Okay, folks. Dolby Theatre is all set to light up for the Oscars in precisely one week. Now that the votes have been cast and all the other major awards have been handed out, it’s time to fill out our predictions for who’s going to win. I’ll be setting down my picks for the record, but with minimal commentary. I’ll be saving my thoughts for the big night of March 2nd, when I do my annual liveblog of the event in red text. I hope you all will join me here as the night unfolds. In the meantime, here are my Oscar picks for each category.<\/p>\n
P.S. Just so you know, I’ve been very consistent in correctly guessing two out of three. I’m shooting for three out of four this year, so we’ll see what happens.<\/p>\n
So, the big night is here. I tuned in two hours early expecting to see a waterlogged red carpet, only to find that the rainclouds came and went just before. Such a pity they decided to take the tents down, but then we can’t have anything interesting happen during the pre-show, can we?!<\/span><\/p>\n Also, ABC says that the Oscars start at 4:00 PST even though there’s still another hour and a half of pre-show to go. Lying bastards. Then again, at least E! makes an effort to bring in fashionistas, professional interviewers, and people who are generally experts at the shallow Hollywood lifestyle. Compare that to ABC, whose Red Carpet staff is made of the Today Show anchors, who are qualified solely by their single-digit IQs. Seriously, these idiots smile so much and ask such inane questions that I doubt a single one of them has a central nervous system.<\/span><\/p>\n I know a lot of people out there care about what the stars are wearing and how the celebrities look, but I’m sorry, I honestly don’t care less. Never could. Still, at least Ryan Seacrest is good enough to occasionally bring up what the actors are working on next. I didn’t even hear about\u00a0The Lost City of Z<\/em> or\u00a0Carol<\/em> until his respective interviews with Benedict Cumberbatch and Sally Hawkins, and I’ll be very interested to hear more from both films.<\/span><\/p>\n Also, word from the producer of\u00a050 Shades of Grey<\/em>: That film has wrapped production. I can’t wait to see the reception for that movie, because I REALLY doub<\/span>t the American public knew what it was asking for with that one.<\/span><\/p>\n At the time of this typing, it’s 5:10 PST. And I’m already getting a headache from how many times I’ve facepalmed. The ceremony cannot come here soon enough.<\/span><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n So the night starts off by introducing Ellen DeGeneres without ceremony or a splashy entrance. At least they’re not wasting any more time. And DeGeneres doesn’t waste any time rambling herself into the ground. Then again, everyone knows that hosting the Oscars is a thankless gig, so I’m willing to cut her some slack. Also, rambling incoherently is DeGeneres’ schtick, and the Oscars tend to fail so hard when the hosts go outside the Academy’s comfort zone (see: Chris Rock, Seth MacFarlane, etc.).<\/span><\/p>\n Incidentally, I don’t see an orchestra. Are they phoning it in like they did last year?<\/span><\/p>\n Best Supporting Actor<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Should Win:<\/strong>\u00a0Barkhad Abdi,\u00a0Captain Phillips<\/em><\/p>\n Will Win:<\/strong>\u00a0Jared Leto,\u00a0Dallas Buyers Club<\/em><\/p>\n Did Win:<\/strong> Jared Leto,\u00a0Dallas Buyers Club<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n This disappoints me. The other nominees did so much more for their respective movies. Still, Leto did a superb job with a subpar character, I’ll grant him that. He’s a very good actor and an all-around talented guy, not to mention a completely unpredictable nutbar. We’ll see where his career goes from here.<\/span><\/p>\n Also, I love how many words they had to censor out during the nominee clips. We’ll be seeing a lot more of that as the night goes on, I’m sure.<\/span><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n And now we get a movie montage. So it’s gonna be one of those Oscar nights, huh? Looks like we’re in for a long and boring night here, folks. Still, at least we get performances of the Original Song nominees, and nominees that are worth listening to. This category is famine or feast every year, and praise the movie gods that this is a feast year.