TMTB Predicts the 86th Academy Awards

BEST PICTURE

1. American Hustle
2. Captain Phillips
3. Dallas Buyers Club
4. Gravity
5. Her
6. Nebraska
7. Philomena
8. 12 Years A Slave
9. The Wolf of Wall Street

Who Will Win: 12 Years A Slave, Gravity

Who Should Win: 12 Years A Slave, Gravity

Who Could Win: The Wolf of Wall Street

Who Got Snubbed: Prisoners, Blue is the Warmest Color, Only God Forgives

Really, this race is down to either 12 Years A Slave or Gravity, with respect to the other nominees. And either film would be worthy of the statue. Gravity is the most technologically advanced film to date. Not only that, it’s probably the years most entertaining as well. By the same token, 12 Years A Slave is a brilliant work displaying humanity vs. humanity. In the end, it can go either way and I wouldn’t really mind. Others, who have more opinionated thoughts and anger issues will think otherwise. Both are great works, in their own rights.

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING

1. American Hustle, David O. Russell
2. Gravity, Alfonso Cuarón
3. Nebraska, Alexander Payne
4. 12 Years A Slave, Steve McQueen
5. The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese

Who Will Win: Alfonso Cuarón

Who Should Win: Steve McQueen

Who Could Win: Martin Scorsese

Who Got Snubbed: Harmony Korine, Nicolas Winding-Refn

This is another toss up. It could be Cuarón . It could be McQueen. Distantly it could possibly be Scorsese. Everyone in this category has earned their nomination, and quite a few deserve a nod as well.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

1. Christian Bale, American Hustle
2. Bruce Dern, Nebraska
3. Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
4. Chiwetel Ejofor, 12 Years A Slave
5. Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Who Will Win: Matthew McConaughey

Who Should Win: Matthew McConaughey

Who Could Win: Leonardo DiCaprio

Who Got Snubbed: Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix

I’m a full supporter of the McConaissance. For an actor who for years was a rom-com punchline to become a dark force in dramas is an incredibly bold career shift that has paid off. His haunting performance as Ron Woodroof is one of the most emotional you could see in 2013. But what about Leo? His performance as scummy NY stock broker Jordan Belfort is the best of his career. And considering he has been snubbed many times by the academy over the years, is this statue his finally?

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

1. Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
2. Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
3. Michael Fassbender, 12 Years A Slave
4. Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street
5. Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Who Will Win: Jared Leto

Who Should Win: Jared Leto

Who Could Win: Michael Fassbender

Who Got Snubbed: Hugh Jackman

This is an easy choice for the most part. Jared Leto was simply devastating as Rayon, a transgender woman who acts as the buffer for Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club. If there is one person in this category who can really give Mr. Leto a run for the statue is Michael Fassbender’s hellish slave owner in 12 Years A Slave.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

1. Amy Adams, American Hustle
2. Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
3. Sandra Bullock, Gravity
4. Judi Dench, Philomena
5. Meryl Streep, August: Osage County

Who Will Win: Cate Blanchett

Who Should Win: ?

Who Could Win: Sandra Bullock

Who Got Snubbed: Scarlett Johansson, Adèle Exarchopoulos

Every year, when the nominations come out, I always end up looking at the leading/supporting actress category and I think… why the hell have I not seen any of these performances? Seriously, the only performance I’ve seen is Sandy B’s gut-wrencher in Gravity. I can only expect brilliance from the other wonderful women… although I consider Meryl Streep one of the most over-rated actresses. Anyways- it looks like Cate Blanchett is this years front-runner.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

1. Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
2. Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
3. Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years A Slave
4. Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
5. June Squibb, Nebraska

Who Will Win: Jennifer Lawrence

Who Should Win: Lupita Nyong’o

Who Could Win: Lupita Nyong’o

Who Got Snubbed: Léa Seydoux

I still have hope that Lupita Nyong’o can take home this trophy. But the Jennifer Lawrence love train is pretty strong. Not saying she doesn’t deserve it, because as I stated earlier I haven’t seen American Hustle, but I question whether I could be any better than Ms. Nyong’o.

Who do you think will or should win? Who got snubbed?

