Final Oscar Predictions 

 Without further ado, my final predictions in the Top 6 categories! It's a tough year so it should be interesting to see how it all shakes down. Feel free to leave comments below!

 BEST PICTURE: "Birdman"
 Congratulations to Whiplash, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Selma, The Imitation Game, American Sniper and The Theory of Everything: Your nomination is your award in this category. Back in January, I would have put money on Boyhood to win Best Picture. Since then, Birdman has caught up in the rankings by walking away with the main award at the SAG’s, the Producers Guild, and the Directors Guild. The majority of past winners from the DGA’s have gone on to win the Best Picture at the Oscars. While I am still not sold on this whole Birdman thing, I do have to admit it had the most bizarre ideas in ages. As a whole however, I thought Boyhood was a one of a kind story that the Oscars should honor. If I were voting I would pick Boyhood. (How happy I will be if it can pull the win off!) However, for sake of predicting the winner, I’m going to have to pick Birdman.

BEST DIRECTOR: Alejandro González Iñárritu, "Birdman"
Achievement in Directing can sometimes match up with Best Picture, sometimes not. Whichever way this ends up, there are a few contenders for which the nomination is the award. Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game) and Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher) seem to have accidentally waltzed into this category, especially the latter considering that Foxcatcher is completely absent from the Best Picture race. Wes Anderson, earning his first directing nomination, has a stronger shot of winning in the Screenplay category for The Grand Budapest Hotel. That leaves Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman) and Richard Linklater (Boyhood). Only one can win the Oscar (barring a tie) so let’s see how this looks at face value: Linklater won the Golden Globe and BAFTA; Iñárritu won the prestigious DGA, while Birdman won the PGA, SAG and NBR. At this point, flip a coin and you have just as great a chance at getting this right. Might it split? Maybe, but I’m too scared to predict it with the sudden onslaught of Birdman love from the guilds. Worse case scenario: I’m right and my prediction score is a little higher. Best case scenario: I’m wrong and Linklater wins his first Oscar for the highly complicated filming logistics of Boyhood. DGA has a tremendous track record at predicting Oscar winners, so Iñárritu it is.

BEST ACTOR: Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"
Welcome to the tightest acting race of the night. While last year was an easy win for Matthew McConaghuey in Dallas Buyers Club, this year is a different story and the moments leading up to the announcement will be a nail biter. On paper it makes sense that Steve Carell should be a strong contender for his role in Foxcatcher. Fake nose? Check. Ambiguous character with underlying nefarious motives? Check. His downfall in this race is the lack of precursors and lack of overall buzz. Benedict Cumberbatch, in any other year, would also seem a sure bet for an Oscar win considering his character is real-life Nazi code breaker Alan Turing in The Imitation Game. However, this category has three strong contenders who are hoarding all the glory in this race. Bradley Cooper was a surprise nominee for American Sniper, and while that film is the highest grossing of all 8 Best Picture nominations, it would be gutsy to predict a Cooper win here. That leaves us with Birdman’s Michael Keaton and The Theory of Everything’s Eddie Redmayne. A win for Keaton could signify merit to a lengthy career in Hollywood, but with only a Golden Globe win on his side, I’m not sure it makes his win possible. There’s a better chance of Redmayne taking the award here considering he won the SAG, Globe, and BAFTA. If Keaton could win this Oscar, then it might mean a Birdman win for Best Picture, since the buzz around the film has been strong in recent weeks. For now, I stand by my prediction but be prepared for anything to happen here on Oscar night.

 BEST ACTRESS: Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"
In the category for Best Actress in a leading role, one performance stands out above the rest. It goes without saying that Julianne Moore will win her first Academy Award for her stellar performance in Still Alice. After five nominations with no wins, many within the Academy feel that she is overdue. In fact, there are some who swear Moore has already won an Oscar due to her many nominations. Reese Witherspoon, a previous Oscar winner in this category, was superb in the film Wild, but another win so soon seems unlikely. The same goes for Marion Cotillard for her performance in Two Days, One Night. Cotillard won an Oscar for her role in La Vie en Rose, which was a better performance than this, leaving the nomination as her award this year. Rosamond Pike scored her first nomination for her role in Gone Girl and with the film almost absent and in all other categories, it's highly improbable she will win here. Add in Felicity Jones for her role in the Theory of Everything and it seems pretty clear that this Oscar is Julianne Moore’s to lose.

 BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"
When it comes to the Academy Awards there is no such thing as a sure thing. That being said, this category is about as close to a runaway as there can be. Robert Duvall, the only previous Oscar winner in this category, has the least likely chance of picking up another statue for his role in The Judge. Mark Ruffalo, a serious actor in a serious role in Foxcatcher, also should be happy with his second career nomination. If anyone here can upset the applecart, look to Edward Norton in the highly popular Birdman or Ethan Hawke in the equally popular Boyhood. However, when all the dust settles, it's clear that J.K. Simmons, who was astonishing as the maniacal instructor in the tense Whiplash, should walk off the Academy Awards stage with an Oscar firmly in his grasp.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"
The supporting categories at this year’s Oscar race are both pretty much sure things. Only Meryl Streep is a previous Oscar winner in this category, but she won't repeat again this year for her role as a wicked witch in Into The Woods. Laura Dern, a previous Oscar nominee, barely snuck into this category for her role in Wild, so her chances are thin at best. Keira Knightley brought gravitas to her role in The Imitation Game, but she has no precursor love to warrant a win here. Only Emma Stone, for her work in Birdman, may come close to stealing the Oscar away from Patricia Arquette in Boyhood. But after winning almost every award up until this point even that is a long shot. Rest assured that Arquette will win her first Oscar on Sunday night.

Donation of $1,134 sent to NAHS Foundation

I am honored to announce that the full amount of $1,134 has been sent to the New Albany Education Foundation. It will be used to benefit the New Albany High School Theater Department. I cannot say how pleased I am with the results of the campaign. The raffle is set to take place FRIDAY NIGHT June 27 at 7 PM EST! I will try and broadcast it on UStream for anyone who wants to watch the drawings live. I will be tweeting the link to watch via Twitter @AnthonyHolic and on Facebook at the Charming Angels page. Hope to see you Friday night! 

We've officially raised $1,000 for NAHS!!!

I am speechless. We officially raised over $1,000 for the Josh Dallas / New Albany High School Theater Department Fund Raiser. The donations will still be accepted until Monday and then a few days will be needed to prepare everything for the big raffle. I am not sure if you want me to try and use U-Stream so everyone can see the raffle live. It was an idea I was thinking about briefly. If you think this is something you would be interested in please let me know and I will consider it. If there is no interest then I will host the raffle at a time later in the week. I am speechless as to the outcome of the Charity Drive and there is no way this could have be done without your dedication and generosity. Please bear with me once the raffle is completed so I can get all the items out to their winners, since I am doing all the packing and shipping myself. Please be patient and I promise you will receive your winnings once the raffle is done! Thank you as always! Remember, we have a couple more days of donations, so keep up the great work!

UPDATE: Josh Dallas Stickers ALL GONE!

That's all folks: The 4 stickers that are part of the Josh Dallas Charity Drive are all gone. The last set was given away this afternoon. We have $365 in our fund thus far but we have a long way to go! If you donate, you are able to still able to enter the raffle using your ticket to submit into any of the lots. All the lots can be found here. In addition, you can purchase a Josh Dallas autographed photo here with ALL donations going toward New Albany Education Foundation.

UPDATE: Josh Dallas Charity Lot #27

I had erroneously omitted a raffle lot from the list I uploaded the other night, so please consider Lot #27: A copy of the Book "Once Upon a Time: Behind the Magic" being donated by Katrina Tan. It has been signed on the inside cover by Robert Carlyle (Rumplestiltskin) and Emilie de Ravin (Belle) in gold marker. There is some staining of the book on the edges and binding of the book by a pink/red marker, but the book itself is in Great condition! Please consider this great item!!

Josh Dallas NAHS Charity Fundraiser

All the Lots have been revealed and now here are the details of how to participate in this wonderful fundraiser.

Tyler Bliss, Executive Director of the NAFC Education Foundation, has sent me a message to clarify where the funds will be earmarked for, which is posted below.

"The NAHS Theatre Department was accepted to perform at the prestigious International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska this summer. Many of the students are having trouble paying for the expenses involved with this trip so these proceeds will help these students be able to still attend. They are still several thousand dollars away from their goal so these proceeds will be a wonderful help to the kids, no matthew what amount! Thanks for your hard work!"

