Even though the Oscars are months away, we're around the time where things start buzzing and speculation ramps up. This year, the 86th Academy Awards will be hosted by Ellen DeGeneres and take place on March 2, 2014 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California as well as broadcast by ABC.
This post will be updated with the full list of nominees, predictions, and eventual results of the winners. In the meantime, please tell us your predictions and let us know which movies you're hoping will walk away with an Oscar.
BEST PICTURE
NOMINEES: 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, Dallas Buyers Club, The Wolf of Wall Street
PREDICTION: 12 Years a Slave. It just seems like it's the main film everyone is talking about and that the subject matter is irresistible to voters.
RESULT: 12 Years a Slave
BEST ACTOR
NOMINEES: Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Christian Bale (American Hustle), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street), Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club), Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
PREDICTION: Chiwetel Ejiofor. Bale and DiCaprio were "safe bet" people to put on the list to round it out. McConaughey was the instance of someone being told they did much more than expected of them and have improved. Bruce Dern is the recognition of an old actor. Ejiofor ends up taking it home because they simply liked his performance the best.
RESULT: Matthew McConaughey
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
NOMINEES: Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave), Bradley Cooper (American Hustle), Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), Jonah Hill (Wolf of Wall Street)
PREDICTION: Jared Leto. It assuredly won't go to Bradley Cooper. Jonah Hill has a chance, but I think he'll be overlooked.
RESULT: Jared Leto
BEST ACTRESS
NOMINEES: Amy Adams (American Hustle), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Sandra Bullock (Gravity), Judi Dench (Philomena), Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
PREDICTION: Cate Blanchett. The list is filled with expected names and seeing as how Blue Jasmine doesn't show up a lot in this list of films nominated for other categories just points out that they probably valued her performance quite a bit.
RESULT: Cate Blanchett
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
NOMINEES: Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave), Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle), Julia Roberts (August: Osage County), June Squibb (Nebraska), Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine)
PREDICTION: Lupita Nyong'o. She's all anyone can talk about.
RESULT: Lupita Nyong'o
BEST DIRECTOR
NOMINEES: Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), David O. Russell (American Hustle), Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity), Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street), Alexander Payne (Nebraska)
PREDICTION: I'm torn between Steve McQueen and David O. Russell, but leaning toward McQueen. Originally, I thought Cuaron would win this, but I'm doubting that now.
RESULT: Alfonso Cuaron
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
NOMINEES: American Hustle, Blue Jasmine, Her, Nebraska, Dallas Buyers Club
PREDICTION: American Hustle
RESULT: Her
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
NOMINEES: 12 Years a Slave, Before Midnight, Captain Phillips, Philomena, The Wolf of Wall Street
PREDICTION: 12 Years a Slave
RESULT: 12 Years a Slave
BEST FILM EDITING
NOMINEES: American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, 12 Years a Slave
PREDICTION: Gravity
RESULT: Gravity
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
NOMINEES: Gravity, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Iron Man 3, The Lone Ranger, Star Trek Into Darkness
PREDICTION: Gravity. I'm very surprised Pacific Rim didn't get on the list. I'm surprised that The Lone Ranger was put in here, but Man of Steel wasn't as well. I'm assuming Gravity will win because for all the effects that these other films incorporate, if you do something that stands out as different (instead of just "generic comic book style action movie effects"), that makes people value it more.
RESULT: Gravity
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
NOMINEES: The Grandmaster, Gravity, Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska, Prisoners
PREDICTION: Gravity
RESULT: Gravity
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
NOMINEES: American Hustle, Gravity, The Great Gatsby, Her, 12 Years a Slave
PREDICTION: American Hustle, though this is tough as I really think there's a good chance 12 Years a Slave gets this instead. It all depends on how much 12 Years is viewed as the story being the most significant thing or just the overall scope of the whole thing.
RESULT: The Great Gatsby
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
NOMINEES: American Hustle, The Grandmaster, The Great Gatsby, The Invisible Woman, 12 Years a Slave
PREDICTION: American Hustle
RESULT: The Great Gatsby
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
NOMINEES: Dallas Buyers Club, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, The Lone Ranger
PREDICTION: Dallas Buyers Club
RESULT: Dallas Buyers Club
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
NOMINEES: The Book Thief (John Williams), Gravity (Steven Price), Her (William Butler & Owen Pallett), Philomena (Alexandre Desplat), Saving Mr. Banks (Thomas Newman)
PREDICTION: Saving Mr. Banks stands out as a weird choice, so I'm going with that.
