The last couple of years have really come down to the wire as the Oscar race has rarely been so seemingly close. And when there's a close race, you can bet – at least in some quarters – there is plenty of handwringing over ballot selections going on. This year voters are trying to decide between frontrunners like “Birdman” and “Boyhood” while passion for just about every other Best Picture nominee has been spread thin. But what are the toughest choices the Academy ever had to make?

I looked at Oscar history and, subjectively speaking, spotlighted a few races that certainly would have had me flipping a coin at the end of the day. And maybe more than a few Academy members, too. Had I drilled down into the below-the-line or even screenplay categories, this list probably would have known no end. So I froze it at Best Picture and acting categories, which offered plenty to chew on. I certainly don't envy the Academy any of these decisions.

Click through my picks in the story gallery below and feel free to offer up your own selections in the comments section.

And check out the 87th annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22 to see how this year's tight race ultimately plays out!

If you caught “Saturday Night Live's” 40th anniversary special Sunday night, you saw some of this year's Oscar nominees capitalizing on the massive exposure opportunity with final Oscar ballots due Tuesday.

“American Sniper” star Bradley Cooper – who hasn't been too available this season due to Broadway commitments and recently granted a number of interviews to promote his work in the Clint Eastwood film – popped up in one of my favorite recent sketches, “The Californians.” (Sue me, I've always liked it.) What's more, he probably got one of the evening's biggest pops when he made out with Betty White to close the sketch…for a really long time. Good for you, young lady.

During the Weekend Update bit, “Birdman” stars Emma Stone and Edward Norton hit the desk with back-to-back odes to classic “SNL” characters. Stone's Roseanne Rosannadanna, made iconic by the late Gilda Radner, was top notch and a great use of her talents. And Norton was quite a convincing Stefon (though Bill Hader slid out for an assist).

By the way, there were six former Oscars hosts on the show: Alec Baldwin, Chevy Chase, Billy Crystal, James Franco, Steve Martin and Chris Rock. I also caught “Whiplash” nominee J.K. Simmons mingling about as well.

One might have expected guys like Steve Carell or Michael Keaton, given their comedy roots, to have found a way onto the program. But it was certainly not a program lacking for star power. And now the Oscars will hope they can top that act next week.

Check out a gallery of sights from the one-of-a-kind anniversary spectacular below.

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Less than a week away from the Oscars and things still, if you ask around, feel unsettled. But is it? Wasn't the die cast by the Producers Guild victory for “Birdman?” And the notion fortified with SAG ensemble and DGA victories? And again with further industry kudos from the art directors, cinematographers, sound mixers and sound editors?

Again, ask around, and there's still some question. Probably because no matter what happens Sunday night, it will break convention. “Boyhood's” BAFTA win has kept things interesting. But if you're asking me – and I've certainly taken some personal counsel on “Boyhood's” potential to make it out of there with the goods – it simply looks like clear sailing for both Alejandro González Iñárritu and his film. It would be kind of mind-blowing (excitingly, I should add) if anything else were to happen. And I'm willing to embrace it if it does. I just need to see it, first. What's in front of me screams otherwise.

And really, there's too much “yeah, but” to contend with on the “Boyhood” side of things. “It didn't win PGA with a preferential ballot.” “Yeah, but 'Birdman' is more of a producers movie.” “It didn't win the DGA.” “Yeah, but 'Birdman' is more of an auteur showcase.” “It didn't win WGA and 'Birdman' wasn't in the way.” “Yeah, but it's not surprising 'Boyhood' wouldn't win a screenplay award.” “It didn't win the SAG ensemble.” “Yeah, but 'Birdman' is more of an actors' movie.” Etc.

So I'm just left sort of wondering aloud, outside of critics, whose movie is “Boyhood?” If not the producers, the directors, the actors, the writers, with only the editors speaking up for it, where is the sense of wanting Richard Linklater's masterpiece to represent the industry? Across the pond, apparently, and I'm struggling with whether that's enough.

Knowing that no matter which way this pendulum swings, the season will again, perhaps refreshingly, be reconsidered in the context of “history” and “stats” and all these things we toss around to try and make sense of it – I'm OK with either outcome. I have my favorites, but I think it's been a high-quality crop for the industry to choose from, and if you can't see that then I don't know what to do for you.

So let's just leave it at that for now. I'm not sure how much more we can gnaw on these ideas. Greg and I will spend the week breaking down the major categories and a couple of high-profile below-the-line categories. Gerard will chime in with a full breakdown of craft categories mid-week and Thursday, we'll offer up final predictions in every category.

Contenders rankings, in the meantime, are locking into place.

For now, go ahead and talk it through in the comments section. I know you have something on your mind…

The Motion Picture Sound Editors' (MPSE) 62nd annual Golden Reel Awards honored a full spread of films Sunday night. “American Sniper,” “Birdman,” “Unbroken,” “Get On Up” and “Big Hero 6” all walked away with hardware.

