Abzee’s Oscar Predix 2014
With under a couple of hours to go before the list of nominees are announced for the 86th Academy Awards, here are my late-in-the-day no-guts-no-glory predictions. This precursor season has been quite a chaotic one as compared to the previous years with quite a few major changes and reversals of fortune with regards to films and performances and individuals. Just ask Robert Redford who went from a certain lock to win the Oscar for his one-man act in ALL IS LOST to now having to fight it out for the fifth spot even in the Leading Male category. As late as this week, the Golden Globes did its stunning bit in giving AMERICAN HUSTLE a major boost to its already snow-balling momentum that could take it beyond the critical darling 12 YEARS A SLAVE and pip it to the Oscar post. The Globes were also responsible to make AMERICAN HUSTLE’s Jennifer Lawrence’s case stronger for a second consecutive Oscar at just 23 years of age.
Here then is how I see the Ballot being read out tonight, before we endure a 45-day screening & lobbying season before the Oscars are eventually handed out on the 2nd of March. All nominations are in alphabetical order.
Best Picture
12 YEARS A SLAVE
AMERICAN HUSTLE
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
GRAVITY
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
If one were to go with the traditional 5 nominees, the above 5 should make it with NEBRASKA making a very strong bid to get in instead of THE WOLF OF WALL STREET which is just an unpredictable beast this Oscar race given its polarizing reaction.
However, since the Academy has revised its rules to allow anywhere between 5 and 10 nominees based on how many films deserve to be nominated (arrived at on a calculation of no.1 votes and number of votes in the total polling tally), the following films also have a chance to get nominated in the following order-
If they nominate 6 films, then the film that gets in will be
NEBRASKA
If 7, then
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
If 8,
PHILOMENA
9,
HER
And if 10,
SAVING MR. BANKS
The Coen Bros.’ INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS has an outside shot of making it to the final ten, while Woody Allen’s BLUE JASMINE is a long shot.
Best Director
Alfonso Cuaron GRAVITY
Paul Greengrass CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
Steve McQueen 12 YEARS A SLAVE
David O. Russell AMERICAN HUSTLE
Martin Scorsese THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
Cuaron, McQueen and Russell are a sure lock in what is Cuaron’s race to lose. The final two spots are up for grabs. Spike Jonze for HER can take Scorsese’s place here as THE WOLF OF WALL STREET has been a divisive film. Alexander Payne can sneak in for NEBRASKA given how popular he is with the Academy.
Best Actor in a Leading Role
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
In what had started out as the year to reward Robert Redford’s legacy for his work on ALL IS LOST, that campaign hook was soon adopted by Bruce Dern, while the ascension of the cry to honour DiCaprio’s work has been escalating has almost made it certain that Redford only has an outside chance of getting in now.
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Amy Adams AMERICAN HUSTLE
Cate Blanchett BLUE JASMINE
Sandra Bullock GRAVITY
Judi Dench PHILOMENA
Emma Thompson SAVING MR. BANKS
This has been a one-horse race from September, with Cate Blanchett topping every Critics’ list and winning all the precursor awards. This list remains interesting then only to see if the late-rise of Amy Adams can do enough to unseat the otherwise reflexive choice Meryl Streep for AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Barkhad Abdi CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
Daniel Bruhl RUSH
Bradley Cooper AMERICAN HUSTLE
Michael Fassbender 12 YEARS A SLAVE
Jared Leto DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
The final 2 spots in this race are a close call between 3, so expect Jonah Hill to make a showing here at the expense of either Cooper or Bruhl. James Gandolfini has an outside shot of getting a posthumous nomination for his sensitive performance in ENOUGH SAID.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Jennifer Lawrence AMERICAN HUSTLE
Lupita Nyong’O 12 YEARS A SLAVE
Julia Roberts AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
June Squibb NEBRASKA
Oprah Winfrey THE BUTLER
This race kept building up as Nyong’O’s to lose, until all hell broke loose over the last couple of weeks with Jennifer Lawrence’s afterglow effect of last year’s Oscar win helping her bag quite a few precursor awards. There should be no surprises here, with BLUE JASMINE’s Sally Hawkins having a very very long shot.
