Updates and Oscar Picks

I have plenty of catching up to do as far as reviews go and with how many movies I've watched recently I'm digging myself into a deeper and deeper hole.  By the end of the week I hope to be fully caught up with reviews, other updates, and whatever else I decide to post up.  But first...let's talk about tonight's Oscar telecast.

Yep it's that time of year again for the Oscars.  I'll be busy tonight so I won't be able to watch it so I won't really be able to comment on the show itself when I do my Oscars wrap-up post tomorrow.  No point in recording it either since I'll already know who the winners are when I get home later tonight.  Anyway, here are my Oscar picks for tonight along with some comments for a few of the picks.

BEST PICTURE:  *Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
BEST DIRECTOR:  **Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
BEST ACTOR:  ***Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
BEST ACTRESS:  ****Julianne Moore, Still Alice
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:  J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:  *****Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:  Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:  The Imitation Game
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:  ******How To Train Your Dragon 2
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:  Leviathan  
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:  Citizenfour
BEST DOCUMENTARY - SHORT SUBJECT:  White Earth
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM:  Boogaloo and Graham
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM:  Feast
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:  The Theory of Everything
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:  *******"Glory", Selma
BEST SOUND EDITING:  American Sniper
BEST SOUND MIXING:  Whiplash
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:  The Grand Budapest Hotel
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:  Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING:  The Grand Budapest Hotel
BEST COSTUME DESIGN:  The Grand Budapest Hotel
BEST FILM EDITING:  Boyhood
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:  Interstellar

*'Boyhood' deserves to win, but the awards lately have been swinging in favor of 'Birdman'.  Kinda like back in 2011 with 'The Social Network' initially winning awards and being the frontrunner until momentum swung in favor of 'The King's Speech'.  Heck, if I end up getting this pick wrong and 'Boyhood' ends up winning I'd be thrilled.
**(see above), plus Inarritu won the DGA award this year and only six times has the winner of the DGA award NOT went on to win Best Director. 
***The fact that Eddie Redmayne is winning awards for this boring movie makes me angry.  I would much much much rather see ANY of the other nominees win.  Heck, I didn't even like 'Birdman' or 'Foxcatcher' all that much but I'd still prefer Keaton or Carell to win over Eddie Redmayne.  Similar to how I felt last year seeing Matthew McConaughey win all kinds of awards for 'Dallas Buyers Club'.
****Haven't seen this movie, but Julianne Moore has been the frontrunner for quite some time now.  Rosamund Pike deserves it for 'Gone Girl', but that kind of an upset isn't gonna happen. 
*****I liked 'Boyhood', but I didn't really care for Patricia Arquette's performance in that movie all that much.  Out of the three performances in this category I've seen the only one I actually liked was Keira Knightley in 'The Imitation Game'.
******Still mad that 'The LEGO Movie' wasn't nominated.  And I thought 'How To Train Your Dragon 2' was boring...but it won the Golden Globe so it'll be my pick for Best Animated Feature
*******...in my humble, honest opinion....'Glory' isn't a good song....yet it's been winning awards left and right.  I'd love to see "Everything Is Awesome" win, but let's face it:  That's not gonna happen.