Nominees: American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Nebraska, 12 Years a Slave, Her, Philomena, Gravity, The Wolf of Wall Street Riding an incredibly long wave of hype, 12 Years a Slave still finds itself the frontrunner in the Best Picture race. With a total of nine nominees this year, there are quite a few that could pull ahead in the final moments - Gravity for technical mastery, American Hustle and Dallas Buyers Club for script and performances, and Nebraska and Her as the dark horses. 12 Years a Slave will likely take it home, though, due to a deep look at a tough subject and unflinching performances from the entire cast. Steve McQueen should be proud of his break into more mainstream cinema after effective smaller films like Hunger and Shame, and this could be the first of many Best Picture nominations for him, and hopefully the first win. Second Most Likely Winner: Gravity
Best Director - Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)
Nominees: Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity), David O. Russell (American Hustle), Alexander Payne (Nebraska), Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street) Despite McQueen's 12 Years a Slave being the clear frontrunner for Best Picture, there is little doubt that Alfonso Cuaron will take the Best Directing award out from under his nose. The years spent on the film, the incredible attention to detail, and the mind-blowing opening tracking shot are all factors in Cuaron's nomination for Best Director, and it's no secret that I'm rooting for him to win. Second Most Likely Winner: Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)
Best Adapted Screenplay - The Wolf Of Wall Street
Nominees: Before Midnight, Captain Phillips, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave, The Wolf of Wall Street The writing categories always prove to be interesting. The Wolf of Wall Street, while suffering certain flaws, definitely managed to transfer the insane world of Jordan Belfort from the page to the screen. Philomena and Before Midnight, the two "smaller" flicks in this nominee pool, could surprise by winning the award, but it's more likely that Wolf or 12 Years a Slave will be the ones to watch. Second Most Likely Winner: 12 Years a Slave
Best Original Screenplay - Dallas Buyers Club
Nominees: American Hustle, Blue Jasmine, Dallas Buyers Club, Her, Nebraska What a category! All of the films nominated have superb, magnetic scripts, and all of the films are completely different. American Hustle survives on back-and-forth banter, Nebraska on regional twang, Her on deep introspection. Dallas Buyers Club may not be the frontrunner, but in my opinion it has more of a story to it than the other nominated films - meaning only that the main character goes through more of a change from start to finish. Her could be the one to win here, but don't be surprised if Dallas Buyers Club goes home with Best Original Screenplay. Second Most Likely Winner: Her There you have it! Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below.
Nominees: Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity), David O. Russell (American Hustle), Alexander Payne (Nebraska), Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street) Despite McQueen's 12 Years a Slave being the clear frontrunner for Best Picture, there is little doubt that Alfonso Cuaron will take the Best Directing award out from under his nose. The years spent on the film, the incredible attention to detail, and the mind-blowing opening tracking shot are all factors in Cuaron's nomination for Best Director, and it's no secret that I'm rooting for him to win. Second Most Likely Winner: Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)
Nominees: American Hustle, Blue Jasmine, Dallas Buyers Club, Her, Nebraska What a category! All of the films nominated have superb, magnetic scripts, and all of the films are completely different. American Hustle survives on back-and-forth banter, Nebraska on regional twang, Her on deep introspection. Dallas Buyers Club may not be the frontrunner, but in my opinion it has more of a story to it than the other nominated films - meaning only that the main character goes through more of a change from start to finish. Her could be the one to win here, but don't be surprised if Dallas Buyers Club goes home with Best Original Screenplay. Second Most Likely Winner: Her There you have it! Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below.