2014 Personal Film Awards

**winner**

Best Picture
Before Midnight
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Short Term 12
**12 Years a Slave**

Best Director
Woody Allen - Blue Jasmine
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - Inside Llewyn Davis
Alfonso Cuarón - Gravity
Richard Linklater - Before Midnight
**Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave**

Best Actor
**Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street**
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Ethan Hawke - Before Midnight
Oscar Isaac - Inside Llewyn Davis
Joaquin Phoenix - Her

Best Actress
**Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine**
Sandra Bullock - Gravity
Julie Delpy - Before Midnight
Adéle Exarchopoulos - Blue is the Warmest Color
Brie Larson - Short Term 12

Best Supporting Actor
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave
James Franco - Spring Breakers
Ryan Gosling - The Place Beyond the Pines
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
**Sam Rockwell - The Way Way Back**

Best Supporting Actress
Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine
**Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave**
Léa Seydoux - Blue is the Warmest Color
Octavia Spencer - Fruitvale Station
Oprah Winfrey - Lee Daniels' The Butler

Best Original Screenplay
Blue Jasmine
Fruitvale Station
The Hunt
**Inside Llewyn Davis**
Kill Your Darlings

Best Adapted Screenplay
Before Midnight
Philomena
Short Term 12
**12 Years a Slave**
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Production Design
Blue Jasmine
The Great Gatsby
**Inside Llewyn Davis**
Oz the Great and Powerful
12 Years a Slave

Best Costume Design
American Hustle
Blue Jasmine
Lee Daniels' The Butler
Oz the Great and Powerful
**12 Years a Slave**

Best Cinematography
**Gravity**
Inside Llewyn Davis
Only God Forgives
Spring Breakers
12 Years a Slave

Best Film Editing
**Captain Phillips**
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Stories We Tell
12 Years a Slave

Best Original Score
Captain Phillips
**Gravity**
Only God Forgives
12 Years a Slave
Upstream Color

Best Original Song
"In Summer" - Frozen
"Let It Go" - Frozen
"A Little Party Never Killed Nobody" - The Great Gatsby
**"I See Fire" - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug**
"So You Know What It's Like" - Short Term 12

Best Makeup/Hairstyling
American Hustle
Lee Daniels' The Butler
**Only God Forgives**

Best Sound Design
All is Lost
**Gravity**
Inside Llewyn Davis
Lone Survivor
Upstream Color

Best Visual Effects
Ender's Game
**Gravity**
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Oblivion
Pacific Rim

Best Foreign Language Film
Blue is the Warmest Color
**The Hunt**
Stranger by the Lake

Best Documenatry Feature
Dirty Wars
**Stories We Tell**
20 Feet from Stardom

2014 Oscar Nominations Predictions

Best Picture
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Saving Mr. Banks
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director
David O. Russell - American Hustle
Paul Greengrass - Captain Phillips
Alfonso Cuarón - Gravity
Spike Jonze - Her
Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave

Best Actor
Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club

Best Actress
Amy Adams - American Hustle
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock - Gravity
Judi Dench - Philomena
Emma Thompson - Saving Mr. Banks

Best Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips
Daniel Brühl - Rush
Bradley Cooper - American Hustle
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
June Squibb - Nebraska
Julia Roberts - August: Osage County
Oprah Winfrey - Lee Daniels' The Butler

Best Original Screenplay
American Hustle
Blue Jasmine
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska

Best Adapted Screenplay
Before Midnight
Captain Phillips
Philomena
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Animated Feature
The Croods
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen
Monsters University
The Wind Rises

Best Foreign Language Film
The Broken Circle Breakdown
The Great Beauty
The Hunt
The Notebook
Omar

Best Production Design
Gravity
The Great Gatsby
Inside Llewyn Davis
Saving Mr. Banks
12 Years a Slave

Best Costume Design
American Hustle
The Great Gatsby
The Invisible Woman
Saving Mr. Banks
12 Years a Slave

Best Cinematography
The Grandmaster
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Prisoners
12 Years a Slave