At the Oscars, “Sniper,” “Birdman” and “Unbroken” are up against “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” and “Interstellar.” “Birdman” won the Cinema Audio Society's mixing prize Saturday and could well win both sound fields. Or it could split with “Sniper,” or Clint Eastwood's war film could take both, etc. Lots of options seem evident. (And the sound categories, by the way, are the only places for “Unbroken” fans to speak up.)

Check out the full list of MPSE winners below, nominees here and the rest of the season's offerings at The Circuit.

Feature English Language – Effects/Foley
“American Sniper”

Feature English Language – Dialogue/ADR
“Unbroken”

Feature Music
“Birdman”

Feature Musical
“Get On Up”

Feature Foreign Language – Effects/Foley/Dialogue/ADR
“The Liberator”

Feature Animation
“Big Hero 6”

Feature Documentary
“Warsaw Uprising”

TV Animation – Effects/Foley/Dialogue/ADR
“Star Wars: Rebels” – “Gathering Forces”

TV Documentary Long Form – Effects/Foley/Dialogue/ADR
“Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways” – “Seattle”

TV Documentary Short Form – Effects/Foley/Dialogue/ADR
“Ax Men” – “Ax Marks the Spot”

TV Long Form – Dialogue/ADR
“Klondike” – “Episode 1”

TV Long Form – FX/Foley
“Houdini” – “Night 1”

TV Short Form – Dialogue/ADR
“The Newsroom” – “Oh Shenandoah”

TV Short Form – FX/Foley
“Game of Thrones” – “The Children”

TV Short Form Music Score (TIE)
“Almost Human” – “Simon Says”
“Fargo” – “The Crocodile's Dilemma”

Computer Episodic (Webisode)
“Halo: Nightfall”

Direct to Video Animation
“Star Wars: The Clone Wars” – “Sacrifice”

Direct to Video Live Action
“Stonehearst Asylum”

Game Cinematics
“League of Legends” – “A New Dawn”

Verna Fields Award for Student Filmmakers
“Sea Odyssey”

Filmmaker Award
Darren Aronofsky

Career Achievement Award
Skip Lievsay

The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) has awarded “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” top honors for cinematography. Emmanuel Lubezki also won the award last year, making him the first back-to-back recipient to date. This is his fourth ASC award after “Children of Men,” “The Tree of Life” and “Gravity,” all of them in the last eight years.

At the upcoming 87th annual Academy Awards, Lubezki may well join a still exclusive club of individuals who have won the Best Cinematography Oscar in two consecutive years. Howard Greene, Leon Shamroy, Winton Hoch and John Toll did it previously.

Check out the full list of ASC winners below, nominees here and the rest of the season's offerings at The Circuit.

Theatrical Release
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” (Emmanuel Lubezki)

Episode of a Regular Series
“Boardwalk Empire” – “Golden Days for Boys and Girls” (Jonathan Freeman)

Television Movie, Miniseries or Pilot
“Manhattan” (John Lindley)

Spotlight Award
“Concrete Night” (Peter Flickenberg)

Bud Stone Award
Denny Clairmont and Otto Nemenz

International Award
Phil Méheux

Presidents Award
Matthew F. Leonetti

Board of Governors Award
Barbra Streisand

Career Achievement in Television Award
Bill Roe

Lifetime Achievement Award
John Bailey

Capping off a busy night for awards in the run-up to the 87th annual Oscars, the Cinema Audio Society (CAS) awarded the sound mixing team of “Birdman” top honors Saturday night. “Sherlock,” “Game of Thrones” and “Modern Family” won in the TV categories.

Clint Eastwood's war film “American Sniper” is considered the favorite to win the comparable Best Sound Mixing Oscar, though “Birdman” was nominated by the Academy's sound branch as well and, indeed, could be formidable if it is the industry favorite the guild awards have suggested it is so far. “Whiplash,” also Oscar-nominated, won the BAFTA prize. “Interstellar” and “Unbroken” are also up for the Academy Award, each of them nominated by CAS as well.

Six of the last eight CAS winners have won the sound mixing Oscar.

Check out the full list of CAS winners below, nominees here and the rest of the season's offerings at The Circuit.

Motion Picture – Live Action
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”

Production Mixer: Thomas Varga
Re-recording Mixer: Jon Taylor, CAS
Re-recording Mixer: Frank A. Montaño
Scoring Mixer: Gustavo Borner
ADR Mixer: Jason Oliver
Foley Mixer: John Sanacore, CAS

Motion Picture – Animated
“Big Hero 6”

Original Dialogue Mixer: Gabriel Guy, CAS
Re-recording Mixer: David E. Fluhr, CAS
Re-recording Mixer: Gabriel Guy, CAS
Scoring Mixer: Alan Meyerson, CAS
Foley Mixer: Mary Jo Lang, CAS

(TV winners and more on the next page.)

