I guess all that chart building was not for nothing. My high score, I think, had to do with a last minute tip from a friend about Salt of the Earth in documentary, a preference for Mr. Turner in some of the techs and a quick check of Hitfix’ Kris Tapley’s predictions (I wish I’d predicted Ida in cinematography like he did). Mark Harris at Grantland predicted 8 nominees and got all 8 right. Neither of them are on Gold Derby or Gurus.
Oscar voters nominated many of the expected contenders, including “Boyhood,” “Birdman,” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” their actors and expected technical people. But some picks were difficult, including several by Stone, who predicted all eight Best Picture nominees, nine of the 10 screenplay nominees (missing only on “Gone Girl”), “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” for Best Animated Feature, and “Unbroken” for both sound categories.
After Stone, Steve Pond (The Wrap) and Paul Sheehan (Gold Derby) were incredibly close to her in second place with 76% correct. The fourth spot is held by Gold Derby’s own Tom O’Neil with 75% right.
Up next are Scott Feinberg (Hollywood Reporter) and Glenn Whipp (L.A. Times) with 74% correct. We then have a four-way tie at 71% accuracy between Pete Hammond (Deadline), Mary Milliken (Reuters), Claudia Puig (USA Today), and Christopher Rosen (Huffington Post).