5 Questions With Our Contest Winner, Brandon Jones

Ever wonder how someone gets a 20 out of 24 score on Oscar predictions? We here at Awards Daily do. This year’s winner, Brandon Jones, tells us the secrets of his success:

AwardsDaily: What made you choose both Cotillard and Swinton?
BJ: Swinton, I think, gave one of the best performances of the past few years. She is also an actress that is consistently good (and one of my favorites.) I picked her because I had convinced my little brain that they wouldn’t let Michael Clayton go home empty handed. It was such a good film, (I loved it) and it was critically well received.  Unfortunately, the film was always nominated in categories with heavy, heavy favorites. Supp. Actress was the only category that had a window of opportunity. And when she won the BAFTA, that sealed the deal.

I picked Cotillard because of Tilda Swinton. She also gave an INSANELY amazing performance. I had a strong hunch that the Oscars were going to mirror the BAFTAs in most ways (except for Picture.) I think Marion‚Äôs reaction at the BAFTAs was too cute to pass up in the USA. Also ‚Äî for some oddball reason, I always think the Academy loves to have a ‚Äútheme‚Äù for its voting. I could be wrong ‚Äî and have no true substantial evidence — but having 4 foreigners win seemed likely this year. (I know Christie is a Brit but she lost to Marion at the BAFTAs and was also a previous winner.)

Do I sound crazy??
[AD: Are you kidding? Not in a mil]

AD: How did you go about making your choices? Were they based on hunches or what?
BJ: I usually make my choices based on the Guild & Critic Award wins. Also, based on hunches. The Globes only come into play in my mind when it’s a tie breaker. Other categories are based on a general consensus from critics. I have no idea what differentiates a movie with great sound editing vs. a movie with good sound editing.

AD: Are you always a good Oscar predictor?
BJ: I generally fair pretty well. Better than my friends ‚Äî but that‚Äôs simply because I am obsessed. It‚Äôs kind of embarrassing…ha ha. Awards Daily is really a source for a lot of my predicting material. (It‚Äôs my secret weapon for Oscar Pools.) This year, however, I did win the movies.com Oscar contest as well. And a few years ago finished in a close 2nd on that contest, too.

AD: Is this your best record?
BJ: This ties my best record. The year of Million Dollar Baby, I got 20/24 but missed Best Pic and Best Director (I went with Aviator/Martin S.) . But I consider this my best. I generally score between 14-17, though.

AD: Have you entered our contest before?
BJ: Yes. It is usually the first contest I enter during the year. so my scores have never been too good. But I have to say it is my favorite contest to enter.

That’s what we like to hear! You can take a gander at Brandon’s picks after the cut.

picture = No Country for Old Men
actor = Daniel Day Lewis
actress = Marion Cotillard
supp_actor = Javier Bardem
supp_actress = Tilda Swinton
director = The Coens
adapted = No Country
original = Juno
animated = Ratatouille
foreign = Counterfeiters
documentary = No End in Sight
score = Atonement
song = Falling Slowly
cinematography = Elswit
costume = Atonement
art = There Will Be Blood
makeup = La Vie En Rose
sound = Bourne Ultimatum
editing = Rouse
sound_editing = Bourne Ultimatum
doc_short = Freeheld
action_short = Mozart of Pickpockets
visual_effects = Transformers
animated_short = Peter & the Wolf
Biggest snub of the year = Parker Posey for BROKEN ENGLISH