Television Movie or Mini-Series
“Sherlock” – “His Last Vow”

Production Mixer: John Mooney
Re-recording Mixer: Howard Bargroff
Scoring Mixer: Nick Wollage
ADR Mixer – Peter Gleaves
Foley Mixer: William Everett

Television Series – 1 Hour
“Game of Thrones” – “The Children”

Production Mixer: Ronan Hill, CAS
Production Mixer: Richard Dyer, CAS
Re-recording Mixer: Onnalee Blank, CAS
Re-recording Mixer: Mathew Waters, CAS
Foley Mixer: Brett Voss, CAS

Television Series – 1/2 Hour
“Modern Family – “Australia”

Production Mixer: Stephen A. Tibbo, CAS
Re-recording Mixer: Dean Okrand, CAS
Re-recording Mixer: Brian Harman, CAS

Television Non-Fiction, Variety or Music Series or Specials
“Foo Fighters Sonic Highways” – “Los Angeles”

Re-Recording Mixer – Eddie Kim
Sound Mixer – Jeff Fuller

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Production
Sound Devices – Dante and MADI Audio Recorder model 970

Post-Production
iZotope – RX4-Advanced

SPECIAL AWARDS

Student Recognition Award
Danny Maurer, University of Colorado Denver

Filmmaker Award
Richard Linklater

Career Achievement Award
David Macmillan

The Makeup and Hairstylists Guild is well-established on the circuit in the organization's second year of doling out top honors for hair and makeup work across the fields of film, television and theater. The 2015 ceremony Saturday night saw wins for “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Birdman” and “American Horror Story: Freak Show,” among others.

At the Oscars, “Guardians” is up against “Foxcatcher” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” The latter won a pair of prizes, as did “Guardians.”

Check out the full list of Makeup and Hairstylists Guild winners below, nominees here and the rest of the season's offerings at The Circuit.

FEATURE LENGTH MOTION PICTURE (FEATURE FILMS)

Best Contemporary Makeup
“Guardians of the Galaxy”
Make-Up Artist: Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou

Best Period and/or Character Makeup
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Make-Up Artists: Frances Hannon and Julie Dartnell

Best Special Effects Makeup
“Guardians of the Galaxy”
Make-Up Artist: David White

Best Contemporary Hairstyling
“Birdman”
Hair Stylists: Jerry Popolis and Kat Drazen

Best Period and/or Character Hairstyling
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Hair Stylists: Frances Hannon and Julie Dartnell

(TV awards on the next page.)

TELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA SERIES

Best Contemporary Makeup
“Sons of Anarchy”
Make-Up Artists: Tracey Anderson, Michelle Garbin and Sabine Roller Taylor

Best Period and/or Character Makeup
“Downton Abbey”
Make-Up Artists: Magi Vaughan and Erika Ökvist

Best Special Makeup Effects
“The Walking Dead”
Make-Up Artists: Greg Nicotero and Jake Garber

Best Contemporary Hairstyling
“Dancing with the Stars”
Hair Stylists: Mary Guerrero, Kimi Messina and Jennifer Guerrero-Mazursky

Best Period and/or Character Hairstyling
“Downton Abbey”
Hair Stylists: Magi Vaughan and Adam James Phillips

TELEVISION MINI-SERIES or MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION (M.O.W)

Best Contemporary Makeup
“Fargo”
Make-Up Artists: Gail Kennedy and Joanne Preece

Best Period and/or Character Makeup
“American Horror Story: Freak Show”
Make-Up Artists: Eryn Krueger Mekash and Kim Ayers

Best Special Makeup Effects
“American Horror Story: Freak Show”
Make-Up Artists: Eryn Krueger Mekash, Michael Mekash and Christopher Nelson

Best Contemporary Hairstyling
“Sherlock”
Hair Stylists: Claire Pritchard-Jones and Sarah Astley-Hughes

Best Period and/or Character Hairstyling
“American Horror Story: Freak Show”
Hair Stylists: Monte C. Haught and Michelle Ceglia

COMMERCIALS AND MUSIC VIDEOS

Best Makeup
DIRECTV (“Less Attractive”)
Make-Up Artists: Scott Stoddard and Michael Ornelaz

Best Hairstylist
Progressive Commercial
Hair Stylist: Dian Bethune Coble

THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS (LIVE STAGE)

Best Makeup
“Kinky Boots”
Make-Up Artist: Sarah B. Wolfe

Best Hairstyling
“Motown The Musical,” National Tour
Hair Stylist: Brandon Bolton

SPECIAL AWARDS

Distinguished Artisan Award
Guillermo del Toro

Lifetime Achievement Award
Rick Baker
Kathryn Blondell

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) handed out top film honors to the screenplays of “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “The Imitation Game” Saturday night. On the television side, “Louie” and “True Detective” were favorites, winning two prizes each.

