And the winner is . . .

Alright, alright, alright boys and girls, it’s time for the annual Academy Awards post.  Last year I had to discuss the upcoming awards and predict the winners having only seen two of the Best Picture nominees.  This year I’ve upped the degree of difficulty by seeing exactly zero of the nominees.  And away we go . . .

Best Supporting Actor

The nominees:

Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips

Bradley Cooper, American Hustle

Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave

Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street

Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Who will win:  Jared Leto

I’m rooting for:  Jonah Hill

Interesting collection here with Abdi (just happy to be there), Bradley Cooper (Again?  Didn’t he just get nominated last year?  Is this really going to be an annual thing?), and that dude from My So Called Life.  I tend to like villainous roles, so I imagine that Fassbender’s performance will ultimately be my favorite.  I imagine it’s Leto’s to lose because he’s won most of the earlier awards, but the sheer hilarity of Jonah Hill getting nominated for an academy award (his 2^nd time!) makes the sheer absurdity of him accepting an Oscar too good to pass up.

Best Supporting Actress

The nominees:

Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine  

Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle

Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave 

Julia Roberts, August: Osage County 

June Squibb, Nebraska

Who will win:  Lupita Nyong’o

I’m rooting for:  Lupita Nyong’o

You have the big name in a supporting role with Julia Roberts, but her movie has a dumb name.  I have absolutely nothing to say about Sally Hawkins, having never heard of her until I looked up the nominees.  We can all agree that Jennifer Lawrence needs to slow down and give someone else a turn, right?  I’ve also never heard of June Squibb, but it’s hard to root against an 84 year old.  But I’m going to do it anyway and go with the newcomer Nyong’o. 

Best Actress

The nominees:

Amy Adams, American Hustle

Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock, Gravity

Judi Dench, Philomena

Meryl Streep, August: Osage County

Who will win:  Cate Blanchett

I’m rooting for:  Amy Adams

Sandra Bullock already won Best Actress for The Blind Side a few years back, which (despite not having seen it) I’ll declare a terrible choice.  So she’s banned from further consideration.  I have no desire to see Judi Dench’s movie.  And Meryl Streep has enough awards.  Supposedly Blanchett is a runaway train that can’t be stopped and she’s won all the previous awards, but how can you not root for Amy Adams?  She’s been nominated like 48 times and hasn’t won yet!   

Best Actor

The nominees:

Christian Bale, America Hustle

Bruce Dern, Nebraska

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street

Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Who will win:  Matthew McConaughey

I’m rooting for:  Leonardo DiCaprio

Christian Bale is another one who needs to give someone else a turn.  Dern’s old and his movie is in black and white . . . and yeah, it’s not going to happen.  McConaughey seems to have turned into a good actor or something?  Chiwetel Ejiofor’s performance looks like it could be pretty fantastic.  But I’m in Leo’s camp.  I enjoyed him in both Django Unchained and The Great Gatsby (the last two movies we’ve seen).  And he’s never won.  He’s king of the Academy Awards! 

Best Director

The nominees:

Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

Alexander Payne, Nebraska

David O. Russell, American Hustle

Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street

Who will win:  Alfonso Cuaron

I’m rooting for:  Martin Scorsese

No strong feelings in this group.  I’m sure Cuaron will win because he flew to outer space to film an entire film, which is amazing.  But I’m going with Scorsese to make up for any of the years when he should have won and didn’t. 

Best Picture

The nominees:

12 Year a Slave

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Nebraska

Philomena

The Wolf of Wall Street

Who will win:  12 Years a Slave

I’m rooting for:  12 Years a Slave

Of the nine, I don’t plan on seeing Philomena, probably won’t get around to seeing Dallas Buyers Club, and despite hearing good things, could see myself skipping Captain Phillips.  Nebraska has me slightly intrigued, but with so many other movies in the queue, I could see it getting forgotten soon enough.  I’d like to see all of the other five (it might take seven years to manage that), with 12 Years a Slave, Gravity, and Her as the top three.  Ultimately we’ll see what I like best, but for this weekend I’ll root for 12 Years a Slave so that Brad Pitt gets an Oscar (he’s a producer).