Donations
Donations will be accepted via PayPal which can be accessed here. Once logged in, click the Send Money tab and enter the email address of Covino2000@sbcglobal.net. Once that is done, you need to enter the dollar among (in US dollars) you wish to donate to the Foundation. Once again, 100% of the profits will be sent to the New Albany High School Education Foundation. Please donate a minimum of $5.00 and any other amount you wish to give please increase by $5.00 incriments. This is important because you will receive a Josh Dallas Sticker just for donating the minimum amount. Since there are 4 different stickers, a $20 donation will guarantee a complete set until all stickers have been exhausted. Once all the stickers have been given out, I will be unable to refund any donation amount so act quickly! When sending money via PayPal, please click the "I'm sending money to family and friends" tab. When you see the box to include a message, please include which sticker(s) you would like, a complete address (especially if it is an International address). Also, please specify which Lot you would like your raffle ticket allocated to for the prizes. Example, if you donate $20, you can receive all 4 stickers, and receive 4 raffle tickets. You could place them all in one Lot or split them between 4 different lots. You can write "Enter me in Lots 3, 5, 6, 7" and one ticket will be placed in those lots with your information in it. Any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact me at @AnthonyHolic on Twitter or Covino2000@sbcglobal.net.

Length of Fundraiser
The fundraiser starts at Midnight EST on June 9, 2014 and will conclude at Midnight EST June 22, 2014. The raffle will be held after the Fundraiser is complete and the date of the raffle will be announced within the 2 weeks of the fundraising period. Once the raffle winners are determined by random draw of all possible entries, you will be notified by E-Mail that you used to send money via PayPal so make sure you use a reliable address. The shipping of items may take a few weeks so bear with me to gather all the items and get them to the correct recipients.

eBay Fundraiser 
I will be posting 5 signed photos of Josh Dallas on eBay that were signed exclusively for this fundraiser. Some may prefer to buy these photos outright from eBay and, once again, 100% of proceeds will go to the Foundation for all eBay sales. I will be posting that information here as soon as those photos are up for bids on eBay.

Lots Overview
Here is a comprehensive list of all the Lots in our Raffle for easy access.

Lot #1- Signed "OUAT" Novel
Lot #2- Signed "OUAT" Season 1 DVD
Lot #3- Signed Ginnifer Goodwin 8X10 photo
Lot #4- Signed "OUAT" Season 1 on Blu-Ray
Lot #5- "OUAT" Graphic Novel "Shadow of the Queen"
Lot #6- Signed "Got #CharmAttack?" T-Shirt (LARGE)
Lot #7- Signed Ginnifer Goodwin 8X10 photo
Lot #8- Signed Lana Parrilla 8X10 photo
Lot #9- Signed Jennifer Morrison 8X10 photo
Lots #10-19- Signed Josh Dallas 8X10 photo 
Lot #20- Pair of Josh Dallas pillowcases
Lot #21- Signed "Got #CharmAttack?" T-Shirt (X-LARGE)
Lot #22- Pair of Josh Dallas wristbands (Red + Blue/Black)
Lot #23- Pair of Josh Dallas wristbands (Red + Light Blue)
Lot #24- Set of Josh Dallas wristbands (Red, Light Blue, Blue/Black, Brown and Purple)
Lot #25- Signed "OUAT" Graphic Novel by Dallas, Goodwin, Parrilla, O'Donaghue, Morrison
Lot #26- Pair of Ginnifer Goodwin wristbands
Lot #27- "OUAT: Behind the Magic" Book signed by Robert Carlyle and Emilie DeRavin

Thank you for participating and if you are unable to donate for the fund, please be kind and pay it forward by sharing links and spreading the word! The more that know the more we can hopefully raise for the kids of New Albany High School!

Sincerely,
Anthony Covino

Josh Dallas Charity Lot #26

For Lot #26, we have 2 official "Ginny Goodwin Fans" wristbands! They were donated by Anonymous. This lot features a red band with black lettering and a light purple band with black lettering! Donations can be sent in starting on June 9, and for every $5.00 donated you will receive a raffle ticket to enter into any Lot of your choosing. The more money you donate, the more raffle tickets you will get! Stay tuned to this page for more items to be featured.