Nominations. Snubs. Predictions – The OSCARS 2014

While many of the big named films are currently reaping in the benefits of award recognition and indeed many wins, there are always those that are shamefully overlooked; something the Academy is notorious for doing.

Debatably perhaps this is snobbery, or a money issue? Perhaps only the films with a bigger advertisement budget have more of a chance, while the voting members only take into consideration the ‘serious’ films made by previous alumni winners (with the few exceptions of course)?

Either way, when the list of Oscar nominations was read out at the end of January (by no other than Thor himself Chris Hemsworth), this year in particular there were many very strange absences from the list.

Here is a list of the top category nominations, the upsets and the predicted winners of the 86^th Academy Awards 2014:

BEST PICTURE:

This year the Best film category was predictably pretty straight forward, though only 9 out of a possible 10 films were nominated. That final slot could have so easily been taken by many a great film this year. So far in the award season, it’s been a three-legged race between 12 Years A Slave, Gravity and American Hustle. While American Hustle has strong performances, Gravity has the best visual impact while 12 years A Slave has the most gripping and emotional story.

NOMINEES:

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Nebraska

Philomena

12 Years A Slave

The Wolf Of Wall Street

PREDICTED WINNER:

12 Years A Slave

Taking a true autobiography and turning it into a deeply moving and tragic tale depicting a very serious subject, 12 years a Slave has done immensely well so far, and even picked up Best Picture at The Baftas.

SNUBS:

Inside Llewyn Davis

Ethan and Joel Coen have produced a beautiful melancholy feature in Inside Llewyn Davis, with some stand out performances, gorgeous music and sweeping dark cinematography. This is the biggest upset, and a surprise seeing as the Coen films have been Oscar favourites in the past.

Saving Mr Banks

This charming and delightful story retelling the time Mary Poppins creator PL Travers succumbed to Walt Disney’s determination to turn her beloved book into a fantasy musical. Wonderful and funny performances from the entire cast, but most notably Emma Thompson as the infamous British battle-axe this picture is perhaps too light for the Academy’s heavy-favourite storylines.

Rush

Ron Howard’s masterpiece about Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda battling it out to the finish line is anything but boring. Fast and furious to the end, it’s a brilliant and entertaining rush of a ride!

Other notable films this year: 
Labor Day, Blue Is The Warmest Colour, Blue Jasmine, Sunshine on Leith, The Kings Of Summer, A Field in England.

BEST ACTOR

All the performances nominated this year are terrific and deservedly recognised. It’s especially wonderful to see long standing respected actor Bruce Dern in there for his beautiful performance in Nebraska. However it’s a very close race this year, any one of them could pick up the award.

NOMINEES:

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)

PREDICTED WINNER:

Matthew McConaughey

As previously said, its a very close race this year with Ejiofor a firm favourite too, but McConaughey is currently the talk of the town starring as AID’s-stricken Ron Woodroof. The Academy loves an actor who uses weight loss for enhance their performance.

SNUBS:

Tom Hanks – (Captain Phillips)

This is perhaps the biggest upset at the Academy this year, and it’s with total astonishment that Hanks hasn’t received a nomination for one of the stand out performances of his career as the titular Captain Phillips. His final scene alone in the film is heart-breaking beyond measure.

Idris Elba – (Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom)

Director Justin Chadwick’s first choice to play the role, and even Mandela himself said he didn’t realise some scenes in the film WEREN’T him, Elba’s performance is spot on and perfectly executed in this well earned leading role. The voice is eerily accurate.

Oscar Isaac – (Inside Llewyn Davis)

Although his character has unlikable tendencies, it’s because of Isaac’s funny but soulful performance that means we care about what happens to the character of down and out singer songwriter Llewyn. Though the film itself has had mixed reactions, his performance is undeniably wonderful.

Robert Redford – (All Is Lost)

Redford carries this film alone, starring as a resourceful sailor who battles against Mother Nature when a collision at sea leaves him stranded in a waterlogged boat. It’s one of Redford’s best performances and the highlight of his career. The film didn’t garner a wide enough release so not enough people got the chance to see it.

Other notable performances this year: 
Michael Douglas – (Inside the Candelabra), Forest Whitaker (Lee Daniel’s The Butler), Daniel Bruhl (Rush), Tom Hanks (Saving Mr Banks), Joaquin Pheonix (Her).

BEST ACTRESS

A con-mans muse, a repressed bankrupt wife, a guilt-ridden mother, an alcoholic matriarch and a medical engineer stuck in space. It’s an eclectic group of characters that make up the Best Actress category this year, but it’s also a pretty predictable list at that.