Damien Chazelle's “Whiplash” competed in the original category at the WGA Awards, while the Academy's Writers Branch, in a rare move outside of guild designation, deemed it adapted due to the fact that a scene from the feature script was the basis of a short film that screened at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. So if “The Imitation Game” is to go on to Oscar glory, it will have to compete with Chazelle's popular film for the first time this season at the Feb. 22 Academy Awards ceremony.

Additionally, presumed Best Picture frontrunner “Birdman” was not eligible for WGA (making it still significant competition with “Grand Budapest” in the original category), nor was “The Theory of Everything,” which won the BAFTA prize. The BFCA awards went to “Birdman” and “Gone Girl” (which was not nominated for an Oscar), while the USC Scripter prize went to “The Imitation Game.” Clearly, these races aren't settled yet.

Check out the full list of WGA winners below, nominees here and the rest of the season's offerings at The Circuit.

Original Screenplay
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness

Adapted Screenplay
“The Imitation Game”
Written by Graham Moore; Based on the book “Alan Turing: The Enigma” by Andrew Hodges

Documentary Screenplay
“The Internet”s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz”
Written by Brian Knappenberger

(TV winners and more on the next page.)

TELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA

Drama Series
“True Detective”
Written by Nic Pizzolatto

Comedy Series
“Louie”
Written by Pamela Adlon, Louis C.K.

New Series
“True Detective”
Written by Nic Pizzolatto

Long Form Original
“Deliverance Creek”
Written by Melissa Carter

Long Form Adapted
“Olive Kitteridge”
Teleplay by Jane Anderson, Based on the novel by Elizabeth Strout

Short Form New Media – Original
“Episode 113: Rachel” (“High Maintenance”)
Written by Katja Blichfeld & Ben Sinclair

Animation
“Brick Like Me” (“The Simpsons”)
Written by Brian Kelley

Episodic Drama
“The Last Call” (“The Good Wife”)
Written by Robert King & Michelle King

Episodic Comedy
“So Did the Fat Lady” (“Louie”)
Written by Louis C.K.

Comedy/Variety (Including Talk) – Series
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”
Writers: Rory Albanese, Dan Amira, Steve Bodow, Tim Carvell, Travon Free, Hallie Haglund, JR Havlan, Elliott Kalan, Matt Koff, Adam Lowitt, Dan McCoy, Jo Miller, John Oliver, Zhubin Parang, Owen Parsons, Daniel Radosh, Lauren Sarver, Jon Stewart, Delaney Yeager

Comedy/Variety – Music, Awards, Tributes – Specials
“71st Annual Golden Globe Awards”
 Written by Barry Adelman; Special Material by Alex Baze, Dave Boone, Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Jon Macks, Sam Means, Seth Meyers, Amy Poehler, Mike Shoemaker

Quiz and Audience Participation
“Hollywood Game Night”
Head Writer: Grant Taylor; Writers: Alex Chauvin, Ann Slichter

Daytime Drama
“General Hospital”
Written by Ron Carlivati, Anna Theresa Cascio, Suzanne Flynn, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O”Connor, Elizabeth Page, Katherine Schock, Scott Sickles, Chris Van Etten

Children's Script – Episode and Specials
“Haunted Heartthrob” (“Haunted Hathaways”)
Written by Bob Smiley

Documentary Script – Current Events
“Losing Iraq” (“Frontline”)
“United States of Secrets: Privacy Lost (Part Two)” (“Frontline”)
“United States of Secrets: The Program (Part One)” (“Frontline”)

Documentary Script – Other Than Current Events
“League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis” (“Frontline”)
Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser

TV News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin or Breaking Report
“50th Anniversary of JFK's Assassination” (“CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley”)
“CBS This Morning”
“Nelson Mandela: A Man Who Changed the World”

TV News Script – Analysis, Feature or Commentary
“Nowhere to Go” (“60 Minutes”)

RADIO

Radio Documentary
“Three Shots Rang Out: The JFK Assassination 50 Years Later”
Written by Darren Reynolds

Radio News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin, or Breaking Report
“World News This Week,” (ABC News Radio)
Written by Andrew Evans

Radio News Script – Analysis, Feature or Commentary
“Civil Rights at 50”
Written by Jane Tillman Irving

PROMOTIONAL WRITING

On-Air Promotion (Television, New Media, or Radio)
“How I Met Your Mother”
Written by Dan Greenberger

VIDEO GAME NOMINEES

Outstanding Achievement in Video Game Writing
The Last of Us: Left Behind
Written by Neil Druckmann

SPECIAL AWARDS

Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award For TV
Shonda Rhimes

Valentine Davies Award
Ben Affleck

Morgan Cox Award
Jeff Melvoin

Laurel Award
Harold Ramis

Evelyn F. Burkey Award
Norman Lear

Paul Selvin Award
Margaret Nagle

Jean Renoir Award
Pedro Almodóvar

With the Shorts HD package of Oscar-nominated short films out in release, you've probably run into plenty of analysis pieces breaking down the three categories. Here is ours, in case you missed it. In the meantime, though, Shorts HD has really stepped things up on the overall presence of this program.