Best Film Editing
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Gravity
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Original Score
The Book Theif
Gravity
Philomena
Saving Mr. Banks
12 Years a Slave

Best Original Song
"Amen" - All is Lost
"Let It Go" - Frozen
"The Moon Song" - Her
"You and I Ain't Nothin' No More" - Lee Daniels' The Butler
"Ordinary Love" - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
American Hustle
Dallas Buyers Club
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

Best Sound Mixing
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Lone Survivor
12 Years a Slave

Best Sound Editing
All is Lost
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Lone Survivor
Rush

Best Visual Effects
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man 3
The Lone Ranger
Pacific Rim

Best Documentary Feature
The Act of Killing
Dirty Wars
The Square
Stories We Tell
20 Feet from Stardom

In Defense of Seth MacFarlane

It’s been two days since the Oscars happened, and a lot has been made about the winners, the fashion, and the ceremony. On that last note, there has been a lot of talk about Seth MacFarlane’s hosting duties. The reaction has been mixed, but that’s what we say about every single Oscar host. We complain about how mediocre they are and lament how thankless of a job it really is. But something felt different this time in reading the reactions from people. It affected me so much that I felt compelled to write it down. This has more to do with just the Oscars. This is about a culture that I feel like I don’t identify with anymore.

Everywhere I turn, I keep seeing signs that say how offensive MacFarlane was, particularly for the “We Saw Your Boobs” song and dance number. People claiming it’s sexist and making fun of rape. They are also going after a number of jokes about women in general, especially with the bits about women getting the “flu” to make themselves skinnier and how they can’t give anything up, in reference to Chastain’s character from Zero Dark Thirty. People are crazy upset! And it makes me want to scream at the top of my lungs, “Did the entire world just forget what a joke is!”

I know that MacFarlene’s sense of humor isn’t for everyone, and even I have on occasion strained through some of his comedy. Humor is subjective, and if you didn’t think something was funny, then you have every right to say that he was a terrible Oscar host. However, that is very different from the current chatter. These charges of misogyny are, in a word, ridiculous. If anything, in that song, MacFarlane was drawing attention to the fact that, in order to make it in Hollywood, women have to subject themselves to such a process, and felt like more satire than anything else. It’s offensive to point out that the entertainment industry objectifies women? So we can’t make any jokes about women at all? He made numerous black jokes too about Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle. Anybody upset over that? I’m sure. And don’t forget the gay joke he made, even if it was at his own expense.

I suppose what really frustrates me is that even though we joke how every year the Oscar host never gets good reviews, it generally comes from a place of not trying. Whether you agree with his comedy or not, MacFarlane was taking a chance to bring a slightly different edge to the ceremony. And people are tearing him to shreds for it. If that’s not your cup of tea, then fine. But then, when they try to do the classy thing, people complain about that. Even Billy Crystal, the safest Oscar host you can have got torn to pieces last year. What is it that you want? Do you just want them to not have a host? I’d be fine with that as well, but be honest, because right now, if you criticize everything the host does, no matter their material or execution, then it sounds like you just don’t want anybody doing this job.

Now, for the record, I did like Seth MacFarlane. I may be more defensive because I thought he did a good job at bringing the right amount of edgy humor while also paying homage to old school Hollywood ribbing, as well as showcasing the great song-and-dance man that he is. Some of his jokes fell flat, but during a three hour plus show, it’s not all going to be gold. So I liked him. I thought he was fun. Others disagreed, and that’s okay, but not for the reasons I’m hearing. These reasons come from a culture that is so steeped in political correctness that it no longer can register things like satire and irony. When we reach that point, I find it dangerous because the most important element about what we say no longer gets recognized: context. If we throw context out the window, then every intellectual argument goes with it. The excessive bashing of MacFarlane, for me, is a perfect example.

He’s already said he’s not returning to host again, and in all fairness, I think that’s good. I liked what he did with the show, but I’m uncertain I’d ever want to watch it again. He came in and did his thing, so now let’s move onto another person. That next person will get bad reviews too, but let’s hope it’s based on how they say it, just not the exact thing that was said. With that, I leave you with what will probably be most remembered from MacFarlane’s Oscar hosting, for the best and worst.

