Are you sick of those ordinary Oscar office pools? Tired of only guessing the top 6 or 8 categories for the Academy Awards? Let your inner-movie geek shine with Bowl the Perfect Oscar Score (aka Oscar Bowling). Try to nail 300 points on the 2014 Academy Awards.

This is a confidence list.

There are 24 categories.

How to play

Pick your winners in all 24 categories. Then, give each winner a confidence score. Your most confident pick gets 24 points, second most confident gets 23 points, third most confident gets 22 points, and eventually your least confident pick gets 1 point.

This is perfect for Oscar parties, because the lead keeps changing. The winner is the one with the most points at the end. A perfect score is 300. If there is a tie (there never is a tie), then the winner is the one with the most points in these three categories combined (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress).

You’ll eventually be able to say things like … “Once, in 2017, I got a 297 Oscar score.” Or, “I know a guy who once hit 300 back in 2015.” Yeah, you’ll be saying these things. Trust me.

Previous Scores 2014 - 271 2013 - 257 2012 - 256 2011 - 246

If you don’t fully understand the rules, here are my Oscar predictions below.

Jeff Bayer’s Oscar Picks for 2015

24 – Best Supporting Actress – Patricia Arquette - Boyhood
23 – Best Actress – Julianne Moore - Still Alice
22 – Best Supporting Actor – J.K. Simmons - Whiplash
21 – Best Cinematography – Birdman
20 – Best Original Song – Glory - Selma
19 – Best Documentary – Citizenfour
18 – Best Director – Richard Linklater - Boyhood
17 – Best Film Editing – Boyhood
16 – Best Foreign Film – Ida
15 – Best Costume Design – The Grand Budapest Hotel
14 – Best Animated Feature – How to Train Your Dragon 2
13 – Best Adapted Screenplay – The Imitation Game
12 – Best Production Design – The Grand Budapest Hotel
11 – Best Short Film (Animated) – Feast
10 – Best Picture – Boyhood
09 – Best Actor – Michael Keaton – Boyhood
08 – Best Original Score – The Theory of Everything
07 – Best Visual Effects – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
06 – Best Documentary (Short) – Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
05 – Best Original Screenplay – The Grand Budapest Hotel
04 – Best Makeup & Hairstyling – Guardians of the Galaxy
03 – Best Sound Mixing – Whiplash
02 – Best Sound Editing – American Sniper
01 – Best Short Film (Live Action) – Boogaloo and Graham