It’s that time of year again. That special time of year when the film industry hands out awards to the films and players who they think were most deserving. Which almost always seems to be the movie you wished wouldn’t win any awards (I’m looking at you Shakespeare in Love over Saving Private Ryan). So sit back, relax, and set up your bracket with the following, completely biased, list of not who I think will win, but who I want to win.
Best Picture:
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street
Winner: 12 Years a Slave.
All right. I lied. The big award will be going to both who I want to win and who I think will win. 12 Years a Slave was an amazing movie, amongst a slew of amazing movies. But besides its incredible imagery, impeccable story, and fantastic acting, 12 Years a Slave has the added bonus of already winning the BAFTA. Which is always a very good indication of where the best picture Oscar will go. While the film does have its share of flaws, I believe academy voters will recognize its importance in film history.
Best Actor:
Christian Bale
Bruce Dern
Leonardo DiCaprio
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Matthew McConaughey
Winner: Chiwetel Ejiofor
This is a debatable one for a lot of people. But it can easily be narrowed down to three. Leonardo DiCaprio still hasn’t won an Oscar and eventually the academy will take notice, but not for Wolf of Wall Street. McConaughey is making waves for his dedication to the role and his weight loss. But this is Chiwetel’s to lose. His performance is both subtle at the quiet times and explosive in the loud ones. Watching him and Fassbender go back and forth is incredible. It’s about time he is recognized as one of the best actors around.
Best Actress:
Amy Adams
Cate Blanchett
Sandra Bullock
Judi Dench
Meryl Streep
Winner: Meryl Streep
Two times in three years for Meryl? Is it possible? Yes. Is it likely? No. This is between Dench, Blanchett, and Streep. And it’s probably going to go to Blanchett since she won the BAFTA for Blue Jasmine. But for anyone who saw Osage County there is a clear winner. Unless you saw Philomena. Streep was amazing as the drug addled matriarch of the worst family in existence and was certainly the standout female performance in an ensemble of great actors and actresses.
Best Supporting Actor:
Barkhad Abdi
Bradley Cooper
Michael Fassbender
Jonah Hill
Jared Leto
Winner: Jared Leto
Ouch. Rough decision here. Mostly because I have no idea who it could go to. But the biggest buzz seems to be coming from Leto’s direction. Everyone expects Fassbender to be good at what he does. Abdi is too new to the game (even if he did extremely well). And Cooper and Hill, well, we can safely say that their last Oscar nominated performances were better. So it goes to Leto, perhaps fueling a comeback. Or just cementing his popularity in flicks just outside the mainstream.
Best Supporting Actress:
Sally Hawkins
Jennifer Lawrence
Lupita Nyong’o
Julia Roberts
June Squibb
Winner: Lupita Nyong’o
This one’s not so cut and dry either. We’ve got some strong performances all around. The only one we can safely rule out at the start is Jennifer Lawrence. I especially loved Julia Roberts in Osage County. Very powerful. But Nyong’o has the benefit of starring in the film that’s going to win the Oscar this year. It doesn’t hurt that she also has a very powerful performance, going up against the likes of Ejiofor and Fassbender.
Best Director:
David O. Russell
Alfonso Cuarón
Alexander Payne
Steve McQueen
Martin Scorsese
Winner: Steve McQueen
Let’s face it. This battle is between two directors and two directors only. McQueen and Cuarón. Who have created both vastly different movies, which are both beautiful for the same reasons: incredible direction, awesome cinematography and great editing. But at the end of the day, McQueen was balancing more actors and less green screen. It doesn’t mean his job was any harder, but it does make it more impressive on his end then on the end of the company hired to do all the CGI.
OTHER AWARDS
Best Cinematography: Gravity
Best Animated Feature: Frozen
Best Visual Effects: Gravity
Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave
Best Original Screenplay: Her
Who do you think will take home the top prizes? Sound off in the comments, and someone explain to me why they haven’t thought of different names for Sound Mixing and Sound Editing so that they don’t sound so similar.