Best Foreign Film
BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN Belgium
THE GREAT BEAUTY Italy
THE HUNT Denmark
OMAR Palestine
TWO LIVES Germany
The fifth spot is up for grabs, and Cambodia’s THE MISSING PICTURE can easily get in, in place of Palestine. Hong Kong’s THE GRANDMASTER has surprisingly been a non-starter the entire awards season.
Best Original Screenplay
AMERICAN HUSTLE Eric Singer & David O. Russell
BLUE JASMINE Woody Allen
HER Spike Jonze
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Coen Bros.
NEBRASKA Bob Nelson
Don’t see any surprises here, and DALLAS BUYERS CLUB has an extremely long shot.
Best Adapted Screenplay
12 YEARS A SLAVE John Ridley
AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY Tracy Letts
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Billy Ray
PHILOMENA Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Terence Winter
The acting duo Delpy-Hawke and their director Linklater’s BEFORE MIDNIGHT can be a spoiler here. 12 YEARS & PHILOMENA are far ahead of the pack, so expect any of the other three to make room for BEFORE MIDNIGHT should that happen.
Best Cinematography
12 YEARS A SLAVE Sean Bobbitt
GRAVITY Emmanuel Lubezki
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Bruno Delbonnel
NEBRASKA Phedon Papamichael
PRISONERS Roger Deakins
This appears to be a sure list, with CAPTAIN PHILLIPS and THE GRANDMASTER knocking quite a distance away to get in.
Best Editing
12 YEARS A SLAVE Joe Walker
AMERICAN HUSTLE Jay Cassidy & Crispin Struthers
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Christopher Rouse
GRAVITY Alfonso Cuaron & Mark Sanger
RUSH Daniel P. Hanley & Mike Hill
Legendary Thelma Schoonmaker is on the fringes of this list trying to get in for her last minute meet-the-deadline edit job on THE WOLF OF WALL STREET.
Best Original Score
12 YEARS A SLAVE Hans Zimmer
ALL IS LOST Alex Ebert
THE BOOK THIEF John Williams
GRAVITY Steven Price
PHILOMENA Alexandre Desplat
Thomas Newman’s score for SAVING MR. BANKS has a fair shot of making it to the final five.
– Abhishek Bandekar
January 16, 2014 at 6:52 AM
As always this is a post I look forward to every year.. going through it now..
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January 16, 2014 at 6:57 AM
Thanks Satyam. I mean to revive my Best Of list as well. Will certainly take out some time and compile it over the weekend. Regret missing quite a few major films like The Lunchbox, Shahid, etc. though. This was more an exercise to get back to writing and contributing again, no matter how delayed 🙂
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January 16, 2014 at 7:02 AM
great! Something for the rest of us to celebrate..
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January 16, 2014 at 7:47 AM
Awesome and nice read. I’ve been put off WOWS with the reviews its got.
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January 16, 2014 at 9:20 AM
Complete list of nominees-
http://oscar.go.com/nominees
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January 16, 2014 at 9:53 AM
Score-
Best Picture – 9/9
Best Director- 4/5 (Paul Greengrass made way for Academy favourite Alexander Payne)
Best Actor in a Leading Role- 4/5 (Tom Hanks’ omission is the biggest snub this year, made all the more surprising that his spot is taken by the out of left field Christian Bale for American Hustle. The love for this film just keeps increasing.)
Best Actress in a Leading Role- 4/5 (Lesson learnt- Never count The Streep out. Thankfully, Adams remains in, but Emma Thompson’s return to the Oscars was not meant to be.)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role- 4/5 (Jonah Hill is a 2-time Academy Award nominee! Bad luck Bruhl.)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role- 4/5 (Sally Hawkins gets in as a longshot, further suggesting that The Butler was just dying out in the precursor season.)
Best Foreign Film- 4/5 (The German film had to make way for Cambodia’s The Missing Picture.)
Best Original Screenplay- 4/5 (So Inside Llewyn Davis gets completely shutout, making room for Dallas Buyers Club.)
Best Adapted Screenplay- 4/5 (Yay for Before Midnight. August: Osage County in retrospect didn’t seem like it would make the cut given its underwhelming reviews.)
Best Cinematography- 4/5 (Totally elated to see The Grandmaster make the cut, but equally surprised that it came at the expense of what I believe is a viscerally shot 12 Years A Slave.)
Best Editing- 4/5 (Dallas Buyers Club really seems to have wowed the Academy members, snagging a surprise nomination here. Rush seemed like a lock in this category.)
