Winners announced for Academy Awards prediction survey
By JENNIFER TURNER | Eagle Times Correspondent February 28, 2015

During the month of February, students and teachers at Bonny Eagle participated in a survey to share their predictions for the Academy Awards. There were over 70 entries, and all were competing for a Dunkin' Donuts gift card. Two came out on top, both of them tying for the prize by predicting eight out of the 13 topics correctly.
The winners were senior Sara Wear and Mr. Dustin Droggitis. They both received $5 Dunkin' Donuts gift cards.
“I’m super excited about winning! Makes me think I actually know what I’m talking about when it comes to the Oscars!” said Mr. Droggitis on his win.
Their predictions were very similar, only varying in two categories. They even had the same answers for movies that did not win in the category. For example, they both chose Boyhood for best picture, Michael Keaton for actor in a leading role, Boyhood for directing, and The Theory of Everything for music with an original score, all of which did not win.
Despite these incorrect predictions, both had the greatest number correct. These correct predictions included: Julianne Moore for actress in a leading role, J.K. Simmons for actor in a supporting role, and Patricia Arquette for actress in a supporting role. They also predicted, Birdman for cinematography, and Glory for original song. Additional correct answers were, The Imitation Game for writing of an adapted screenplay, as well as Birdman for writing of an original screenplay.
The only inconsistencies in their answers were in the categories of animated feature film and visual effects. Sara was correct in the category of animated feature film, predicting Big Hero 6, while Mr. Droggitis falsely guessed How to Train Your Dragon 2. In contrast, Mr. Droggitis was correct in the category of visual effects predicting Interstellar, while Wear guessed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
The majority of the school predicted that American Sniper would take home many of the awards; however, Birdman was the big winner. Not everyone that took the survey had seen all of the movies.
“I honestly never saw any of those movies, but I have heard about them. I looked them up to see what they were about, but all my answers were guesses,” said Sara Wear.
In contrast, Mr. Droggitis had seen five out of the eight Best Picture Nominees
“I saw Birdman, Boyhood, The Imitation Game, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and American Sniper… I actually watch the Oscars! I look forward to it every year. I always try to see as many of the nominated movies as I can and I like to predict who’s going to win,” said Mr. Droggitis.
The winners were senior Sara Wear and Mr. Dustin Droggitis. They both received $5 Dunkin' Donuts gift cards.
“I’m super excited about winning! Makes me think I actually know what I’m talking about when it comes to the Oscars!” said Mr. Droggitis on his win.
Their predictions were very similar, only varying in two categories. They even had the same answers for movies that did not win in the category. For example, they both chose Boyhood for best picture, Michael Keaton for actor in a leading role, Boyhood for directing, and The Theory of Everything for music with an original score, all of which did not win.
Despite these incorrect predictions, both had the greatest number correct. These correct predictions included: Julianne Moore for actress in a leading role, J.K. Simmons for actor in a supporting role, and Patricia Arquette for actress in a supporting role. They also predicted, Birdman for cinematography, and Glory for original song. Additional correct answers were, The Imitation Game for writing of an adapted screenplay, as well as Birdman for writing of an original screenplay.
The only inconsistencies in their answers were in the categories of animated feature film and visual effects. Sara was correct in the category of animated feature film, predicting Big Hero 6, while Mr. Droggitis falsely guessed How to Train Your Dragon 2. In contrast, Mr. Droggitis was correct in the category of visual effects predicting Interstellar, while Wear guessed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
The majority of the school predicted that American Sniper would take home many of the awards; however, Birdman was the big winner. Not everyone that took the survey had seen all of the movies.
“I honestly never saw any of those movies, but I have heard about them. I looked them up to see what they were about, but all my answers were guesses,” said Sara Wear.
In contrast, Mr. Droggitis had seen five out of the eight Best Picture Nominees
“I saw Birdman, Boyhood, The Imitation Game, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and American Sniper… I actually watch the Oscars! I look forward to it every year. I always try to see as many of the nominated movies as I can and I like to predict who’s going to win,” said Mr. Droggitis.
Members of Bonny Eagle participate in survey
By Jennifer Turner

When the Academy Awards premiere on Feb. 22, students and teachers at BEHS will be rooting for American Sniper for best picture. The movie was favored by those who participated in an Eagle Times survey earlier this month. A contest was conducted, and the person with the most correct predictions will win a $10 Dunkin Donuts gift card.
A total of 82 students and teachers participated in the survey. The nominations for Best Picture included: The Imitation Game, American Sniper, Birdman, Selma, and four others. The survey results predict that American Sniper will win, with 68% of people voting for it. According to Statista, American Sniper has the highest grossing opening weekend of any movie release in history.
Following the trend, the predictions for the category writing of an adapted screenplay show American Sniper winning, after receiving 58% of the votes. The winner for the category of Actor in a leading role is Bradley Cooper, who stars in American Sniper, coming in with 57% of the votes.