<\/span><\/p>\n Best Costume Design<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Should Win:<\/strong>\u00a0Catherine Martin,\u00a0The Great Gatsby<\/em><\/p>\n Will Win:\u00a0<\/strong>Catherine Martin,\u00a0The Great Gatsby<\/em><\/p>\n Did Win:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Catherine Martin,\u00a0The Great Gatsby<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n The Academy went the predictable route on this one, but I don’t begrudge them for that in this case.\u00a0Gatsby<\/em> was a mediocre film, but the costume design was easily tied with DiCaprio for the best part about it.<\/span><\/p>\n Best Makeup and Hairstyling<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Should Win:<\/strong>\u00a0…*sigh*\u00a0Stephen Prouty,\u00a0Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa<\/em><\/p>\n Will Win:<\/strong>\u00a0Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews,\u00a0Dallas Buyers Club<\/em><\/p>\n Did Win:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews,\u00a0Dallas Buyers Club<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I hate to say it, but\u00a0Bad Grandpa<\/em> really was the more deserving winner. Putting on that age makeup repeatedly, making it durable enough to last through all those stunts, and making it convincing enough to hold up under close scrutiny in uncontrolled scenarios was a Herculean feat. Also, most of the “makeup” in\u00a0Dallas Buyers Club<\/em> consisted of McConaughey’s weight fluctuation. Then again, I’m glad I live in a world in which\u00a0Jackass<\/em> doesn’t have an Oscar.<\/span><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Is it just me or do Kim Novak and Matthew McConaughey look stoned out of their goddamned minds?<\/span><\/p>\n Best Animated Short Film<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Should Win:\u00a0<\/strong>No preference<\/p>\n Will Win:<\/strong>\u00a0Get a Horse!<\/em><\/p>\n Did Win:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Mr. Hublot<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Well, this was a shocker! I guess the Academy didn’t want to just hand the award to Disney this year. If I was a producer on\u00a0Frozen<\/em>, I’d be sweating right now.<\/span><\/p>\n Best Animated Feature<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Should Win:<\/strong>\u00a0Frozen<\/em><\/p>\n Will Win:\u00a0<\/strong>Frozen<\/em><\/p>\n Did Win:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Frozen<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Aaaaaaaand\u00a0Frozen<\/em> still pulls it off. Disney hasn’t had a non-Pixar win for a long time, so I’m sure they’re thrilled.<\/span><\/p>\n Best Visual Effects<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Should Win:\u00a0<\/strong>Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, and Neil Corbould,\u00a0Gravity<\/em><\/p>\n Will Win:<\/strong>\u00a0Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, and Neil Corbould,\u00a0Gravity<\/em><\/p>\n Did Win:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, and Neil Corbould,\u00a0Gravity<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I’m still pissed that\u00a0Lone Ranger<\/em> got nominated over\u00a0Pacific Rim<\/em>. More importantly, this win absolutely went to the right movie.\u00a0Gravity<\/em> was such an ambitious, groundbreaking, immersive movie that the VFX absolutely deserve recognition.<\/span><\/p>\n Best Live-Action Short Film<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Should Win:<\/strong>\u00a0No preference<\/p>\n Will Win:<\/strong>\u00a0The Voorman Problem<\/em><\/p>\n Did Win:<\/span><\/strong> Helium<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Best Documentary Short Film<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Should Win:\u00a0<\/strong>No preference<\/p>\n Will Win:<\/strong>\u00a0The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life<\/em><\/p>\n Did Win:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I love how the Oscars have these short film categories. The short film deserves far more recognition as a unique branch of cinema and a springboard for new talent. Also, it shakes up an Oscar betting pool very nicely.<\/span><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n It’s nice how they’re keeping the acceptance speeches short. You can tell that they’re really working to keep the running time down, which might help explain why DeGeneres’ bits are so short and minimalist. But they’re still not short enough.