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Marc Glassman's Oscar Picks 2014

Arts Review2014-3-2By: Marc Glassman

Every year, I pick ‘em and every year, I miss! That’s me and the Oscars. I try to imagine what an Academy voter would think but try as I might, I can’t seem to enter their minds. Even the Zoomer influence doesn’t seem to work. I’m the right age to be a voter at this point but I haven’t spent the last 35 years working on costumes or rewriting scripts or adjusting the lights for a scene.

I’ve been alone in the dark, assessing films instead. I love writing and thinking about them. Why did Steve McQueen decide to make 12 Years a Slave so unfailingly brutal? What makes Jennifer Lawrence such a surprise in every performance she gives us? How did Matthew McConaughey effect that surprising change from bland hunky boy to the new Marlon Brando? Those are the kinds of questions I ask myself.

Will all the people I responded to in 2013 win prizes? Probably Laurence and McConaughey will but I doubt that McQueen will emerge a winner.

But what am I saying? McQueen is a winner—a Turner Prize for the Arts winner–and a happy man who lives in Holland with his wife and kids. Hey, he’s one of the finest artists in the world. Does he need an Oscar? Of course not.

When the winners say, “I’m just happy to be in the company of…,” they’re not wrong. Look at the Best Actor nominees: Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruce Dern, Chiwetel Ejiofur and McConaughey. Is there a loser amongst them?

And what actor wouldn’t want to be in that group?

Do I have a problem with this year’s Oscars? Yes, I do. What happened do Inside Llewyen Davis? It might be the best picture of the year and didn’t even get nominated! Heck, the Academy could have made it the tenth selection. But they didn’t.

Sometimes the world is unjust. Well, actually, oftentimes. But don’t get me started!

OK—My selections are in CAPS—with some comments.