RESULT: Gravity (Steven Price)
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
NOMINEES: "Alone Yet Not Alone" (from Alone Yet Not Alone), "Happy" (from Despicable Me 2), "Let It Go" (from Frozen), "The Moon Song" (from Her), "Ordinary Love" (from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)
PREDICTION: Happy from Despicable Me 2
RESULT: "Let It Go" from Frozen
BEST SOUND EDITING
NOMINEES: All is Lost, Captain Phillips, Gravity, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Lone Survivor
PREDICTION: Gravity
RESULT: Gravity
BEST SOUND MIXING
NOMINEES: Captain Phillips, Gravity, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Inside Llewyn Davis, Lone Survivor
PREDICTION: Gravity
RESULT: Gravity
BEST ANIMATED FILM
NOMINEES: The Croods, Despicable Me 2, Ernest & Celestine, Frozen, The Wind Rises
PREDICTION: Frozen
RESULT: Frozen
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
NOMINEES: Feral, Get a Horse!, Mr. Hublot, Possessions, Room on the Broom
PREDICTION: I never bother to guess these as I've never seen any of them and know nothing about them. What do you think?
RESULT: Mr. Hublot
BEST DOCUMENTARY
NOMINEES: 20 Feet from Stardom, The Act of Killing, The Square, Cutie and the Boxer, Dirty Wars
PREDICTION: I never bother to guess these as I've never seen any of them and know nothing about them. What do you think?
RESULT: 20 Feet from Stardom
BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)
NOMINEES: CaveDigger, Facing Fear, Karama Has No Walls, The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life, Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall
PREDICTION: I never bother to guess these as I've never seen any of them and know nothing about them. What do you think?
RESULT: The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
NOMINEES: The Broken Circle Breakdown, The Great Beauty, The Hunt, The Missing Picture, Omar
PREDICTION: I never bother to guess these as I've never seen any of them and know nothing about them. What do you think?
RESULT: The Great Beauty
BEST SHORT FILM
NOMINEES: Aquel No Era Yo, Avant Que De Tout Perdre, Helium, Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa?, The Voorman Problem
PREDICTION: I never bother to guess these as I've never seen any of them and know nothing about them. What do you think?
RESULT: Helium
More than any other year, I knew absolutely nothing about 99% of these films when the nominations were announced. They all seemed like bland Oscar bait and nothing more, really. Now that I've watched a few, I can see why some of them were nominated, but I still think this was a rather weak year for films. This trend of making a big fuss about the same 6 movies that come out of the blue, only to be completely forgotten by next year has to end. Who is talking about The Artist now? How many people are putting The King's Speech on their list of the best films of all time? But as I said, this was a weak year for films and I can't even think of other options that should have taken the spots of the nominees.
This post will be updated with the full list of nominees, predictions, and eventual results of the winners. In the meantime, please tell us your predictions and let us know which movies you're hoping will walk away with an Oscar.
BEST PICTURE
NOMINEES: 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, Dallas Buyers Club, The Wolf of Wall Street
PREDICTION: 12 Years a Slave. It just seems like it's the main film everyone is talking about and that the subject matter is irresistible to voters.
RESULT: 12 Years a Slave
BEST ACTOR
NOMINEES: Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Christian Bale (American Hustle), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street), Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club), Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
PREDICTION: Chiwetel Ejiofor. Bale and DiCaprio were "safe bet" people to put on the list to round it out. McConaughey was the instance of someone being told they did much more than expected of them and have improved. Bruce Dern is the recognition of an old actor. Ejiofor ends up taking it home because they simply liked his performance the best.
RESULT: Matthew McConaughey
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
NOMINEES: Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave), Bradley Cooper (American Hustle), Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), Jonah Hill (Wolf of Wall Street)
PREDICTION: Jared Leto. It assuredly won't go to Bradley Cooper. Jonah Hill has a chance, but I think he'll be overlooked.
RESULT: Jared Leto
BEST ACTRESS
NOMINEES: Amy Adams (American Hustle), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Sandra Bullock (Gravity), Judi Dench (Philomena), Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
PREDICTION: Cate Blanchett. The list is filled with expected names and seeing as how Blue Jasmine doesn't show up a lot in this list of films nominated for other categories just points out that they probably valued her performance quite a bit.
RESULT: Cate Blanchett
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
NOMINEES: Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave), Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle), Julia Roberts (August: Osage County), June Squibb (Nebraska), Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine)
PREDICTION: Lupita Nyong'o. She's all anyone can talk about.
RESULT: Lupita Nyong'o
BEST DIRECTOR
NOMINEES: Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), David O. Russell (American Hustle), Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity), Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street), Alexander Payne (Nebraska)
PREDICTION: I'm torn between Steve McQueen and David O. Russell, but leaning toward McQueen. Originally, I thought Cuaron would win this, but I'm doubting that now.
