2014 Oscars: Predictions for the 86th Academy Awards

Visitors to The Wife Hates Sports know that this is a sports site with a tendency to dabble in the entertainment world from time to time.  Regular readers will be used to our Oscar predictions as an annual thing.  We return with our major award thoughts for the 2014 Oscars.

Nothing symbolizes Hollywood more than the Oscars, which is why – like the previous four years – yours truly goes head-to-head against THE WIFE in hopes to achieve gender domination for one evening.  Here’s hoping this man reels in a fifth consecutive Oscar victory.

Yes, it’s time to post some award predictions for the 2014 Oscars.  What was your favorite movie of the year?  Feel free to chime in with your own picks, thoughts and opinions.

Both KP and THE WIFE predict a lot of success for ‘Gravity’ at the 2014 Oscars

2014 Oscars: Predictions for the 86^th Annual Academy Awards

Music (Original Song)

The Nominees Are:

• Despicable Me 2 (“Happy” – Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams)
• Frozen (“Let It Go” – Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez)
• Her (“The Moon Song” – Music by Karen O; Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze)
• Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (“Ordinary Love” – Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen; Lyric by Paul Hewson)

KP’s Prediction: Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (“Ordinary Love” – Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen; Lyric by Paul Hewson)

The Wife’s Prediction: Despicable Me 2 (“Happy” – Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams)

KP’s Take: For those that are unaware, Paul Hewson is more commonly referred to as Bono (from U2).  Some critics are saying that “Let It Go” will win, but I can’t get past this great tune, especially after seeing Bono and The Edge recently perform an acoustic version of it on “The Tonight Show”.

Music (Original Score)

The Nominees Are:

• The Book Thief (John Williams)
• Gravity (Steven Price)
• Her (William Butler and Owen Pallett)
• Philomena (Alexandre Desplat)
• Saving Mr. Banks (Thomas Newman)

KP’s Prediction: Gravity (Steven Price)

The Wife’s Prediction: Her (William Butler and Owen Pallett)

KP’s Take: Williams and Desplat seem to be regulars on this list, but as always, I lean towards the score that helps tell the story more than any of the other films.  In this instance, that is Steven Price’s score for Gravity, which adds a quality and fitting vibe.

Directing

The Nominees Are:

• American Hustle (David O. Russell)
• Gravity (Alfonso Cuaron)
• Nebraska (Alexander Payne)
• 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen)
• The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese)

KP looks to top THE WIFE in Oscar predictions for a 5th straight year

KP’s Prediction: Gravity (Alfonso Cuaron)

The Wife’s Prediction: Gravity (Alfonso Cuaron)

KP’s Take: Cuaron was a popular pick in previous award shows.  Whie there’s big competition here, it takes a special kind of effort to pull off the story and performances like the one in Gravity.

Costume Design

The Nominees Are:

• 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)

KP’s Prediction: 12 Years a Slave (Patricia Norris)

The Wife’s Prediction: American Hustle (Michael Wilkinson)

KP’s Take: The period pieces frequently win in this category, and as always, there are a few options.  The Great Gatsby is the likely favorite to win, but I’m picking an upset, as 12 Years a Slave – with all its acclaim – will help drive it to the front of the pack.

Cinematography

The Nominees Are:

• The Grandmaster (Philippe Le Sourd)
• Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki)
• Inside Llewyn Davis (Bruno Delbonnel)
• Nebraska (Phedon Paparmichael)
• Prisoners (Roger A. Deakins)

KP’s Prediction: Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki)

The Wife’s Prediction: Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki)

KP’s Take: Last year’s winner, Life of Pi, won while amazingly telling a story of a boy and a tiger in a boat, floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  Gravity is the closest to that vibe, and it should bring home the Oscar in this category.

Animated Feature Film

The Nominees Are:

• The Croods (Chris Sanders, Kirk DeMicco and Kristine Belson)
• Despicable Me 2 (Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin and Chris Meledandri)
• Ernest & Celestine (Benjamin Renner and Didier Brunner)
• Frozen (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho)
• The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki)

KP’s Prediction: Frozen (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho)

The Wife’s Prediction: Frozen (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho)

KP’s Take: No Pixar film?  What’s a guy to do?  Head towards Disney, that’s what.  The movie that has made a lot of positive noise is Frozen.  We both have it in a landslide.

Actress in a Supporting Role

The Nominees Are:

• Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine)
• Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
• Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
• Julia Roberts (August: Osage County)
• June Squibb (Nebraska)

KP’s Prediction: Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)

The Wife’s Prediction: Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)

KP’s Take: I suspect it will come down to either Nyong’o or Lawrence, and I’m taking the latter, who also had a winning combination with David O. Russell last year.

Actor in a Supporting Role

The Nominees Are:

• Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)
• Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)
• Michael Fessbender (12 Years a Slave)
• Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)
• Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

KP’s Prediction: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

The Wife’s Prediction: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

KP’s Take: There are a number of great performances in this category, but it should go to the ‘80’s cross-dressing character, mastered by Leto.

Actress in a Leading Role

The Nominees Are:

• Amy Adams (American Hustle)
• Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
• Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
• Judi Dench (Philomena)
• Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)

KP’s Prediction: Amy Adams (American Hustle)

The Wife’s Prediction: Sandra Bullock (Gravity)

KP’s Take: Most critics are listing Cate Blanchett as a sure thing.  Yet, neither of us is picking her.  Some argue that the Woody Allen distractions could hurt Blanchett’s chances.  For me, it’s again the power of leading ladies in movies directed by David O. Russell.  I like Amy Adams in an upset.  The wife is taking Sandra Bullock in Gravity.

Actor in a Leading Role

The Nominees Are:

• 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)

KP’s Prediction: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

The Wife’s Prediction: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

KP’s Take: McConaughey lost 50 pounds for the role.  Even if you didn’t see Dallas Buyers Club, you can tell that he knocked the performance out of the park just by watching the preview.  He put on an award-winning performance.  The movie itself is a powerful story with some very intense subject matter.  That’s all the making for an Oscar winner.

Best Picture

The Nominees Are:

• American Hustle (Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison and Jonathan Gordon, Producers)
• Captain Phillips (Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca, Producers)
• Dallas Buyers Club (Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter, Producers)
• Gravity (Alfonso Cuaron and David Heyman, Producers)
• Her (Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze, and Vincent Landay, Producers)
• Nebraska (Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa, Producers)
• Philomena (Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan and Tracey Seaward, Producers)
• 12 Years a Slave (Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas, Producers)
• The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joey McFarland and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Producers)

KP’s Prediction: Gravity (Alfonso Cuaron and David Heyman, Producers)

The Wife’s Prediction: American Hustle (Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison and Jonathan Gordon, Producers)

KP’s Take: A lot of quality flicks again this year and it should be a close race.  I personally narrowed it down to 12 Years a Slave and Gravity.  Something in my head keeps saying that 12 Years a Slave will win best picture, but my gut pointed me to Gravity.   That’s what I stuck with.  From the get go, Cuaron’s gem received high marks from almost every critic.  That fact simply cannot be ignored.

The Wife’s Take: The WIFE took on best picture by process of elimination.  She quickly knocked out Philomena, Nebraska and Her off the list.  Then, she narrowed it down to 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle, and decided to go with the latter.

Enjoy the 2014 Oscars!  

Make your picks in the comments below.  Oh, and thank you for visiting The Wife Hates Sports!