Jake Ziegler is one of Pulse Wrestling’s foremost analysts of pre-WWE Network PPV telecasts, but he is also a cinephile. It’s almost like he leads a double life. Yet, while he is passionate about film (much in the same way Lou Bloom is passionate about culling crime scene footage – okay maybe not that passionate), his voice has never been heard on this side of Inside Pulse.
Considering that the Academy Awards nominations go out today, and considering that he is Oscar obsessed to an extent, he has made his predictions known in all of the categories. I have countered with my own.
Let’s see who comes out on top.
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Nightcrawler
The Theory of Everything
Selma
Whiplash
(My Predictions: Eliminate Gone Girl and Nightcrawler)
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The LEGO Movie
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
(My Predictions: Same)
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava DuVernay, Selma
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
(My Predictions: Change Ava DuVernay to Clint Eastwood, American Sniper)
Best Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton, Birdman
David Oyelowo, Selma
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
(My Predictions: Same)
Best Actress
Amy Adams, Big Eyes
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
(My Predictions: Same)
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
(My Predictions: Same)
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
(My Predictions: Same)
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Nightcrawler
Selma
(My Predictions: Same)
American Sniper
Gone Girl
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
(My Predictions: Same)
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
The Theory of Everything
(My Predictions: Same)
“Everything is Awesome,” The LEGO Movie
“Glory,” Selma
“Mercy Is,” Noah
“Miracles,” Unbroken
“Yellow Flicker Beat,” The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1
(My Predictions: Same)
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
Gone Girl
Whiplash
(My Predictions: Same)
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Into the Woods
Unbroken
(My Predictions: Same)
Big Eyes
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Into the Woods
The Theory of Everything
(My Predictions: Change The Imitation Game to Interstellar)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Selma
(My Predictions: Change Inherent Vice to Belle)
Guardians of the Galaxy
Maleficent
The Theory of Everything
(My Predictions: Change Maleficent to Into the Woods, The Theory of Everything to The Grand Budapest Hotel)
American Sniper
Interstellar
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Imitation Game
Into the Woods
(My Predictions: Change The Imitation Game to Whiplash)
American Sniper
The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies
Interstellar
Guardians of the Galaxy
Transformers: Age of Extinction
(My Predictions: Same)
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Godzilla
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
(My Predictions: Same)
Force Majeure, Sweden
Ida, Poland
Leviathan, Russia
The Liberator, Venezuela
Tangerines, Estonia
(My Predictions: Same)
Best Documentary Feature
The Case against 8
CitizenFour
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
Life Itself
(My Predictions: Change The Case Against 8 to The Overnighters)
I have not seen any or enough of the Short Subject and Short Film categories to make predictions (aside from animated short “Feast”), but here are Jake’s predictions.
Best Documentary Short Subject
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace
The Lion’s Mouth Opens
One Curse
White Earth
Best Animated Short Film
The Biggest Picture
Duet
Feast
Footprints
Symphony No. 42
Best Live Action Short Film
Aya
Baghdad Messi
Carry On
The Phone Call
Summer Vacation