RESULT: Alfonso Cuaron
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
NOMINEES: American Hustle, Blue Jasmine, Her, Nebraska, Dallas Buyers Club
PREDICTION: American Hustle
RESULT: Her
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
NOMINEES: 12 Years a Slave, Before Midnight, Captain Phillips, Philomena, The Wolf of Wall Street
PREDICTION: 12 Years a Slave
RESULT: 12 Years a Slave
BEST FILM EDITING
NOMINEES: American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, 12 Years a Slave
PREDICTION: Gravity
RESULT: Gravity
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
NOMINEES: Gravity, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Iron Man 3, The Lone Ranger, Star Trek Into Darkness
PREDICTION: Gravity. I'm very surprised Pacific Rim didn't get on the list. I'm surprised that The Lone Ranger was put in here, but Man of Steel wasn't as well. I'm assuming Gravity will win because for all the effects that these other films incorporate, if you do something that stands out as different (instead of just "generic comic book style action movie effects"), that makes people value it more.
RESULT: Gravity
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
NOMINEES: The Grandmaster, Gravity, Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska, Prisoners
PREDICTION: Gravity
RESULT: Gravity
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
NOMINEES: American Hustle, Gravity, The Great Gatsby, Her, 12 Years a Slave
PREDICTION: American Hustle, though this is tough as I really think there's a good chance 12 Years a Slave gets this instead. It all depends on how much 12 Years is viewed as the story being the most significant thing or just the overall scope of the whole thing.
RESULT: The Great Gatsby
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
NOMINEES: American Hustle, The Grandmaster, The Great Gatsby, The Invisible Woman, 12 Years a Slave
PREDICTION: American Hustle
RESULT: The Great Gatsby
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
NOMINEES: Dallas Buyers Club, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, The Lone Ranger
PREDICTION: Dallas Buyers Club
RESULT: Dallas Buyers Club
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
NOMINEES: The Book Thief (John Williams), Gravity (Steven Price), Her (William Butler & Owen Pallett), Philomena (Alexandre Desplat), Saving Mr. Banks (Thomas Newman)
PREDICTION: Saving Mr. Banks stands out as a weird choice, so I'm going with that.
RESULT: Gravity (Steven Price)
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
NOMINEES: "Alone Yet Not Alone" (from Alone Yet Not Alone), "Happy" (from Despicable Me 2), "Let It Go" (from Frozen), "The Moon Song" (from Her), "Ordinary Love" (from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)
PREDICTION: Happy from Despicable Me 2
RESULT: "Let It Go" from Frozen
BEST SOUND EDITING
NOMINEES: All is Lost, Captain Phillips, Gravity, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Lone Survivor
PREDICTION: Gravity
RESULT: Gravity
BEST SOUND MIXING
NOMINEES: Captain Phillips, Gravity, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Inside Llewyn Davis, Lone Survivor
PREDICTION: Gravity
RESULT: Gravity
BEST ANIMATED FILM
NOMINEES: The Croods, Despicable Me 2, Ernest & Celestine, Frozen, The Wind Rises
PREDICTION: Frozen
RESULT: Frozen
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
NOMINEES: Feral, Get a Horse!, Mr. Hublot, Possessions, Room on the Broom
PREDICTION: I never bother to guess these as I've never seen any of them and know nothing about them. What do you think?
RESULT: Mr. Hublot
BEST DOCUMENTARY
NOMINEES: 20 Feet from Stardom, The Act of Killing, The Square, Cutie and the Boxer, Dirty Wars
PREDICTION: I never bother to guess these as I've never seen any of them and know nothing about them. What do you think?
RESULT: 20 Feet from Stardom
BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)
NOMINEES: CaveDigger, Facing Fear, Karama Has No Walls, The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life, Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall
PREDICTION: I never bother to guess these as I've never seen any of them and know nothing about them. What do you think?
RESULT: The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
NOMINEES: The Broken Circle Breakdown, The Great Beauty, The Hunt, The Missing Picture, Omar
PREDICTION: I never bother to guess these as I've never seen any of them and know nothing about them. What do you think?
RESULT: The Great Beauty
BEST SHORT FILM
NOMINEES: Aquel No Era Yo, Avant Que De Tout Perdre, Helium, Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa?, The Voorman Problem
PREDICTION: I never bother to guess these as I've never seen any of them and know nothing about them. What do you think?
RESULT: Helium
GENERAL OVERVIEW:
More than any other year, I knew absolutely nothing about 99% of these films when the nominations were announced. They all seemed like bland Oscar bait and nothing more, really. Now that I've watched a few, I can see why some of them were nominated, but I still think this was a rather weak year for films. This trend of making a big fuss about the same 6 movies that come out of the blue, only to be completely forgotten by next year has to end. Who is talking about The Artist now? How many people are putting The King's Speech on their list of the best films of all time? But as I said, this was a weak year for films and I can't even think of other options that should have taken the spots of the nominees.
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE WIN? TELL US YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!
