2015 Oscar Predictions: Best Picture and Best Director – December

December is here and with it brings a new batch of Oscar predictions from the Gold Rush Gang. Lots of movement in the top 5 for Best Picture with Boyhood still far out in front and moving ever so closely to that coveted 100 points. Only Jason and myself keep it at at bay. For Jason, The Imitation Game is his #1 horse and for me it’s Selma. Speaking of Selma, that film makes a roaring comeback after its rapturous reviews and newly secured status as a top 5 contender. It’s been a yo-yo race so far for Selma and the Gold Rush Gang but it looks like it’s here to slay. It sits at #3 just a single point behind The Imitation Game, which falls a bit. Also falling is Birdman but now that critics awards have started to roll in it should bound back. The Theory of Everything continues to rise, making the 2nd biggest leap of the month, displacing Interstellar which nosedives all the way down to #9 and barely holding on. Unbroken also sees a significant drop after it begins its screening process post-premiere and to mixed results. Despite my hold on that film as the main contender this year it looks like it very well might end up like War Horse as many of my co-predictors kept telling me.

Richard Linklater inches up one in December with only me holding out. Instead I’m giving my highest point to Ava DuVernay, who rockets back into the top 5, just as her film has. Iñárritu holds onto the #2 spot but DuVernay could easily overtake him by next month. The Imitations Game‘s Morten Tyldum and Foxcatcher‘s Bennett Miller also take hits this month but no one falls harder than Christopher Nolan. Along with his film, he slides out of contention in every conceivable way. David Fincher also falls, just outside of the top 5. That last spot will be a very contentious one and could be a big surprise nom.