Included below is a video playlist of a number of this year's nominees talking in some detail about their films. This is a lovely bit of insight into a trio of categories that, even with media coverage of the theatrical package, can remain a bit of a mystery to readers.

I find myself going in a couple of different directions on these lately. The Best Animated Short Film category, for instance, features a number of enticing choices. My instinct has been “The Dam Keeper” since I first got a look at everything a few months ago, but of course Disney's “Feast” is well-known and beloved, and unlike “Get a Horse!” (which lost to “Mr. Hublot” last year), it's a bit more substantive in general. All of that said, animators would surely be impressed with “The Bigger Picture,” my personal favorite of the bunch and the BAFTA winner in the category. But remember, it's not just animators who can vote on these races now.

On the live action side, “The Phone Call” has the recognizable stars, but it's pretty contained. Films like “Parvaneh” and “Boogaloo and Graham” tell more complete stories, while “Aya” is probably the richer experience overall. Tough call. My instinct has been “The Phone Call” but who knows?

And the docs, well, lots of downer stories, as we've noted. “Joanna” is the most artful, perhaps, but “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1” has immediacy and could resonate for that.

Again, you can read more in-depth considerations of these categories here. Meanwhile, we'll be bringing you some final lap columns next week, but we won't be doing the full gamut of categories via the usual “Oscar Guide” feature. Greg and I will rattle off the major categories and a couple others besides and Gerard will break down the below-the-line categories one more time, so the spectrum will be covered. Final predictions will drop on Thursday, Feb. 19.

Dig a little further into the shorts with the nominated filmmakers below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nPNgTSAOA0?list=PLm8Dz_Xq-8RxktLHKJAdIrLvJojilHAcN]

The 65th annual Berlin International Film Festival has drawn to a close with Darren Aronofsky's jury settling on awards for films in competition. Jafar Panahi's “Taxi” walked away with top honors, while the “45 Years” duo of Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling won acting honors.

Following big lifts for films like “Boyhood” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” at the 2014 edition, however, this year's fest didn't sound as loud a thunderclap. But the current Oscar season was still on the brain for reviewers who couldn't resist noting a film like “Victoria's” place in the wake of “Birdman” (the Sebastian Schipper heist thriller was filmed in one continuous take and picked up a prize Saturday for cinematography).

Check out the full list of Berlinale winners below.

Golden Bear (Best Film)
Jafar Panahi, “Taxi”

Silver Bear (Grand Jury Prize)
Pablo Larrain, “El Club”

Silver Bear (Best Director)
Radu Jude, “Aferim!”
Malgorzata Szumowska, “Body”

Silver Bear (Best Actor)
Tom Courtenay, “45 Years”

Silver Bear (Best Actress)
Charlotte Rampling, “45 Years”

Silver Bear (Best Screenplay)
Patricio Guzman, “The Pearl Button”

Silver Bear
Alfred Bauer Prize for a feature film that opens new perspectives
“Ixcanul”

Silver Bear
Outstanding Artistic Contribution in the categories camera, editing, music score, costumes or set design
Sturla Brandth Grovlen, Cinematographer, “Victoria”
Sergey Mikhalchuk and Evgeniy Privin, Cinematographers, “Under Electric Clouds”

Best First Feature Award
Gabriel Ripstein, “600 Miles”

Audi Short Film Award
Momoko Seto, “Planet Sigma”

Golden Bear (Best Short Film)
Na Young-kil, “Hosanna”

Silver Bear Jury Prize (Short Film)
Joanna Arnow, “Bad At Dancing”

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4910061489001

Awards season has its pluses and minuses, but if you live in New York or Los Angeles you can be a part of some very special events that wouldn't happen without the Oscar spotlight. On the same night that Best Documentary frontrunner “CITIZENFOUR” was the subject of a TimesTalk in New York with director Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald and Edward Snowdown via Google Hangout (sadly, it was also the last public appearance by David Carr), Fox Searchlight held a special screening of “Birdman” at the Ace Hotel Theater in Los Angeles.  

What made this different from the hundreds of “Birdman” screenings to date was that composer and drummer Antonio Sanchez performed his score in front of a live audience. Best Actor nominee Michael Keaton was also on hand to introduce Sanchez and it had to be a redemptive moment for the jazz drummer, whose work was deemed ineligible by the Academy's Music Branch late last year.