I Saw A Film Today… Captain Phillips

What I think I’ve learned most from the release of Captain Phillips is the lack of knowledge the average film goer has going into a film. Multiple times this week while working (at a cinema), people expressed not realizing the tale of Richard Phillips and his altercation with Somali pirates was based on a true story. This left me a bit slack-jawed to be honest.

It also lead me to my next disturbing discovery, which is the lack of attention the average American gives to news agencies. To be fair, most news agencies have brought this lack of trust on themselves by taking political sides and being biased of what to report on. But, this story was plastered across the news and papers, yet these same people have no recollection of it.

To think about it actually, maybe it’s not that surprising. A few weeks back a political show shortly after the Affordable Care Act went into effect, a reporter interviewed random people on the street about their feelings about it (brilliant entertainment by the way). What you find is there are people, average by standards, who still believe the American government are setting up euthanasia boards and all citizens are going to be required to get a tracking device implanted under their skin (An unsubtle attempt by the extremist religious community to imply President Obama is the Antichrist, by the way).

Ok, maybe you will remember this one:  Do You remember a few weeks ago when the war veterans walked around the barriers at the World War 2 Memorial in protest of the Government shutdown? Of course you do, it was all over Facebook along with that video of an obese girl attempting a cart-wheel and failing. Pretty patriotic and a hardy “hell yeah” moment (the vets, not obese girl). But then they posed for photos with Michele Bachmann, one of the senators behind the shut down. Not only that, not much later Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin led a rally outside the memorial and people cheered. They cheered for two more people responsible for that site being closed.

Has our society become so lazy and stupid that we don’t really care the source of our information? America was once a nation that, frankly, was smart and inquisitive. And we’re not anymore. We have traded our back bones for sweaty backs from sitting too long. Traded moral identity for a political association. Traded handshakes for hairy trigger fingers.

We have a problem, a disease, and it’s not a man with a lofty title in Washington. We are so quick to point fingers at others, but the true source of our problems can be viewed in a mirror. Or, I guess the selfie camera on our smartphones. Any ways… oh yeah, I’m supposed to be writing a film review. Huh. Well, let’s get to it.

Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) is at the helm of the Maersk Alabama, a container ship on a shipping run to Mombosa, Kenya. The waters are crawling with Somali pirates and it’s not long before a skiff carrying four pirates attack the ship. After an unsuccessful attempt, the pirates return and board.

With the crew playing cat and mouse with the pirates and Phillips keeping the pirate captain Muse (Barkhad Abdi) distracted, the ship is successful at overpowering the four men and forcing them to leave in the ships lifeboat. But the problems don’t simply stop there when instead of releasing Captain Phillips, they keep him hostage in the lifeboat.

It should be noted that with the release of this film, there have been new revelations about certain aspects of Captain Phillips’ heroic actions. Many crew members have come forward and stated Phillips knowingly steered through pirate waters to save money with no regard of crew safety. In fact, many members have said that the film is grossly inaccurate.

With that said, Captain Phillips the film is a highly entertaining thrill ride, which is all I really cared about. I didn’t really know what to expect going into Paul Greengrass’ latest  thriller, especially at the start. The first twenty minutes are rocky and unpaced. And while Greengrass pioneered the shaky camera voyeurism that made the Bourne films a success in part, here it didn’t work at times.

Thankfully once the pirates begin boarding the story really finds its pace and tense. It is a suspenseful film, not on the level of Gravity, but there are more than one moment when you question the outcome of the captain. Not a moment goes by where you drift off- you are always focused what unfold before you.

The largest reason Captain Phillips is a success is Tom Hanks. His performance is a reminder why Hanks is still one of the biggest actors working today. His gut-wrenching emotional performance in the final minutes of the film are enough to solidify him a legitimate Oscar nomination. Newcomer Barkhad Abdi was very good as well. Another one of the great accomplishments of Greengrass’ is how you feel a sympathy for Muse and another of the pirates. Does Abdi deserve some supporting actor recognition this award season? I believe so.

Is this the true tale of Captain Phillips? Probably not. But it is an entertaining tale regardless, and a film that will more than likely pop up many times this award season.

Verdict: See it!

* Rated PG-13 for sustained intense sequences of menace, some violence with bloody images, and for substance use. 134 minutes. Directed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum, Green Zone).

** Thanks to my friends Cody and Monica for seeing this film with me.