The Oscars 2014 - Selfie, Pizzas, Ellen and a Good Time

Despite the few hiccups, I was able to watch this year's Oscars live. I didn't sleep, watched them early morning and it was raining here too. Anyways, it's always nice to see your favorite actors playing "dress up" and "guess the designer" on the red carpet while you nervously await for the actual ceremony to start. What I wished the most for this year beside the winners and losers was for it to be unlike the previous ceremony. I was underwhelmed by Seth MacFarlane as a host but his humor which I am used to didn't feel much flat. What I wanted here was less musical performances which overtook the entire thing last year, more delightful humor, for the host to keep it going smoothly and good pacing overall. The 86th Annual Academy Awards ceremony didn't disappoint me at all. I had a blast and liked almost everything about it. Ellen DeGeneres did a pretty good job as a host. The best thing about her is that even when she isn't hilarious, somehow she keeps it fun and joyful. And that she is actually a host, she knows how to handle it all. The pacing this time was really good unlike last year. The presentation for the nominees which I always look forward to was quite beautiful. The song performances never felt out-of-place or too much. The winners were very satisfying.

There was no big opening number but Ellen made jokes about actors and some films. Some good, some not so good. Though I love how she included slavery in her jokes routine which some people thought would be offensive. Ellen said:

"We should get started. It's going to be an exciting night. Anything can happen, so many different possibilities. Possibility number one: 12 Years a Slave wins Best Picture. Possibility number two: You're all racists. And now please welcome our first white presenter, Anne Hathaway."

The 86th Annual Academy Awards - Winners

The 2014 Oscars were handed out in a glorious and entertaining ceremony which as always, I watched live on TV at 6:30 AM having slept not even for a minute. I just love the Oscars no matter what. Well, I correctly predicted 21 out of 24 categories which is a personal record. "12 Years a Slave" won the best picture prize and Alfonso Cuaron got best director for his work in "Gravity". This is the split which we came to expect eventually and it happened. Splits are a rarity in the kind of voting system they have now but this year was an exception. 2013 gave us such great films and honestly, either of these two would have been one of the best choices ever for the Oscars. For once, I am truly happy with these wins. So 12 Years a Slave only won 3 awards in total. Best picture of course, adapted screenplay and supporting actress for Lupita Nyong'o for which I genuinely applaud the Academy. It was Gravity that went away with a total of 7 awards which includes best director, editing, cinematography, visual effects, sound editing, sound mixing and original score. "American Hustle" walked away with 0 awards... while it was nominated for 10. "The Great Gatsby" won 2 awards for production design and costume design which many of us predicted. "Dallas Buyers Club" won 3 awards for makeup & hairstyling and other two for its actors Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto. Cate Blanchett walked away with an Oscar for her performance in "Blue Jasmine". "Frozen" won for animated film, "The Great Beauty" from Italy won for foreign language film and "20 Feet from Stardom" won documentary.

"Let It Go" won best original song for the Disney hit. And of course, pleased immensely to see Spike Jonze being awarded for his stellar, exceptional work in "Her". A great year for the movies, good winners, great time. I am already missing the awards season madness.

Here is a complete list of the winners:

Best Picture:
12 Years a Slave (Dede Gardner, Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Brad Pitt)

Best Director:
Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)

Independent Spirit Awards 2014

The Indie Spirits were just handed out and as expected, "12 Years a Slave" came out at the top. The Steve McQueen feature won best film, director, supporting actress, screenplay and cinematography. First feature and screenplay went to "Fruitvale Station" and "Nebraska" respectively. All 4 acting winners here I am predicting to repeat at the Oscars as well so fingers crossed for that. Good batch of winners overall. Though movies like "This Is Martin Bonner" should be awarded and nominated more here.

