My hiatus from extended review writing sadly continues, but with the Academy Awards coming up, I wanted to reveal who I’ll be rooting for during the ceremony. These are not my predictions of who WILL win (which can be found right here, if you need to win your Oscar pool), these are ranked lists of my personal preferences. 1 is what will send me leaping from my seat and overflowing my champagne flute in celebration; the higher the number, however, the less I want it to win. Without further ado:
Best Picture:
1. The Wolf of Wall Street
2. Her
3. Captain Phillips
4. Gravity
5. Nebraska
6. 12 Years a Slave
7. Philomena
8. Dallas Buyers Club
9. American Hustle
Best Director:
1. Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
2. Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street
3. Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
4. Alexander Payne, Nebraska
5. David O. Russell, American Hustle
Best Actor:
1. Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
2. Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
3. Bruce Dern, Nebraska
4. Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
5. Christian Bale, American Hustle
Best Actress:
1. Sandra Bullock, Gravity
2. Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
3. Judi Dench, Philomena
4. Amy Adams, American Hustle
5. Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
Best Supporting Actor:
1. Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street
2. Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
3. Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
4. Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
5. Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress:
1. Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
2. Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
3. June Squibb, Nebraska
4. Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
5. Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
Best Original Screenplay:
1. Her
2. Nebraska
3. Blue Jasmine
4. American Hustle
5. Dallas Buyers Club
Best Adapted Screenplay:
1. Before Midnight
2. The Wolf of Wall Street
3. Captain Phillips
4. 12 Years a Slave
5. Philomena
Best Animated Feature:
1. The Wind Rises
2. Frozen
3. The Croods
Best Documentary Feature:
1. The Act of Killing
2. 20 Feet From Stardom
Best Score:
1. Gravity
2. Her
3. Philomena
4. Saving Mr. Banks
Best Song:
1. “Let It Go,” Frozen
2. “Happy,” Despicable Me 2
3. “The Moon Song,” Her
4. “Ordinary Love,” Mandela
Best Production Design:
1. Her
2. 12 Years a Slave
3. Gravity
4. The Great Gatsby
5. American Hustle
Best Cinematography:
1. Prisoners
2. Gravity
3. Inside Llewyn Davis
4. The Grandmaster
5. Nebraska
Best Makeup & Hairstyling:
1. The Lone Ranger
2. Bad Grandpa
3. Dallas Buyers Club
Best Costume Design:
1. The Grandmaster
2. 12 Years a Slave
3. The Great Gatsby
4. American Hustle
Best Editing:
1. Gravity
2. Captain Phillips
3. 12 Years a Slave
4. Dallas Buyers Club
5. American Hustle
Best Sound Editing:
1. Gravity
2. All Is Lost
3. Captain Phillips
4. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Best Sound Mixing:
1. Gravity
2. Inside Llewyn Davis
3. Captain Phillips
4. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Best Visual Effects:
1. Gravity
2. Iron Man 3
3. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
4. The Lone Ranger
5. Star Trek Into Darkness
Until I return full-time, please follow the following:
1. On Letterboxd, I briefly review every movie I see, even movies that aren’t new releases.
2. On Twitter, I tweet during nearly every work break I have.
3. On iTunes, I host a podcast called The Long and Late Movie Show, in which weekly we review all the new releases.
4. On Instagram, I post pictures of my dog and, on occasion, my own wacky hijinks.
5. Unrelated to cinema, I love college basketball and also take part in a weekly podcast called 2.1 Seconds to Madness, reviewing the previous week in NCAA hoops.
Thanks again for reading, everyone. I hope to be back very soon.
Russell