Neither Kris nor I could attend (life often gets in the way of these things), but, like you, we can get a sample of the proceedings in the video embedded at the top of this post (a fine piece of marketing, by the way).

“Birdman,” which is vying for nine Academy Awards, is still playing to as close as nationwide as you can get.

Well, we've got another barn burner on our hands people. Final voting for the 87th Academy Awards is well underway and this year's Best Picture race is far from settled. Or is it? Excuse me, feeling deja vu. I believe we went through something similar to this last year.

In one corner, we have indie darling “Boyhood,” Richard Linklater's 12-year achievement which has won most of the major critics' honors and took home the BAFTA award for Best Film last Sunday night. In the other corner is Alejandro González Iñárritu's “Birdman,” another critically-acclaimed drama which has taken home the three key guild honors: the Producers Guild Award, the Directors Guild Award and the Best Ensemble honor at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

If you were to play the analytics game, the easy pick would be “Birdman.” No film has won all three guild honors and lost the Oscar for Best Picture since “Apollo 13” in 1996. And, as HitFix's own Kris Tapley has dully noted, that was a time when voting stretched into March (the telecast was on March 27 that year), giving more time for voters to ponder their favorites than the much shorter balloting period today. It also was a year where “Apollo 13's” helmer, Ron Howard, wasn't nominated for Best Director, a nomination seen as a “must” for a Best Picture win until “Argo” upset the apple cart.

For a more contemporary example of how this race could play out, we may only have to turn back the clock to last year. While “12 Years a Slave” dominated most of the critics' groups honors, it didn't dominate the guilds. “American Hustle” won for ensemble, “Gravity” and “12 Years” somehow tied for the PGA and then “Gravity's” Alonso Cuarón took the Directors Guild honor. With too much anecdotal evidence of Academy members saying they didn't even watch “12 Years,” many pundits, including both myself and Tapley, picked “Gravity” to win. And, after dominating most of the night, it lost. Something suggests that history may be repeating itself.  

Academy members have watched “Boyhood.” They have supported it through the guild nomination process and the Oscars nomination process. When they sit down and cast their votes, something suggests they are going to remember the critical adoration the film has received (a very rare 100 grade on Metacritic) and the fact that it took Linklater over a decade to make it. As Charles Barkley would likely say, “Analytics are crap. 'Boyhood's' gonna win.”

Unless it doesn't.

Here's your penultimate Contender Countdown for the 2015 Oscar season.

February 13, 2015

1. “Boyhood”
See “12 Years a Slave” last year.

2. “Birdman”
See “Gravity” last year.

3. “American Sniper”
The movie is clearly a public “phenomenon,” but is there enough Academy momentum to win it all? We're not so sure…

4. “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Could still shock thanks to the preferential ballot (and it would be a major one), but the win here will be if Wes Anderson takes home the Original Screenplay Oscar.

5. “The Imitation Game”
Has the Alan Turing drama gone from potential Best Picture winner to this year's “Up in the Air?” It's possible…

6. “Selma”
$50 million is within reach at the domestic box office, but there has to be a bitter taste in the mouths of producers Plan B and director Avu DuVernay regarding what can only be described as a disappointing awards campaign.

7. “The Theory of Everything”
Won't leave the Dolby Theater empty handed. The question is whether Eddie Redmayne takes home the Best Actor Oscar or not.

8. “Whiplash”
The underdog that did it on screeners and industry word of mouth. Could still end up with four Oscars by the end of the night, though (Sound Mixing, Editing, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay).  

Who do you think is going to win Best Picture? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts below.

Winners have been unveiled for the 2015 Final Draft Screenwriters' Choice Awards (basically voted on by anyone who – legally – owns Final Draft screenwriting software). “Birdman” and “Gone Girl” came out on top in the film categories, while “True Detective” and “The Big Bang Theory” were the TV winners.

I know everyone is picking “The Grand Budapest Hotel” for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars, but I'm thinking we all might be snoozing on “Birdman” there. I'm not pointing to these awards as any indicator or anything, it just reminds me that if the film had been WGA-eligible, it obviously would have won. I mean, given its guild showing.

Food for thought…

Check out the Screenwriters' Choice Awards winners below, nominees here and more at The Circuit.

Best Adapted Screenplay
“Gone Girl”

Best Original Screenplay
“Birdman”

Best Television Drama
“True Detective”

Best Television Comedy
“The Big Bang Theory”

Hall of Fame Award
Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski

Nine Oscar seasons ago, composer Alexandre Desplat earned what already felt like an overdue first nomination for “The Queen.” (He already had “Girl With a Pearl Earring,” “Birth,” “Syriana” and “The Painted Veil” to his credit.) Eight years and as many Oscar nominations later, the prolific Desplat has cemented himself as the go-to composer of his generation, with the hottest producers and directors clamoring to collaborate with him.