Here is the full list of the winners:

Best Film: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

The 86th Annual Academy Awards - My Final Predictions

Well these are my final predictions for the Oscars. Just a few days are left and I am excited to see the ceremony hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. I am glad that two of my most favorite films of 2013 are among the frontrunners. Either "Gravity" or "12 Years a Slave" will get the big prize. Unless they want to award an even better choice that is "Her"! Anyways, my predictions states a split which I never get. One of the awards experts online pointed out this whole thing with movies dealing with race getting best picture while the more technically or artistically significant films getting director award. Not that the Steve McQueen masterpiece doesn't have artistic significant but you get the point. The examples includes Crash, In the Heat of the Night, Driving Miss Daisy. So beside the split which may or may not happen but its most likely that it will, there is a fair chance that supporting actress, editing and one of the sound categories might go to the spoiler picks that I have written down. Well, there is nothing else to say. A great year for films will end with Oscars awarding one of the two great films of 2013. Here are my predictions:

Best Picture:

12 Years a Slave (Spoiler: Gravity)

Best Director:

Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity (Spoiler: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave)

Costume Designers Guild Awards 2014

Costume Designers Guild announced their winners today and in a surprising turn, "The Great Gatsby" didn't win. The winner in the period film category was the best picture Oscar frontrunner, "12 Years a Slave". Now that is a twist! Other winners were "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" for fantasy film while "Blue Jasmine" won for contemporary film.

Best Costume Design - Period Film:
Patricia Norris (12 Years a Slave)

Best Costume Design - Fantasy Film:
Trish Summerville (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire)

Best Costume Design - Contemporary Film:
Suzy Benzinger (Blue Jasmine)

Cinema Audio Society Awards 2014

Cinema Audio Society announced their winners today. Both "Gravity" and "Frozen" won awards for outstanding achievement in sound mixing, live-action and animated. Gravity's closest competition was "Captain Phillips" but it didn't win.

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing – Live Action:
Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead, Gareth Cousins, Skip Lievsay, Adam Mendez, Chris Munro and Thomas J. O'Connell (Gravity)

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing – Animated:
David E. Fluhr, Gabriel Guy, Mary Jo Lang and Casey Stone (Frozen)

MPSE Golden Reel Awards 2014

Motion Picture Sound Editors announced their winners. Both Gravity and Captain Phillips were the winners for Sound Effects and Foley/Dialogue and ADR respectively. There were also surprising wins for The Great Gatsby, Epic and Dirty Wars.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects and Foley in an English Language Feature:
Hugo Adams, Niv Adiri, Ben Barker, Nicolas Becker, Danny Freemantle, Glenn Freemantle and Eilam Hoffman (Gravity)

BAFTA Awards 2014

You know my reactions if you've been following me on Twitter or if you are a part of that particular Facebook group and I am tired so I'll just be short. BAFTA really offered some real surprises, some shocks and left a bad taste in my mouth. I don't get how "12 Years a Slave" wins Best Picture when it only has one other win, best lead actor for Chiwetel Ejiofor? They failed to award it even adapted screenplay which went to "Philomena", which wasn't going to win best British film since "Gravity" was there... which wasn't going to win best film since "12 Years a Slave" was supposed to win... which wasn't going to win director since Alfonso Cuaron deserved that prize.... and on and on this goes.

Anyways, Gravity won a total of 6 awards, the most of the ceremony. Cuaron continues to win, so does the film in technical categories. The biggest shock of the night for me was "Rush" winning editing over "Gravity" and the supposed threat that is "Captain Phillips". Then Barkhad Abdi winning over Michael Fassbender. Of course Lupita Nyong'o failed to win supporting actress as well... which went to the beloved J-Law. "The Great Beauty" won foreign film award over "Blue is the Warmest Color" but frankly, that wasn't a shock. Not as big as the others. "The Great Gatsby" won 2 awards for production design and costumes.

Here is the full list of the winners:

Best Picture – 12 Years a Slave

Best Director – Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Visual Effects Society Awards 2014

"Gravity" was the big winner at the VES awards as predicted with its 6 wins. The Disney hit animation, "Frozen" won 4 while "The Lone Ranger" and "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" won an award each. Nothing could beat the Oscar frontrunner here in these categories. Over at GoldDerby, I predicted The Lone Ranger to win supporting visual effects award when many were predicting Rush or The Great Gatsby to win. Alfonso Cuaron was also awarded the visionary award by VES for his groundbreaking work.