“ Bradley Cooper should win best actor because he was really the character he was trying to play,” said Sydney Atkinson, a sophomore.
Unlike with American Sniper, many of the categories did not have a stand out winner. In the category of actor in a supporting role, the predictions were tied between Robert Duvall and Ethan Hawke, each receiving 27% of the votes. The category of Animated Feature film was tied between Big Hero 6 and How to Train your Dragon 2. They both received 42% of the votes. In the category of visuals, the predictions were split between Guardians of the Galaxy, and Interstellar, after they both received 25% of votes. Finally, in the category, Writing of an original screenplay, the results were tied between The Grand Budapest Hotel and Boyhood, each getting 24% of votes.
There were other categories that were also extremely close, although not resulting in a tie. In the Category of Actress in a leading role, Rosamund Pike won with 31% of the votes. But, Reese Witherspoon and Julianne Moore were only a few votes behind.
“ I do like Julianne Moore, and I think she will win,” said Mr. Skipper Geanangel, an English teacher.
Many people have strong opinions about who should win, resulting in some very close categories. However, there is a noted lack of diversity in this years choices.
“I did notice that there was a lack of diversity in the nominations. That is a shame because there are so many talented people who were not recognized for their achievements,” stated Mr. Geanangel
In the category of Music, original song, Glory from the movie Selma won with 27% of the votes.
“ I think Glory should win best original song because it’s so powerful, and sums up years of struggle into a complex and modern piece,” said Sydney Atkinson.
Not far behind was Everything is Awesome from The Lego Movie.
In the category of Actress in a supporting role, Meryl Streep won with 37% of the votes. In Cinematography, The Grand Budapest Hotel won, after also receiving 37% of the votes. For the category of directing, the movie Boyhood won, with 37% of the votes. In the final category of Music, original score, the movie Interstellar won with 39% of votes.
There were many close categories, as well as some obvious winners shown in the survey results. It is hard to accurately represent if these will be the actual winners.
As sophomore Holly Thomas said, “ There’s a lot of the movies I haven’t heard of.”
This is a necessary factor to look at when predicting the Academy Award winners. Even so, the predictions have been made, and the final results will be determined on Feb. 22, when the Awards show takes place.
A total of 82 students and teachers participated in the survey. The nominations for Best Picture included: The Imitation Game, American Sniper, Birdman, Selma, and four others. The survey results predict that American Sniper will win, with 68% of people voting for it. According to Statista, American Sniper has the highest grossing opening weekend of any movie release in history.
Following the trend, the predictions for the category writing of an adapted screenplay show American Sniper winning, after receiving 58% of the votes. The winner for the category of Actor in a leading role is Bradley Cooper, who stars in American Sniper, coming in with 57% of the votes.
“ Bradley Cooper should win best actor because he was really the character he was trying to play,” said Sydney Atkinson, a sophomore.
Unlike with American Sniper, many of the categories did not have a stand out winner. In the category of actor in a supporting role, the predictions were tied between Robert Duvall and Ethan Hawke, each receiving 27% of the votes. The category of Animated Feature film was tied between Big Hero 6 and How to Train your Dragon 2. They both received 42% of the votes. In the category of visuals, the predictions were split between Guardians of the Galaxy, and Interstellar, after they both received 25% of votes. Finally, in the category, Writing of an original screenplay, the results were tied between The Grand Budapest Hotel and Boyhood, each getting 24% of votes.
There were other categories that were also extremely close, although not resulting in a tie. In the Category of Actress in a leading role, Rosamund Pike won with 31% of the votes. But, Reese Witherspoon and Julianne Moore were only a few votes behind.
“ I do like Julianne Moore, and I think she will win,” said Mr. Skipper Geanangel, an English teacher.
Many people have strong opinions about who should win, resulting in some very close categories. However, there is a noted lack of diversity in this years choices.
“I did notice that there was a lack of diversity in the nominations. That is a shame because there are so many talented people who were not recognized for their achievements,” stated Mr. Geanangel
In the category of Music, original song, Glory from the movie Selma won with 27% of the votes.
“ I think Glory should win best original song because it’s so powerful, and sums up years of struggle into a complex and modern piece,” said Sydney Atkinson.
Not far behind was Everything is Awesome from The Lego Movie.
In the category of Actress in a supporting role, Meryl Streep won with 37% of the votes. In Cinematography, The Grand Budapest Hotel won, after also receiving 37% of the votes. For the category of directing, the movie Boyhood won, with 37% of the votes. In the final category of Music, original score, the movie Interstellar won with 39% of votes.
There were many close categories, as well as some obvious winners shown in the survey results. It is hard to accurately represent if these will be the actual winners.
As sophomore Holly Thomas said, “ There’s a lot of the movies I haven’t heard of.”
This is a necessary factor to look at when predicting the Academy Award winners. Even so, the predictions have been made, and the final results will be determined on Feb. 22, when the Awards show takes place.