Oscars 2013: Post-Mortem

How ironic it is that the one year where I'm prepared to do my absolute worst in terms of predicting the Oscars turns out to be my best year yet. There were only three categories I missed, making a total of 21/24 correct guesses. Looking around the land, that's a better score than many of the so-called experts who make it their living to predict this stuff. That makes me feel good.

In terms of what I did miss, two of them were highly contested categories. Best Supporting Actor had arguments to be made in the favor of all the nominees, and I ended up betting that Silver Linings Playbook was going to be much more well received than it ended up being (it only won a single award). The signs were definitely in favor for Christoph Waltz, especially since he won everything he was nominated for. He has now been twice nominated and twice won, fitting that it happens the same night Sally Field loses that honor. As for the other category, Production Design, I knew Lincoln was a contender, but couldn't bring myself to predict it. Bravo to those that did.

As for the last category I got wrong, it has now proven to me that Best Live Action Short is my worst category. I'm never able to predict that one correctly.

Everyone seems to be ganging up on Seth MacFarlane for his hosting duties, but I rather liked him. I don't think I ever need to see him come back, but I found his sense of humor just edgy enough to warrant relevance in this day in age while also trying to pay homage to those in the room. But as he even joked about during his opening monologue, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't when it comes to hosting the Oscars. In truth, it doesn't matter what you do. They'll end up hating for it anyway.

So the book closes on another Oscar season. Argo defied its initial odds and won Best Picture without Affleck being nominated for Director. However, in his stead we got Ang Lee, a win that made me very happy. I didn't love Life of Pi, but I like it when such a strong directorial achievement is rewarded. Jennifer Lawrence also managed to fight off the Emmanuelle Riva surge of support and win Best Actress (I knew people were overestimating the support for Amour, as also evidenced by Tarantino's victory in Original Screenplay). Daniel Day-Lewis and Anne Hathaway winning were expected. And there it is. Until next time.

And one more little bit of Oscar trivia: This is the first year since 2006 where the top six categories went to different movies. Best Picture: Argo, Best Director: Life of Pi, Best Actor: Lincoln, Best Actress: Silver Linings Playbook, Best Supporting Actor: Django Unchained, Best Supporting Actress: Les Misérables. Coincidentally, the last time this happened, Ang Lee also won Best Director for Brokeback Mountain.

Oscar Predictions: The Rest...

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Will Win: Brave
Should Win: Wreck-It Ralph
-For the first time since this category was installed, we have no frontrunner. It seems to be a three-way race between Brave, Wreck-It Ralph and Frankenweenie. While it’s not Pixar’s best effort, the industry seems to be responding to Brave, and I think it will take it, with the other two, and more deserving winners, waiting to spoil.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Will Win: Django Unchained
Should Win: Zero Dark Thirty
-Seems to me that it’s close between Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained and Michael Haneke’s Amour. The momentum seems to be in Tarantino’s favor, though I wouldn’t be surprised in an outcome in favor of Haneke, or even Mark Boal, who delivered a far better screenplay than the one he won the Oscar for three years ago.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Will Win: Argo
Should Win: Lincoln
-I am so tempted to predict Silver Linings Playbook to take this award, but if Argo is winning Best Picture, I can’t see it dipping below two wins. For that reason alone I’m sticking with the Best Picture frontrunner to carry coattails through this category. Personally, nothing came close to Tony Kushner’s writing achievement this year, but that’s just me.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Will Win: Anna Karenina
Should Win: Anna Karenina
-It’s a close call between Anna Karenina and Les Misérables, with a potential Lincoln spoiler. In the end, though, I think the deserved winner will triumph.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Will Win: Anna Karenina
Should Win: Anna Karenina
-While Production Design is slightly contested, I don’t think Anna Karenina is going to lose this one. Among this selection, I’d agree, though I was a little more impressed with Sharen Davis’s threads for Django Unchained.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Will Win: Life of Pi
Should Win: Skyfall
-This category has shown favor to colorful visual spectacles, which gives a heavy tip in favor of Life of Pi. Despite Deakins being fairly overdue, I think this award is going to yet another 3D film. Out of the bunch, I would vote for ASC winner Skyfall, but for shame that the cinematographers branch did not nominated the marvelous and genius work of The Master.

