If any will upset, it will be Dawn, IMO.

So you believe Interstellar is far and away the frontrunner?

He also scored The Imitation Game. Can composers receive two nominations in the same category in the same year?

Sure, John Williams did in 2012 with Tintin and War Horse.

And Williams did with Munich and Memoirs of a Geisha too, I think. Williams got several of those.

That being said, I just think it is more likely they will reward his work in The Grand Budapest Hotel. Then again, he might suffer from two noms with votes being split. It also looks like Deakins might score his 11th fruitless nom this year for Unbroken.

Yes, I do.

Does anyone think that Under the Skin actually has a shot at a Best Score nomination, especially with Birdman being disqualified now? The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything should very likely get in, but I think Under the Skin might sneak in instead of Gone Girl or Interstellar...

Eh, I am skeptical. I believe there are other scores which could swoop in and replace Gone Girl or Interstellar (if anything does), such as Danny Elfman's for Big Eyes, Thomas Newman's for The Judge, or even Jonny Greenwood's for Inherent Vice.

Not to mention Selma, but I think Under the Skin does have the potential to surprise.

Even though Under the Skin has an extremely haunting and elegant score, I am uncertain if the Academy's insular music branch will embrace a 26-year-old experimental musician such as Micachu.

Well, Three 6 Mafia won an Oscar, so...

That movie at least was a minor hit and had a Best Actor nomination as well. Under the Skin has pretty much zero interest from anyone outside of critics.

Yeah, I know. What I meant was that even the Academy voters can sometimes think outide of the box when it comes to music. Though maybe not THAT far outside of it.

Birrrrrdman!

DIB loving Birdman has to be the least surprising event of the year.

I think Birdman is a lock for Cinematography. I completely forgot about it.

I'd figure me liking Big Eyes would be more cliche, why Birdman?

I am surprised Carmen Ejogo is not a stronger presence in the Best Supporting Actress race. I have not seen Selma yet, but playing Coretta Scott King sounds very Oscar-friendly, and she seems to have at least a couple Big and Emotional Scenes based on the advertising.

I wonder if A Most Violent Year will enter the race at the last moment. The reviews are terrific, J.C. Chandor is building up quite a reputation and this seems like the kind of old-school flick the Academy would love. It also topped the NBR list, which is usually a good sign.

A second thought:

could this be the year that might see less nominees than nine? I mean theoretically, we could just get five or six. I wonder which films would get in if we end up with, say, six. I'd say:

The Imitation Game
Selma
Boyhood
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Gone Girl

It certainly appears like an Oscar film. An old school 70s Oscar favourite set in Manhattan or Brooklyn or somewhere else that Woody Allen would use.

No.

It is the 4th-strongest contender at the moment.

How are Birdman and Gone Girl not ahead of it?

Does the why matter at this point? It IS doing better than Moonrise Kingdom, in any aspect. Better reviews, bigger financial hit, more important underlying historical implications, countless awards already won, Golden Globe/SAG/BFCA nominations and so on.

Ugh! This really frustrates me! The Grand Budapest Hotel was not that good! Gone Girl and Birdman and maybe even the Theory of Everything should be ahead of it.