86th Academy Awards nominees

March 2, 2014 — Host: Ellen DeGeneres

Best Picture	◦ American Hustle ◦ Captain Phillips ◦ Dallas Buyers Club ◦ Gravity ◦ Her ◦ Nebraska ◦ Philomena ◦ 12 Years a Slave ◦ The Wolf of Wall Street
AND THE WINNER IS…AMERICAN HUSTLE. IT SHOULD BE…12 YEARS A SLAVE.WHY IS IT HUSTLE IS THE WINNER? IT’S FUNNY AND SEXY AND JUST DARK ENOUGH TO APPEAL TO VOTERS. NOT LIKE 12 YEARS, WHICH IS GENUINELY TOO DARK.
Best Actor in a Leading Role	◦ Christian Bale (American Hustle) ◦ Bruce Dern (Nebraska) ◦ Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street) ◦ Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) ◦ Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
AND THE WINNER IS…MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY IT SHOULD BE…CHIWETEL EJIOFURDON’T GET ME WRONG. I LOVE THE NEW McCONAUGHEY. HE’S GREAT IN TRUE DETECTIVE AND, QUITE FRANKLY, IN THIS PORTRAYAL OF AN AMERICAN HETEROSEXUAL DYING OF AIDS AND LEARNING HOW TO LOVE GAY PEOPLE…BUT EJIOFUR HAS A MORE NUANCED ROLE AND DOES AMAZINGLY WELL IN 12 YEARS—AND THIS MAY BE HIS ONLY CHANCE. OH, WELL.
Best Actress in a Leading Role	◦ Amy Adams (American Hustle) ◦ Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) ◦ Sandra Bullock (Gravity) ◦ Judi Dench (Philomena) ◦ Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
AND THE WINNER IS…CATE BLANCHETT – WHICH IS CORRECT.SHE’S BRILLIANT IN THE ROLE OF A RICH WOMAN DOWN ON HER LUCK. I HOPE THE LATEST CONTROVERSY AROUND WOODY ALLEN WON’T ROB HER OF A PRIZE SHE DESERVES…RUNNER UP (I HOPE) SANDRA BULLOCK FOR HER VERY APPEALING PERFORMANCE IN GRAVITY
Best Actor in a Supporting Role	◦ Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) ◦ Bradley Cooper (American Hustle) ◦ Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave) ◦ Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street) ◦ Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
AND THE WINNER IS…JARED LETOLETO IS ABSOLUTLEY EXCEPTIONAL AS THE TRANSVESTITE BFF OF McCONAUGEHEY. I CAN’T IMAGINE ANYONE ELSE WINNING THIS BUT I DO THINK ALL OF THE ACTING IN THIS CATEGORY WAS TOP-NOTCH
Best Actress in a Supporting Role	◦ Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine) ◦ Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle) ◦ Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) ◦ Julia Roberts (August: Osage County) ◦ June Squibb (Nebraska)
AND THE WINNER IS…JENNIFER LAWRENCESHE CREATED AN INDELIBLE CHARACTER OUT OF BITS AND PIECES. SHE’S FUNNY, SEXY, DIM-WITTED AND IMPOSSIBLY CLEVER.SECOND CHOICE: LUPITA NYONGO’O FOR HER COURAGEOUS PORTRAYAL OF A SLAVE “LOVED” BY HER MASTER. SHE’S WONDERFUL AND DESERVES TO HAVE A LONG CAREER IN FILM.
Best Animated Feature	◦ The Croods (Chris Sanders, Kirk DeMicco, Kristine Belson) ◦ Despicable Me 2 (Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin, Chris Meledandri) ◦ Ernest & Celestine (Benjamin Renner, Didier Brunner) ◦ Frozen (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Peter Del Vecho) ◦ The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki)
AND THE WINNER IS…THE WIND RISES THIS IS A TRULY GORGEOUS, WONDERFULLY ADULT FILM BUT IT COULD LOSE TO: FROZEN, WHICH HAS LOVELY TUNES, GREAT LOOKING ANIMATION AND A CRAZY, ILLOGICAL STORYLINE.
Best Cinematography	◦ The Grandmaster (Philippe Le Sourd) ◦ Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki) ◦ Inside Llewyn Davis (Bruno Delbonnel) ◦ Nebraska (Phedon Papamichael) ◦ Prisoners (Roger A. Deakins)
AND THE WINNER IS…EMMANUEL LUBEZKI FOR GRAVITY VISIONARY! SECOND CHOICE IS THE SUSAN LUCCI OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS, ROGER A. DEAKINS
Best Costume Design	◦ American Hustle (Michael Wilkinson) ◦ The Grandmaster (William Chang Suk Ping) ◦ The Great Gatsby (Catherine Martin) ◦ The Invisible Woman (Michael O’Connor) ◦ 12 Years a Slave (Patricia Norris)
AND THE WINNER IS…CATHERINE MARTIN FOR THE GREAT GATSBY
Best Directing	◦ American Hustle (David O. Russell) ◦ Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón) ◦ Nebraska (Alexander Payne) ◦ 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen) ◦ The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese)
AND THE WINNER IS..ALFONSO CUARON SHOULD BE…STEVE McQUEEN PEOPLE MISTAKE SPECIAL F/X FOR DIRECTING.
Best Documentary Feature	◦ The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, Signe Byrge Sørensen) ◦ Cutie and the Boxer (Zachary Heinzerling, Lydia Dean Pilcher) ◦ Dirty Wars (Richard Rowley, Jeremy Scahill) ◦ The Square (Jehane Noujaim, Karim Amer) ◦ 20 Feet from Stardom
