Academy Award Preblogtions and Winners!

Today’s the day! After a long winter and an unusual Winter Olympics, we have finally made it to Oscar Night. We have put together our predictions for the big categories. Here’s a full list of the nominees and winners.

EDIT: NOW WITH THE WINNERS LISTED!

Kurtis:
Best Picture: Dallas Buyers Club
Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Best Actress: Judi Dench, Philomena
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Best Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her
Best Adapted Screenplay: Captain Phillips, based on the book A Captain’s Duty

Morgan:
Best Picture: American Hustle
Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Actress: Amy Adams, American Hustle
Best Supporting Actor: Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Best Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her
Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave, based on the memoir by Solomon Northup

Bryson:
Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Best Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her
Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave, based on the memoir by Solomon Northup

Jordan:
Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Actress: Amy Adams, American Hustle
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Best Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her
Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave, based on the memoir by Solomon Northup

The Winners:
Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Best Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her
Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave, based on the memoir by Solomon Northup

[all gifs were found here]

And the Bloginees for Best Picture are…

The 86th Academy Awards are almost upon us! We decided to give you another last-minute look at some of the Best Picture nominees this year.

Jordan – Philomena:
I’ve been wanting to see this movie for a long time, mostly because I’m an Anglophile. Once I sat down in the theatre, I realized I had no idea what the movie was going to be about. It stars Dame Judi Dench as a guilt-ridden Irish Catholic woman and Steve Coogan as a shamed London journalist. Together there try to uncover the story behind Philomena’s lost son. Her father left her at a convent when she was fifteen because she had gotten pregnant. The nuns viewed the pregnancy as a sin and forcibly made Philomena put her son up for adoption to American parents. The film deals with betrayal, guilt, forgiveness, faith, and hope. It’s awesome to see a movie that wrestles with human emotion and relationship while still making you laugh. This is a movie (unlike many of the other nominees) that both you and your grandma will like.
Rating: 4/5

Kurtis – Dallas Buyers Club:
There have been a ton of great films this year and Dallas Buyers Club has landed itself right up at the top of the list. Set in 1985, Dallas Buyers Club follows stereotypical redneck Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) as he discovers he’s infected with HIV and tries to find the medications to help him survive longer than the 30 days the doctors have given him. The newly introduced FDA medication isn’t widely available which leads Woodroof to find some medications and supplements in Mexico and other parts of the world that help him survive another 2500+ plus days beyond the initial 30. Woodroof also finds a way to bring these medications (through less-than-legal methods) to the HIV/AIDS community struggling to survive, battling the FDA and the IRS every step of the way. McConaughey and Jared Leto (who plays Rayon, Woodroof’s unlikely transexual partner in crime) deliver absolutely inspired performances. McConaughey dropped 50 pounds to play the HIV-stricken Ron Woodroof and masterfully portrays a hardened man’s man who learns the value of his “one life” and the lives of the homosexual community around him. Leto’s performance exceeds expectations as a supporting actor, coming alongside Woodroof and forming a bond that defied all the social norms of the late 80s. Dallas Buyers Club is more than your average biopic, it’s a tender-hearted, funny and inspiring story about the human will to survive and the priceless nature of human life.
Rating: 4.5/5

Morgan – Her: 
Hmm. Just in case you were curious, I have been sitting here for about fifteen minutes trying to figure out what to write. This movie made me feel so much. I was bored, elated, confused, sad and disturbed. And this is one of the reasons why I thought it definitely deserved to be nominated for an Oscar. The directing and acting are both on par and it is emotionally and visually stimulating. A picture perfect nominee. That being said, I have come to the conclusion that I did not like it. I don’t know if I just couldn’t get behind the vision of the plot, or if it simply felt too real (read: weird). My favorite things about this film? Chris Pratt and the soundtrack. And after another fifteen minutes of staring at my screen, that’s all I have to say about that. I think.
Rating: 3.75/5

Bryson – Nebraska:
Nebraska is a yet another beautifully directed movie from Alexander Payne (The Descendants, Sideways). Wonderfully shot and written, it’s is a movie that tugs at your heartstrings in a very real way. It may run at a very slow pace but great performances from Bruce Dern, Will Forte, and lastly June Squibb keeps you in it until the very end. Nebraska will certainly make you laugh and possibly make even make you cry and that’s the beauty of it. Though it may not seem like much on paper or from the trailer, it is a movie you just have to go see and trust that you will enjoy it. And you can trust me on this: you will leave satisfied; no matter what anyone else tells you.
Rating: 4/5

See our other Oscar nominee reviews here, here, and here.