2014 Oscars: Our Predictions on Who Will Win This Weekend

2014 Oscars: Our Predictions on Who Will Win This Weekend

Jennifer Gralock, FilmMagic

This is one of the closest Oscar races in recent history (a testament to how predictable past years have been), so if you need some help in your office Oscar pool, we're here to help! We've been tracking the 2014 Oscars since the very beginning and have compiled our thoughts on who we think we will win. Let's check out what we can expect this Sunday at 8pm when the 2014 Oscars begin!

Best Animated Feature

'Frozen'
'The Croods'
'Despicable Me 2'
'The Wind Rises'
'Ernest and Celestine'

With Pixar and 'Monsters University' shut out this year, it was a chance for Universal or DreamWorks to steal the prize from Disney. Well, sorry guys: Disney Animation was reborn in a major way and 'Frozen' was both a massive critical and commercial hit and we expect it to win an Oscar.

WHO WILL WIN: 'Frozen'
DARK HORSE: 'Ernest and Celestine'

Best Foreign Film

'The Great Beauty'
'Broken Circle Breakdown'
'The Hunt'
'The Missing Picture'
'Omar'

The Golden Globe went to 'The Great Beauty' and we think that Italian film will repeat. If we had our way though, we'd vote for the mega-depressing 'Broken Circle Breakdown' (if you watch, make sure to bring your Kleenex).

WHO WILL WIN: 'The Great Beauty'
DARK HORSE: 'Broken Circle Breakdown'

Best Documentary Feature

'The Act of Killing'
'Cutie and the Boxer'
'Dirty Wars'
'The Square'
'20 Feet From Stardom'

This is going to be a tough race: will the Oscars go with the difficult-to-watch, but excellent 'Act of Killing' or the crowd-pleasing '20 Feet From Stardom'? Lately, the Oscars have been favoring the lighter stories, so we'll pick the latter.

WHO WILL WIN: '20 Feet From Stardom'
DARK HORSE: 'The Act of Killing'

Best Cinematography

Philippe Le Sourd, 'The Grandmaster'
Emmanuel Lubezki, 'Gravity'
Bruno Delbonnel, 'Inside Llewyn Davis'
Phedon Papamichael, 'Nebraska'
Roger Deakens, 'Prisoners'

Another tough one to pick because these were all beautiful looking films. That said, we're going with Emmanuel Lubezki, who will benefit from a lot of well-deserved 'Gravity' buzz.

WHO WILL WIN: Emmanuel Lubezki, 'Gravity'
DARK HORSE: Phedon Papamichael, 'Nebraska'

Best Production Design

'Gravity'
'12 Years a Slave'
'The Great Gatsby'
'Her'
'American Hustle'

One of the few things going for 'The Great Gatsby' was how good the set design was, so we expect a big win here, even if we wish 'Her' would surprise for its understated look at the future.

WHO WILL WIN: 'The Great Gatsby'
DARK HORSE: 'Her'

Best Original Song

"Let It Go," 'Frozen'
"Ordinary Love," 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom'
"Happy," 'Despicable Me 2'
"Alone Yet Not Alone,' 'Alone Yet Not Alone'
"The Moon Song," 'Her'

If the 2014 Oscars were a poker game, we'd tell you to push all your chips to the middle of the table for "Let it Go" winning Best Original Song. As close as a lock as you can get this year.

WHO WILL WIN: "Let It Go," 'Frozen'
DARK HORSE: "The Moon Song," 'Her'

Best Documentary Short

'CaveDigger'
'Facing Fear'
'Karama has No Walls'
'The Lady in Number 6'
'Prison Terminal'

'The Lady in Number 6' - an inspirational tale of a 106-year-old holocaust survivor/piano player - is both the favorite to win and the deserving winner.

WHO WILL WIN: 'The Lady in Number 6'
DARK HORSE: 'Facing Fear'

Best Live Action Short

'Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me)'
'Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)'
'Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)'
'Helium'
'The Voorman Problem'

We loved 'The Voorman Problem,' a dark British comedy about a prison who believes he is a god, so we'll take a guess (and hope) that will win.

WHO WILL WIN: 'The Voorman Problem'
DARK HORSE: 'Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me)'

Best Costume Design

'American Hustle'
'The Grandmaster'
'The Great Gatsby'
'The Invisible Woman'
'12 Years a Slave'

Once thought to be a major Oscar contender, 'The Great Gatsby' will likely win one of its only Oscars here, for Costume Design. The movie may not have been great (pun intended), but Gatsby and crew certainly looked good. Still, we think the costumes in 'American Hustle' served the characters and film better (Amy Adams' cleavage was practically its own character).

WHO WILL WIN: 'The Great Gatsby'
DARK HORSE: 'American Hustle'

Best Editing

'Gravity'
'American Hustle'
'12 Years a Slave'
'Captain Phillips'
'Dallas Buyers Club'

We hope you're not getting sick of 'Gravity' at this point, but it's going to be the film you hear a lot during the 2014 Oscars, especially when the earlier technical awards are being handed out.

WHO WILL WIN: 'Gravity'
DARK HORSE: 'Captain Phillips'

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

'The Lone Ranger'
'Dallas Buyers Club'
'Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa'

As much as we'd love to see Johnny Knoxville and his 'Bad Grandpa' team win for their work creating a fake scrotum, we have to think that 'Dallas Buyers Club' will win for helping transform Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto into two men suffering with AIDS.

WHO WILL WIN: 'Dallas Buyers Club'
DARK HORSE: 'Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa'

Best Original Score

'The Book Thief'
'Her'
'Gravity'
'Saving Mr. Banks'
'Philomena'

'Gravity' again? Yes, 'Gravity' again.

