The Oscars are finally upon us! It's time to celebrate a year in film with some of Hollywood's best and brightest. Highlighted this year are nine Best Picture nominees that embody just about every genre cinema has to offer. We've been treated to heartwarming films, tense thrillers, emotional dramas, a star studded crime caper, and the record for most uses of the F word in a mainstream film.
In the acting categories, there are a bevy of familiar names, but also a lot of first timers this year as well. All of the lead actors and actresses (except for Meryl Streep, but c'mon, it's not like Meryl Streep wasn't going to get nominated for something) are featured in a Best Picture nominee. The directing nominations, as well as nine of the 10 writing noms, line up with Best Picture nominated films as well. Will the Acadedmy share the love, or shower one or two films with just about everything? Tune in Sunday night, March 2 to find out! In the mean time, here's an average moviegoer's take on who's going to go home with the golden statues:
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Best Picture
Who's Nominated: American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave, The Wolf of Wall Street
Who Should Win: 12 Years a Slave
Steve McQueen's take on the true story of Solomon Northup's account of being sold into slavery has been cleaning up at most of the award ceremonies so far, including Best Picture at the Golden Globes. What you expect from a Best Picture winner is excellent acting, directing and writing, as well as an engaging story to keep the viewers enthralled, and 12 Years a Slave delivers on all those.
Who I'd Like to See Win: Gravity
Despite only prominently featuring two actors the entire length of the movie, I haven't been on the edge of my seat more during a film recently than I was during Gravity. Both Sandra Bullock (who's nominated for her role) and George Clooney were excellent, and the directing by Alfonso Cuaron and the visual effects were top notch as well.
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Best Director
Who's Nominated: Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity), Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), David O. Russell (American Hustle), Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street), Alexander Payne (Nebraska)
Who Should Win: Alfonso Cuaron
Not very many filmmakers could make a film about two people in space with nothing but each other and a tether very exciting, but Alfonso Cuaron absolutely proved that he could. Cuaron directed what could be one of the most visually stunning movies in some time, and he got amazing performances out of his two leads. Between this film, Children of Men, and even the third Harry Potter film, Cuaron has shown he belongs among the elite.
Who I'd Like to See Win: David O. Russell
Three out of the last four Oscars, including this one obviously, have seen David O. Russell's name among the five best directors of the year, and for good reason. Having already been nominated for The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook, Russell combined the casts of those two movies to make an incredibly entertaining film full of wonderful performances. He perfectly captures the 70s setting of suburban New Jersey, and it'd be nice to see him capture a statue after being shut out twice before.
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Best Actor
Who's Nominated: 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)
Who Should Win: Matthew McConaughey
He keeps getting older, but his incredibly acting chops keep staying the same. McConaughey puts in arguably one of his best performances of his career as Rob Woodroof, a man who goes to extreme measures to attempt to sure his diagnosis of AIDS. McConaughey has been cleaning up nearly all the Best Actor awards, beating out Ejiofor, the other favorite, at both the Globes and the SAG Awards. Coupled with his excellent turn in True Detective, it seems like it's gonna be a good year for him.
Who I'd Like to See Win: Leonardo DiCaprio
What does the man have to do to win an Oscar? Leo did win the Best Actor - Comedy at the Golden Globes, but McConaughey and Ejiofor were both in the Drama category. DiCaprio's turn as Jordan Belfort is one of his best in years (since The Departed and Blood Diamond in my opinion), but the heavy competition will likely keep Leo from winning yet again.
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Best Actress
Who's Nominated: Amy Adams (American Hustle), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Sandra Bullock (Gravity), Judi Dench (Philomena), Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
Who Should Win: Cate Blanchett
Another case of an actor who's won this category in pretty much every award show so far, Blanchett is very likely to walk away with her first Leading Actress Oscar, having previously won in the supporting category. A very versatile actress, Blanchett has done a bit of everything, including playing an elf, Bob Dylan, and the Queen of England. Working with Woody Allen helps too, as she is the 18th actor to be nominated in one of Allen's films.
Who I'd Like to See Win: Sandra Bullock
If you couldn't tell, I loved Gravity. My case for Bullock taking home her second statue is that without her, there isn't a movie. If Bullock's performance had fallen flat, the movie fails miserably, even with how pretty everything looked. She was good in The Blind Side, she was great in Gravity.
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Best Supporting Actor
Who's Nominated: Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips), Bradley Cooper (American Hustle), Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street), Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Who Should Win: Jared Leto
Almost anytime an actor takes a role that that makes you do a double take and say, "wait, that was him," and absolutely kills in in said role, they're going to walk away with some hardware. Jared Leto, who is also the lead singer for the band 30 Seconds to Mars, has appeared in a few movies before, but none have garnered the attention as this one has. Just like at the Globes, Dallas Buyers Club should be leaving with two acting statues.
Who I'd Like to See Win: Bradley Cooper
Cooper nailed it as the neurotic FBI agent trying to make the big bust in American Hustle. Out of the male leads (Bale, Cooper, Renner), I liked Cooper's character the best. He was the right kind of crazy, and every kind of entertaining you could hope for. Coming off Silver Linings Playbook and The Place Beyond the Pines, there's definitely a long acting career down the line for Bradley Cooper.
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Best Supporting Actress
Who's Nominated: Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine), Julia Roberts (August: Osage County), Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave), Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle), June Squibb (Nebraska)
Who Should Win: Lupita Nyong'o
She's won a bunch of Supporting Actress Awards already, including taking the prize from the Screen Actors Guild. Nyong'o gives a very emotional performance that will certainly lead to starring roles in the near future. This is also her film debut, so it certainly wouldn't be a bad way to cap that experience.
Who I'd Like to See Win: Nyong'o, Sally Hawkins, or June Squibb
Nothing against Julia Roberts or Jennifer Lawrence. I love both of them, I really do; they're America's sweethearts. But, that being said, the other three nominees are all first timers, and it'd be nice to see the Academy share the love.
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Best Original Screenplay
Who's Nominated: American Hustle, Blue Jasmine, Her, Nebraska, Dallas Buyers Club
Who Should Win: Her
It takes a certain something to keep a viewer entertained with a film where one of the characters is an operating system. Spike Jonze projected that certain something into his screenplay for Her, though, as the result is a funny, heartwarming tale of attachment and loss.
Who I'd Like to See Win: American Hustle
David O. Russell receives his second straight writing nomination this year, this time paired with Eric Warren Singer, for American Hustle. In my opinion, this is a more fulfilling script that Silver Linings Playbook, as there's a lot more moving parts that he had to deal with in writing. Great acting does tend to come from great screenplays and direction, and Russell provides that in this film.
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Best Adapted Screenplay
Who's Nominated: Before Midnight, Captain Phillips, 12 Years a Slave, The Wolf of Wall Street, Philomena
Who Should Win: 12 Years a Slave
The Globes threw an upset at us when Spike Jonze won Best Screenplay over John Ridley's take on Solomon Northup's memoir. Now that the two are in separate categories, Ridley should be taking home his first Oscar. Fun fact about Ridley: he wrote the story for David O. Russell's war drama, Three Kings, which starred Spike Jonze.
Who I'd Like to See Win: The Wolf of Wall Street
Terence Winter has some excellent television writing credits to his name, including several episodes of The Sopranos as well as creating another HBO hit, Boardwalk Empire. With The Wolf of Wall Street, Winter brings Jordan Belfort's memoir to the screen, and seems to capture the former stock broker's life pretty well, including (but not limited to) all the sex, drugs and massive amounts of foul language.