It feels so nice to get a respite from big awards announcements. While the critics groups will still continue to weigh in the awards, this might be the first time in weeks I’ve been able to update my Oscar predictions without the fear that some major announcement would render them null and void. But before we get to the predictions, how about some analysis?
-Supporting actor has to be the most volatile field I’ve encountered this year. The Globes and SAG went for some of the same picks, which definitely helped the candidacy of Barkhad Abdi and Daniel Bruhl. But will this translate to Oscar? For now I have moved these two men into the lineup kicking out Hanks and Hill, but it feels so strange.
-American Hustle has withstood a pretty lukewarm reception from the critics and gotten nominated in almost every critics group and is the Golden Globe leader with 7 nominations. That’s quite a haul for a film many don’t think will do well during the awards season. Having just seen the film, I can totally see it being a big player, despite it’s faults (which I will get into next week).
-Saving Mr. Banks not nabbing anything other than Emma Thompson is a real blow to that film’s Oscar chances. While I’m sure the film can still get a decent amount of Oscar nominations, not having the ensemble nominated or Hanks show up anywhere is very telling.
-The list of eligible scores got released and there was some interesting omissions. Nebraska, Only God Forgives, and Frozen were left off the list. Of the movies missing out, that Frozen snub is particularly egregious considering how wonderful those songs and orchestral music were. And to throw salt in the wound, they left Hans Zimmer’s score for 12 Years a Slave in which is about 75% recycled melodies! The music branch of the Academy just can’t seem to get right when it comes to scores.
-Did you all see the utter tomfoolery that was the Academy shortlist for Makeup and Hairstyling? How is it that Rush, The Butler, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, Star Trek, and World War Z get left off and yet the fucking Lone Ranger and Jackass: Bad Grandpa are in contention????? Like…I am just at a loss. I guess American Hustle has that one in the bag.
-What can we make of The Wolf of Wall Street’s tally so far? It’s sort of the last shot for any film to unseat 12 Years a Slave from the top spot but due to the fact that it screened for critics and awards bodies so late, it hasn’t shown up much. In the awards season, appearances at big events and wins do count for a lot so Wolf not being there does hurt it a bit. However, once those great reviews pour in and that money starts rolling, it’ll be tougher to ignore the film.