BEST FILM EDITING
Will Win: Argo
Should Win: Argo
-Arguably the most important below-the-line category which generally matches up pretty well with Best Picture. For that, it seems like Argo is going to take it. It is the only award that I agree 100% with it winning.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Will Win: Life of Pi
Should Win: Skyfall
-Life of Pi seems to have the right amount of elements to take the prize, and given the surprising Best Original Song nomination, it shows how much support the music has. Personally, I didn’t have a strong response to any of these scores, so I’d vote for Skyfall if only to reward Thomas Newman for a decent enough job. It’s a crime that the true winner, Cloud Atlas, couldn’t muster at least a nomination.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Will Win: “Skyfall” - Skyfall
Should Win: “Skyfall” - Skyfall
-Another one of the few categories where you can be confident in this prediction. As soon as it cleared that hump in getting nominated, it was sure to win. It’s a great song, but I do think “Who Did That To You” from Django Unchained (another Paul Epworth song, by the way) was slightly better.

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Will Win: Les Misérables
Should Win: The Hobbit
-I wouldn’t be terribly shocked if any of these nominees ended winning, but I think people are going to respond to Les Misérables adding layers of grime to their attractive stars. I’d personally opt for The Hobbit, but even for a movie I didn’t like that much, Holy Motors defined what should be celebrated within this category.

BEST SOUND MIXING
Will Win: Les Misérables
Should Win: Skyfall
-Musicals tend to do very well in this category, and with such a push for the “live singing” narrative, I think this will triumph. Life of Pi or Skyfall is a threat to take this as well. I thought Zero Dark Thirty had the best sound design, but its absence in this category leads me to pick Skyfall’s mixing team.

BEST SOUND EDITING 
Will Win: Skyfall
Should Win: Zero Dark Thirty
-Going back and forth between Skfyall and Life of Pi, and when in doubt, go for the well respected action blockbuster. With Zero Dark Thirty nominated in this sound category, I would pick it for the winner.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Will Win: Life of Pi
Should Win: Life of Pi
-The safest of safe bets this year. I can’t imagine any scenario where Life of Pi doesn’t deservedly take this.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Will Win: Amour
-With its chief competition, The Intouchables, not nominated, Amour will more than likely take this. This category has been prickly in the past, but with the film reaching nominations in so many major categories, this has to be the least bit that it wins.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Will Win: Searching for Sugar Man
Should Win: 5 Broken Cameras
-The entire Academy is voting for this award, instead of a small committee, and that would suggest the popular title will win. That gives the advantage to Searching for Sugar Man. Out of the nominees, 5 Broken Cameras is a miracle in documentary filmmaking, though I wish Samsara could have made the shortlist, which is not only the best documentary of the year, but one of the best films of the year period.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Will Win: Paperman
Should Win: Adam and Dog
-For the very first time, the entire membership is allowed to vote on the live action and animated shorts. Before that switch, I’d have predicted the beautiful and deeply moving Adam and Dog to impress the animators, but the general Academy will probably opt for the popular studio presentation, which would be a fine choice as well.

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
Will Win: Death of a Shadow
Should Win: Curfew
-It feels like it’s between Curfew and Death of a Shadow, and I have a hard time deciding whether the emotional arch of the former or the high production values of the latter will rule in the end. I’m going to go with Death of a Shadow, with the slightly better Curfew being just as likely a contender, but honestly just as worthy.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Will Win: Inocente
-This story of a homeless, 15-year-old immigrant with dreams of artistry sounds like it has the right amount of buzz and emotion to go the distance. But unlike the other shorts, the voting block is still the much smaller size. Guess at your own risk.