<\/span><\/p>\n Best Documentary Feature<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Should Win:<\/strong>\u00a020 Feet from Stardom<\/em><\/p>\n Will Win:<\/strong>\u00a020 Feet from Stardom<\/em><\/p>\n Did Win:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a020 Feet from Stardom<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n This one was a nail-biting toss-up between\u00a020 Feet from Stardom<\/em> and\u00a0The Act of Killing<\/em>. It was a choice between the edgy intellectual choice or the crowd-pleaser, and the Academy could’ve gone either way. I can’t comment on\u00a0The Act of Killing<\/em>, but\u00a020 Feet<\/em> was a delightful movie and I’m thrilled to see it win. They even brought out Darlene Love to chew up the scenery, in the film’s spirit of giving recognition to underappreciated singers.<\/span><\/p>\n Best Foreign Film<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Should Win:\u00a0<\/strong>No preference<\/p>\n Will Win:<\/strong>\u00a0The Great Beauty<\/em><\/p>\n Did Win:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>The Great Beauty<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n I’m so sorry I didn’t see a single one of these nominees, but they all look wonderful. If nothing else, I’m glad that\u00a0The Grandmaster<\/em> didn’t get nominated for this one, the overrated piece of crap.<\/span><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Yeah, that’s pretty much exactly what I’d expect a U2 song about Mandela to sound like. *yawn* Also, say what you will about Seth MacFarlane, but he was far and away more ambitious than DeGeneres. It’s gotten so bad that she needs to get the other famous people in the audience for an assist. And it’s still not funny. Like Twitter jokes are still edgy.<\/span><\/p>\n Best Sound Mixing<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Should Win:\u00a0<\/strong>Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff, and Peter F. Kurland,\u00a0Inside Llewyn Davis<\/em><\/p>\n Will Win:<\/strong>\u00a0Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead, and Chris Munro,\u00a0Gravity<\/em><\/p>\n Did Win:<\/strong>\u00a0Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead, and Chris Munro,\u00a0Gravity<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Interesting how Skip Lievsay got multiple shots at the award, and both for such worthy entries. Such a pity sound engineers aren’t listed in movie trailers, or Lievsay’s name might have a lot of pull. In a perfect world.<\/span><\/p>\n Best Sound Editing<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Should Win:<\/strong>\u00a0Glenn Freemantle,\u00a0Gravity<\/i><\/p>\n Will Win:\u00a0<\/strong>Glenn Freemantle,\u00a0Gravity<\/em><\/p>\n Did Win:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Glenn Freemantle,\u00a0Gravity<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Oh, yeah. Such a great night for such a great movie.<\/span><\/p>\n Best Supporting Actress<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Should Win:<\/strong>\u00a0Lupita Nyong’o,\u00a012 Years a Slave<\/em><\/p>\n Will Win:<\/strong>\u00a0Lupita Nyong’o,\u00a012 Years a Slave<\/em><\/p>\n Did Win:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Lupita Nyong’o,\u00a012 Years a Slave<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n An Oscar win for her very first role, and well-deserved. Brava. I have no idea where she’ll go from here, but I expect she’ll have an easier time than Gabourey Sidibe did (and yes, I know Sidibe didn’t win, but the point stands). We’ll see Nyong’o at the Oscars next year, if nothing else. Kudos are also due to Sally Hawkins and June Squibb, both of whom were the unsung heroines of their respective films.<\/span><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Pizza jokes, Twitter jokes, and unfunny costume changes. This is what they hired DeGeneres for? My patience for her is quickly wearing thin. There’s being safe and there’s being unfunny. There are running jokes, and then there are gags that get worn into the ground. There’s joking about celebrities, and there’s using celebrities as a crutch to make the jokes work. DeGeneres is better than this and she should be doing better.<\/span><\/p>\n Best Cinematography<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Should Win:<\/strong>\u00a0Emmanuel Lubezki,\u00a0Gravity<\/em><\/p>\n Will Win:<\/strong>\u00a0Emmanuel Lubezki,\u00a0Gravity<\/em><\/p>\n Did Win:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Emmanuel Lubezki,\u00a0Gravity<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n