Who Will Win, Who Deserves to Win, Who Was Snubbed
As we close in on Oscar night, the biggest buzz in the Best Picture category is for 12 Years a Slave. Even with that buzz, it could be one of those rare years when the Best director award goes to another film, in this case Gravity. I expect to see 12 Years a Slave only picking up three Oscars overall and Gravity taking seven of them.
As an elaborate historical drama, 12 Years a Slave is the kind of film the Oscar voters love to recognize. Looking back over previous years, we have seen this happen a number of times. Just think about The King’s Speech, Gladiator, Shakespeare in Love, Titanic, The English Patient, Schindler’s List, Driving Miss Daisy, The Last Emperor, Amadeus and Out of Africa. And there are many others. It doesn’t hurt of course that the Academy is generally impressed by English accent and 12 Years a Slave is a British production.
This is my Oscar prediction list for 2014. And as well as forecasting who the winners will be, I also have the suggestion which nominees in each category I think you are a sweet the most deserving, having watched and critiqued all of them.
The Academy almost always overlooks a few group performances and my list below also points out some of those that I think should have been nominated but were not.
The 86th Academy Awards air live on ABC Sunday, March 2nd at 8:30 PM ET/5:30 PM PT, and this year’s host is Ellen DeGeneres.
Best Picture
Will Win: 12 Years a Slave
Deserves to Win: 12 Years a Slave
Overlooked: The Butler
Best Director
Will Win: Alphonso Cuaron (Gravity)
Deserves to Win: Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)
Overlooked: Lee Daniels (The Butler)
Best Actor
Will Win: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
Deserves to Win: Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
Overlooked: Forest Whitaker (The Butler)
Best Actress
Will Win: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Deserves to Win: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Overlooked: Sharni Vinson (You’re Next)
Best Supporting Actor
Will Win: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Deserves to Win: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Overlooked: Harrison Ford (42)
Best Supporting Actress
Will Win: Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
Deserves to Win: Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
Overlooked: Maria Bello (Prisoners)
Best Original Screenplay:
Will Win: Spike Jonze (Her)
Deserves to Win: David O. Russell and Eric Warren Singer (American Hustle)
Overlooked: Aaron Guzikowski (Prisoners)
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Will Win: John Ridley (12 Years a Slave)
Deserves to Win: John Ridley (12 Years a Slave)
Overlooked: Danny Strong (The Butler)
Predictions for Secondary Categories
Animated Feature: Frozen
Foreign Language Film: The Great Beauty (Italy)
Documentary Feature: 20 Feet from Stardom
Cinematography: Gravity
Costume Design: The Great Gatsby
Production Design: The Great Gatsby
Film Editing: Gravity
Makeup and Hairstyling: Dallas Buyers Club
Original Score: Gravity
Best Song: Let It Go (Frozen)
Sound Editing: Gravity
Sound Mixing: Gravity
Visual Effects: Gravity