Oscar Picks 2014: Best Picture
With a number of possible narratives, the 2014 Oscars are certainly shaping up to be the most interesting in years. Is this the ceremony that America finally comes to terms with its history of slavery (in the context of the silver screen, at least) by rewarding 12 Years A Slave and, perhaps, The Butler? Is it the year of the Brits with McQueen, Greengrass, Dench, Thompson, Ejiofor all in real contention? Or is this simply the year of Tom Hanks, with two possible chances to complete his Oscars hat trick? Or will we all once again be ultimately disappointed with the outcomes because so many films were left unrecognised? Only time will tell. But with a number of films initially expected to be in the running (The Monuments Men, Grace of Monaco and Foxcatcher) all changing their release dates to be seemingly eligible for next year’s competition, there certainly seems to be a feeling that this is the strongest field in a very long time. Here are our early picks for Best Picture.
What do you think will be in the running for Best Picture? Comment below!
Labor Day
An outside bet and this is probably not Jason Reitman’s year although it certainly seems to be coming. The director of Juno, Up in the Air and Young Adult adopts a more Oscar-friendly style with Labor Day, which stars Josh Brolin as an escaped convict who seeks help hiding from Kate Winslet and her son over the course of Labor Day weekend but it’s unlikely to be noticed in a year as strong as this one.
Saving Mr. Banks
This might just be the year of Tom Hanks. Unless you are Tom Hanks and then that’s every year! Here he has a supporting role as Walt Disney to Emma Thompson’s brilliant PL Travers as they haggle over the rights to Mary Poppins over the course of ten days in 1961. Oscars-wise, Saving Mr. Banks is more likely to be marked by Emma Thompson vying with Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett for Best Actress or Hanks doing a double than being realistically in reach of Best Picture.
American Hustle
David O. Russell’s last two films The Fighter and The Silver Linings Playbook have both been nominated in recent years and he’s gone about reuniting the stars of those for American Hustle. Christian Bale joins Silver Linings’ Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro for the story of a brilliant con man forced to work for an unhinged FBI agent. Out later this month.
Watch the American Hustle trailer here.
Blue is the Warmest Colour
With a film that has already been awarded the Palme d’Or at Cannes, will always be under additional scrutiny when it comes to Oscars season. Without question, Blue is the Warmest Colour is one of the greatest cinematic achievements of all time. It is an exquisitely expert piece intertwining all the elements of filmmaking so perfectly that it becomes a truly immersive experience. An unmissable film but one that will likely leave Hollywood empty-handed, if not miss out altogether.
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Coen Brothers won Best Picture for No Country For Old Men in 2008, came very close with True Grit in 2011 and will be there or thereabouts again this year. Out in January, Inside Llewyn Davis follows a week in the life of a young folk singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961. Guitar in tow, huddled against the unforgiving New York winter, he is struggling to make it as a musician against seemingly insurmountable obstacles—some of them of his own making.
Captain Phillips
One of many of the 2013 slate that is “based on true events”, Tom Hanks plays the eponymous Captain Phillips who’s large cargo ship is targeted by Somali pirates. Paul Greengrass is one of the many Brits in the running for a major award this time round in addition to the possibility of Tom Hanks completing his Best Actor hat trick and that might be the best they can hope for in such a crowded field.
The Wolf of Wall Street
Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio embark on their fifth film together and certainly have the pedigree to do well, with previous collaborations Gangs of New York and The Aviator receiving nominations for Best Picture, and The Departed winning it in 2007 (Shutter Island being the only one absent from Academy proceedings). DiCaprio stars as a stockbroker refusing to cooperate in a fraud case about Wall Street corruption and corporate banking. Could this be their year?
Blue Jasmine
Blue Jasmine is Allen’s gift to Blanchett, a showcase more generous than any of his other films have been to actresses (and those were mighty generous; he has the best Oscar:actress ratio of any director alive). It is the role of a lifetime, and the performance of the year. Defensive, vain, simultaneously over the top and excruciatingly subtle, with a spontaneous brush of her chin or a reflexive second-long averting of her eye, Blanchett—and Allen—have fashioned the most sublime creation of both their careers. Almost certain for the Best Actress nod but remains in with a shot of Best Picture.
Gravity
Alfonso Cuarón’s big budget film of unimaginable peril fuels everybody’s existential crises and will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest space movies of all time. The weakness lies in its script; it’s a film that does not make us care, it’s a film that expects us to care without having to work for it. Not that that ever matters at the Oscars. It will go head-to-head with 12 Years A Slave for widespread honours.
Read our review of Gravity here.
12 Years A Slave
Steve McQueen’s visceral take on American slavery will last long in the memory and is certain to top a lot of lists come awards season. Chiwetel Ejiofor is Solomon Northup – a free man kidnapped into slavery for 12 years. With stunning performances that will include definite nods for Ejiofor and Fassbender, it’s hard to see what would beat 12 Years a Slave to Best Picture. With Django Unchained, Lincoln, The Butler and 12 Years A Slave all released within the last two years with a clear focus on America’s history of slavery, it’s a once ignored past that Hollywood has started to talk about. And now is the chance for them to put that front and centre.
COMMENTS