Road to the 2014 Oscars: Here Are the Nominees

Well, here we are on the eve of the 86^th Academy Awards nominee announcements, and there is quite a buzz. Every year, the speculation and wild analysis about the nominees rival the excitement of the Oscar show itself. CNN has an interesting discussion going on who is predicted to, and who should, be nominated as this year’s final Oscar contenders. Among the many probable evaluation factors discussed are past nomination tendencies of the Academy and certain sacrifices and feats made by actors in the course of their acting jobs. Everyone knows which features are the strong contenders and odds-on favorites are this year, but 2013 also gave rise to some indie projects that may surprise everyone with Oscar nominations in 2014. The top candidates to win Best Picture are “12 Years A Slave,” “Gravity,” and “American Hustle.” This only goes to show the great range and variety of films in 2013with these three drastically different movies vying for the prize. They consist of a historical biopic, a science fiction drama, and an offbeat dramatic comedy, respectively. But there is also possibility of indie festival hit “Blue Is the Warmest Color”being nominated as well. There are also many inspired acting performances to choose from for last year. Best Actor In a Leading Role favorites include Matthew McConaughey for “Dallas Buyers Club,”Chiwetel Ejiofor for “12 Years a Slave,” Tom Hanks for “Captain Phillips,” Robert Redford for “All Is Lost,” and Bruce Dern for “Nebraska.” Best Actress In a Leading Role is likely go to Cate Blanchett for “Blue Jasmine,” Amy Adams for “American Hustle,” Emma Thompson for “Saving Mr. Banks,” Judi Dench for “Philomena,” or Sandrah Bullock for “Gravity.” People are also buzzing about the Oscar show itself, and what host Ellen Degeneres has in store. In the end, it is shaping up to be an exciting ceremony to cap off a fantastic year for movies. Let’s hope 2014 is able to follow it. And here are the complete list of Oscar’s 86th year: Best picture “12 Years a Slave” | Review | EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Times interview “American Hustle” | Review | EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Times interview “Captain Phillips” | Review | EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Times interview “Dallas Buyers Club” | Review | EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Times interview “Gravity” | Review “Her” | Review “Nebraska” | Review | EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Times interview “Philomena” | Review “The Wolf of Wall Street” | Review Director Alfonso Cuarón, “Gravity” Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave” Alexander Payne, “Nebraska” David O. Russell, “American Hustle” Martin Scorsese, “The Wolf of Wall Street” Lead actor Christian Bale, “American Hustle” Bruce Dern, “Nebraska” Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave” Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club” Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Wolf of Wall Street” Lead actress Amy Adams, “American Hustle” Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine” Judi Dench, “Philomena” Meryl Streep, “August: Osage County” Sandra Bullock, “Gravity” Supporting actor Barkhad Abdi, “Captain Phillips” Bradley Cooper, “American Hustle” Michael Fassbender, “12 Years a Slave” Jonah Hill, “The Wolf of Wall Street” Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club” Supporting actress Sally Hawkins, “Blue Jasmine” Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle” Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave” Julia Roberts, “August: Osage County” June Squibb, “Nebraska” Animated feature film “The Croods” “Despicable Me 2” “Ernest & Celestine” “Frozen” “The Wind Rises” Cinematography “The Grandmaster,” Philippe Le Sourd “Gravity,” Emmanuel Lubezki “Inside Llewyn Davis,” Bruno Delbonnel “Nebraska,” Phedon Papamichael “Prisoners,” Roger A. Deakins Costume design “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 Documentary feature “The Act of Killing” “Cutie and the Boxer” “Dirty Wars” “The Square” “20 Feet from Stardom” Documentary short subject “CaveDigger” “Facing Fear” “Karama Has No Walls” “The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life” “Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall” Film editing “American Hustle,” Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten “Captain Phillips,” Christopher Rouse “Dallas Buyers Club,” John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa “Gravity,” Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger “12 Years a Slave,” Joe Walker Foreign language film “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” Belgium “The Great Beauty,” Italy “The Hunt,” Denmark “The Missing Picture,” Cambodia “Omar,” Palestine Makeup and hairstyling “Dallas Buyers Club,” Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa,” Stephen Prouty “The Lone Ranger,” Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny Original score “The Book Thief,” John Williams “Gravity,” Steven Price “Her,” William Butler and Owen Pallett “Philomena,” Alexandre Desplat “Saving Mr. Banks,” Thomas Newman Original song “Alone Yet Not Alone” from “Alone Yet Not Alone” “Happy” from “Despicable Me 2” “Let It Go” from “Frozen” “The Moon Song” from “Her” “Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” Production design “American Hustle,” Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Heather Loeffler “Gravity,” Production Design: Andy Nicholson; Set Decoration: Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard “The Great Gatsby,” Production Design: Catherine Martin; Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn “Her,” Production Design: K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena “12 Years a Slave,” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Alice Baker Animated short film “Feral” “Get a Horse!” “Mr. Hublot” “Possessions” “Room on the Broom” Live action short film “Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)” “Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything)” “Helium” “Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)” “The Voorman Problem” Sound editing “All Is Lost,” Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns “Captain Phillips,” Oliver Tarney “Gravity,” Glenn Freemantle “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” Brent Burge “Lone Survivor,” Wylie Stateman Sound mixing “Captain Phillips,” Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro “Gravity,” Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson “Inside Llewyn Davis,” Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland “Lone Survivor,” Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow Visual effects “Gravity,” Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds “Iron Man 3,” Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick “The Lone Ranger,” Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier “Star Trek Into Darkness,” Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton Adapted screenplay “Before Midnight,” written by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke “Captain Phillips,” screenplay by Billy Ray “Philomena,” screenplay by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope “12 Years a Slave,” screenplay by John Ridley “The Wolf of Wall Street,” screenplay by Terence Winter Original screenplay “American Hustle,” written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell “Blue Jasmine,” written by Woody Allen “Dallas Buyers Club,” written by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack “Her,” written by Spike Jonze “Nebraska,” written by Bob Nelson