AND THE WINNER IS…THE ACT OF KILLINGINNOVATIVE FILM SHOWING LEGALLY SANCTIONED KILLERS RESTAGING THEIR CRIMES ON FILM IS UNNERVING, CONTROVERSIAL AND MUST BE SEEN SECOND CHOICE…THE SQUARE…BUT THIS IS AN EXCELLENT CATEGORY
Best Documentary Short	◦ CaveDigger (Jeffrey Karoff) ◦ Facing Fear (Jason Cohen) ◦ Karama Has No Walls (Sara Ishaq) ◦ The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life (Malcolm Clarke, Nicholas Reed) ◦ Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall (Edgar Barens)
AND THE WINNER IS… THE LADY IN NUMBER 6
Best Film Editing	◦ American Hustle (Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers, Alan Baumgarten) ◦ Captain Phillips (Christopher Rouse) ◦ Dallas Buyers Club (John Mac McMurphy, Martin Pensa) ◦ Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger) ◦ 12 Years a Slave (Joe Walker)
AND THE WINNER IS…GRAVITY (OF COURSE)
Best Foreign Language Film	◦ The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium) ◦ The Great Beauty (Italy) ◦ The Hunt (Denmark) ◦ The Missing Picture (Cambodia) ◦ Omar (Palestine)
AND THE WINNER IS…THE GREAT BEAUTY WHO CAN BEAT FELLINI ESPECIALLY NOW THAT HE’S DEAD?
Best Makeup and Hairstyling	◦ Dallas Buyers Club (Adruitha Lee, Robin Mathews) ◦ Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (Stephen Prouty) ◦ The Lone Ranger (Joel Harlow, Gloria Pasqua-Casny)
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
Best Original Score	◦ The Book Thief (John Williams) ◦ Gravity (Steven Price) ◦ Her (William Butler, Owen Pallett) ◦ Philomena (Alexandre Desplat) ◦ Saving Mr. Banks (Thomas Newman)
AND THE WINNER IS…GRAVITY(OF COURSE)
Best Original Song	◦ Happy (Despicable Me 2) ◦ Let It Go (Frozen) ◦ The Moon Song (Her) ◦ Ordinary Love (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)
AND THE WINNER IS…ORDINARY LOVE DO YOU REALLY WANT TO FIGHT U2?
Best Production Design	◦ American Hustle (Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler) ◦ Gravity (Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin, Joanne Woollard) ◦ The Great Gatsby (Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn) ◦ Her (K.K. Barrett, Gene Serdena) ◦ 12 Years a Slave (Adam Stockhausen, Alice Baker)
THE GREAT GATSBY
Best Animated Short Film	◦ Feral (Daniel Sousa, Dan Golden) ◦ Get a Horse! (Lauren MacMullan, Dorothy McKim) ◦ Mr. Hublot (Laurent Witz, Alexandre Espigares) ◦ Possessions (Shuhei Morita) ◦ Room on the Broom (Max Lang, Jan Lachauer)
ROOM ON THE BROOM
Best Live Action Short Film	◦ Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me) (Esteban Crespo) ◦ Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything) (Xavier Legrand, Alexandre Gavras) ◦ Helium (Anders Walter, Kim Magnusson) ◦ Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?) (Selma Vilhunen, Kirsikka Saari) ◦ The Voorman Problem (Mark Gill, Baldwin Li)
THE VOORMAN PROBLEM
Best Sound Editing	◦ All Is Lost (Steve Boeddeker, Richard Hymns) ◦ Captain Phillips (Oliver Tarney) ◦ Gravity (Glenn Freemantle) ◦ The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Brent Burge, Chris Ward) ◦ Lone Survivor (Wylie Stateman)
THE HOBBIT
Best Sound Mixing	◦ Captain Phillips (Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith, Chris Munro) ◦ Gravity (Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead, Chris Munro) ◦ The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick, Tony Johnson) ◦ Inside Llewyn Davis (Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff, Peter F. Kurland) ◦ Lone Survivor (Andy Koyama, Beau Borders, David Brownlow)
THE HOBBIT
Best Visual Effects	◦ Gravity (Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, Neil Corbould) ◦ The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, Eric Reynolds) ◦ Iron Man 3 (Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash, Dan Sudick) ◦ The Lone Ranger (Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams, John Frazier) ◦ Star Trek Into Darkness (Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann, Burt Dalton)
IRON MAN 3
Best Adapted Screenplay	◦ Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke) ◦ Captain Phillips (Billy Ray) ◦ Philomena (Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope) ◦ 12 Years a Slave (John Ridley) ◦ The Wolf of Wall Street (Terence Winter)
BEFORE MIDNIGHT
Best Original Screenplay	◦ American Hustle (Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell) ◦ Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen) ◦ Dallas Buyers Club (Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack) ◦ Her (Spike Jonze) ◦ Nebraska (Bob Nelson)