Thursday, February 27, 2014

Oscar Preview (Jacqui Edition)

Well it’s that time of year again (and I need to procrastinate on studying for biology).  This year has been one of those really rare but every movie nominated is really amazing.  I am not going to lie, trying to decide which will win and why is a challenge. I can point almost any movie with nominations and say why I think it will win. Like last year, I will give my choice for what I think SHOULD win and what I think WILL win.

Well here goes nothing….



·        
Best Actor in a Leading Role
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)


Blah Blah Blah, its Leo’s year. Blah Blah it’s the revival of McConaughey, its a MCCONAISSANCE.  Both is about all I have heard and read for the past few months. My choice here is pretty simple: Chiwetel Ejiofor. While I give credit to Matt and Christian for their bodily sacrifices, Chiwetel Ejiofor performance was just too good. Throughout 12 Years A Slave, his performance was the center of the ever-changing cast.  He didn’t exactly have an ensemble to support him throughout his journey. It was him versus everyone trying to hurt him (except Benedict Cumberbatch).   

(that being said, Robert Redford got snubbed here for his one man movie)





Best Actress in a Leading Role


Amy Adams (American Hustle)
Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
Judi Dench (Philomena)
Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)

Another year, another Meryl nod. This category is tough for me. I want to go with Amy Adams but Judi Dench was Judi Dench. Philomena is another one of those movies that is a tear jerker that makes you think about a time not so long ago where women were discriminated against for shared behavior. She was the light in this movie.

Amy sorry, Jennifer Lawrence out did you.

 
Best Actor in a Supporting Role

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)
Jared Leto. Do I need to say anymore? His performance in Dallas Buyers Club was just wow.  Just the way he was able to fully embody Rayon and her struggle in a world where she is beyond an oddity. Jared Leto is always believable in his roles and he makes sparse appearances as an actor these days. Lets give him this one.

Second to him is Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave).  I have loved Mr. Fassbender for a long time. He is one of those actors that loves to play characters who are evil and not looking for redemption. I just hope he gets a statue soon.


Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine)
Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)
Julia Roberts (August: Osage County)
June Squibb (Nebraska)
Jennifer Lawrence. I don’t need a reason. She played beyond her years. Delightfully manipulative and perfect Long Island Italian meets trailer white trash.

Honorable mention does go to Lupita though. Again, just a robust performance in what would have otherwise been a one-man show.
Best Animated Feature
The Croods (Chris Sanders, Kirk DeMicco, Kristine Belson)
Despicable Me 2 (Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin, Chris Meledandri)
Ernest & Celestine (Benjamin Renner, Didier Brunner)
Frozen (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Peter Del Vecho)
The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki)
Frozen.  Great movie and awesome to see Disney/Pixar return to its musical animated roots.

The Wind Rises was also amazing. Not a kids movie by any stretch of the imagination but really well done. Its also most like Miyazaki’s last movie. So you never know with those academy people.
Best Cinematography

The Grandmaster (Philippe Le Sourd)
Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki)
Inside Llewyn Davis (Bruno Delbonnel)
Nebraska (Phedon Papamichael)
Prisoners (Roger A. Deakins)
Gravity. Done. Cauron is always known for his work with Le Sourd.


Best Costume Design

American Hustle (Michael Wilkinson)
The Grandmaster (William Chang Suk Ping)
The Great Gatsby (Catherine Martin)
The Invisible Woman (Michael O'Connor)
12 Years a Slave (Patricia Norris)
Again this is a tough one. I have a thing for period costume and this year there was way too many well done costume dramas (Ask Gerard).

This is a crapshoot.. so I am going to go with the dark horse, “The Great Gatsby”. 
Best Directing
American Hustle (David O. Russell)
Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón)
Nebraska (Alexander Payne)
12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen)
The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese)
This is another one of those tough ones.  I just flipped a coin between Cuaron and Russell. Cuaron won out. Gravity
Best Documentary Feature
The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, Signe Byrge Sørensen)
Cutie and the Boxer (Zachary Heinzerling, Lydia Dean Pilcher)
Dirty Wars (Richard Rowley, Jeremy Scahill)
The Square (Jehane Noujaim, Karim Amer)
20 Feet from Stardom (Nominees to be determined)
Hard Choice.. 20 Feet from Stardom and The Square were both amazing. But I have a feeling the academy members may go for 20 Feet.
Best Documentary Short

CaveDigger (Jeffrey Karoff)
Facing Fear (Jason Cohen)
Karama Has No Walls (Sara Ishaq)
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life (Malcolm Clarke, Nicholas Reed)
The Lady in Number 6 was in the news during the Oscar voting because its “star” passed away. If not for that, I would go with Cave Digger



Best Film Editing
American Hustle (Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers, Alan Baumgarten)
Captain Phillips (Christopher Rouse)
Dallas Buyers Club (John Mac McMurphy, Martin Pensa)
Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger)
12 Years a Slave (Joe Walker)
Gravity.
Best Foreign Language Film
The Hunt (Denmark)
The Missing Picture (Cambodia)
Omar (Palestine)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Dallas Buyers Club (Adruitha Lee, Robin Mathews)
The Lone Ranger (Joel Harlow, Gloria Pasqua-Casny)
Best Original Score
The Book Thief (John Williams)
Gravity (Steven Price)
Her (William Butler, Owen Pallett)
Philomena (Alexandre Desplat)
Saving Mr. Banks (Thomas Newman)
Best Original Song
Happy (Despicable Me 2)
Let It Go (Frozen)
Ordinary Love (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)
For the first time in a long time, Disney used its immense vault of Broadway talent to bring a story to life. I wish this could get more than two nominations along with some recognition for the Lopezs.
Best Production Design
American Hustle (Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler)
Gravity (Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin, Joanne Woollard)
The Great Gatsby (Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn)
Her (K.K. Barrett, Gene Serdena)
12 Years a Slave (Adam Stockhausen, Alice Baker)
Best Visual Effects
Gravity (Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, Neil Corbould)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, Eric Reynolds)
Iron Man 3 (Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash, Dan Sudick)
The Lone Ranger (Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams, John Frazier)
Star Trek Into Darkness (Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann, Burt Dalton)
Gravity out of pity. Though I believe Hobbit is the real winner here.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke)
Captain Phillips (Billy Ray)
Philomena (Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope)
12 Years a Slave (John Ridley)
The Wolf of Wall Street (Terence Winter)
I think both 12 Years and Philomena were amazing. Going to be tough.
Best Original Screenplay
American Hustle (Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell)
Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen)
Dallas Buyers Club (Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack)
Her (Spike Jonze)
Nebraska (Bob Nelson)
Her won't get much Oscar night. Its one of the most original movies I have seen in a long time. We'll see this movie become more relevant as time goes on.
Best Picture
ARG!!!!!!!! This is so tough! There are three movies that I really think were just that good this year: Dallas Buyers Club, 12 Years a Slave and Her.
I am going with 12 Years (see my review). But honestly this year is one of those years when any of the nominated movies could win and I could accept it (ok except Wolf of Wall Street).


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