Going for GOLD: And
the Oscar goes to…
By Timothy Austin
With the Winter Olympics over, our television viewing
attention now turns to another race for gold, the 2014 Oscars. Surprisingly, this year offers nominees that
are Box-office hits and not the usual obscure December films that no one really
saw but earned the admiration of the Academy.
Nominees like ‘Gravity’, ‘American Hustle’ and the epic
slavery saga ‘12 Years a Slave’ have dedicated fans hoping that their favourite
film wins Best Picture on Sunday. So
what’s your best bet for Oscar gold?
Here are predictions for the major categories:
Actor in a Supporting
Role
This is the easiest category to predict. The Academy often
rewards actors who drastically change their appearance for a role, most times
favouring the mostdrastic alteration.
Remember Charlize Theron’s unrecognizable role in ‘Monster’ and Hilary
Swank’s ‘masculine’ performance in ‘Boys Don’t Cry’? Yep, they both won Best
Actress Oscars for their unrecognizable performances; so will Jared Leto for
his startling change into a drag queen dying of AIDS in ‘Dallas Buyers
Club’. Leto is remarkable losing
significant pounds to appear as if he is dying of AIDS; the actor is completely
unrecognizable and seems entirely immersed in his role to the point you
completely forget you are watching a man in female attire. Leto’s biggest competition comes from Barkhad
Abdi as a brutal pirate in ‘Captain Phillips’, however even Abdi’s terrifying
performance and the now famous line ‘I am the captain now’ cannot extinguish
the ground breaking work of Leto in a performance people will be talking about
for years.
Who will win: Jared
Leto
Who should win: Jared
Leto
Actress in a
Supporting Role
Unlike supporting actor, this Oscar category is tough to
predict as there is no clear favourite to win. My favourite is new comer Lupita
Nyong’o who has certainly racked up the most press coverage for her stunning fashion
sense. Her role in the masterful ’12
Years a Slave’ is startling to watch as she endures tremendous cruelty
throughout the film. Her appearance is
also striking as she seems emaciated and careworn in contrast to her regal red
carpet appearances. No doubt the Academy
has noticed her incredible ability to transform and this may more than likely
bring her Oscar gold. However, she faces tremendous competition from last
year’s Best Actress winner Jennifer Lawrence for her sultry role in ‘American
Hustle’ as well as Julia Roberts who delivered a powerful performance opposite
Meryl Streep in ‘August: Osage County’.
Who will win:
Jennifer Lawrence
Who should win:
Lupita Nyong’o
Music Original Score
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This category focuses on what the average movie goer would
call the ‘soundtrack’ or ‘background music’.
Most viewers simply gloss over this category but make no mistake some of
the greatest films ever made were successful because of their film
score/soundtrack. What would Jaws be
without John William’s memorable theme or would ‘Titanic’ still be memorable
without James Horner’s sweeping music for the famous ‘bow scene’? This year offers less than memorable movie
music including ‘Gravity’, ‘Her’, ‘Philomena’, ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ and ‘The Book
Thief’. The most memorable nominee for
moviegoers is ‘Gravity’ with the film ending with powerful drum-heavy
orchestral music; however the other nominees have failed to establish any real
popularity with the average moviegoer and one has to question the failure of
the Academy to nominate the chart topping music from Disney’s animated film
‘Frozen’. While the title song ‘Let it
Go’ easily earned a nomination, some in part to its humongous popularity, the
orchestral music by veteran film composer Christophe Beck failed to be
nominated. Even Hans Zimmer’s music from
Best Picture nominee and favourite to win ’12 Years a Slave’ failed to receive
a nomination despite high sales of the soundtrack. Without a clear popular nominee my money is
on five-time Oscar winner John Williams for his moving score for the little
known film ‘The Book Thief’. Beyond
this, your guess is as good as mine.
Who will win: John
Williams
Who should win:
Christophe Beck (Although he was snubbed for a nomination)
Best Actress in a
Leading Role
A few months ago I would have definitely predicted Meryl
Streep as the clear winner for Leading Actress for her tour de force
performance in ‘August: Osage County’ as Julia Roberts’ monstrous mother. Then I saw ‘Blue Jasmine’ featuring leading
actress Cate Blanchett and it was a revelation.
