Oscar Voting Began Today. Learn Who 4800 Of The Oscar Voters Are!

Oscar voting began today, and in honor of that I’ve updated the pages on The Academy Members Project - our ongoing attempt to identify and celebrate as many Oscar voters as possible.

We’ve currently identified 4,801 current members (over TWO-THIRDS of the full AMPAS membership!), as well as over 4,400 historical members.

Learn how you can join the search here, or simply take some time to check out the names of who is casting those all-important ballots!

87th Oscar Supporting Actor Updates (2014-2015 Awards Season) (12/21/2014)

So far the precursors seem to have settled on a pretty steady top five. Will Oscar throw us a surprise? Or leave us with the same lineup?

J.K. Simmons is the type of actor who should be winning this award every year. He’s what the category was designed for: Someone with a long list of credits who landed a career stand-out role, as opposed to the leading stars who sometimes choose to “slum it” in the supporting categories. If you haven’t seen Whiplash yet, you really should get yourself to the nearest theater!

1. J.K. Simmons in Whiplash (Predicted Winner)
2. Edward Norton in Birdman
3. Ethan Hawke in Boyhood
4. Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher
5. Robert Duvall in The Judge

Alternates:

6. Tom Wilkinson in Selma
7. Josh Brolin in Inherent Vice
8. Christoph Waltz in Big Eyes
9. Alfred Molina in Love Is Strange
10. Riz Ahmed in Nightcrawler
11. Takamasa Ishihara aka Miyavi in Unbroken
12. Logan Lerman in Fury
13. Tim Roth in Selma
14. Chris Pine in Into The Woods
15. Andy Serkis in Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
16. John Goodman in The Gambler
17. Alec Baldwin in Still Alice
18. Domhnall Gleeson in Unbroken
19. Charlie Cox in The Theory Of Everything
20. Albert Brooks in A Most Violent Year
21. Joel Edgerton in Exodus: Gods And Kings
22. Martin Short in Inherent Vice
23. Channing Tatum in Foxcatcher
24. Neil Patrick Harris in Gone Girl
25. Charles Dance in The Imitation Game

26. Michael Caine in Interstellar
27. Tyler Perry in Gone Girl
28. Tony Revolori in The Grand Budapest Hotel
29. Johnny Depp in Into The Woods
30. Dominic West in Pride
31. Oscar Isaac in The Two Faces Of January
32. James Gandolfini in The Drop
33. Benicio Del Toro in Inherent Vice
34. Matthew Goode in The Imitation Game
35. Robert Pattinson in The Rover
36. Michael Fassbender in Frank
37. Nelsan Ellis in Get On Up
38. John Lithgow in Cesar Chavez
39. Joaquin Phoenix in The Immigrant
40. Michael Pena in Fury
41. Stan Houston in Selma
42. Terence Stamp in Big Eyes
43. Shia Labeouf in Fury
44. Ben Kingsley in Exodus: Gods And Kings
45. Roger Ashton-Griffiths in Mr. Turner
46. Jamie Foxx in Annie
47. Gary Oldman in Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
48. Hiroyuki Sanada in The Railway Man
49. Matt Damon in Interstellar
50. Colin Farrell in Miss Julie

As always, check the Tracker Pages in the upper right hand corner of this blog for the most updated predictions in all categories!

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87th Oscar Lead Actress Updates (2014-2015 Awards Season) (12/15/2014)

Julianne Moore looks like she may finally win her long-deserved Oscar this season with Still Alice. Surely the Academy can’t continue to hold out on her forever, right?

I’m not quite ready to utter the words “Academy Award Nominee Jennifer Aniston” just yet, especially with Marion Cotillard, Amy Adams, Emily Blunt and Hilary Swank still in contention. But maybe she has more “friends” in the Academy than I’m giving her credit for. They do have a habit of rewarding popular and comedic stars who “make good” with a solid dramatic performance, and the field seems divided enough that she could slip in.

1. Julianne Moore in Still Alice (Predicted Winner)
2. Reese Witherspoon in Wild
3. Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl
4. Felicity Jones in The Theory Of Everything
5. Marion Cotillard in Two Days, One Night

Alternates:

6. Jennifer Aniston in Cake
7. Amy Adams in Big Eyes
8. Emily Blunt in Into The Woods
9. Hilary Swank in The Homesman
10. Gugu Mbatha-Raw in Belle
11. Jenny Slate in Obvious Child
12. Marion Cotillard in The Immigrant
13. Anne Dorval in Mommy
14. Scarlett Johansson in Under The Skin
15. Shailene Woodley in The Fault In Our Stars
16. Jessica Chastain in The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby
17. Anne Hathaway in Interstellar
18. Gugu Mbatha-Raw in Beyond The Lights
19. Mia Wasikowska in Tracks
20. Tessa Thompson in Dear White People
21. Helen Mirren in The Hundred Foot Journey
22. Cheng Pei Pei in Lilting
23. Tilda Swinton in Only Lovers Left Alive
24. Kristen Wiig in The Skeleton Twins
25. Keira Knightley in Begin Again

