Obviously I love movies! This is the first year that I actually watched all of the nominees for best picture (before the awards, and down to the wire) as well as performances for the top acting awards. This was a much harder task than it would have been a few years ago since now they nominate between 9 and 10 awards each year (used to be 5, which is a much more reasonable watching goal!)
The one problem that I already have with this years nominations, is the fact that Lee Daniels' The Butler was not nominated for anything!! I thought that movie was one of the best movies I had ever seen. Every human emotion you can have, I had while watching the movie.
With that being said - here are my predictions:
Best Picture:
I'm going to have a few "I can't choose" throughout this post. For best picture, I can't decide between 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle. I'm leaning towards American Hustle because I was so into the movie while I was watching it. However, I thought that both were outstanding movies. They a both based on true stories (which I think makes them better!), but for entertaining purposes, I think American Hustle just edges out 12 Years by a smidgen. I wouldn't be surprised if either wins.
As for the other nominees....I thought "her" was absolutely dreadful. I couldn't even finish it. I ended up reading a synopsis for it online, and did not regret my decision to stop watching it. I know you need to be able to suspend your disbelief for movies - but maybe I'm getting old, because I thought this was ludicrous! However, I think Nebraska could be a dark horse in this competition. It was a great movie...the cast was superb in their own roles and the story line seemed to be a fresh take on "crazy old dad".
Dallas Buyers Club, Captain Phillips, and Philomena were all good movies (and all based on true stories!!), but they would not get my vote for best picture.
The Wolf of Wall Street (boats - based on a true story), was an okay movie, but I'm not quite sure why it was nominated for BP. I guess since I watched it after the nominations were released that I was expecting more from it, which ended up leaving me underwhelmed. Lastly, Gravity was a stunningly beautiful movie, pushing the limits of special effects, but I wouldn't volunteer to watch it again.
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)
I think everyone but Leo could take this award. I'd say it's going to be a close race between Ejiofor and McConaughey. If I had to pick (which I'm making myself) I'm going with McConaughey.
Amy Adams (American Hustle)
Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
Judi Dench (Philomena)
Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
I'm going to bump this down between two again. Blanchett and Streep both played extremely complex roles and sold them perfectly. Again - wouldn't be surprised if Adams or Dench take it. (Bullock didn't really impress me). My choice to win is Meryl. It will most likely always be Meryl.
Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)
Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)
Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Salve)
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
All of these rolls were played well. Abdi was convincing (and a newcomer!), Cooper played crazy like Cooper does - well. Hill was a sleazy stockbroker and one of the best roles I've seen him in. Fassbender took on an extremely difficult role, and did a fantastical job at it. But in my mind, Leto wins. Even if he doesn't win, he wins. Leto's first role in 6+ years, and it was a brilliant performance.
Best Supporting Actress:
Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine)
Julia Roberts (August: Osage County
Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)
Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
June Squibb (Nebraska)
This is another hard category. Each of the roles was done extremely well. I would not be surprised if any of the nominees takes Oscar home, but my vote goes to Nyong'o. She poured her heart and soul into this role, and in my mind, was an extremely intricate part to the movie. I'm excited to see future roles that she takes on!
Best Director:
Alfonso Cuarรณn (Gravity)
Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)
David O. Russell (American Hustle)
Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Alexander Payne (Nebraska)
How does one choose best director? I'd say that it's about who takes a screenplay and makes the most out of the movie. I'm stuck between McQueen, Russell, and Payne. All three movies were captivating, and something I would watch again. My vote would have to go to McQueen. He took an extremely hard subject, and kept it that way: hard and real.
The rest, I'll just give you my choices, some of which will be based on names since I'm not sure how to judge them.
Best Screenplay made directly for Screen:
Nebraska - Bob Nelson
Best Screenplay based on previously written material:
12 Years a Slave - John Ridley
Best Animated Feature:
Frozen
Best Foreign Language Film:
The Great Beauty - Italy (like the title)
Cinematography:
Gravity - Emmanuel Lubezki
Editing:
12 Years a Slave - Joe Walker
Production Design:
12 Years a Slave - Adam Sockhausen & Alice Baker
Costume Design:
American Hustle - Michael Wilkinson
Makeup and Hairstyling:
Dallas Buyers Club - Adruitha Lee & Robin Matthews
Original Score:
Philomena - Alexandre Desplat
Original Song:
Frozen - Let It Go - Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez
Sound Mixing:
Inside Llewyn Davis - Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff & Peter F. Kurland
Sound Editing:
Lone Survivor - Wylie Stateman
Visual Effects:
Gravity - Timothy Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk & Neil Corbould
Documentary: Feature:
Cutie and the Boxer - Zachary Heinzerling & Lydia Dean Pilcher
Documentary: Short Subject:
Facing Fear - Jason Cohen
Short Film: Animated:
Feral - Daniel Sousa & Dan Golden
Short Film: Live Action:
Just Before Losing Everything - Xavier Legrand
So there's my obscenely long post about who I think (or more like who I would vote for) will win an Oscar this evening. No matter what, I'm excited for Ellen to host.
For a complete list of nominees visit here!!!!!!
So do you agree with any of my predictions, or vehemently disagree with any?? Let me know your thoughts :)
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