Best Original Score- 3/5 (Thomas Newman one guessed would make the cut for Saving Mr. Banks. But the nomination for Her is a big surprise. Golden Globe winner Ebert surprisingly doesn’t make it for All Is Lost, and Zimmer’s snubbing by the Academy continues with 12 Years A Slave not showing.)
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January 16, 2014 at 9:55 AM
abzee you bragger!
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January 16, 2014 at 10:11 AM
Well, its the one evening (morning in LA) that I wait for all year. Have always fostered a passion for the Oscars. I am not nave to credit its noms and wins as validation of what’s best, but over the years it has become a tradition, and a challenge like psephology, to track and predict the Oscars.
And yes, it feels nice to be right 🙂
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January 16, 2014 at 10:41 AM
great going! Now tell us who leaked it out to you?
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January 16, 2014 at 12:31 PM
Super job,Abzee.
So, this was a prediction of nominees.
How about a proper prediction of winners?
My predictions:
Best Movie- 12 years….
Besr actor male: Matthew McConauhey
Best director; Alfonso Cuoron
Best actress: Amy Adams/Cate Blanchett
Supporting actor male:tough one
Best supporting actress: Jennifer Lawrence.
I will have to wait a while before I can gloat tho!!
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January 16, 2014 at 12:47 PM
Supporting actor male is easiest i guess. Jared leto has no worthy competition.
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January 16, 2014 at 1:08 PM
Personally think Daniel Bruhl should have been on the list and either he or Fassbender or Abdi are stronger than Leto. He’s got plenty of competition, but he’s also got the most Oscar-friendly role. Nominating Jonah Hill, much as I liked him, is a joke, at best a play to get the ceremony more young viewers.
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January 16, 2014 at 2:37 PM
Couldn’t agree more, I loved Rush and Daniel Bruhl’s performance. Have not seen a more interesting yet unglamorized hero in a film.
Also loved Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave as well as the movie. Looking back at 2013, it was a great year for Hollywood, (but a horrible one for Bollywood, 2012 was way better quality-wise). Here are my favorite films in order:
1. Lone Survivor
2. 12 Years a Slave
3. Prisoners
4. Rush
5. Wolf Of Wall Street
6. The Great Gatsby
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January 16, 2014 at 3:53 PM
Haven’t seen Lone Survivor. Can’t say it interests me either to be honest. Its tone seems only slightly less jingoistic than Act of Valor. Kind of like a well-cast recruitment film for the SEALs.
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March 5, 2014 at 7:00 AM
You got a number of these spot on, Rajen!
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January 16, 2014 at 3:39 PM
Some1 just sent me this…live …(though a bit defered live)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/oscars/10576331/Oscar-nominations-2014-as-it-happened.html
Btw haven’t looked at this list yet myself..
Every year there’s an oscar ‘darling’ or two…
This years oscars darlings (for whatever reasons–deserved or not) imo are–
12 years a slave
Gravity
These two films will sweep most awards
The remaining ones will be distributed amongst the usual suspects like American hustle, wolf, Osage
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January 16, 2014 at 3:44 PM
The films I liked/enjoyed—
Haven’t watched hustle, wolf, Osage yet…won’t watch slave!!
The films I LIKED /ENJOYED –in no particular order
LOVED–
The great gatsby
Rush
Before Midnight
FOUND GOOD but nothing mindblowing–(over celebrated!)
Gravity
Captain Phillips
‘Guilty’ Pleasures
French-Blue is the warmest color
Julie et jolie
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January 16, 2014 at 3:56 PM
Films I may watch (so my choices may change!)
Wolf of Wall Street (for obvious reasons—-excessive sex n drugs n mayhem)
Nebraska –anything that Alexander Payne makes is perceptive and devoid of the usual deliberate oscar baiting
All is lost –only for Robert Redford
American hustle (maybe) –for Amy Adams (lol)
——
Imo Films that will SWEEP the oscars (but I don’t care about much beyond a point!)—
Gravity –hope they don’t give this an award for anything/one other than cuaron-
12 years a slave–my views are —
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January 16, 2014 at 4:05 PM
Performances I Loved
(My pick) Leonardo da Caprio — the Great Gatsby / ? Wolf
Daniel Bruhl — Rush
Ethan Hawke –Before midnight
—-
Pleasant surprises
Chris Hemworth –Rush
Tobey Macguire –the Great Gatsby (yeah a nice little under rated performance!)