Here is the complete list of the winners:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture:
Gravity (Tim Webber, Nikki Penny, Neil Corbould, Richard McBride)

Art Directors Guild Awards 2014

So the ADG awarded the predicted films for achievement in production design. "The Great Gatsby" for period film, "Gravity" for fantasy film and "Her" for contemporary film. These three are also my favorites, each have achieved greatness in their particular categories.

Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film – K.K. Barrett, Her

Excellence in Production Design for a Fantasy Film – Andy Nicholson, Gravity

Excellence in Production Design for a Period Film – Catherine Martin, The Great Gatsby

USC Scripter Award 2014

"12 Years a Slave" was the winner at the USC Scripter award where both the screenwriter John Ridley and author Solomon Northup were awarded. Highly deserving winner as Ridley beautifully transformed the harrowing tale from Solomon Northup's own memoir on to the screen. Remember last year when Argo was awarded? Yup, I've forgot all about that as well.

John Ridley - screenwriter and Solomon Northup - author of "Twelve Years a Slave" (12 Years a Slave)

ACE Eddie Awards 2014

A major upset considering how "Gravity" was the frontrunner in this category but "Captain Phillips" is the winner of the 2014 ACE Eddie Award for best edited feature film (dramatic). The editors guild really went for something I personally wasn't expecting to win considering how "Gravity" was sweeping but well... they love Greengrass and his "The Bourne Ultimatum" was a winner as well previously. In terms of the Oscars, even if "Captain Phillips" ends up winning in this category, it wont really hurt Gravity or 12 Years a Slave's chances to win the best picture prize. In the past, even the non-best picture nominees have won but if a frontrunner wins prizes from guilds, its always an indicator for what will likely happen at the Oscars. The rest of the winners were the predicted ones like American Hustle, Frozen and 20 Feet from Stardom.

Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic):
Christopher Rouse (Captain Phillips)

Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy or Musical):
Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers & Alan Baumgarten (American Hustle)

Best Edited Animated Feature Film:
Jeff Draheim (Frozen)

Best Edited Documentary (Feature):
Douglas Blush, Kevin Klauber & Jason Zeldes (20 Feet from Stardom)

My Oscars 2014 Predictions (Pre-BAFTA)

Is BAFTA really going to tell us the potential winners or will it further confuse us? We will wait and see but at this point, all of us have theories and imaginable possibilities but we aren't sure. On one hand, a film about slavery made expertly in the most intimate and brutal way possible. These kind of stories, black filmmakers are rarely recognized. Academy has the best chance to do that right now. I mean the film itself is masterful so it deserves the accolades not just for the sentiments or anything. Then we have a film that perfectly shows where the future of films lie. Its a bold experiment on a big level with big studio and big bucks... and a female character leading the story. The story itself is quiet different, it has drama and it has thrills. Visual effects and technical brilliance vs an engaging thriller and affecting drama... how can you say no to that? Both of these are amazing films in their own right and both deserves recognition. Its just a matter of what the Academy would want to award. A brutal and disturbing film or a film they can comfortably watch and embrace for what it represents or is. I am still not sure how it is all going to turn out so I am still, in the pre-BAFTA phase, expecting a tie. If PGA can have a tie with preferential ballot system then why not Academy? This is a tough year and an even more exciting one.

Below are my Oscars predictions for now:

Best Picture:

12 Years a Slave (Will Win)
Gravity (Could Win)
Her (Should Win)

Awards Round-up: WGA, ASC and Annie 2014

So three different awards bodies announced their winners today. Writers Guild Award winners includes "Her" and "Captain Phillips". Not shocking for me personally considering I was expecting Her to rightfully beat "American Hustle". The latter win however comes as a shock in the presence of such films as "Before Midnight" and "The Wolf of Wall Street". I am really hoping that Her wins the Oscar as well.

