The Academy Rewards Challenge is here

Cult MTL presents the third annual Academy Rewards challenge, a celebration of the past year in film and a nod to Hollywood’s academy, as dubious as their nominees can be. That’s where you come in.

Vote in the following alternative categories here:

 

Most Outrageous Omission
A Most Violent Year
Gone Girl
Inherent Vice
The Lego Movie
Mommy

Most Outrageous Inclusion
American Sniper
 Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
The Imitation Game
Into the Woods
The Theory of Everything

Best Comedy
22 Jump Street
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Neighbors
Obvious Child
A Million Ways to Die in the West

Worst Movie
Blended
I, Frankenstein
The Interview
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Transcendence

Worst performance
Johnny Depp (Transcendence)
James Franco (The Interview)
Kellan Lutz (The Legend of Hercules)
Leslie Mann (The Other Woman)
Georges St. Pierre (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)

Most Pointless Remake
Annie
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Robocop
Left Behind
Godzilla

Actor in Greatest Need of a Career Intervention:
Nicolas Cage
John Cusack
Johnny Depp
Cameron Diaz
Adam Sandler

Most Played-out Directorial Schtick
Christopher Nolan (Interstellar)
Kevin Smith (Tusk)
Woody Allen (Magic in the Moonlight)
Lars von Trier (Nymphomaniac)
Ridley Scott (Exodus: Gods and Kings)

Most Obvious Failed Attempt at Oscar Bait
Cake
The Good Lie
Jersey Boys
The Monuments Men
St. Vincent

Hottest Actor
Chris Evans (Captain America: Winter Soldier)
Michael Fassbender (Frank/X-Men: Days of Future Past)
Robert Pattinson (Maps to the Stars)
Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Miles Teller (Whiplash)

Hottest Actress
Eva Green (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For)
Scarlett Johansson (Under the Skin)
Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I)
Emma Stone (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))
Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice)

Best Sex Scene
Eva Green and Sullivan Stapleton (300: Rise of an Empire)
Gemma Arterton and Niels Schneider (Gemma Bovery)
Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
Joaquin Phoenix and Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice)
Any/every scene (Nymphomaniac)

Best Grossout
Gory oral sex (Cabin Fever: Patient Zero)
Bedroom slice (Gone Girl)
Biting into a lightbulb (Oculus)
DIY abortion (Dys-)
Tearing out stitches (Wetlands)

Best Villain
J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)
Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)
Angelina Jolie (Maleficent)
Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
Tilda Swinton (Snowpiercer)

(Complete the survey here.)

 

And now for the real Oscars. Predict the winners in each of the categories below, and send them to info@cultmontreal.com by 11:59 p.m. EST on Feb. 21. Those who submit the top four closest guesses will win five double passes to Cinéma du Parc (who’ll be screening the Oscars live, for free, on Feb. 22 — see the event details here):

 

Best Picture
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Best Director
Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))
Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher)
Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game)

Best Actor
Steve Carell (Foxcatcher)
Bradley Cooper (American Sniper)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)
Michael Keaton (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))
Eddie Redmaybe (The Theory of Everything)

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night)
Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)
Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
Reese Witherspoon (Wild)

Best Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall (The Judge)
Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)
Edward Norton (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))
Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher)
J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)
Laura Dern (Wild)
Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game)
Emma Stone (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))
Meryl Streep (Into the Woods)

 

Good luck! ■