26. Angelina Jolie in Maleficent
27. Jessica Chastain in Miss Julie
28. Jessica Chastain in A Most Violent Year
29. Emma Stone in Magic In The Moonlight
30. Michelle Monaghan in Fort Bliss
31. Quvenzhane Wallis in Annie
32. Melissa McCarthy in St. Vincent
33. Maggie Smith in My Old Lady
34. Rosario Dawson in Top Five
35. Lindsay Duncan in Le Week-End
36. Agata Kulesza in Ida
37. Reese Witherspoon in The Good Lie
38. Kirsten Dunst in The Two Faces Of January
39. Tina Fey in This Is Where I Leave You
40. America Ferrera in Cesar Chavez
41. Agata Trzebuchowska in Ida
42. Shirley MacLaine in Elsa & Fred
43. Annette Bening in The Face Of Love
44. Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I
45. Scarlett Johansson in Lucy
46. Elisabeth Moss in The One I Love
47. Greta Gerwig in The Humbling
48. Dakota Fanning in Night Moves
49. Jennifer Garner in Men, Women & Children
50. Rachel McAdams in A Most Wanted Man

As always, check the Tracker Pages in the upper right hand corner of this blog for the most updated predictions in all categories!

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87th Oscar Lead Actor Updates (2014-2015 Awards Season) (12/14/2014)

The best actor race is filled with important biographical pieces on the one hand, and stunning out of the box performances on the other.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s Nightcrawler was a particular favorite in my household, and I may still move him into the top five before January (or even next weekend after I see Foxcatcher). But the fundamentals of the race are still against him even after those SAG and Golden Globe nominations: It’s a film from a small studio with a small campaign budget that got a relatively small release, there aren’t any best picture coattails for him to ride to the nomination, and the actors branch usually prefers to nominate “creepy” characters in the supporting category rather than in lead. Still, here’s hoping that Jake makes the necessary rounds to promote the film -- and that voters actually put the screener in the DVD player to watch it!

1. Michael Keaton in Birdman (Predicted Winner)
2. Eddie Redmayne in The Theory Of Everything
3. David Oyelowo in Selma
4. Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game
5. Steve Carell in Foxcatcher

Alternates:

6. Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler
7. Timothy Spall in Mr. Turner
8. Bradley Cooper in American Sniper
9. Oscar Isaac in A Most Violent Year
10. Jack O’Connell in Unbroken
11. Ralph Fiennes in The Grand Budapest Hotel
12. Miles Teller in Whiplash
13. Tom Hardy in Locke
14. Channing Tatum in Foxcatcher
15. Joaquin Phoenix in Inherent Vice
16. Bill Murray in St. Vincent
17. Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar
18. Ellar Coltrane in Boyhood
19. Ben Affleck in Gone Girl
20. Chadwick Boseman in Get On Up
21. Christoph Waltz in Big Eyes
22. Brad Pitt in Fury
23. Brendan Gleeson in Calvary
24. John Lithgow in Love Is Strange
25. James Corden in Into The Woods

26. Christian Bale in Exodus: Gods And Kings
27. Gael Garcia Bernal in Rosewater
28. Bill Hader in The Skeleton Twins
29. Alfred Molina in Love Is Strange
30. Philip Seymour Hoffman in A Most Wanted Man
31. Mark Wahlberg in The Gambler
32. Mark Ruffalo in Begin Again
33. Chris Rock in Top Five
34. Jeremy Renner in Kill The Messenger
35. Bill Nighy in Pride
36. James McAvoy in The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby
37. Jim Broadbent in Le Week-End
38. Andre Benjamin in Jimi: All Is By My Side
39. Aleksey Serebryakov in Leviathan
40. Tommy Lee Jones in The Homesman
41. Russell Crowe in Noah
42. Colin Firth in The Railway Man
43. Michael Pena in Cesar Chavez
44. Robert Downey Jr. in The Judge
45. Al Pacino in The Humbling
46. Viggo Mortensen in The Two Faces Of January
47. Jude Law in Dom Hemingway
48. Kevin Costner in Black Or White
49. Jon Favreau in Chef
50. George Clooney in The Monuments Men

As always, check the Tracker Pages in the upper right hand corner of this blog for the most updated predictions in all categories!    

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