American Hustle Captain Philips Dallas Buyers Club Gravity Her Nebraska Philomena 12 Years a Slave The Wolf of Wall Street Now we finally come down to the ultimate prize: Best Picture. As it has been since October, this year's race has come down to a fight between two films: Gravity and 12 Years a Slave. Sure, there were a few pretenders that acted like they might make a go for the crown over the last couple of months, Captain Phillips early on, American Hustle later, and even some wishful thinking that The Wolf of Wall Street might pull off a massive upset, but when the final award is announced March 2, it will either be Gravity or 12 Years a Slave. Now which one of the two it will be is anyone's guess. I truly don't feel one film has a definite advantage over the other. Some will say that Gravity is a science fiction and as proven by the history of the Academy, they are not friendly to Sci-Fi and unlikely to ever award the genre its highest hour. Gravity though is hardly your typical science fiction film, for although it is set in space, it is a contemporary setting and rather realistic take on space that forgoes the typical flights of fancy associated with most science fiction. The fact the film will likely win Best Director is another nice feather in its cap. 12 Years a Slave on the other hand has much more weighty subject matter, slavery, that seems like the stuff Best Picture's are usually made of. The film's gratuitous (to some) violence though makes the film a trickier sit than even Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List was, and there is always the notion that the Academy doesn't like being told what it is suppose to do. In addition, it doesn't feel like 12 Years a Slave will win that many other Oscars, which is never a good sign for a would-be Best Picture winner. You could go back and forth ad infinitum, but I'm going to go with my gut and say 12 Years a Slave wins Best Picture. Out of all the nominated films, it feels most like a Best Picture winner, and I have felt this way since I first saw the film at the Toronto Film Festival. Who knows though, it could very well end up a tie between the two films and I wouldn't be all that surprised. Take my advice for what you will then and good luck in your Oscar pool. And remember, try not to get too drunk if your at an Oscar party, because yelling at the TV screen when your favorite movie doesn't win isn't endearing, it's just annoying. Will Win: 12 Years a SlaveCould Win: GravityShould Win: Gravity
A film fanatic at a very young age, starting with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies and gradually moving up to more sophisticated fare, at around the age of ten he became inexplicably obsessed with all things Oscar. With the incredibly trivial power of being able to chronologically name every Best Picture winner from memory, his lifelong goal is to see every Oscar nominated film, in every major category, in the history of the Academy Awards.