I have been a fan of Blanchett for her role in the popular ‘Lord of the
Rings’ films; however I never expected such an exemplary performance as the one
I saw in ‘Blue Jasmine’. Blanchett is
mesmerizing as a middle aged woman having a nervous breakdown as her world
falls apart following her husband’s arrest for embezzlement. No one should miss this performance as it
exemplifies the highest achievement of an actress; Blanchett is completely
absorbed in her role and there are moments when you watch her in awe thinking
that in the hands of a lesser actress the role would not have been as
effective. Indeed no true movie fan
should miss Blanchett’stransforming performance. Make no mistake, despite stiff competition
from Streep, Blanchett will win another Oscar.
Who will win: Cate
Blanchett
Who should win: Cate
Blanchett
Original Song
Surprisingly, the Song category is the most controversial
this year. A nominee, who just happens
to sit on the Academy’s music branch, was accused of illegally promoting his
song ‘Alone yet not Alone’ to Oscar judges via an email. Following the revelation, the Academy dropped
the song as a nominee leaving only four nominated songs. Many see this as a scandal as the song comes
from a movie that few would have seen much less listened to the title
song. Blatant exclusions include ‘Young
and Beautiful’ from ‘The Great Gatsby’ which undoubtedly was one of the most
popular movie songs from 2013. Scandal
aside, fans of Disney’s blockbuster ‘Frozen’ are hoping that ‘Let it Go’
performed by Broadway veteran Idina Menzel wins the coveted prize. Type covers of ‘Let it Go’ in Google and you
will receive over 1 billion results as the song has become a cultural
phenomenon. Not since Celine Dion’s
Titanic ballad has a movie song captured the attention of the world as the
soundtrack has topped the Billboard 200 chart and the song continues to climb
the iTunes charts. However, ‘Let it go’
faces significant competition from Pharrel Williams’ ‘Happy’ from ‘Despicable
Me’ which is close to becoming as popular as the National Anthem. ‘Ordinary Love’ by U2 for Mandela: Long walk
to Freedom’ also benefits from sentiment and has won the Golden Globe for ‘Best
Song’. Oscar voters almost always get
this category wrong and the most popular song hardly wins, hence the favourite
‘Let it Go’ may lose to the sentimental U2 ballad.
Who will win:
Ordinary Love by U2 from ‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom’
Who should win: Let
it Go from ‘Frozen’
Best Actor
This is the tightest race of 2014 with two outstanding
nominees with equally brilliant performances going head to head. Leornado DiCaprio is a favourite to win for
his scandalous turn as a Wall Street tycoon who indulges in extreme spending,
drugs and women in ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’.
DiCaprio is notorious for being locked out by the Academy despite the
diverse amount of roles he has played since his star turning moment in
‘Titanic’, so most fans are hoping for a long awaited Oscar win. However, like co-star Jared Leto in ‘Dallas
Buyer’s Club’ Matthew McConaughey transformed himself through severe dieting to
play a man dying of AIDS who goes in search of medication for the terminal
disease. McConaughey’s startling
emaciated appearance received significant press coverage even before the film
premiered and the Academy never fails to award actors who drastically change
their appearance for a role. DiCaprio is
out of luck again.
Who will win: Matthew
McConaughey
Who should win:
Leornado DiCaprio
Best Picture
Despite 9 nominees there is no real competition for Best
Picture as ’12 Years a Slave’ has won every other major award including the
Golden Globe. This is the sort of
sweeping, epic, historic drama that the Academy enjoys and has rewarded in the
past. The new take on the traditional
slave story has won over many critics and the film has the large ensemble cast
including a bearded and aged Brad Pitt that the Academy admires. Lead actor Chiwetel Ejiofor,
despite not being a front runner for Lead Actor, provided an astonishing
performance well supported by Lupita Nyong’o; the film provides an ideal
package that the Academy cannot ignore.
What will win: 12
Years a Slave
What should win: 12
years a Slave
Written by Timothy
Austin
