Best Picture
1) 12 Years A Slave
2) Gravity
3) American Hustle
4) Her
5) Captain Phillips
6) The Wolf Of Wall Street
7) Inside Llewyn Davis
8) Nebraska
9) Dallas Buyers Club
10) Saving Mr Banks
You have to pick films that people LOVE because that’s how the Best Picture voting works. You need TOP votes. Being the 4th or 5th favorite of the year won’t cut it. I think Saving Mr Banks is the weakest link here, but I’ll go all in and say it sneaks in a nomination. Philomena could steal its thunder though.
Best Actor:
1) Chiwetel Ejiofor- 12 Years A Slave
2) Matthew McConaughey- Dallas Buyers Club
3) Bruce Dern- Nebraska
4) Tom Hanks- Captain Phillips
5) Robert Redford- All Is Lost
Luckily for the 5 guys involved, Oscar voting ended a few weeks ago. If DiCaprio had been allowed even another week, we might be seeing him in the Top 5. If anyone upsets, it’ll be Dicaprio. I think Oscar Issac, Forest Whitaker, Christian Bale, and the others had a good run, but this was just a tight category.
Best Actress
1) Cate Blanchett- Blue Jasmine
2) Sandra Bullock- Gravity
3) Emma Thompson- Saving Mr Banks
4) Judi Dench- Philomena
5) Amy Adams- American Hustle
I’m going against the tide here. Many Oscar prognosticators are trying to decide if the 5th spot is Streep or Adams. Both actresses are beloved by everyone. I think more people saw American Hustle, and love Hustle. It’s hard to not nominate Adams, who basically carried that film.
Best Supporting Actor
1) Jared Leto- Dallas Buyers Club
2) Michael Fassbender- 12 Years A Slave
3) Barkhad Abdi- Captain Phillips
4) Bradley Cooper- American Hustle
5) James Gandolfini- Enough Said
I think Hanks is only getting one nomination this year. I think Gandolfini is a wild-card nomination, whose slot could go to either Tom Hanks, or in a longer shot, Daniel Bruhl. I’m banking that the love for Gandolfini carries him into a nomination.
Best Supporting Actress
1) Lupita N’Yongo- 12 Years A Slave
2) Jennifer Lawrence- American Hustle
3) June Squibb- Nebraska
4) Oprah Winfrey- The Butler
5) Sally Hawkins- Blue Jasmine
I’m basically predicting an August Osage blackout. I went with Sally Hawkins over Julia Roberts. There’s a slight chance that both Roberts and Hawkins make it in, and Winfrey is out. The other three ladies should be safe though.
Best Director:
1) Alfonso Cuaron- Gravity
2) Steve McQueen- 12 Years A Slave
3) David O’Russell- American Hustle
4) Martin Scorsese- The Wolf Of Wall Street
5) Spike Jonze- Her
I had Paul Greengrass in that final slot for the longest time, but the DGA nominations almost never 100% parallel the final nominations. I think Jonze could upset. The Coen Brothers could upset. Scorsese could be out, and Greengrass in. This is my pick.
Best Animated Feature:
1) Frozen
2) The Wind Rises
3) Despicable Me 2
4) The Croods
5) Monsters University
I don’t see there being a wild card here.
BEST DOCUMENTARY:
1) The Act Of Killing
2) Stories We Tell
3) Blackfish
4) 20 Feet From Stardom
5) Tim’s Vermeer
I feel good about these five.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
1) The Hunt
2) The Broken Circle Breakdown
3) The Great Beauty
4) The Grandmaster
5) Omar
I feel good about these five.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
1) Spike Jonze- Her
2) The Coen Brothers- Inside Llewyn Davis
3) Eric Singer and David O Russell- American Hustle
5) Bob Nelson- Nebraska
4) Woody Allen- Blue Jasmine
Maybe Ryan Coogler for Fruitvale Station. I don’t know who he would beat out though.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
1) John Ridley- 12 Years A Slave
4) Terrence Winter- The Wolf Of Wall Street
5) Steve Coogan- Philomena
2) Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, and Ethan Hawke- Before Midnight
3) Billy Ray- Captain Phillips
BEST EDITING
1) Gravity
2) 12 Years A Slave
3) The Great Gatsby
4) American Hustle
5) The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
1) Gravity
2) 12 Years A Slave
3) Inside Llewyn Davis
4) Captain Phillips
5) Nebraska
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
1) Gravity
2) 12 Years A Slave
3) The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
4) Nebraska
5) The Great Gatsby
BEST SOUND MIXING
1) Gravity
2) Iron Man 3
3) Star Trek: Into Darkness
4) Captain Phillips
5) Lone Survivor
SOUND EDITING
1) Gravity
2) Captain Phillips
3) Star Trek: Into Darkness
4) All Is Lost
5) Lone Survivor
COSTUME DESIGN
1) American Hustle
2) 12 Years A Slave
3) The Great Gatsby
4) Saving Mr Banks
5) Oz: The Great and Powerful
ORIGINAL SCORE
1) Gravity
2) 12 Years A Slave
3) Saving Mr Banks
4) All Is Lost
5) Frozen
ORIGINAL SONG
1) Let It Go from Frozen
2) My Lord Sunshine from 12 Years A Slave
3) Amen from All Is Lost
4) Atlas from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
5) The Moon Song from Her
BEST MAKEUP
1) American Hustle
2) The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
3) Dallas Buyers Club
VISUAL EFFECTS
1) Gravity
2) The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug
3) Pacific Rim
4) Iron Man 3
5) Star Trek Into Darkness
