Final Oscar Nominee Predictions

With the Oscar nominations coming out tomorrow morning, I thought I'd do an official write-up of all my nominee predictions. I haven't seen tons of the films this year, but I thought I'd take a shot at it and see how well I do. Last year I got 69/97 nominees correct (70%), and the year before I got 64/91 correct. I'm hoping to best last year with at least 75%! Though we'll see how that goes.

Best Picture
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Gravity
Nebraska
Captain Phillips

Her (6th choice)
The Wolf of Wall Street (7th choice)
Dallas Buyers Club (8th Choice)
Saving Mr Banks (9th choice)
Philomena (10th choice)

Spoiler Nominee: Inside Llewyn Davis

After the top 5, I'm really unsure of positions to put these in. Her is definitely my 6th choice, but Wolf of Wall Street, Dallas Buyers Club, and Saving Mr Banks could all swap positions. However, I feel like Banks has faded a bit, while Dallas Buyers is on the climb. Wolf is Scorsese helmed, and the Academy does love him.

Best Director
Steve McQueen- 12 Years a Slave
Alfonso Cuaron- Gravity
David O. Russell- American Hustle
Spike Jonze- Her
Martin Scorsese- The Wolf of Wall Street

Again, after McQueen, Cuaron and Russell, I'm not sure who the last 2 spots could go to. There are several to choose from (including the mentioned Jonze and Scorsese) with Paul Greengrass, Alexander Payne and The Coen Brothers. However, I'm going to take a bit of a risk with Jonze and Scorsese on this one.

Best Actor
Chiwetel Ejiofor- 12 Years a Slave
Matthew McConaughey- Dallas Buyers Club
Tom Hanks- Captain Phillips
Bruce Dern- Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio- The Wolf of Wall Street

I'm really split on whether the Academy will pick Redford or DiCaprio. But it's been a while since they've nominated DiCaprio, and with his win at the Globes, I'm going to do with DiCaprio. I know I'll probably regret this tomorrow, but Redford has disappeared from much of the talk these days so either choice is a risk.

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett- Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock- Gravity
Judi Dench- Philomena
Emma Thompson- Saving Mr Banks
Amy Adams- American Hustle

As much as people love Meryl Streep, I don't think she'll be included this year. While her performance in a mediocrely reviewed film hasn't stopped her before, I think there's just too much to offer here this year and she'll be left out. Then again, Emma Thompson or Amy Adams could be the ones left out this year.

Best Supporting Actor
Jared Leto- Dallas Buyers Club
Michael Fassbender- 12 Years a Slave
Barkhad Abdi- Captain Phillips
Daniel Bruhl- Rush
Bradley Cooper- American Hustle

While Adams and Cooper both didn't make the SAG awards, I can't imagine Jennifer Lawrence being the only nominee for the film. The Academy loves to honor O Russell performances, so I think Cooper will also be included here, along with Adams.

Best Supporting Actress
Lupita Nyong'o- 12 Years a Slave
Jennifer Lawrence- American Hustle
June Squibb- Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey- Lee Daniel's The Butler
Julia Roberts- August: Osage County

I've become increasinly unsure about nailing down the 5 nominees for all the acting categories. Each seem to have 2-3 locks, and then a few open spaces that have been divided. However, I'll stick with this list.

Adapted Screenplay
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street
Captain Phillips
Philomena
Before Midnight

I feel pretty confident with these ones, as there is a lot more Original Screenplays this year, and these seem to be pretty safe bets.

Original Screenplay
American Hustle
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Blue Jasmine
Nebraska

I wish I could completely write-off American Hustle here. I felt it was weak, and definitely not worthy of a nomination. However, I have a feeling the Academy will have some strong support for it, so it'll make the cut here. Here's to hoping that any other of the nominees wins in the end.

Best Animated Feature Film
Frozen
Monsters University
Despicable Me 2
The Croods
The Wind Rises

I personally really enjoyed Monsters University and Despicable Me 2, so I'm hoping they make the cut. The obvious winner here is Frozen

Best Film Editing
American Hustle
12 Years a Slave
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Rush

I'm going to take a chance here and pick Rush. I've heard wonderful things about it's editing, and think it could snag a spot. Spoiler nominee's include The Wolf of Wall Street and Her.

Best Cinematography
Prisoners
12 Years a Slave
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska

I feel pretty good about these ones, but Her, Captain Phillips, and the Grandmaster could play spoiler

Best Production Design
12 Years a Slave
The Great Gatsby
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
American Hustle

All very different films, but I feel these all at least have a shot here, but could definitely be spoiled by other less accoladed-films.

Best Costume Design
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
The Great Gatsby
The Invisible Woman
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

I've always thought the Hunger Games did so well with costumes and makeup, so I'm going to take a bit of a risk here and pick it.

Best Makeup & Hairstyling
American Hustle
The Lone Ranger
Dallas Buyer's Club

All I know is American Hustle will make it in here. I'm also crossing my fingers that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire makes it in here rather than the Lone Ranger

Best Original Score
12 Years a Slave- Hans Zimmer
Gravity- Steven Price
The Book Thief- John Williams
Saving Mr Banks- Thomas Newman
Alexander Ebert- All is Lost

I'm very unsure over this one. Newman, Williams scores don't seem to be overly fantastic, though I'm not sure what else I would swap. It hasn't really been a year for great scores.

Best Original Song
Let it Go- Frozen
Ordinary Love- Madela: Long Walk to Freedom
Young and Beautiful- The Great Gatsby
The Moon Song- Her
In the Middle of the Night- The Butler

I'm not even going to try and say I know anything about this category. I really could care less.

Best Visual Effects
Gravity
The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug
Pacific Rim
Iron Man 3
Oblivion

Of these, I've seen Gravity, Iron Man 3, Oblivion, and a little less than half of Pacific Rim. They all had great special effects. And if Gravity weren't the completely obvious winner here, I'd root for Oblivion (the effects were the best part of the film)

Best Sound Mixing
Gravity
Captain Phillips
Rush
Inside Llewyn Davis
Lone Survivor

Best Sound Editing
Gravity
Captain Phillips
Lone Survivor
Rush
All Is Lost

While I don't know much about the sound categories, I know Gravity is a pretty sure bet for both, and I've hear that Captain Phillips is too. Also, I feel All is Lost could go the Drive route, and only be nominated for Sound Editing. However, we'll see on that one.



Well, there you have it! I've predicted the top nominee being 12 Years a Slave with 11 Nominations, closely followed by American Hustle (10) and Gravity (9)

Good luck everyone!