The Academy Awards are only five months away, and two crucial elements are still missing: a host and some legitimate contenders. By this time last year (it was August 2nd, 2013 to be exact), Ellen DeGeneres had been named host of the 86th Oscars. For some reason the Academy is taking its time with this year’s choice. My bold prediction: ABC will finally let their late night star, Jimmy Kimmel, have a shot at emcee duties on February 22nd. He’s overdue.
Now that that’s settled, here’s my fearless list of 20 people who I think will receive acting nominations. What categories they’ll end up in is yet to be determined. Come January we can look back and see how I did. And, keep in mind, most of these films have yet to release, so most of these picks are based on buzz, reputation, strategy and gut instincts.
Amy Adams (“Big Eyes”)
Steve Carell (“Foxcatcher”)
Laura Dern (“Wild”)
Robert Duvall (“The Judge”)
Felicity Jones (“The Theory of Everything”)
Michael Keaton (“Birdman”)
Anna Kendrick (“Into the Woods”)
Keira Knightley (“The Imitation Game”)
Matthew McConaughey (“Interstellar”)
Julianne Moore (“Still Alice”)
Edward Norton (“Birdman”)
Jack O’Connell (“Unbroken”)
David Oyelowo (“Selma”)
Vanessa Redgrave (“Foxcatcher”)
Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”)
Mark Ruffalo (“Foxcatcher”)
Meryl Streep (“Into the Woods”)
Christoph Waltz (“Big Eyes”)
Reese Witherspoon (“Wild”)
Shailene Woodley (“The Fault in Our Stars”)
Lights Camera Jackson (a.k.a. Jackson Murphy) began his career as a film critic in 2006 at the age of 7. To date, Jackson has written nearly 1,000 reviews of new releases and, in total, has seen more than 1,500 films. In 2010, Jackson became the youngest person to win a NY Emmy Award, for his on-air movie reviews on Time Warner TV station, Capital News 9. And in 2011, Jackson was inducted into the Broadcast Film Critics Association as their youngest member. The BFCA’s annual Critics Choice Awards is one of the industry’s most recognized and prestigious awards shows. Jackson is also a member of SAG-AFTRA and votes annually for the Screen Actors Guild Awards.