Shane over at Film Actually is once again hosting his Oscar Nominations contest, and this year I’ve managed to remember it’s happening before it’s already over, so I’m going to take part. I’ve got no hope of winning, I just want to pitch in and promote it a bit more, but I’m still going to throw in my ballot. My predictions all kind of fall apart towards the end (I haven’t even seen any of the potential nominees for Best Foreign Language Picture of Best Documentary) and in some cases I went with what I want to be nominated rather than what I think (see the Best Original Song category). Regardless, here’s my predictions for this year’s nominees:

BEST PICTURE
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Birdman
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Foxcatcher
Whiplash
American Sniper

BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher

BEST ACTOR
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
David Oyelowo, Selma
Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Steve Carrell, Foxcatcher

BEST ACTRESS
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Amy Adams, Big Eyes

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
J K Simmons, Whiplash
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Robert Duvall, The Judge

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Emma Stone, Birdman
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year

BEST EDITING
Birdman
Gone Girl
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Whiplash

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Boyhood
Nightcrawler
Selma

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Theory of Everything
The Imitation Game
Gone Girl
Whiplash
American Sniper

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ida
Force Majeure
Tangerines
Leviathan
Accused

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Unbroken
Interstellar
Mr Turner

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Big Eyes
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Mr Turner

BEST SOUND MIXING
American Sniper
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash

BEST SOUND EDITING
American Sniper
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Imitation Game
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Into the Woods
The Theory of Everything
Mr Turner

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Gone Girl
Under the Skin
Interstellar

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Jodorowsky’s Dune
Life Itself
The Overnighters
Virunga
Citizenfour

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
The Lego Movie
How To Train Your Dragon 2
The Book of Life

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Interstellar
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Godzilla

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Ryan’s Song – Boyhood
The Last Goodbye – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
For the Dancing and the Dreaming – How to Train Yuor Dragon 2
Everything is Awesome – The Lego Movie
Something So Right – Muppets Most Wanted