—-
Expected much more—(subpar)
Mathew MacConaughey –Mud
George Clooney –Gravity (yes!– these antics may impress some -not me!-good job as a producer & project -backer though!)
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January 16, 2014 at 4:08 PM
OSCARS EQUAL POWER
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January 17, 2014 at 6:47 AM
Agree with Brody on the Coens. Inside Llewyn Davis was in my opinion not as great as the reviews would lead one to believe, I certainly prefer other works from the Coens, but it had an iconic performance in Oscar Isaac, some beautiful music and an overall atmosphere and tone that was much more memorable than entire films released this year.
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January 16, 2014 at 4:10 PM
My PERSONAL AWARDS–
‘TAKE-HOME’ PERFORMANCES OF 2014
Adele Exarchopoulos —Blue
By far, the best FEMALE performance of 2013 (any language!)
Marina Vacht –June et Jolie
Deepika padukone–yeh jawaani hai deewani (Bollywood, India)
Katrina Kaif –Dhoom 3 (cameo)
🙂 🙂
🙂
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January 16, 2014 at 4:22 PM
I am surprised Sandra Bullock is not winning for Gravity, She looked like a sure thing.
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January 16, 2014 at 4:57 PM
12 years ‘MY’ Slave …
Ps: mind you, here I’m talking of ‘voluntary’ slavery..
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January 18, 2014 at 12:09 PM
I DONT agree that this has been a great year for Hollywood oscars wise–infact it’s been SUBPAR
Mediocre even
Not ONE film in the above list I’ve been floored by (yet!)
A few that I really loved (& have enumerated above) are missing—
And note how these are all lined up for release near the oscar nominations -be it slave or wolf or hustle–
What a glorified sham !!
@ prose—don’t feel Sandra bullock did anything out of the world in gravity.
U can get only a certain amount of credit for looking ‘petrified’
Yeah the ONE thing Sandra did well was uncovered when she came out of the space suit
Man–@ 50– she surely had to bod of a fit 25 year old –u bet!!
And this is how
http://www.shape.com/blogs/fit-famous/how-sandra-bullock-got-shape-gravity
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January 18, 2014 at 12:14 PM
Basically to my list of —
Before midnight
Blue is the warmest color
The great gatsby
Rush
jeute et jolie
I will add films as and when I remember —
Stoker (loved it & Mia)
Even the secret life of Walter Mitty wasn’t that bad
Am trying to refrain for these two–but let’s see how long
Am trying to resist the ‘urge’ but may have to see atleast one of these v soon
Satyam–what’s your pick on these two—
Will have to catch up –American hustle
And above all –the ‘wolf’ of Wall Street
The more I’m trying to look away –the more the ‘wolf’ beckons me (back)…
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January 18, 2014 at 12:20 PM
The ‘wolf’ beckons –lemme see how long I can resist (the film)…
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January 21, 2014 at 5:20 PM
The ‘Argo’ syndrome
Well, continuing my random thoughts on these ‘oscars’—
The resurrection of Ben Affleck reached a ‘crescendo’ with the ultra-celebration of ‘Argo’ –imo it wasn’t much more than a v good film –just like affleck himself …
Imo The ONLY thing exceptional about affleck has been his wife —
Jennifer Garner !!
Obviously all the so-called ‘intellectuals’ couldn’t see thru this drama
And what has followed is —
The ‘me-too’ syndrome
Wherein everyone from
Mathew macconaughey
To Christian bale
To brad cooper suddenly thought
“C’mon if Ben affleck can make this shift, so can I!”
The ever gullible ‘intellgentsia’ was game to get ‘impressed’ and be taken for a ride …(pun intended)
So we suddenly have ‘acting masterclasses’ by brad cooper, even macconaughey & bale
And the guys suddenly find themselves in commercial projects
That release AROUND the time of Oscar nominations
To jack up the initials
Aided by the like Jen Lawrence (will come to her later some day!)
