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They’re official! The nominations for the 2014 Academy Awards…you know, THE Oscars, are in! Not too many surprises here, but let’s take a look at what some of the presumed favorites are in the big categories, as well as what our predictions are:
Best Picture
“12 Years a Slave”
“American Hustle”
“Captain Phillips”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“Gravity”
“Her”
“Nebraska”
“Philomena”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”
Look, we all know 12 Years a Slave is fantastic…well all those who have seen it and managed to not hate themselves when it was over anyway. It’s a great movie. But is it a frontrunner? That’s a little tougher. Where the Golden Globes are awarded by under 100 press members, THE Oscars are handed out by thousands of Academy Members, and this is where their politics come into play. Some think 12 Years is a bit too much of a message movie, that it hammers the message over your head like Rocky Balboa in a title fight.
The Academy may gather behind this one, but if their history is any indication, American Hustle or Gravity are the safer bets (and my money is on Hustle). Both of those films are artistic without draining you, and there are no real politics involved. Just great acting demonstrated through interesting stories. 12 Years is, in my opinion, a better movie…but it is NOT an easily accessible one.
The other films in the list, yes even Wolf of Wall Street, should basically show up on Oscar night and work on those ‘We might as well pretend we’re happy to be nominated’ smiles, because they don’t have a chance. Also, did you notice Tom Hanks is missing for Captain Phillips in the Best Actor category? When the Captain doesn’t show up, you can bet the ship doesn’t stand a chance of docking.
And snubs…Where is Prisoners??? No Best Picture? No acting nominations?? Nothing?! Why does the Academy hate children? I digress…but I might have to write them a letter…
Best Actor
Christian Bale, “American Hustle”
Bruce Dern, “Nebraska”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”
Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”
The Academy screws Leo DiCaprio so much he should just change his first name to Cork. The guy has been one of the BEST actors working for well over a decade and continues to be passed up. Sadly, this will be yet another year in the wine cellar for poor Leo.
Chiwetel did phenomenal work, as did Christian Bale, Leo and Bruce Dern – But this award is Matthew McConaughey’s to lose. Every major outlet, actor, director, etc. speaking has claimed Matty has wowed us the last couple years and this is his finest moment. Many will see 1st timer Chiwetel’s nomination as award enough and choose to give the award to someone with a little extra drawl.
And who doesn’t want to hear that acceptance speech?? …alright, alright, alriiiiiight…
Best Actress
Amy Adams, “American Hustle”
Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”
Sandra Bullock, “Gravity”
Judi Dench, “Philomena”
Meryl Streep, “August: Osage County”
Easily the most competitive category out of this year’s awards, and between this list and Supporting Actress, this looks like a list of simply the BEST actresses working in movies today. Every single one of these actresses deserve an award, and honestly Meryl just needs her own award at this point. Call it the Meryl Streep and just give it to her every year. Meryl gets nominated so often, even years she doesn’t make a movie they consider her.
The top contenders here are Blanchett and Bullock. Blanchett has been blowing up awards banquets with her non-stop acceptance speeches, but don’t count Bullock out. She is LOVED by the Academy and her performance made Gravity more than just pretty pictures with careful editing. Let’s also not forget that she is pretty much the only person consistently IN the movie. These two are the easy frontrunners in a category with no real losers, but if I had to bet – it would be on Bullock.
…Oh, and NO Emma Thompson for Saving Mr. Banks? This thing is rigged.
BEST DIRECTOR
David O. Russell, “American Hustle”
Alfonso Cuaron, “Gravity”
Alexander Payne, “Nebraska”
Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave”
Martin Scorsese, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Russell did good work, but American Hustle is all about the performances. Payne is a favorite of the Academy, but they haven’t lost their minds just yet. Scorsese just hasn’t got enough people talking about Wolf to lunge him past the other two, who are the easy favorites. Also, the controversy Wall Street has garnered over its lead character hasn’t done the film any favors.
Cuaron created the most masterfully directed special effects opus of the year with Gravity. Period. You can throw all of your hobbits and giant robots into the mix if you want, but Cuaron gave you a film completely full of special effects…and made it feel REAL. Hell, people debated on the internet forever on the nonsensical point of how ‘Real’ a fictional space film was – That’s good direction.
In the other corner, you’ve got McQueen and 12 Years a Slave. Simply brave filmmaking. For a director to hang on shots like he does, to make you as uncomfortable as he does, that takes extreme confidence and skill. This is the complete opposite of a film like Gravity, but this is the category I believe 12 Years has the best chance of winning. Don’t be too surprised if McQueen wins here, and Hustle or Gravity take home the Best Picture honors.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave”
Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle”
June Squibb, “Nebraska”
Julia Roberts, “August: Osage County”
Sally Hawkins, “Blue Jasmine”
Nyong’o was simply amazing, but she’s a first-time nominee and unfortunately that often plays a part. Squibb, Roberts and Hawkins are not getting much talk amongst them in other circles, though their nominations are well-deserved.
