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Welcome to the third part of The Cricket's predictions for the 87th Academy Awards. Today it's the specialty categories — covering animation, documenteries, shorts and foreign-language films.

On Tuesday, The Cricket tackled the technical categories, and on Wednesday, the crafts. On Friday, in this space and in the print edition of The Salt Lake Tribune, it's the major categories — directing, screenwriting, acting and best picture.

Foreign language film

The nominees are • "Ida" (Poland); "Leviathan" (Russia); "Tangerines" (Estonia); "Timbuktu" (Mauritania); "Wild Tales" (Argentina)

Who will win • A likely battle between the luminous black-and-white Polish drama "Ida" (which also was nominated for cinematography) and the bureaucratic Russian parable "Leviathan." The Cricket's guess is that "Ida" will prevail.

Who should win • The Cricket has only seen one of these films, "Ida," so he can't opine on which one is the best.

Animated feature film

The nominees are • "Big Hero 6," "The Boxtrolls," "How to Train Your Dragon 2," "Song of the Sea," "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya."

Who will win • As usual, it's a battle between Disney ("Big Hero 6") and DreamWorks ("How to Train Your Dragon 2") — with "Hero" getting the advantage.

Who should win • Since a write-in vote for "The LEGO Movie" is out of the question, The Cricket gives his nod to the beautiful and emotional Irish folktale "Song of the Sea."

Documentary feature

The nominees are • "CitizenFour," "Finding Vivian Maier," "Last Days in Vietnam," "The Salt of the Earth," "Virunga"

Who will win • Academy voters likely will reward the courage of Laura Poitras in bringing Edward Snowden's story to the world in "CitizenFour."

Who should win • "CitizenFour" is an important, vital document of what's wrong with America's national security apparatus. (Disclaimer: The Cricket has not seen "The Salt of the Earth" or "Virunga.")

Documentary short subject

The nominees are • "Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1," "Joanna," "Our Curse," "The Reaper (La Parka)," "White Earth."

Who will win • Oscar voters pick the strangest categories to go patriotic, and "Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1" is a chance to do that.

Who should win • "Our Curse," a Polish couple's harrowing effort to document the first year in the life of their son, who suffers from a rare respiratory disease. (Disclaimer: "Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1" was not made available for screening.)

Animated short film

The nominees are • "The Bigger Picture," "The Dam Keeper," "Feast," "Me and My Moulton," "A Single Life."

Who will win • Disney's "Feast," the most accessible of the bunch.

Who should win • "Feast" is the sweetest, but the pastel glories of "The Dam Keeper" are quite beautiful.

Live action short film

The nominees are • "Aya," "Boogaloo and Graham," "Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak)," "Parvaneh," "The Phone Call."

Who will win • The emotional directness of "The Phone Call," starring Sally Hawkins as a crisis-hotline volunteer, could make it a winner.

Who should win • The most fascinating, and odd, is "Butter Lamp," an offbeat look at Tibetan nomads seen through a photographer's lens.