Oscars 2014: 10 Underdogs Who Might Get Surprise Nominations

3. Best Director €“ Woody Allen (Blue Jasmine)

Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine is, for my money, the director's best film in decades, and up there with his very best work. Most attention is turned towards a likely Best Actress win for Cate Blanchett, as well as a Best Original Screenplay nomination for Woody Allen. However, little has been said about Allen receiving a Best Director nomination, despite the assertion by many critics that this is Allen's strongest film in years €“ even more so than Midnight in Paris, which earned Woody a Best Director nomination in 2012. Working against the film is its low-key nature. It doesn't have the epic scope of 12 Years A Slave or the mind-boggling technical mechanics of Gravity, so it may struggle to distinguish itself with such a crowded field that also includes David O. Russell (American Hustle), Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips), Alexander Payne (Nebraska) and Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street). It's a distinct outside possibility, along with Joel and Ethan Coen for Inside Llewyn Davis, but I'll be rooting for him anyway.