noxville.” It’s simply the best feel- » world. Even better is the fact that ly deserves it. I didn’t even realize e was the grandpa until the ending —the makeup was that good. My ner is Bad Grandpa, but I also think tyers Club is a very close second. le often get so focussed on certain rs ina movie that they forget > person responsible for putting ront of the camera. I’m talking > best director. (Nominees: David ll for American Hustle, Alfonso or Gravity, Alexander Payne for 1, Steve McQueen for 12 Years a d Martin Scorsese for The Wolf treet.) Of allthe big names nom- 1€ Most surprising was Alfonso who already received the Golden ‘directing Gravity. He isa mad shind the camera, responsible ng space relevant and cool again. als took my breath away, making k as realistic as it possibly could. ‘up is the award for best animated Im. And the nominees are: The Jespicable Me 2, Ernest & Celestine, nd The Wind Rises. At this point ‘| tend to overlook most animated -unless everybody I talk to tells need to see it. Nevertheless, ictly what happened with Frozen. ly kept saying it was the best animated movie of 2013, so I had to see it; they were right. Frozen follows the story of two princesses, leading up to when one becomes a queen with a secret power. The ability soon grows uncontrollable and the queen is forced to flee the kingdom, with her sister tasked with tracking her down and bringing her back. I absolutely adored this movie. From the loveable snowman to the musical trolls, I jour- neyed through this movie with them. On to the award for best supporting actress. (Nominees are: Sally Hawkins for Blue Jasmine, Jennifer Lawrence for American Hustle, Lupita Nyong’o for 12 Years a Slave, Julia Roberts for August: Osage County, and June Squibb for Nebraska.) Though I will always love Jennifer Lawrence in everything she’s in, I need to go with Julia Roberts. Her role as the daughter ofa blatantly honest pill-popper (Meryl Streep) was amazing. You just wanted to give her a hug for put- ting up with her mother’s shenanigans. Moving on to the best supporting actress’ counterpart, there are the nomina- tions for best supporting actor. (Nominees: Barkhad Abdi from Captain Phillips, Bradley Cooper from American Hustle, Michael Fassbender from 12 Years a Slave, Jonah Hill from The Wolf of Wall Street, and Jared Leto from Dallas Buyers Club.) I’m really happy for Jonah Hill getting a second nomination THINK YOU KNOW WHO'S GOING TO WIN? but Jared Leto definitely has this one. He already won the Golden Globe for his role, and his performance was unreal. The nominations for best actress this year showed a diversity different roles. (Nominees are: Amy Adams for American Hustle, Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine, Sandra Bullock for Gravity, Judi Dench for Philomena, and Mery] Streep from August: Osage County.) I'm rooting for Meryl Streep—I still think she deserved the Golden Globe more than Amy Adams—but I think Cate Blanchett will win. Her per- formance as a woman swindled out of her savings was both beautiful and tragic. The category of best leading actor is definitely the toughest one to choose between. (Nominees are: Christian Bale from American Hustle, Bruce Dern from Nebraska, Leonardo DiCaprio from The Wolf of Wall Street, Chiwetel Ejiofor from 12 Years a Slave, and Matthew McConaughey from Dallas Buyers Club.) In my mind, I’ve been going back and forth between Ejiofor and McConaughey. On the one hand there’s Ejiofor, who played the real- life slave Solomon Northup, a free man who was tricked into slavery, leaving his family behind. There are several scenes I will always remember just because of his acting. On the other hand there’s McConaughey, playing an HIV-positive cowboy in the ‘80s who partners with an HIV-positive trans-woman to help sell deregulated drugs. In the end, even though McConaughey received the Golden Globe, I’m still choosing Ejiofor because I actually felt his pain during those horrific 12 years. Well here we are, at the final category. (Nominees for best freaking picture are: American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave, and The Wolf of Wall Street.) This was another tough category. Personally, my favourite movie was Her, but I highly doubt it’s going to win. A modern romance between a man and an operating system may not resonate with the judges as much as it did with me. If I had to choose what will win, I'd choose 12 Years a Slave. It has an epic story, epic cast, and epic acting. So there you have it. Feel free to mark up the ballot with your own predictions and see how they stack up against mine. For bonus marks, turn the awards into a competition amongst your family or even a drinking game with your friends (give a drink for each prediction you get right, take a drink for each incorrect guess). And if you haven’t already, make sure you go see this year’s nominated films because, as the nomination would suggest, they’re all pretty great. | hope you enjoy the 86th Academy Awards. BALLOT WHERE YOUR MOUTH |S pporting Actress a Roberts (August: Osage County) 1ifer Lawrence (American Hustle) ita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) y Hawkins (Blue Jasmine) 2 Squibb (Nebraska) ig mso Cuar6n (Gravity) ve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) rtin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street) ‘id O. Russell (American Hustle) xander Payne (Nebraska) Film Great Beauty (Italy) Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium) ‘Hunt (Denmark) ‘Missing Picture (Cambodia) ar (Palestine) 1 Screenplay Wolf of Wall Street (Terence Winter) ears a Slave (John Ridley) tain Phillips (Billy Ray) omena (Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope) »re Midnight (Richard Linklater, e Delpy, Ethan Hawke) 1 Screenplay ‘(Spike Jonze) raska (Bob Nelson) las Buyers Club (Craig ton & Melisa Wallack) erican Hustle (Eric Warren Singer avid O. Russell) 2 Jasmine (Woody Allen) Animated Feature Film Frozen Despicable Me 2 The Croods Ernest & Celestine The Wind Rises O O O O O Production Design Gravity The Great Gatsby 12 Years a Slave American Hustle Her OOO0OO0DO inematography Gravity Nebraska The Grandmaster Inside Llewyn Davis OOO0OO0DO Prisoners Sound Mixing Lone Survivor The Hobbit: The Desolation of Snaug Captain Phillips Inside Llewyn Davis OOO0OO0DO Gravity Sound Editing Lone Survivor The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Captain Phillips Allis Lost Gravity OOO0OO0DO Original Score Saving Mr. Banks (Thomas Newman) The Book Thief (John Williams) Philomena (Alexandre Desplat) Her (William Butler and Owen Pallett) Gravity (Steven Price) OOO0OO0DO Original Song QO “Let it Go” from Frozen (Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez) QO “Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen) QO “Happy” from Despicable Me 2 (Pharrell Williams) OQ “The Moon Song” from Her (Karen O and Spike Jonze) QO “Alone Yet Not Alone” from Alone Yet Not Alone (Bruce Broughton & Dennis Spiegel) Costume Design The Invisible Woman The Great Gatsby 12 Years a Slave American Hustle OOO0OO0DO The Grandmaster Documentary Feature The Act of Killing 20 Feet from Stardom The Square Dirty Wars Cutie and the Boxer OOO0OO0DO Documentary Short Karama Has No Walls The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life Facing Fear CaveDigger Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall O00 OO ilm Editing Dallas Buyers Club Captain Phillips Gravity American Hustle OOO0OO0DO 12 Years a Slave Makeup and Hairstyling QO Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa O Dallas Buyers Club QO The Lone Ranger Animated Short Get a Horse! Feral Mr. Hublot Possessions O O O O O Room on the Broom Live Action Short Helium That Wasn't Me The Voorman Problem Just Before Losing Everything Do I Have to Take Care of Everything? OOO0OO0DO Visual Effects Gravity The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Star Trek Into Darkness Tron Man 3 OOO0OO0DO The Lone Ranger