Oscars 2014: Who Will Win/Who Should Win

             

      Every year the Oscars come and go and there always seem to be at least a few upsets. Having been a big supporter of the Oscars over the years despite its seemingly endless quest to make me hate the prestigious awards show with unnecessary winners, I am writing this to both say who I think will win and who should win. So without further ado....here are my predictions and hopes in all major categories:
Best Picture: Who will win: 12 Years A Slave. There's no doubt in my mind that this important historical drama will take home the gold due to its tough to swallow but ultimately powerful subject matter and strong performances.
Who should win: The Wolf Of Wall Street. Yes, I know many people spoke out against this film but I have come to the conclusion that the sensitivity of those people ultimately didn't allow them to acknowledge the fact that this is one of Scorcese's masterpieces, up there with Raging Bull, Taxi Driver and Goodfellas.

Best Actor: Who will win: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club. At one point, I may have said Chiwetel Ejiofor but ever since the strong campaigning of McConaughey and team, the multiple wins that have already come McConaughey's way, his terrific acting year in 2013 and his dedication to the role which included losing a gross amount of wait, I think he's finally going to get the gold.
Who should win: Bruce Dern, Nebraska. Dern's been a legend for decades and has never won an Oscar and his performance in the black and white drama Nebraska is definitive proof of why he's been considered so great for so long. An honorable mention is Leonardo DiCaprio due to the fact that his performance in The Wolf Of Wall Street was so incredibly unrestrained and just plain fantastic but give it to Dern...the man deserves it.

Best Actress: Who will win: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine. Blanchett's performance in the Woody Allen drama about a rich woman whose husband leaves her prompting her to move in with her sister is a complete lock. She has more than proven to the Academy what she's made of with this performance and they will no doubt eat it up.
Who should win: Judi Dench, Philomena. Yes...I know Dench has already won two Oscars but her work in this film about a woman desperately trying to track down her estranged son with the help of a journalist (Steve Coogan) is the kind of work that proves why she's such a legend. As great as Blanchett, Adams and Streep were (I left out Bullock on purpose,) Dench's was the stand out of the bunch.

Best Supporting Actor: Who will win: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club. This is one of the tougher categories to choose as Leto is definitely still the favorite for most people but the talk of how great his performance as a cross dressing AIDS patients was has gone down quite significantly since the film's initial release.
Who should win: Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips. With a natural screen presence as the leader of a group of Somali pirates who take a ship hostage, Abdi gives one of those performances that definitely proves that a first time actor can have the best performance amongst much more experienced actors such as Michael Fassbender, Jared Leto and Bradley Cooper.

Best Supporting Actress: Who will win: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years A Slave. Another performance by a not so experienced performer who proves that the power of a performance is in the hands of the performer and not their experience level, Nyong'o will no doubt win for her performance as a slave who forms a bond with a man sold into slavery.
Who should win: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years A Slave. As much as I want Jennifer Lawrence to win simply due to my never ending infatuation with her, Lawrence's performance in American Hustle, great as it was, could not match the powerfulness that Nyong'o brought to her role. One of the toughest roles anyone had to play in 2013, Nyong'o shows that Hollywood and actors can still come up with original, great performances from not so enjoyable subject matter.

Best Director: Who will win: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity. As with last year's Life Of Pi, the winner for best director will not take home the best picture Oscar as well. Cuaron will win for his visual work on the space-set thriller Gravity.
Who should win: Alexander Payne, Nebraska. Not only has Payne been an incredibly underrated director for almost two decades but he managed to make the southern set drama Nebraska a beautiful film and integrated black and white flawlessly. Not an easy accomplishment in modern day cinema if I do say so myself.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Who will win: 12 Years A Slave, John Ridley. There's no doubt that the powerful book to screen adaptation of the harrowing tale of one man's being sold into slavery will take home the gold for best picture and Ridley's view in which he adapted the book by former slave Solomon Northup will make Oscar voters swoon.
Who should win: Terence Winter, The Wolf Of Wall Street. The man created "Boardwalk Empire" and wrote for "The Sopranos" and has now written a film adaptation of a memoir that easily could have not translated well to the big screen. Winter knew that making this film adaptation into a straight drama would make it too cliche and making it into a straight comedy would be too over the top so he brilliantly mixed both with no problem. Needless to say, I want this man to take home the statue.

Best Original Screenplay: Who will win: Spike Jonze, Her. In the not so distant future, Jonze will win an Oscar for a film about a man who falls for his computer system. This film no doubt will be looked at by the Academy as not only the best original screenplay but as a chance to give Jonze the recognition he has long deserved.
Who should win: Spike Jonze, Her. This is about as flawless as a screenplay as one can write made even better by the fact that Jonze never went into the laughable territory he easily could have went to. Joaquin Phoenix was no doubt robbed of a best actor nomination but I'm happy to say that Jonze will deservedly win a best original screenplay Oscar.

And here are just my votes on who will and should win for the other not so major categories:
Best Foreign Film: Who will win: The Hunt, Who should win: The Broken Circle Breakdown.
Best Documentary Feature: Who will win: The Act Of Killing, Who should win: 20 Feet From Stardom.
Best Animated Feature: Who will win: Frozen, Who should win: Frozen.
Best Cinematography: Who will win: Gravity, Who should win: Prisoners.
Best Costume Design: Who will win: The Great Gatsby, Who should win: American Hustle.
Best Documentary Short: Who will win: Prison Terminal: The Last Days Of Private Jack Hall, Who should win: Prisoner Terminal: The Last Days Of Private Jack Hall.
Best Film Editing: Who will win: Gravity, Who should win: Captain Phillips.
Best Makeup And Hairstyling: Who will win: Dallas Buyers Club, Who should win: Dallas Buyers Club.
Best Original Song: Who will win: Let It Go, Who should win: Happy.
Best Production Design: Who will win: Gravity, Who should win: Her.
Best Animated Short Film: Who will win: Get A Horse!, Who should win: Get A Horse!
Best Live Action Short Film: Who will win: The Voorman Problem, Who should win: Helium.
Best Sound Editing: Who will win: Gravity, Who should win: Lone Survivor.
Best Sound Mixing: Who will win: Gravity, Who should win: Lone Survivor.
Best Visual Effects: Who will win: Gravity, Who should win: Star Trek Into Darkness.