Previous/Other years
Since beginning my Blog some 3 1/2 years ago, I've come to the conclusion that all the Oscars are basically "lifetime achievement awards," and that a lot of great performances, especially in smaller films, are ignored. As such, each year I also offer my own "Denny" Awards. But the Oscars are, of course, the "Biggest Show in Town." So here is my annual survey of who IMHO will win, should win and deserved consideration for the major categories at the 2014 Oscars:
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
WILL WIN - Jared Leto as Rayon in Dallas Buyers' Club
SHOULD WIN - James Franco as "Alien" in Spring Breakers
DESERVED CONSIDERATION - James Franco as "Alien" in Spring Breakers and Garrett Hedlund as Neal Cassady in On the Road
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
WILL WIN - Lupita Nyongo'o as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave
SHOULD WIN - Lupita Nyongo'o Patsey in 12 Years a Slave, June Squibb as the Matriarch Kate in Nebraska or Jennifer Lawrence as Roselyn Rosenfeld in American Hustle
DESERVED CONSIDERATION -
Octavia Spencer as Wanda in Fruitvale Station, Kirsten Dunst as Carolyn Cassady in On the Road, Kate Bosworth as Billie in Big Sur and even Jessica Chastain as Anabel in Mama
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
WILL WIN - Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordon Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street
SHOULD WIN - Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby, Christian Bale as Irvning Rosenfeld in American Hustle or Matthew McConaughey as Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers' Club
DESERVED CONSIDERATION - Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby (2013), Oscar Isaac as Llewyn Davis in Inside Llewyn Davis, Ernie Hudson as Marcus Wells in The Man in the Silo
and Robert Redford in All is Lost.
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
WILL WIN - Cate Blanchett as Jasmine in Blue Jasmine
SHOULD WIN - Cate Blanchett as Jasmine in Blue Jasmine or Judy Dench as Philomena Lee in Philomena
DESERVED CONSIDERATION - Mavis Fan as Lan Feng in Will you still love me tomorrow? (orig. Ming tian ji de ai shang wo), Paulina Garcia as Gloria in Gloria, Greta Gerwig as Frances in Frances Ha
BEST ORIGINAL SCREEN PLAY
WILL WIN - American Hustle
SHOULD WIN - Blue Jasmine, The Man in the Silo, Spring Breakers, Her
DESERVED CONSIDERATION - Frances Ha, The Man in the Silo, Spring Breakers and Inside Llewyn Davis
BEST ADAPTED SCREEN PLAY
WILL WIN - 12 Years a Slave
SHOULD WIN - Before Midnight, 12 Years a Slave, The Wolf of Wall Street
DESERVED CONSIDERATION - On the Road, The Bling Ring, The Great Gatsby (2013)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
WILL WIN - Gravity
SHOULD WIN - Gravity
DESERVED CONSIDERATION - The Great Gatsby (2013), Big Sur, Spring Breakers, The Place Beyond the Pines, Will you still love me tomorrow? (orig. Ming tian ji de ai shang wo), Much Ado About Nothing (2013), The Great Beauty (orig. La Grande Bellezza)
BEST DIRECTOR
WILL WIN - David O. Russell for American Hustle
SHOULD WIN - David O. Russell for American Hustle or Martin Scorsese for The Wolf of Wall Street
DESERVED CONSIDERATION - Richard Linklater for Before Midnight, Harmony Korine for Spring Breakers, Sofia Coppola for The Bling Ring, Phil Donlon for The Man in the Silo and Woody Allen for Blue Jasmine
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
BEST PICTURE
WILL WIN - American Hustle
SHOULD WIN - American Hustle or 12 Years a Slave
DESERVED CONSIDERATION - Spring Breakers, Frances Ha, The Man in the Silo, All is Lost, Inside Llewyn Davis
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SHOULD WIN - American Hustle or 12 Years a Slave
DESERVED CONSIDERATION - Spring Breakers, Frances Ha, The Man in the Silo, All is Lost, Inside Llewyn Davis
Local "conventional wisdom" seems to be describing a two-way race for Best Picture between 12 Years a Slave and Gravity. If American Hustle wins, I shall fear your prescience.
ReplyDeleteLOL Dave ;-). Here they're calling it a two way race between "American Hustle" and 12 Years a Slave.
Delete"Gravity?" I just don't think it has the "gravitas" to win ;-).
On the other hand, AS GOOD AS "12 Years a Slave" is I just think that it's (1) "just too depressing," it's too much of an indictment of this country and (2) perhaps too distant. I wonder if "12 Years a Slave" had not come out if "Fruitvale Station" would have been nominated then for a host of awards and perhaps would have won the big one (because as depressing as it also is, it's at least more current.
In contrast, "American Hustle" I think expresses how many/most Americans (us) think of themselves (ourselves) today: perhaps struggling, perhaps quite aware that they (we) aren't (or even _can't be_) entirely "above board" but confident that _one way or another_ they'll (we'll) make it through.
So this year, I'm betting on narcissism ;-)
Well it turned out I was wrong about American Hustle. 10 Nominations and it didn't win a single Oscar. Wow ;-). 12 Years a Slave and Gravity "sucked-up the oxygen" in the room. Congrats to them and The Dallas Buyers' Club as well.
Delete