Elsewhere, American Society of Cinematographers announced "Gravity" as the winner, giving the great Emmanuel Lubezki his 3rd prize after "Children of Men" and "Tree of Life". He is also a surefire bet to win the Oscar as well.

Last but not the least, "Frozen" is your winner for this year's Annie. Congratulations to all the winners.

WGA Awards:-

Best Original Screenplay:
Her (Spike Jonze)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Captain Phillips (Billy Ray)

Directors Guild Awards 2014

And as many people predicted, Alfonso Cuaron took home the 2014 DGA for "Gravity". Now the question rises, is Gravity going to win best picture too? It hasn't won so far in any major awards show. The significant support it has, the passion of everyone and the fact that it will sweep in technical categories, one can't overlook the possibility. Can BAFTA clear up the field for us? We'll wait and see.

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film:
Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary:
Jehane Noujaim (The Square)

Producers Guild Awards 2014

Shocker!!! For the first time in the history of PGA, there was a tie in the best picture category. Both 12 Years a Slave and Gravity tied for the prize. For those who were looking forward to PGA so that the Oscars race can get clearer... well it got even further muddled. DGA is now the next big bet where people have already predicted Alfonso Cuaron to win. So is Gravity going to win big on the Oscars night? Will there be a split? Or 12 Years a Slave will eventually claim the prize... only time will tell.

Here is the list of the winners:

Best Picture:
12 Years a Slave
Gravity (Tie)

Best Animated Feature:
Frozen

Best Documentary:
We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks

Stanley Kramer Award:
Fruitvale Station

Screen Actors Guild Awards 2014

So the SAG awards were given out last night where American Hustle won their main prize of best cast ensemble. It is the equivalent of best picture as far as what the award stands for on the whole. I must say American Hustle is a worthy winner and this is the only prize I was expecting the David O. Russell directed film to win. While many predicted Jennifer Lawrence to win, I knew it was going to be Lupita Nyong'o who'd be awarded best supporting actress. And it made me happy to see her win. The rest as you know were very predictable winners. These guild awards means a lot for the winners and for their chances to win Oscars as well. Guilds are your best bets though they shouldn't be all that matter. American Hustle winning here gives it the edge though if it fails to win the other 3 important guild awards, I don't think it should be considered a big threat.

Here is the full list of the winners:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:
Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Louis C.K., Bradley Cooper, Paul Herman, Jack Huston, Jennifer Lawrence, Alessandro Nivola, Michael Pena, Jeremy Renner, Elisabeth Rohm and Shea Whigham (American Hustle)

Critics Choice Awards 2014

So the Critics Choice Awards happened last night and surprisingly, American Hustle didn't win much in the main categories. BFCA are more popular and mainstream critics group but looking at this list of winners, I am glad they didn't went for the more obvious choices or typically expected ones. Gravity won a total of 7 awards including best director, editing, cinematography, visual effects, score and 2 others in their extended categories. American Hustle won Hair & Makeup and acting ensemble while 2 others in the extended categories. 12 Years a Slave in the end was awarded the main best picture prize along with supporting actress and adapted screenplay. Fresh from its Golden Globes wins, Matthew McConaughey was awarded best actor while Her continues its streak of winning screenplay awards. Overall, good choices. Now I hope Her and Lupita Nyong'o continues winning just like this.

Here is the full list of the winners:

Best Picture:
12 Years a Slave

Best Director:
Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)

