“Early 86th Academy Award Nomination Predictions”
by Daniel Rester
The Oscar season is fast approaching, so the awards buzz is on. Here are some of my best (early) guesses for what to expect come nomination day. Sound off in the comments section who you think will get nominations.
Best Picture
Top 5:
1. Twelve Years a Slave
2. August: Osage County
3. American Hustle
4. Fruitvale Station
5. The Wolf of Wall Street
5 others if it goes past 5:
6. Captain Phillips
7. Foxcatcher
8. Inside Llewyn Davis
9. Blue is the Warmest Color
10. Gravity
Other Big Possibilities:
· Before Midnight
· Blue Jasmine
· The Counselor
· The Fifth Estate
· Her
· Labor Day
· Lee Daniels’ The Butler
· The Monuments Men
· Mud
· Nebraska
· The Place Beyond the Pines
· Prisoners
· Rush
· Saving Mr. Banks
· The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
· The Spectacular Now
Best Director
Top 5:
1. Steve McQueen, Twelve Years a Slave
2. Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street
3. David O. Russell, American Hustle
4. John Wells, August: Osage County
5. Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
Other Big Possibilities:
· George Clooney, The Monuments Men
· Joel and Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
· Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station
· Lee Daniels, Lee Daniels’ The Butler
· Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
· Ron Howard, Rush
· Abdellatif Kechiche, Blue is the Warmest Color
· Richard Linklater, Before Midnight
· Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
· Jason Reitman, Labor Day
Best Actor
Top 5:
1. Bruce Dern, Nashville
2. Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club or Mud
3. Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
4. Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
5. Robert Redford, All is Lost
Other Big Possibilities:
· Christian Bale, American Hustle
· Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
· Benedict Cumberbatch, The Fifth Estate
· Chiwetel Ejiofer, 12 Years a Slave
· Idris Elba, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
· Michael Fassbender, The Counselor
· Ralph Fiennes, The Invisible Woman
· Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight
· Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
· Hugh Jackman, Prisoners
· Michael B. Jordan, Fruitvale Station
· Joaquin Phoenix, Her
· Ben Stiller, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
· Forest Whitaker, Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Best Actress
Top 5:
1. Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
2. Naomi Watts, Diana
3. Kate Winslet, Labor Day
4. Sandra Bullock, Gravity
5. Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
Other Big Possibilities:
· Berenice Bejo, The Past
· Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant
· Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
· Judi Dench, Philomena
· Adele Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Color
· Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha
· Nicole Kidman, Grace of Monaco
· Brie Larson, Short Term 12
· Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks
Best Supporting Actor
Top 5:
1. Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
2. Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
3. Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
4. Brad Pitt, The Counselor
5. Josh Brolin, Labor Day
Other Big Possibilities:
· Alec Baldwin, Blue Jasmine
· Javier Bardem, The Counselor
· Daniel Bruhl, Rush (could run for Best Actor)
· Benedict Cumberbatch, August: Osage County or 12 Years a Slave
· Paul Dano, Prisoners
· Jake Gyllenhaal, Prisoners
· Tom Hanks, Saving Mr. Banks
· Woody Harrelson, Out of the Furnace
· Chris Hemsworth, Rush
· Tom Hiddleston, Thor: The Dark World
· Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street
· Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
· Matthew McConaughey, The Wolf of Wall Street
· David Oyelowo, Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Best Supporting Actress
Top 5:
1. Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
2. Oprah Winfrey, Lee Daniels’ The Butler
3. Amy Adams, American Hustle or Her (could run for Best Actress)
4. Octavia Spencer, Fruitvale Station
5. Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
Other Big Possibilities:
· Viola Davis, Prisoners
· Cameron Diaz, The Counselor
· Jennifer Garner, Dallas Buyers Club
· Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
· Lupita Nyongo’o, 12 Years a Slave
· Naomie Harris, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
· Carey Mulligan, Inside Llewyn Davis
· Vanessa Redgrave, Foxcatcher
Best Original Screenplay
Top 5:
1. David O. Russell and Eric Singer, American Hustle
2. Woody Allen, Blue Jasmine
3. Joel and Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
4. Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station
5. Cormac McCarthy, The Counselor
Other Big Possibilities:
· Noah Baumbach and Gret Gerwig, Frances Ha
· Derek Cianfrance, Bob Coccio, and Darius Marder, The Place Beyond the Pines
· Alfonso Cuaron and Jonas Cuaron, Gravity
· Spike Jonze, Her
· Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith, Saving Mr. Banks
· Peter Morgan, Rush
· Jeff Nichols, Mud
Best Adapted Screenplay
Top 5:
1. Terence Winter, The Wolf of Wall Street
2. John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
3. Tracy Letts, August: Osage County
4. Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, and Richard Linklater, Before Midnight
5. E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, Foxcatcher
Other Big Possibilities:
· Steve Conrad, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
· George Clooney and Grant Heslov, The Monuments Men
· Abdellatif Kechiche and Ghalia Lacroix, Blue is the Warmest Colour
· Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, The Spectacular Now
· Billy Ray, Captain Phillips
· Jason Reitman, Labor Day
· Josh Singer, The Fifth Estate
· Danny Strong, Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Best Animated Feature
Top 5:
1. Frozen
2. Monsters University
3. Despicable Me 2
4. The Croods
5. Epic
Other Big Possibilities:
· Planes
· Turbo
Best Foreign Language Film
Big Possibilities:
· Blue is the Warmest Color
· A Hijacking
· The Hunt
· The Past
· Sightseers
Best Documentary Feature
Big Possibilities:
· Blackfish
· The Crash Reel
· Stories We Tell
MORE COMING SOON…