The Right Hook will take a look at this week's movies this evening, when The Picture Show presenter Philip Molloy once again joins George in studio. 

This week, Philip will review Michael Mann's Blackhat, the Jennifer Aniston-starring Cake, and the bromantic comedy The Wedding Ringer. Tune in at 6.20pm: http://www.newstalk.com/player/

But the other big movie news of the week will be the winners at this year's 87th Academy Awards, which takes place on Sunday night. Voting for this year ended at 5pm yesterday evening, and Neil Patrick Harris will host as all eyes watch to see what will happen at the Dolby Theater on Hollywood Boulevard.

So who are the favourites in the main categories?

Best Picture: It stills seems to be a close race between Birdman and Boyhood, both of which are historic movies in their own right. But only one film (Apollo 13) has ever won the main guild awards (producers, screen actors, directors), as Birdman has, and not won best picture. So I will go for that. There are eight nominees in the Best Picture category this year.

Best Director: Much as I believe it shouldn’t happen, I have a feeling that they will break up best picture and best director this year, compensating Richard Linklater, who won the BAFTA last Sunday night week, with the director statuette. It is a movie that celebrates cinema and what it can achieve (it was made over 12 years), highlighting the medium’s humanity and commitment to trying new things.

Best Actor: This is a run–off between Michael Keaton in a major comeback role for Birdman and Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything – very much an 'actorly' role which the Americans have taken to their heart. The Hawking story is an inspirational one and Redmayne’s is the type of performance that Academy members tend to think should win awards.

Nobody has campaigned harder than Redmayne, he has won a sack full of precursor awards (Golden Globe, Screen Actors, BAFTA)- and the Screen Actors award has successfully predicted this category for the last 10 years. So it will probably be Redmayne.

Best Actress: If Julianne Moore gets it, it will be one of the most popular awards of the night. After four previous nominations, this is generally considered to be her year for Still Alice, the story of a respected linguistics professor fighting early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease.

She is up against two past winners (Reese Witherspoon and Marion Cotillard) and two newbies (Felicity Jones and Rosamund Pike).

Best Supporting Actor: Of the five nominees for best supporting actor, only one, Robert Duvall, has won before. He has been nominated seven times and he won for Tender Mercies (Best Actor) in 1984. None of the other nominees this year – Edward Norton, Mark Ruffalo, Ethan Hawke and J. K. Simmons – have won before, and Simmons hadn’t even been nominated prior to his performance as the tyrannical music teacher in Whiplash. And although several of his competitors are considered to be overdue, he will probably get it.

Best Supporting Actress: The inevitable Meryl Streep figures here, for her performance as the witch in Into The Woods, but after eighteen previous nominations and three wins, she is unlikely to do it again. The other nominees are Keira Knightly, Laura Dern, Emma Stone and Patricia Arquette, with the latter the out-and-out favourite for her performance as the mother in Boyhood.

Without knowing where it was likely go, Arquette committed herself to Richard Linklatter’s film 12 years ago and it has paid off for her with the attention she has received. It represents a major revival in her career and should win her the Oscar.