WHO WILL WIN: 'Gravity'
DARK HORSE: 'Her'

Best Sound Editing

'All is Lost'
'Captain Phillips'
'Gravity'
'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'
'Lone Survivor'

Best Sound Mixing

'Captain Phillips'
'Gravity'
'Inside Llewyn Davis'
'Lone Survivor'
'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'

It doesn't take an Oscar expert to predict both of the sound categories...

WHO WILL WIN: 'Gravity'
DARK HORSE: 'Captain Phillips'

Best Visual Effects

'Gravity'
'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'
'Iron Man 3'
'The Lone Ranger'
'Star Trek Into Darkness'

Ah, duh, 'Gravity' all the way.

WHO WILL WIN: 'Gravity'
DARK HORSE: 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'

Best Animated Short

'Feral'
'Get a Horse'
'Mr. Hublot'
'Possessions'
'Room on the Broom'

The Oscars sometimes like to reward the more artistic animated shorts instead of the ones that come from big animation houses, but it'll be hard for them to resist the charming 'Get a Horse,' which featured Mickey Mouse in his first theatrical short in almost 20 years.

WHO WILL WIN: 'Get a Horse'
DARK HORSE: 'Mr. Hublot'

Best Original Screenplay

Spike Jonze, 'Her'
Eric Singer and David O. Russell, 'American Hustle'
Bob Nelson, 'Nebraska'
Woody Allen, 'Blue Jasmine'
Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack 'Dallas Buyers Club'

'American Hustle' may not be the best script in this bunch, but it's probably going to win simply because it was a much more commercially successful film.

WHO WILL WIN: 'American Hustle'
DARK HORSE: 'Her'

Best Adapted Screenplay

John Ridley, '12 Years a Slave'
Terrence Winter, 'The Wolf of Wall Street'
Steve Coogan, 'Philomena'
Billy Ray, 'Captain Phillips'
Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, 'Before Midnight'

Whether '12 Years a Slave' will win Best Picture remains to be seen, it should easily win Best Adapted Screenplay.

WHO WILL WIN: '12 Years a Slave'
DARK HORSE: 'Before Midnight'

Best Supporting Actor

Jared Leto, 'Dallas Buyers Club'
Jonah Hill, 'The Wolf of Wall Street'
Barkhad Abdi, 'Captain Phillips'
Michael Fassbender, '12 Years a Slave'
Bradley Cooper, 'American Hustle'

Jared Leto has won most of the critics' awards and the Golden Globe, so we see no reason he won't repeat here at the Oscars.

WHO WILL WIN: Jared Leto, 'Dallas Buyers Club'
DARK HORSE: Michael Fassbender, '12 Years a Slave'

Best Supporting Actress

Lupita Nyong'o, '12 Years a Slave'
Jennifer Lawrence, 'American Hustle'
June Squibb, 'Nebraska'
Julia Roberts, 'August: Osage County'
Sally Hawkins, 'Blue Jasmine'

Boy, this is a tough race to call. While Lupita Nyong'o was considered the odds-on favorite for much of the race, Jennifer Lawrence won both the Golden Globe and the BAFTA, making everyone second guess the early frontrunner. Could J-Law pull an upset? It's weird to think that Jennifer Lawrence is a dark horse, but we're going with Lupita just edging out the competition.

WHO WILL WIN: Lupita Nyong'o, '12 Years a Slave'
DARK HORSE: Jennifer Lawrence, 'American Hustle'

Best Actor

Matthew McConaughey, 'Dallas Buyers Club'
Chiwetel Ejoifor, '12 Years a Slave'
Bruce Dern, 'Nebraska'
Leonardo DiCaprio, 'The Wolf of Wall Street'
Christian Bale, 'American Hustle'

And the McConaissance will be complete. We fully expect Matthew McConaughey to win for his exceptional performance in 'Dallas Buyers Club' and that'd be alright, alright, alright with us.

WHO WILL WIN: Matthew McConaughey, 'Dallas Buyers Club'
DARK HORSE: Chiwetel Ejoifor, '12 Years a Slave'

Best Actress

Amy Adams, 'American Hustle'
Cate Blanchett, 'Blue Jasmine'
Sandra Bullock, 'Gravity'
Judi Dench, 'Philomena'
Meryl Streep, 'August: Osage County'

Meryl Street, who knows her way around the Oscars, opted to not even campaign very heavily this year because Cate Blanchett seems to be all but a lock. Even though her movie came out this past summer, her stranglehold on the Best Actress race hasn't wavered.

WHO WILL WIN: Cate Blanchett, 'Blue Jasmine'
DARK HORSE: Amy Adams, 'American Hustle'

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron, 'Gravity'
David O. Russell, 'American Hustle'
Steve McQueen, '12 Years a Slave'
Martin Scorsese, 'The Wolf of Wall Street'
Alexander Payne, 'Nebraska'

Few films feel like an evolutionary leap forward in cinema like 'Gravity' did and, even if the rest of the films on this list were good, none matched what Alfonso Cuaron did with his film.

WHO WILL WIN: Alfonso Cuaron, 'Gravity'
DARK HORSE:  Steve McQueen, '12 Years a Slave'

Best Picture

If you couldn't tell, it's a two-horse race this year between 'Gravity' and '12 Years a Slave'. We're going to predict this, but really we could flip-flop between the two right up until the last second. For your Oscar pool, you're probably safe flipping a coin. The choice will be between the historically significant, but grueling '12 Years a Slave,' and the massively successful and technically impressive 'Gravity.' Here's how we think it'll play out:

WHO WILL WIN: '12 Years a Slave'
DARK HORSE: 'Gravity'

Filed Under: 2014 Oscars, Oscars
Categories: Movie News, Original Features

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