This is not surprising, given his talent and his extraordinary knowledge of both world cinema and world music. This year, he is a double Oscar nominee for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “The Imitation Game” and has already won a British Academy Award and a Grammy for the former. And that elusive first Oscar may well be within his grasp.

HitFix recently caught up with Desplat to discuss Anderson's latest melancholic comic romp and the awards success he has experienced of late. Check out the back and forth below.

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HitFix: What's it like to be a double Oscar nominee for the first time?

Alexandre Desplat: It was unpredictable and is incredible, especially after so many nominations in a short period of time because I think this is my eighth nomination in eight years. I was a bit shocked but very happy and honored. It's sometimes hard to believe but your work being recognized by the Academy is wonderful. And I hope we continue!

Let's talk about “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” At what stage did you come aboard?

I read the script very early on and then Wes went shooting the film. When it was almost put together, he showed it to me and I began composing.

You've collaborated with him a number of times. How did you approach the work this time?

Because it was my third film with Wes, we had already set kind of a tone in the way we had worked before – very light orchestration, trying to find the sounds that would belong to the film. Very early on this one, we discussed sounds of Middle Europe and how we could go away from using strings and woodwinds. We started putting together this incredible band and it creates a special sound…the sound of the “Grand Budapest.”

Talk more about dealing with the cultural element, not just Middle Europe and Eastern Europe but the “Wes Anderson culture,” as his work continues to maintain a unique and singular space in the industry.

I do think that Wes and I have built a sound and if someone would randomly play pieces from the scores of “Mr. Fox,” “Moonrise Kingdom” or “Grand Budapest,” not knowing which it was from, I'm sure there would be a similarity and a familiar tone. But of course “Grand Budapest” is set somewhere in this fictional Republic of  Zubrowka. It's somewhere between Switzerland and Russia, and you can use all the tools you can pick from those countries. I know that music very, very well. Gyspy music has influenced all of the music of Middle Europe. Greece and Bulgaria and Hungary and even Russia have all been influenced by Gypsy music. Gypsy music has this joyfulness but also a great sense of melancholy, just what we needed.

You've talked before about being careful in deciding whether to adopt music of a particular locale. I remember you notably avoided using traditional Irish music on “Philomena,” for instance. But you bring up an interesting point about the dueling joy and melancholy. What's it like to have this comic tone even in the darker parts? Do you like writing joyous scores?

Of course I do! I do look to write for comedy when there is a sense of melancholy or drama in the background. [“The Grand Budapest Hotel”] is fiction, but it's set in a country that is at war. It's fun to do and fun to work with Wes.

Could you comment a bit more on your rapport with Wes Anderson and how he approaches the music?

Well, music is interwoven with the editing – completely in pace with the rhythm of the film. It actually participates in the rhythm very, very strongly. He enjoys playing with the music in a way that will surprise the audience or take the audience by surprise. And that's very, very special. For instance, he likes to play with the instruments that we have. Let's say we have 50 musicians playing at the same time, they all stop except one – maybe a drum or organ or mandolin – and that creates a different element at the base of the film. Because when music stops and silence opens, it gives room to all of the sounds of the film. Music gives shape to the film.

Congratulations on winning the Grammy. How did that feel?

It was incredible because I had actually forgotten that it was that evening! I was sitting with my BAFTA and suddenly I have the text message that I had won the Grammy! I'm happy for Wes. It was a great day for him.

Do you feel it's a broader recognition, that your work is being recognized outside the cinematic world. It's almost like you're a young John Williams.

There's only one John Williams! You know how much I adore his work and his genius and how much he's given us!

OK, your modesty is noted! But do you think the Grammy win is demonstrative that your work is being recognized outside the world of cinephiles?

I guess it's starting because if you say that, you must have thought about that. The Grammys are meant to be for music, as part of an album that is heard without visuals. It's the goal I've always tried to achieve, writing music for a film that can stand on its own. That's the lesson that John Williams has given to all of us. And Bernard Herrmann has given all of us. And Nino Rota. And Georges Delerue: to write great music for a film that can stand on its own.

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4910055483001

I wrote on Twitter yesterday that, at least in my observation, a number of “Birdman” critics seem to miss the fact that the film is inherently about confronting the very narcissism they often accuse it and director Alejandro González Iñárritu of having. That led to a back and forth with someone about the idea that meta movies sometimes cast so large a thematic net that “that's the point” becomes a retort to any criticism. And that's a fair enough complaint, though I don't think it really applies to “Birdman.”

