The Major Oscar Hopefuls- 2014
The time has come again when the much- awaited award ceremony of the year will unfold itself. The 86th Academy Awards. Oscars. Say it out loud. Oscars. Funny enough, I had this image of a man in black suit and tie, mike in hand, waiting to begin the ceremony, and every time he opens his mouth, instead of his voice, we, the audience, hear the opera and a heavenly glow(read- yellow shimmery light) is transfixed on him. Yes, The Oscars. It is that heavenly a thing.
Getting straight to the point, Leonardo DiCaprio might get The Best Actor for ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ this time. He has to. I hope he does. Come on. The number of times that he didn’t win for all the films that he deserved is mere injustice served on a hot plate. It goes without saying that the man deserves an OSCAR. Sure thing.
‘Gravity’ is the strongest contender with 10 nominations. It is a sheer masterpiece. The cinematography is brilliant and my guess is that it will bag that award positively. Another game- changing movie this year is ‘12 Years a Slave’. The British-American historical epic drama film has moved too many hearts. ‘Her’ too holds a good chance at The Oscars.
Among the nominees, for The Best Picture award, the most deserving is ‘Gravity’, second ‘The Wolf of Wall Street and then ’12 Years a Slave’. The award for Actor-in a leading role might go to Leonardo DiCaprio for his outstanding performance in ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’. If not him, then Christian Bale for ‘American Hustle’ or Matthew McConaughey for ‘Dallas Buyers Club’. Both –extremely talented actors. Amy Adams, nominated for 5 Academy awards in her career, might grab the award for Actress-in a leading role. Her performance in ‘American Hustle’ is praiseworthy.
The award for Supporting Actor might either go to Barthad Abdi for ‘Captain Phillips’ or Jonah Hill for ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’. The Supporting Actress award, in all possibility, might go to Jennifer Lawrence for her standout natural acting in ‘American Hustle’. June Squibble (‘Nebraska’ ) and Julia Roberts ( ‘August: Osage County’ ) stand a good chance as well.
As afore said, the award for Cinematography is definitely going to be won by ‘Gravity’. No questions asked. The Best Director award might land up with Alfonso Cuarón for ‘Gravity’. It is one of the most original films I have ever seen. This said, a part of me still wishes for Martin Scorsese to win this award for his ‘The Wolf of Wall Street .
The award for the Best Foreign Language Film might go to ‘the Great Beauty’ (Italy), ‘The Missing Picture’ (Cambodia) or ‘Omar’ (Palestine). ‘The Croods’, ‘Frozen’, ‘Despicable Me 2’ – all stand a fair chance at winning the Animated Feature Film award , though ‘Frozen’ is a personal favourite.
These are the major OSCAR hopefuls of this wonderful year and to each and every one of them, GOOD LUCK!