And Amy Adams (I don’t mind her actually lol)
And lo n behold –just check thee lists and analyses lol
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January 21, 2014 at 5:26 PM
OSCARS BEST MALE ACTOR 2013 & 2014
In my opinion, this has been a NO-BRAINER…
I don’t know which chimp they will award
And to tell the truth , I don’t care about it …
With not one, not two but seems three back to back films/performances that have RESONATED with me
Inspite of NOT having seen the latest one (I’m trying to stay off it due to some reasons!)–
I can safely declare MY award to —
DJANGO UNCHAINED
THE GREAT GATSBY
WOLF OF WALL STREET
3 films, 1 man
The man oscars don’t wanna award
But who cares…
He’s got my award lol
Leonardo DiCaprio !!!
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January 28, 2014 at 1:56 PM
Lights, Camera, Conversation… “And the loser is…”
Posted on January 24, 2014
…Julia Louis-Dreyfus, whose exquisitely frills-free performance in “Enough Said” didn’t stand a chance in front of Meryl Streep’s outrageous overacting.
Looking at the Oscar nominations every year, you have to wonder if, in the Best Actress category, they basically check if Meryl Streep has had a movie that year, and if she has, then they only have to worry about choosing the other four nominees. I have never been a great fan of the actress, whom I find too mannered and fussy to fully inhabit a part – we are never allowed to forget that MERYL STREEP IS ACTING, OH SHE IS ACTING – and even when she cuts loose in her comic roles, there’s this feeling I get of watching someone work very, very hard at something, like a dog determined to digest a rubber bone. I know that I am in the extreme minority with this contention, but the reason I bring up Streep isn’t to be contrarian or some such thing. The reason is that I have seen August: Osage County, the film for which she is nominated this year – and she is awful.
Words cannot express the dreadfulness of this performance, the watch-me-act-watch-me-act-watch-me-act exhaustion it brings about. It’s really Julia Roberts, who’s strangely nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category (despite having a role of equal length and importance), who walks away with the movie with a keenly observed minor-key performance – but this is not to say that the only performances worth considering are those that are “invisible.” Peter O’Toole was rarely subtle, in the way the term is used to describe screen acting, but he always inhabited his parts. He found his way inside them, so that even if we thought “Peter O’Toole is doing a great job as Henry II [in Becket],” even if the actor/star came first and the part only later, there was a thrilling dynamism in the way this fusion of actor/star and part came about. When this dynamism is evident, we are exhilarated, and when it isn’t, when we only see the nuts and bolts of craft (the parts, the sum of which never becomes an organic whole), we are merely exhausted.
I’ve done this exact bit of hand-wringing in this space earlier (I’d reproduced the Pauline Kael quote that summed it up best, the one where she observed that “instead of trying to achieve freedom in front of the camera, [Streep is] predetermining what it records), but what set off a new bout of angst was the non-nomination of Julia Louis-Dreyfus for her beautiful performance as a divorced mother who finds love and then loses it and then kinda-sorta finds it again in Nicole Holofcener’s Enough Said. (Her co-star James Gandolfini is equally good – big and sad and wise and foolish – and he wasn’t nominated either.) And it isn’t just the non-nomination. Had Louis-Dreyfus lost out to some other worthy performer, we’d have just sighed and wished her better luck next time. But to lose a place in the top five to Streep and her grand parade of acting tics is just… infuriating.
And now you’re going to say, “But of course Streep was nominated. Don’t you know that the Oscar voters love these showy performances?” Yes, yes, I know. And Streep’s part as the mother-from-hell in August: Osage County is filled with the kind of touches Oscar voters seem to love. The character is cancer-stricken and prone to pill-popping – if there’s disease or suffering, Oscar is sure to follow. The character is enhanced by prosthetic makeup (or at least some kind of make-Meryl-Streep-look-different makeup) – if there’s physical transformation, Oscar is sure to follow. Poor Julia Louis-Dreyfus, on the other hand, just gets to look like she always does, as Enough Said is about ordinary people whose emotional complications are – at least to those people – as much of a cross to bear as cancer. That’s something Oscar never seems to get, that life isn’t always about the major issues, and that (relatively) minor setbacks can be equally worthwhile fodder for drama.
