Edit: Updated with winners below. Read my review of the ceremony here.
Before the Oscars air in a few hours, let me take a shot at betting on the Oscar winners for this year. Whomever I choose is not necessarily who I think should win; it’s just who I think will win, based on all the awards blogs and analyses I have read.
(I just want to put it on record, to see if I get everything correct tomorrow morning. For the more technical categories and the best documentary, best short films etc., I would have abstained if it were a real ballot, since I know next to nothing about them. But since this is just for hypothetical betting purposes, I shall try my luck.)
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Nominees:
- American Hustle (2013)
- Captain Phillips (2013)
- Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
- Gravity (2013)
- Her (2013)
- Nebraska (2013)
- Philomena (2013)
- 12 Years a Slave (2013) — Winner
- The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Nominees:
- Christian Bale for American Hustle (2013)
- Bruce Dern for Nebraska (2013)
- Leonardo DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
- Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 Years a Slave (2013)
- Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club (2013) — Winner
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Nominees:
- Amy Adams for American Hustle (2013)
- Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine (2013) — Winner
- Sandra Bullock for Gravity (2013)
- Judi Dench for Philomena (2013)
- Meryl Streep for August: Osage County (2013)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominees:
- Barkhad Abdi for Captain Phillips (2013)
- Bradley Cooper for American Hustle (2013)
- Jonah Hill for The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
- Michael Fassbender for 12 Years a Slave (2013)
- Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club (2013) — Winner
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominees:
- Sally Hawkins for Blue Jasmine (2013)
- Julia Roberts for August: Osage County (2013)
- Lupita Nyong’o for 12 Years a Slave (2013) — Winner
- Jennifer Lawrence for American Hustle (2013)
- June Squibb for Nebraska (2013)
Best Achievement in Directing
Nominees:
- Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity (2013) — Winner
- Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave (2013)
- David O. Russell for American Hustle (2013)
- Martin Scorsese for The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
- Alexander Payne for Nebraska (2013)
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Nominees:
- American Hustle (2013): Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell
- Blue Jasmine (2013): Woody Allen
- Her (2013): Spike Jonze — Winner
- Nebraska (2013): Bob Nelson
- Dallas Buyers Club (2013): Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Nominees:
- Before Midnight (2013): Richard Linklater
- Captain Phillips (2013): Billy Ray
- 12 Years a Slave (2013): John Ridley — Winner
- The Wolf of Wall Street (2013): Terence Winter
- Philomena (2013): Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Nominees:
- The Croods (2013)
- Despicable Me 2 (2013)
- Ernest & Celestine (2012)
- Frozen (2013) — Winner
- The Wind Rises (2013)
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Nominees:
- The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012): Felix Van Groeningen (Belgium)
- The Missing Picture (2013): Rithy Panh (Cambodia)
- The Hunt (2012): Thomas Vinterberg (Denmark)
- The Great Beauty (2013): Paolo Sorrentino (Italy) — Winner
- Omar (2013): Hany Abu-Assad (Palestine)
Best Achievement in Cinematography
Nominees:
- Gravity (2013): Emmanuel Lubezki — Winner
- Inside Llewyn Davis (2013): Bruno Delbonnel
- Nebraska (2013): Phedon Papamichael
- Prisoners (2013): Roger Deakins
- The Grandmaster (2013): Philippe Le Sourd
Best Achievement in Editing
Nominees:
- 12 Years a Slave (2013): Joe Walker
- American Hustle (2013): Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers
- Gravity (2013): Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger — Winner
- Captain Phillips (2013): Christopher Rouse
- Dallas Buyers Club (2013): Martin Pensa, John Mac McMurphy
Best Achievement in Production Design
Nominees:
- 12 Years a Slave (2013): Adam Stockhausen, Alice Baker
- American Hustle (2013): Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler
- Gravity (2013): Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin, Joanne Woollard
- The Great Gatsby (2013): Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn — Winner
- Her (2013): K.K. Barrett, Gene Serdena
Best Achievement in Costume Design
Nominees:
- American Hustle (2013): Michael Wilkinson
- The Great Gatsby (2013): Catherine Martin — Winner
- 12 Years a Slave (2013): Patricia Norris
- The Grandmaster (2013): William Chang
- The Invisible Woman (2013): Michael O’Connor
Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
Nominees:
- Dallas Buyers Club (2013): Adruitha Lee, Robin Mathews — Winner
- Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013): Steve Prouty
- The Lone Ranger (2013): Joel Harlow, Gloria Pasqua Casny
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Nominees:
- The Book Thief (2013): John Williams
- Gravity (2013): Steven Price — Winner
- Her (2013): William Butler, Andy Koyama
- Saving Mr. Banks (2013): Thomas Newman
- Philomena (2013): Alexandre Desplat
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Nominees:
- Despicable Me 2 (2013): Pharrell Williams (“Happy”)
- Frozen (2013): Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez (“Let It Go”) — Winner
- Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013): Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr., Brian Burton (“Ordinary Love”)
- Her (2013): Karen O (“The Moon Song”)
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Nominees:
- Gravity (2013): Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead, Chris Munro — Winner
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013): Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick, Tony Johnson
- Captain Phillips (2013): Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith, Chris Munro
- Inside Llewyn Davis (2013): Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff, Peter F. Kurland
- Lone Survivor (2013): Andy Koyama, Beau Borders, David Brownlow
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Nominees:
- All Is Lost (2013): Steve Boeddeker, Richard Hymns
- Captain Phillips (2013): Oliver Tarney
- Gravity (2013): Glenn Freemantle — Winner
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013): Brent Burge
- Lone Survivor (2013): Wylie Stateman
Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Nominees:
- Gravity (2013): Timothy Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, Neil Corbould — Winner
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013): Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, Eric Reynolds
- Iron Man 3 (2013): Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash, Daniel Sudick
- The Lone Ranger (2013): Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams, John Frazier
- Star Trek Into Darkness (2013): Roger Guyett, Pat Tubach, Ben Grossmann, Burt Dalton
Best Documentary, Feature
Nominees:
- The Act of Killing (2012): Joshua Oppenheimer, Signe Byrge Sørensen
- Cutie and the Boxer (2013): Zachary Heinzerling, Lydia Dean Pilcher
- Dirty Wars (2013): Rick Rowley, Jeremy Scahill
- The Square (2013): Jehane Noujaim, Karim Amer
- 20 Feet from Stardom (2013): Morgan Neville — Winner
Best Documentary, Short Subject
Nominees:
- Cavedigger (2013): Jeffrey Karoff
- Facing Fear (2013): Jason Cohen
- Karama Has No Walls (2012): Sara Ishaq
- The Lady In Number 6 (2013): Malcolm Clarke, Carl Freed — Winner
- Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall (2013): Edgar Barens
Best Short Film, Animated
Nominees:
- Feral (2012): Daniel Sousa, Dan Golden
- Get a Horse! (2013): Lauren MacMullan, Dorothy McKim
- Mr Hublot (2013): Laurent Witz, Alexandre Espigares — Winner
- Possessions (2012): Shuhei Morita
- Room on the Broom (2012) (TV): Max Lang, Jan Lachauer
Best Short Film, Live Action
Nominees:
- That Wasn’t Me (2012): Esteban Crespo
- Just Before Losing Everything (2013): Xavier Legrand
- Helium (2014): Anders Walter — Winner
- Do I Have to Take Care of Everything? (2012): Selma Vilhunen
- The Voorman Problem (2012): Mark Gill
Final score: 21 out of 24