Wonderful actresses, and Lawrence won last year. Doesn’t matter. She’s just that awesome. Lawrence wins again. Nuff said.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Barkhad Abdi, “Captain Phillips”
Bradley Cooper, “American Hustle”
Michael Fassbender, “12 Years a Slave”
Jonah Hill, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”
Abdi did good work, also has first-time nominee syndrome. He also just did not take the screen away from his lead, Tom Hanks, to win this one. Hill and Cooper are Academy favorites, but neither is winning in any other circles so don’t expect it here. Cooper still looks surprised to even be invited, I think that says enough about his nomination right there.
Jared Leto might look good in drag, but this award is Fassbender’s to lose. Like I said earlier, the Golden Globes are a much different beast from the Oscars, and Fassbender’s performance of a sadistic slave owner is firmly in their wheelhouse. Look for Magneto on the big stage come Oscar night, and Leto will have to keep his mascara in check.
BEST ANIMATED FILM
“The Croods”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Ernest & Celestine”
“Frozen”
“The Wind Rises”
Here is the last category we’ll talk about. And it’s a toss-up between Despicable Me 2 and Frozen. Frozen might look like the easy winner, but DM2 just has more of an adult following. Look for minions to steal this one from Mr. Disney. And then Frozen filmmakers will just have to…wait for iiiiiiit…Let it go.
And with that, here are the remainder of the nominees for this year’s Academy Awards. Airing March 2nd on ABC:
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“American Hustle”
“Blue Jasmine”
“Her”
“Nebraska”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“Before Midnight”
“Captain Phillips”
“Philomena”
“12 Years a Slave”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“The Grandmaster”
“Gravity”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Nebraska”
“Prisoners”
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Michael Wilkinson, “American Hustle”
William Chang Suk Ping, “The Grandmaster”
Catherine Martin, “The Great Gatsby”
Michael O’Connor, “The Invisible Woman”
Patricia Norris, “12 Years a Slave”
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“The Act of Killing”Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
“Cutie and the Boxer” Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher
“Dirty Wars” Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill
“The Square” Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer
“20 Feet from Stardom” Nominees to be determined
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
“CaveDigger” Jeffrey Karoff
“Facing Fear” Jason Cohen
“Karama Has No Walls” Sara Ishaq
“The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life” Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed
“Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall” Edgar Barens
BEST FILM EDITING
“American Hustle” Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten
“Captain Phillips” Christopher Rouse
“Dallas Buyers Club” John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa
“Gravity” Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger
“12 Years a Slave” Joe Walker
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“The Broken Circle Breakdown” Belgium
“The Great Beauty” Italy
“The Hunt” Denmark
“The Missing Picture” Cambodia
“Omar” Palestine
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
“Dallas Buyers Club” Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews
“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” Stephen Prouty
“The Lone Ranger” Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
John Williams, “The Book Thief”
Steven Price, “Gravity”
William Butler and Owen Pallett, “Her”
Alexandre Desplat, “Philomena”
Thomas Newman, “Saving Mr. Banks”
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Alone Yet Not Alone” from “Alone Yet Not Alone”
Music by Bruce Broughton; Lyric by Dennis Spiegel
“Happy” from “Despicable Me 2”
Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams
“Let It Go” from “Frozen”
Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
“The Moon Song” from “Her”
Music by Karen O; Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze
“Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”
Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen; Lyric by Paul Hewson
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
“American Hustle”
Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Heather Loeffler
“Gravity”
Production Design: Andy Nicholson; Set Decoration: Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard
“The Great Gatsby”
Production Design: Catherine Martin; Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn
“Her”
Production Design: K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena
“12 Years a Slave”
Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Alice Baker
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
“Feral” Daniel Sousa and Dan Golden
“Get a Horse!” Lauren MacMullan and Dorothy McKim
“Mr. Hublot” Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares
“Possessions” Shuhei Morita
“Room on the Broom” Max Lang and Jan Lachauer
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
“Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)” Esteban Crespo
“Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything)” Xavier Legrand and Alexandre Gavras
“Helium” Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson
“Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)” Selma Vilhunen and Kirsikka Saari
“The Voorman Problem” Mark Gill and Baldwin Li
BEST SOUND EDITING
“All Is Lost” Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns
“Captain Phillips” Oliver Tarney
“Gravity” Glenn Freemantle
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Brent Burge
“Lone Survivor” Wylie Stateman
BEST SOUND MIXING
“Captain Phillips” Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro
“Gravity” Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson
“Inside Llewyn Davis” Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
“Lone Survivor” Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
“Gravity” Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds
“Iron Man 3” Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick
“The Lone Ranger” Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier
“Star Trek Into Darkness” Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton
Aaron Peterson
The Hollywood Outsider
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