But then, Enough Said doesn’t quite qualify as drama either – and that’s the other problem with Oscar, its inability (or perhaps reluctance) to recognise the films that fall between the cracks. August: Osage County is one-hundred-per-cent drama – there’s no mistaking all that shouting for anything else. Gravity is one-hundred-per-cent drama – there’s no mistaking all that… gravity for anything else. 12 Years a Slave is one-hundred-per-cent drama – there’s no mistaking all that suffering for anything else. But Enough Said? It’s about the difficulty of finding love after a certain age, about the second-guessing that happens with potential partners, about the perils of making hasty judgements about people, about our tendency to suck up to (and be influenced by) those we consider our intellectual superiors… All of this is hugely dramatic stuff, but it’s all presented with no fuss, with the lightest of touches (as lovers of other Holofcener’s films have come to expect). An Oscar for embodying life as we know it outside the movie theatre? The very thought…
— Baradwaj Rangan
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March 1, 2014 at 8:33 PM
What do you mean when you say that the Weinsteins killed American independent cinema?
I think they love cinema, but they also like to take a movie and give it an added value, then kill everything left behind. This has a lot to do with the Oscars. In the ‘90s, there were real independent movies, but they have slowly been crushed by the majors. The minute they take over something, they crush it. It’s a bit like what happened in the ‘70s with Scorsese’s cinema. It was something quite cool. And that’s the same logic: majors think “oh there’s a market there”, so they take over and try to format it. Big studios hire original directors and make them do the same things as all the others. It’s a strange process, but it is how it works. Nowadays, when you see the word ‘independent’ next to ‘cinema’, it’s more like a label: it’s a business. Most of the time, this kind of cinema has nothing to do with independent movies. The best thing for a director is to be financed by private investors who don’t get involved with anything artistic and trust you 100%. There are very few of them, but there are still some left. For example, the people who funded Before Midnight were all a bit like that. And then, there are the people who say they are pro-independent but who don’t want scenes that are too much. I’ll always remember when financiers for 2 Days in Paris told me after seeing the movie: “you can’t release this.” They thought that the scene where I argue with the racist taxi driver could not work in a romantic comedy. Luckily enough, when the film was shown in Berlin, everyone loved these scenes and the financiers forgot they wanted me to cut them. I’ve told a lot of people to leave me alone when they have wanted me to cut some scenes, and in most cases, I was right. I knew I was right. I can see when people’s motive is fear. A lot of financiers and producers are scared, and no reaction coming from fear can ever be right. Anyway, it’s not easy to make movies. I don’t know why I make movies. There are problems all the time and you always end up working with idiots (laughs).
http://www.sofilm.co.uk/interview-julie-delpy-oscars-its-90-white-men-over-70-who-need-money
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March 2, 2014 at 10:18 PM
Jared Leto’s was expected..too predictable ..
And so continues the Oscar history of ignoring the supposedly ‘light’ performances..Sad for Jen Law..she really carried the ‘dumb blonde’ act to superb heights — can’t say am not glad for Lupito..tough luck Jen..
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March 2, 2014 at 11:32 PM
Very..very glad for Spike Jonze for HER…superb writing..tremendous/terrific screenplay..too bad the academy showed the finger to Joaquin’s magnificent act..but he is some-one who doesn’t give a flying f!@#
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March 2, 2014 at 11:56 PM
Blanchett deserved it big time… a class act..so glad some ‘ethicist’ morons were trying to bring in Allen’s proved or unproved allegations about abuse to sabotage Cate’s sure-fire win…
Disappointed for Leo not winning..he really should have won..however good Matt may have been – and he has been – the 20 pounds weight-losing bait was already cast..
Great speeches by both Cate and Matt
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March 3, 2014 at 12:07 AM
Matthew at 25- How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days
Matthew at 35- Dallas Buyers Club and an Oscar winner for best actor.
there is NO WAY i would’ve thought this dude was going to be anywhere near an Oscar ten years ago. Hard work and dedication pays off. Kudos to him.
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March 3, 2014 at 12:31 AM
Matt’s win is not undeserving..but Leo deserved it better..his act didn’t carry any Oscar-friendly overtures..if he had won, it would have been one of the most Oscar-unfriendly acts to have won!! Leo’s was a superior act when compared to Matt’s..it is just tough luck I agree..last year, Phoenix’s superb turn in THE MASTER was up against Daniel’s LINCOLN..tough luck..
As I said, the Academy is still underlining all the ‘win-guaranteed’ characteristics – lose weight, play a drag/queer, be black!!!
I pray that these judges really get out of the OCD of being ‘politically aware’ citizens..
LAGAAN, a far, far superior film to NO MAN’S ISLAND suffered because of such politics..