This film is, to me, laser-focused in its thematic ideas. It's about high brow versus low brow. It's about substance versus bullshit. It's about art versus commerce. “It's about people trying to do something that they care about,” producer John Lesher puts it in the exclusive featurette you can watch at the top of this post, and I think that puts a fine enough point on it. I haven't been able to distill how I personally feel about the film any better than I did in my top 10 piece from December:

“'A thing is a thing, not what is said of that thing.' That's the note taped to Riggan Thompson's dressing room mirror in the film, and it's the very thesis of a movie less concerned with pitting art vs. critique than reconciling that yin and yang. What is art to an artist, much less to a critic? What is criticism to a critic, much less to an artist? Is what we leave behind the thing, or how we left it? The answer won't come easily, if at all, but 'Birdman' – the best film of 2014 – understands the necessity and value of wrestling with the question.”

I never thought a movie like this would find itself staring at a Best Picture Oscar, but ever since that PGA victory, I've found it hard not to feel sold. But this is such an odd year. I frankly keep going back and forth, wrangling with the preferential ballot of it all and trying to understand the tea leaves. No easy answers have come. It's rare that my pick of the year's best ends up winning the Oscar, so, I don't mind saying my fingers are crossed.

For now, if you want to learn a little bit more about the film, check out the featurette above.

It's all happening. Oscars preparations, that is. The set is being finalized, the producers are bound and determined to turn it into the Grammys or the Tonys, hopeful nominees are polishing their speeches and talent is being tapped to make an appearance on the show to present awards and special moments.

This year's list of presenters is more or less familiar. It's a cross-section of the industry, hot topics like Dakota Johnson and Chris Pratt roped in alongside legends like Meryl Streep and John Travolta. Last year's acting winners – Matthew McConaughey, Cate Blanchett, Jared Leto and Lupita Nyong'o – have also been asked back, following the tradition of presenting to this year's acting class.

Check out the running list of presenters announced so far below. Who are you most looking forward to seeing grace the Dolby Theater stage?

Ben Affleck
Jennifer Aniston
Jason Bateman
Cate Blanchett
Jessica Chastain
Marion Cotillard
Benedict Cumberbatch
Viola Davis
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Idris Elba
Ansel Elgort
Chris Evans
Kevin Hart
Terrence Howard
Josh Hutcherson
Scarlett Johansson
Dakota Johnson
Dwayne Johnson
Felicity Jones
Nicole Kidman
Jared Leto
Jennifer Lopez
Shirley MacLaine
Matthew McConaughey
Sienna Miller
Chloë Grace Moretz
Eddie Murphy
Liam Neeson
Lupita Nyong'o
David Oyelowo
Gwyneth Paltrow
Chris Pine
Chris Pratt
Margot Robbie
Zoe Saldana
Octavia Spencer
Meryl Streep
Channing Tatum
Miles Teller
John Travolta
Kerry Washington
Naomi Watts
Oprah Winfrey
Reese Witherspoon

The world premiere of “Live From New York!,” Bao Nguyen's documentary exploring 40 years of American politics, tragedy and popular culture through the comedic lens of the television institution, will open the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival on Wednesday, April 15.

“'SNL's' contribution to the arts and to pop culture has been – and continues to be – groundbreaking, and 'Live From New York!' offers an inside look at the show's inimitable ability to both reflect and impact American news, history and culture,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival. “This is the story of a creative journey from pilot to institution and a tribute to the moments that kept us laughing and talking long after the episodes aired.”

Rosenthal's partner Robert De Niro added that the selection is “personally gratifying…having hosted 'SNL' three times, and guested on several occasions.”

Nguyen's film explores the early years of the show, an experiment from a young Lorne Michaels and his cast of unknowns, following its evolution into a comedy landmark. It looks at “SNL” as a living time capsule, archival footage interwoven with stolen moments and exclusive commentary from “SNL” legends, journalists, hosts, musical guests, crew and more. Though not apparently related to James A. Miller and Tom Shales' invaluable oral history tome “Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live,” it clearly seems like it will be a wonderful companion piece.

Meanwhile, “Saturday Night Live” will be celebrating its 40th anniversary on Sunday, Feb. 15 with a live episode featuring the likes of Dan Aykrowd, Alec Baldwin, Robert De Niro, Betty White, Kanye West, Eddie Murphy and a whole lot more.

The 14th annual Tribeca Film Festival runs April 15-26.

We're just 10 days away from the 87th annual Academy Awards, where this year's 20 nominated actors will dress to the nines, head to the Dolby Theater and cross their fingers that the outcome of their categories aren't as inevitable as they seem (well…16 of them will be doing that, anyway). But before they found themselves on the roller coaster that is a film awards season, how did they cut their teeth? What foundations did they lay to get here? Who were they before they were nominees?

That's about as self-explanatory as it gets, eh? We dug back through the closets of the 2015 Oscar acting class to dig up some skeletons, chew on some earlier works and basically just have a gander at the path they took to this place. Commercials, TV movies and series, blockbuster coming out parties, it's all here.

So click through the story gallery below and perhaps discover a few unexpected entries in their portfolios. And stay be sure to tune in Sunday, Feb. 22 to see which of them will add an (or another) Oscar to their mantle.