IF I HAD AN OSCAR BALLOT 2014

These are my personal favorite selections in all of the key categories.  Winners are in bold/underlined, with runner's up underneath.  On Oscar night, I'll post my predictions for the big show, along with my personal selections out of who was actually nominated.


BEST PICTURE


Under the Skin
Birdman
Interstellar
American Sniper
Foxcatcher
Whiplash
Boyhood
Force Majeure
The Immigrant
The Rover




BEST DIRECTOR




Jonathan Glazer -- Under the Skin
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu -- Birdman
Christopher Nolan -- Interstellar
Clint Eastwood -- American Sniper
Bennett Miller -- Foxcatcher




BEST ACTOR




Jake Gyllenhaal -- Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton -- Birdman
David Oweloyo -- Selma
Bradley Cooper -- American Sniper
Tom Hardy -- Locke
Guy Pearce -- The Rover
Oscar Isaac -- A Most Violent Year
Miles Teller -- Whiplash
Brendan Gleeson -- Calvary
Joaquin Phoenix -- Inherent Vice
Macon Blair -- Blue Ruin
Channing Tatum -- Foxcatcher
Matthew McConaguhey -- Interstellar
Eddie Redmayne -- The Theory of Everything
Ellar Coltrane -- Boyhood
Mark Ruffalo -- Begin Again
Philip Seymour Hoffman -- A Most Wanted Man
Jack O'Connell -- Unbroken
Benedict Cumberbatch -- The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal -- Enemy
Joaquin Phoenix -- The Immigrant
Brad Pitt -- Fury
Dan Stevens -- The Guest
Guy Pearce -- Breathe In




BEST ACTRESS




Scarlett Johansson -- Under the Skin
Carla Juri -- Wetlands
Reese Witherspoon -- Wild
Jenny Slate -- Obvious Child
Marion Cotillard -- The Immirant
Keira Knightley -- Begin Again
Shailene Woodley -- White Bird in a Blizzard
Elizabeth Moss -- The One I Love
Felicity Jones -- The Theory of Everything
Amy Adams -- Big Eyes
Felicity Jones -- Breathe In




BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR




Steve Carell -- Foxcatcher
Josh Brolin -- Inherent Vice
J.K. Simmons -- Whiplash
Bill Hader -- The Skeleton Twins
Mark Ruffalo -- Foxcatcher
Ed Norton -- Birdman
Jeremy Renner -- The Immigrant
James Gandolfini -- The Drop
Robert Pattinson -- The Rover
Riz Ahmed -- Nightcrawler




BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS




Sienna Miller -- American Sniper
Emma Stone -- Birdman
Jessica Chastain -- A Most Violent Year
Katherine Waterston -- Inherent Vice
Lorelai Linkalter -- Boyhood
Patricia Arquette -- Boyhood
Eva Green -- White Bird in a Blizzard
Jessica Chastain -- Interstellar
Laura Dern -- Wild




BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY




Richard Linklater -- Boyhood
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, & Armando Bo -- Birdman
J.C. Chandor -- A Most Violent Year
Dan Gilroy -- Nightcrawler
Steve Knight -- Locke
E. Max Frye & Dan Futterman -- Foxcatcher
Chris & Jonathan Nolan -- Interstellar




BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY




Jonathan Glazer -- Under the Skin
Jason Hall -- American Sniper
Paul Thomas Anderson -- Inherent Vice
Damien Chazelle -- Whiplash
Jez & John-Henry Butterworth -- Edge of Tomorrow




BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY




Under the Skin
Birdman
The Immigrant
The Raid 2
Interstellar
The Rover
Whiplash
A Most Violent Year
American Sniper
Selma
Foxcatcher
Inherent Vice




BEST EDITING




The Raid 2
Boyhood
Whiplash
The Lego Movie
Wild
American Sniper
Foxcatcher
Selma
Inherent Vice




BEST COSTUMES




The Immigrant
Inherent Vice
Snowpiercer
Fury
The Imitation Game




BEST MAKE-UP




Foxcatcher
American Sniper
The Raid 2
The Rover
Fury




BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN




Interstellar
The Rover
Snowpiercer
The Immigrant
Inherent Vice




BEST ORIGINAL SCORE




Interstellar
Under the Skin
Gone Girl
Whiplash
Birdman
The Rover




BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM




Force Majeure
Wetlands
Borgman
Big Bad Wolves
Omar
Bethlehem




BEST DOCUMENTARY




Life Itself
The Dog
Tim's Vermeer
Jodorowsky's Dune
Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon




BEST SOUND




American Sniper
Interstellar
Whiplash
Birdman
Fury
Inherent Vice




BEST VISUAL EFFECTS




Interstellar
Edge of Tomorrow
Mood Indigo
The Congress
The Raid 2
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Godzilla