Though it’s been regularly suggested and publicised that one actress in particular is leading the race bets, the Oscar’s are known for occasionally throwing a surprise spanner in the works.

NOMINEES:

Amy Adams – (American Hustle)

Cate Blanchett – (Blue Jasmine)

Sandra Bullock – (Gravity)

Judi Dench – (Philomena)

Meryl Streep – (August: Osage County)

PREDICTED WINNER:

Cate Blanchett

Bullock is very closely behind, but she picked up the Best Actress award a few years back for The Blind Side. Blanchett is no stranger to nominations, but this would be her first leading actress award if she wins. There was a lot of controversy when Gwyneth Paltrow took the statue for her role in Shakespeare In Love over Blanchett’s Elizabeth in 1998. She has however previously won a Supporting Oscar for her role as Katherine Hepburn in 2004’s The Aviator. Last week she picked up Best Actress at The Baftas.

SNUBS:

Emma Thompson - (Saving Mr Banks)

Playing Mary Poppins creator PL Travers, her performance is spot on and beautifully comedic and tragic at the same time. Bringing energy and life into ‘as she was known’, a very difficult displeased and snobbish woman in real life, Thomson shines and makes a character who on the surface is very unlikable engaging and witty. A career highlight for the ever wonderful Thompson, and a charming film at that.

Oprah Winfrey - (Lee Daniel’s The Butler)

Spanning the three decades observed by one servant working at the Whitehouse, The Butler was not universally well received as expected, however one of the greatest performances in that film belongs to Winfrey as Cecil’s suffering alcoholic wife.

Adele Exarchopoulos - (Blue Is The Warmest Colour)

Seydoux gives starling performances in a very controversial film, which has itself been left off the Best Foreign Film nominations purely because it narrowly missed the deadline for the Academy’s strict date cut-off. A raw, passionate and pure performance from this up-and-coming fresh faced actress, and one who thoroughly deserves to be on this list.

Other notable performances this year: 
Kate Winslet (Labor day), Carey Mulligan (Inside Llewyn Davis), Lea Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Colour).

BEST DIRECTOR:

NOMINEES:

David O. Russell – (American Hustle)

Alfonso Cuaron – (Gravity)

Alexanda Payne – (Nebraska)

Steve McQueen – (12 Years A Slave)

Martin Scorsese – (The Wolf Of Wall Street)

PREDICTED WINNER:

Alfonso Cuaron - (Gravity)

It’s a two-way battle this year between McQueen and Cuaron. Both beautiful feature films with an incredible team behind the scenes. It’s also notable that both these directors have strong British influences, McQueen being British himself, while the native Spanish director Cuaron has become an adopted Brit embracing living and working in UK. Gravity was shot almost entirely at Shepperton studios.

SNUBS:

Paul Greengrass – (Captain Phillips)

A masterclass in filmmaking and storytelling, and shot out on location at sea proved a traumatic experience for several of the cast and crew which goes to show the lengths Greengrass goes to portray a realistic and true depiction of what happened to Phillips that day. A superb piece of filmmaking, it’s a disgrace he’s not on this list.

Ron Howard – (Rush)

A fast paced thriller with superb cinematography. Only a skilled director can take a subject that may not be universally embraced by all and create a not-to-miss fantastical experience with some edge of your seat moments and brilliant performances.

Joel and Ethan Coen – (Inside Llewyn Davis)

Perhaps the film was a little too dark and soulful for the Acaedmy’s taste, but the film is a beautifully shot masterpiece from the Coen Brothers, stunning music and gorgeous landscapes. It’s really sad they’ve been snubbed in many of the catagories this year at the Oscars.

Other notable directorial work:  

J.C Chandor (All Is Lost), Ralph Fiennes (The Invisible Woman), Stephen Frears (Philomena), Abdellatif Kechiche (Blue Is The Warmest Colour).

OTHER PREDICTIONS:

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Jarod Leito – (Dallas Buyers Club)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Lupita Nyong’O – (12 Years A Slave)

BEST ANIMATION:

Frozen - (Disney)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPGHY:

Gravity – (Emmanuel Lubezki)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:

Gravity – (Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk and Neil Corbould)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

The Great Beauty - (Italy)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

12 Years A Slave – (John Ridley)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY 

American Hustle - (Eric Warren Singer and David. O. Russell)

The 86th Academy Awards will be broadcast in the UK on Sky Movies Channel on Sunday 2nd March 2014, and is hosted this year by Ellen De Generes. In the USA it will be braodcast on ABC.