The 86th Annual Academy Awards Nominations

So the nominations for 2014 Oscars Awards were announced a while ago. I sat down with much anticipation in front of my TV to catch the announcements live on CNN. I was both excited and nervous for the films and actors. For those who were supposed to get nominated and those who were supposed to get snubbed. I must say that as much as I was unhappy with a few snubs, this year's surprises felt more exciting than predictably bland. 2013 was a great year for films and specially performances. So Gravity and American Hustle got the most nominations with 10 while 12 Years a Slave got 9 nominations. For third time in a row, there were 9 nominees in best picture category. Other films that were nominated apart from the above mentioned three were Captain Phillips, Her, Nebraska, The Wolf of Wall Street, Dallas Buyers Club (which I knew was going to get in) and surprisingly, Philomena. Unfortunately, Coen Brothers' Cannes Grand Prix winning film, Inside Llewyn Davis got snubbed. That is something I feared during my predictions. What is really interesting is that the Academy did not nominate Saving Mr. Banks. I am happy they didn't! On the other Hand, Spike Jonze and the frontrunner Paul Greengrass were snubbed for much respected Martin Scorsese and surprisingly-but-not-so-surprisingly, Alexander Payne in the director category. On the acting front, the biggest snubs includes Robert Redford (considered to be a potential winner at one point), Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, Emma Thompson and Daniel Bruhl for their respective films. Captain Phillips weirdly enough got the beating which is something I wasn't expecting. Lee Daniels' The Butler shut out isn't a surprise considering its recent set of snubs in major awards shows. One thing that was at the back of my mind was whether or not American Hustle will get nominated in all four acting categories just like Russell's previous film and it did. Amy Adams was predicted to make it but over Meryl Streep and not Emma Thompson. I was expecting Bradley Cooper to get in but not Christian Bale at all. On the other hand, it pleases me to see Leonardo DiCaprio getting nominated for one of his career best performances. And of course, the same thing can be said for Amy Adams. Among the supporting categories, Jonah Hill specially and Sally Hawkins somewhat surprised me with their inclusions.

If we talk about other categories then the lineup for Foreign Language is pretty good. Though I wasn't predicting Omar and The Missing Picture (which I removed for The Grandmaster last minute). Monsters University snub doesn't affect me in the animated feature category but it is nice to see two foreign animations in the list. For documentary and perhaps THE BIGGEST SNUB in my opinion has to be Sarah Polley's Stories We Well. It was highly acclaimed and rewarded but failed to make the cut. Another perhaps mainstream favorite documentary was Blackfish which wasn't nominated either. Dirty Wars getting a nod was a huge surprise for me. Finally if I can just go through the major snubs in technical categories then... The Wolf of Wall Street in editing, 12 Years a Slave in cinematography and original score would be the major ones along with a few others. At the same time, it is quite amazing to see The Grandmaster getting nominations in costume design and cinematography. I believe it also deserved to be in production design but I am not complaining. Now the film that I was championing was Spike Jonze's Her. My favorite film of the year made it in best picture (not director unfortunately), original screenplay, original score (wow), original song and production design (superb). The Lone Ranger made it in visual effects instead of Pacific Rim which I don't think it deserves. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug made it in a few categories as well. And even though I don't plan to see the film itself, I would like to congratulate John Williams who just keeps on adding nominations to his already giant list.

Below is the full list of the nominations:

Best Motion Picture of the Year:

12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
The Wolf of Wall Street

Predicting The 86th Annual Academy Awards Nominations

Well the Academy nominations are going to be announced in just 2 days so its time to finalize your predictions. I don't know what to say that hasn't already been said but 12 Years a Slave, Gravity and American Hustle are the frontrunners. I don't think Martin Scorsese is getting in for The Wolf of Wall Street, neither do I think that either Leonardo DiCaprio for the same film or Amy Adams for American Hustle will. They both won Golden Globes I know but I don't see them kicking two acclaimed and well-regarded veterans out. For the picture category, Inside Llewyn Davis is on the brink of being snubbed. I am expecting an original score nomination for Disney's Frozen.

As for my Oscar wish, Spike Jonze's Her should get at least 10 nominations.

The most nominated films based on my predictions are 12 Years a Slave with 11, Gravity with 10 while both American Hustle and Captain Phillips with 9 nominations each. Below is the full list:

Best Picture:

1) 12 Years a Slave
2) Gravity
3) American Hustle
4) Captain Phillips
5) Nebraska
6) Her
7) The Wolf of Wall Street
8) Saving Mr. Banks
9) Inside Llewyn Davis
10) Dallas Buyers Club