhood”
“Boyhood” features a revolutionary approach to film-making, taking 12 years to shoot. Writer and director Richard Linklater tells the story of a boy, Mason (Ellar Coltrane), who must grow up and adapt to living a life of hardship due to the actions of the adults around him.

“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Think a twisted comedy, but not dark comedy in the sense of “Django Unchained,” but in the sense of quirky humor typical of director Wes Anderson. It is about a young lobby boy (Tony Revolori) who is befriended by a famous hotel owner, Monsieur Gustav (Ralph Fiennes). When Gustav is accused of murdering one of his guests, the duo of master and pupil fall into a long-winded investigation while encountering a few interesting people along the way.

“The Imitation Game”
Based on the true story of Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) and a group of English mathematicians, including Joan Clarke played by Keira Knightley,  the film follows their attempts to crack the Nazi code from a stolen Enigma encrypting machine during World War II. As all this occurs, Turing faces the risk of being thrown into jail if he is not able to hide his homosexuality.

“Selma”
Centered on Martin Luther King Jr.’s freedom marches for civil rights, “Selma” depicts the traumatizing events of discrimination against African Americans in the mid-1960s. The film follows King’s actions of determination to encourage civil rights and send out a peaceful message.

“The Theory of Everything”
This film is a classic love story based on the love between Hawking and his eventual wife, Jane. As an intelligent graduate from Cambridge University, Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) discovers that he has a neural motor disease and will most likely die at a very young age.

“Whiplash”
Writer and director Damien Chazelle brings audiences a dramatic story that can be difficult to take in. “Whiplash” is about a young boy, Andrew (Miles Teller), who is striving to become one of the greatest drummers of all time. He puts himself through the emotional and verbal abuse from one of his conservatory’s best teachers in order to pursue his dream.

Best Director

Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Richard Linklater
Bennett Miller
Wes Anderson
Morten Tyldum

Best Actor

Steve Carell in “Foxcatcher”
Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper”
Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game”
Michael Keaton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Eddie Redmayne in “The Theory of Everything”

Best Supporting Actor

Robert Duvall in “The Judge”
Ethan Hawke in “Boyhood”
Edward Norton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Mark Ruffalo in “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons in “Whiplash”

Best Actress

Marion Cotillard in “Two Days, One Night”
Felicity Jones in “The Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore in “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike in “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon in “Wild” 

Best Supporting Actress

Patricia Arquette in “Boyhood”
Laura Dern in “Wild”
Keira Knightley in “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Meryl Streep in “Into the Woods”

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