BTW, Matt is 46!!! He is 9 years late….
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March 3, 2014 at 12:44 AM
lol..oops than i am wrong…when he was 35..doing that..now to 46…amazing difference to me still. and agreed on the rest…i was really hoping for leo or bruce dern to win it.
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March 3, 2014 at 12:52 AM
“As I said, the Academy is still underlining all the ‘win-guaranteed’ characteristics – lose weight, play a drag/queer, be black!!!”
this comment reminded me of this scene in Tropic Thunder:
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March 3, 2014 at 12:04 AM
Jeezuz…they HAD to be politically correct and please the leftists…so best picture is 12 years a slave huh?! Really? How the heck is it better than Gravity? Get your politics out of these awards you ‘Academicians’!
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March 3, 2014 at 12:16 AM
I loved your running commentary. Some disppointments as usual. And some heartwarming moments.
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March 3, 2014 at 12:20 AM
I’m going to go out on a limb and say the right isn’t pro slavery either!
12 Years is an important and incredibly moving film, and it winning best picture is wholly merited. I actually think it should have also won the best actor prize. For all the DiCaprio vs. McConaughey talk, Chiwetel gave the most affecting, poignant performance I’ve seen in the last several years.
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March 3, 2014 at 12:37 AM
i think ellen sort of mockingly said at the very beginning about if 12 years a slave loses tonight then..”you’re all racist!” lol. It was a rather weak year for best film category IMO.
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March 3, 2014 at 1:49 AM
Not very much surprises this time…McConaughey and Blanchett were lock to win….glad that McConaughey won and there was no upset…he was absolutely brilliant and mesmerizing in Dallas Buyers Club…great in Mud too…and even brilliant in his cameo in TWOWS
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March 3, 2014 at 4:22 AM
I can’t wait to watch Dallas Buyers Club — will be doing so either tonight or tomorrow…
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March 3, 2014 at 2:43 PM
ya you should predicted sometime back in salim view he will win best actor
mud is another recent movie in which he was good in strong physicality compared to ffagile one in dallas buyer club again in short span..even owned leo in wows
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March 3, 2014 at 3:14 PM
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/aug/16/entertainment/la-et-mn-ca-dallas-buyers-20130818
‘The Dallas Buyers Club,’ the AIDS film no one wanted to make
It took 20 years, manic persistence and an alignment of the stars to finally produce Hollywood’s most-famous stalled script, ‘The Dallas Buyers Club.’
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March 3, 2014 at 8:22 AM
Cate’s fine acceptance speech..
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March 3, 2014 at 5:51 PM
Oops totally missed the oscars–thought it was next weekend or something–may catch them soon…
Btw good updates above by Ann–good job, girl…
Ps: haven’t seen Dallas buyers club, but mcconaughey was brilliant in the cameo in wows..
Extreme weight loss in HIV is a major oscar bait just like slavery..
Good that cheetu or whateva the name was didn’t win in slave …
Yaawn, I had already predicted that ’12 years slave’ & ‘gravity’ will share the loot –haven’t seen the results but seems that’s what’s happened–haven’t seen the full results,,
As for Leo -perhaps he may declare these awards fixed and join aap to route out corruption!
And better…
Leo Should join Amy Adams in bed –the two should make out till their next nomination (sixth) finally wins them an oscar–till then shag away..
Btw where’s Margaret Ann gone?
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March 3, 2014 at 10:36 PM
A good analysis of the latest Oscar show here from The Hindu’s Sudhish Kamath.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/a-bring-your-own-laughs-house-party/article5747525.ece
I have to agree with him, especially regarding Elen Degeneres. And now I miss the classic Oscars of the past, mainly the ones hosted by Whoopi Goldberg. She was hilarious, intelligent, fabulous. Need to check ’em out on youtube.
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March 4, 2014 at 1:13 PM
The world is changing and so is the humor. Ellen is famous for her show like Oprah and her brand of humor. You can not satisfy all the people with anything. From tone of article, I can sense Mr Kamath is far from reality. Alfonso Cuaron win was not an upset.
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March 6, 2014 at 4:20 AM
Yeah Cuaron’s win was no upset.
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March 3, 2014 at 11:17 PM
http://www.euronews.com/2014/03/02/after-earth-movie-43-sweep-razzies/
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March 4, 2014 at 12:54 PM
Leo v/s Matt..
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