JASON'S BEST: If I Voted For The Oscars 2014 (Return to Jason's Best Main Page)


2 0 1 4

Here's the detailed list of my Oscar choices for 2014, if I were allowed to vote -- my choice for the winner is in bold -- in addition, I have also included a few additional categories worth mentioning...


Birdman, The Best Film of 2014

BEST PICTURE
Birdman
Boyhood
Interstellar
Life Itself
The Imitation Game

BEST ACTOR
Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton in Birdman
Bradley Cooper in American Sniper
David Oyelowo in Selma
Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything

BEST ACTRESS
Felicity Jones in The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore in Still Alice
Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon in Wild
Shailene Woodley in The Fault in our Stars

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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette in Boyhood
Jessica Chastain in A Most Violent Year
Carmen Ejogo in Selma
Sienna Miller in American Sniper
Emma Stone in Birdman

BEST DIRECTOR
Ava DuVernay for Selma
Clint Eastwood for American Sniper
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Birdman
Richard Linklater for Boyhood
Christopher Nolan for Interstellar

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman
Boyhood
Force Majeure
Nightcrawler
Selma

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Sniper
Gone Girl
The Imitation Game
Inherent Vice
Whiplash

BEST MUSIC - ORIGINAL SCORE
Alex Ebert for A Most Violent Year
Antonio Sanchez for Birdman
Danny Bensi & Saunder Jurriaans for Enemy
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross for Gone Girl
Victor Reyes for Grand Piano
Alexandre Desplat for The Imitation Game
Johnny Greenwood for Inherent Vice
Hans Zimmer for Interstellar
SQURL a.k.a. Jim Jarmusch for Only Lovers Left Alive
Max Richter for The Congress
Andrew Hewitt for The Double
Mica Levi for Under the Skin

BEST MUSIC - ORIGINAL SONG
"Beating Heart" from Divergent (Performed by Ellie Goulding)
"Everything is AWESOME!!!" from The Lego Movie (Performed by Tegan and Sara featuring The Lonely Island)
"Let Me In" from The Fault in our Stars (Performed by Grouplove)
"Lost Stars" from Begin Again (Performed by Adam Levine)
"Glory" from Selma (Performed by Common & John Legend)
"Miracles" from Unbroken (Performed by Coldplay)
"Split the Difference" from Boyhood (Performed by Ethan Hawke and Charlie Sexton)
"I'm Not Gonna Miss You" from Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me (Performed by Glen Campbell)
"Tell Me If You Wanna Go Home" from Begin Again (Performed by Keira Knightley with Hailee Steinfeld)
"The Hanging Tree" from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (Performed by Jennifer Lawrence)
"The Last Goodbye" from The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Performed by Billy Boyd)
"Yellow Flicker Beat" from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (Performed by Lorde)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
American Sniper
Birdman
Gone Girl
Interstellar
Unbroken

BEST FILM EDITING
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
Whiplash
Interstellar

BEST ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN
Birdman
Maleficent
Into the Woods
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Interstellar

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Begin Again
A Most Violent Year
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Into the Woods
Selma

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
Guardians of the Galaxy
Foxcatcher
Into the Woods

BEST SOUND MIXING
American Sniper
Birdman
Godzilla
Interstellar
Into the Woods

BEST SOUND EDITING
American Sniper
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Interstellar
Snowpiercer
Unbroken

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Godzilla
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past

BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
Birdman
Gone Girl
The Imitation Game
This is Where I Leave You
Selma

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
The Lego Movie
Big Hero 6
How to Train Your Dragon 2

BEST SCENE OR SEQUENCE IN A 2014 MOTION PICTURE
Matthew McConaughey watching recorded video messages from his kids back on Earth after 20+ years have quickly passed and his emotional breakdown in Interstellar
Mark Ruffalo entering the nightclub and envisioning all the musical accompaniment to make Keira Knightley's song a hit in Begin Again
The tension when the group of scientists who broke the Enigma code decide not to send a message to save lives so that the Germans won't know that they broke Enigma in The Imitation Game
The final jazz concert where Andrew finally confronts his instructor Fletcher that concludes Whiplash
The powerful moment when Louis Zamperini lifts a wooden bar aloft when his life on the line in front of The Bird in Unbroken
Michael Keaton caught outside and running through Times Square in his underwear in Birdman

BEST FILM QUOTE OF THE YEAR
"Just because someone stumbles and loses their way doesn't mean they're lost forever." from X-Men: Days of Future Past
"Ideals are peaceful. History is violent." from Fury
"We humans are more concerned with having than with being" from Lucy
"Why you pursue something is as important as what you pursue." from Nightcrawler
"What better way to dream than to walk in the shoes of whom we aspire." from The Boxtrolls
"The movies are a machine that generates empathy." from Life Itself
"Everyone is stuck in this in-between state, not really experiencing anything." from Boyhood
"You have all the influence you choose to have." from A Most Wanted Man
"Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine." from The Imitation Game
"You really want to change things? When the power of love takes over the love of power, that's when things will change." from Jimi: All Is By My Side
"We should concern ourselves not so much with the pursuit of happiness but rather with the happiness of pursuit." from Hector and the Search for Happiness

BEST MOVIE SOUNDTRACK ALBUM
Birdman
Divergent
Gone Girl
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Fault in our Stars

BEST MOVIE POSTER
Birdman
Inherent Vice
Gone Girl
Foxcatcher
Nightcrawler

DISCOVERY OF THE YEAR: BEST INDEPENDENT FEATURE FILM/DOCUMENTARY
"Citizenfour" (directed by Laura Poitras)
"Imagine I'm Beautiful" (directed by Meredith Edwards)
"Under the Skin" (directed by Jonathan Glazer)
"Love is Strange" (directed by Ira Sachs)
"Dear White People" (directed by Justin Siemen)

DISCOVERY OF THE YEAR: BEST INDEPENDENT SHORT FILM
"He Took His Skin Off For Me" (directed by Ben Aston) - https://vimeo.com/116498390
"Sea Odyssey" (directed by Adam Nelson)
"Sidewalk" (directed by Celia Bullwinkel) - https://vimeo.com/106272915
"These Woods" (directed by Tatiana Bears)
"Too Many Cooks" (directed by Casper Kelly) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrGrOK8oZG8