Indiewire: Results of a poll conducted among the country’s critics
Best Picture
Who Will Win:
Many are calling this year’s best picture race the closest call in a long time.
“Birdman” got a majority of “who will” picks here, taking 63% of them.
Its closest competition was “Boyhood” with 31%
“American Sniper” 4%
“The Theory of Everything” 2%
Who Should Win:
“Birdman” fell to third place here, with only 16% saying it would deserve the win that most are predicting.
Critics would be much happier with “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (27%) or “Boyhood,” which won the most votes at 31%.
Every film save “The Theory of Everything” got some votes as well:
“Selma” (14%)
“Whiplash” (9%)
“American Sniper” (2%)
“The Imitation Game” (2%).
Best Director
Who Will Win:
A much closer call than Best Picture.
“Birdman” director Alejandro González Iñárritu narrowly beating out “Boyhood”‘s Richard Linklater 54% to 46%.
Who Should Win:
Everyone but Morten Tyldum (“Imitation Game”) had support here.
Richard Linklater was the clear winner with 54%.
Iñárritu followed with 25%
Wes Anderson 17%
Bennett Miller 4%
Best Actress
Who Will Win:
A whopping 98% are saying Julianne Moore will indeed win her first Oscar for “Still Alice.”
Who Should Win:
Julianne Moore only managed 26% of the “who should” voters, however, while 39% said Marion Cotillard should win her second golden boy for “Two Days, One Night.”
Reese Witherspoon and Rosamund Pike had their fair share of fans too, with 20% going for former and 15% picking the latter.
Best Actor
Who Will Win:
The tightest of the acting races.
67% said Eddie Redmayne will win for “The Theory of Everything”
while 29% said Michael Keaton. A Bradley Cooper upset (which is quite possible) was predicted by 4% of those polled.
Who Should Win:
Everybody got over 7% of the “should win” votes here, though Michael Keaton still won a slight majority with 52%.
Following Keaton, in descending order, were:
Bradley Cooper (17%)
Eddie Redmayne (15%)
Steve Carell (9%)
Benedict Cumberbatch (7%)
