The Oscars Prediction!!

The countdown begins as the 86^th Oscars Ceremony is just hours away. All the predictions, assumptions and excitement will see the light  on March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. In spite of surprising omissions and undeserving winners on several occasions in the past, Oscars still remains a major point of discussions and arguments for all the film buffs and cinephiles across the world. Well it may not be the most prestigious award ceremony but definitely the most talked about and high-profile one.

Oscars this year is no different from the past years: there have been few disappointing snubs this year as well. Especially omission of ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ and Coen Brothers, Spike Jones and Joaquin Phoenix not being nominated for ‘Her’. And if you ask me, both of them were exceptional cinematic experience. Academy seemed to have cared least about Emma Thompson in spite of her breath-taking act in Saving Mr. Banks. Similarly, the terrific Indie films like Short Term 12 (Brie Larson delivering one of the finest performances of the year) and Fruitvale Station have been overlooked or rather over shadowed by some big ones. But as I said Oscars are Oscars – You can love them or hate them but you can’t ignore them!

So after having seen all the nominated films and performances this year, here goes my Oscar prediction.

Best Film

Nominees:

• American Hustle
• Captain Phillips
• 12 Years a Slave
• Nebraska
• Philomena
• Gravity
• Dallas Buyers Club
• Her
• The Wolf of Wall Street

Who will win – 12 Years a Slave

Equally Strong Contender – American Hustle and Gravity

My personal favorite – It’s tough to pick one this year. Gravity, Her and Inside Llewyn Davis (not nominated) are among my top  favorites.

Best Director

Nominees:

• Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)
• David O. Russell (American Hustle)
• Alexander Payne (Nebraska)
• Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street)
• Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)

Who will win – Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)

Equally Strong Contender – Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)

My personal favorite – Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)

Best Actor

Not nominating Joaquin Phoenix for ‘Her’ is an unforgivable crime.

Nominees:

• Christian Bale (American Hustle)
• Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
• Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
• Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
• Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Who will win – Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Equally Strong Contender – Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)

My personal favorite – Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street) by an inch and I will be extremely delighted even if McConaughey wins.

Best Actress

Nominees:

• Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
• Judi Dench (Philomena)
• Amy Adams (American Hustle)
• Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
• Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)

Who will win – Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) and it will be a shocker if she doesn’t  get it.

Equally Strong Contender – Judi Dench (Philomena). She has a very minimal chance  though.

My personal favorite – Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

Best Supporting Actor

Nominees:

• Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)
• Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)
• Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)
• Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
• Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)

Who will win – Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Equally Strong Contender – Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)

My personal favorite – Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)

Best Supporting Actress

Nominees:

• Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
• June Squibb (Nebraska)
• Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine)
• Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
• Julia Roberts (August: Osage County)

Who will win – Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)

Equally Strong Contender – Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)

My personal favorite –  Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle) and I have tried not to be biased here 🙂

Best Original Screenplay

Nominees:

• American Hustle (Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell)
• Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen)
• Dallas Buyers Club (Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack)
• Her (Spike Jonze)
• Nebraska (Bob Nelson)

Who will win – Her (Spike Jonze)

Equally Strong Contender – American Hustle (Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell) and it might win very well!

My personal favorite – Her (Spike Jonze)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Nominees:

• Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke)
• 12 Years a Slave (John Ridley)
• Philomena (Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope)
• Captain Phillips (Billy Ray)
• The Wolf of Wall Street (Terence Winter)

Who will win – 12 Years a Slave (John Ridley)

Equally Strong Contender – Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke)

My personal favorite – Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke)

Best Foreign Language Film

Nominees:

• The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium)
• The Hunt (Denmark)
• Omar (Palestine)
• The Great Beauty (Italy)
• The Missing Picture (Cambodia)

Who will win – The Great Beauty (Italy)

Equally Strong Contender – None. The Great Beauty is pretty much locked.

My personal favorite – The Great Beauty (Italy). Haven’t seen Omar yet though.

I am getting ready for the big night and can’t wait to see how I fared in my prediction. Hope you all are as eager as I am to experience the star-studded show.

12 Exciting Films to end 2013

It’s already mid-October and we have hardly two and a half months left to wrap up 2013. It has been another wonderful year for cine lovers so far and it’s not yet over. If you see the lineup of upcoming releases for the next couple of months you will find ample reasons to be excited. As a film buff, I am eagerly waiting for these films which promise to be captivating.

Here are the 12 films and their trailers (in no particular order) that I feel will be worth spending money this winter.

1. American Hustle (Dec 13th)

From the director of one of my all-time favorite films Silver Linings Playbook, David O Russell comes up with another quirky drama film based on the FBI ABSCAM operation with a blistering star cast which comprises Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and the goddess herself, Jennifer Lawrence. Going by the trailer, the film promises to be a cracker with the two extremely hot and dazzling leading ladies.

2. Shahid (Oct 18th)

Shahid is a biographical Hindi film directed by Hansal Mehta and produced by Anurag Kashyap based on the life of lawyer and human rights activist, Shahid Azmi, who was assassinated in 2010 in Mumbai. The film had already been screened in several film festivals across the globe including TIFF receiving accolades all around. The film stars immensely talented Raj Kumar Yadav, Tigmanshu Dhuliya, Kay Kay Menon & others.

3. 12 Years a Slave (Oct 31st)

Steve McQueen needs no introduction and when he directs a film, it’s certainly going to be special. From the director of profoundly moving Hunger and Shame, comes the most buzzing film of this year titled 12 Years a Slave starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pit and others.  People who have already watched this historical drama film in Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals consider this one as the major Oscar contenders this year and helmed it as the best film ever made on slavery. Well, let’s see how the Academy reacts after they shamelessly snubbed Fassbender’s breathtaking performance in Shame.

4. Blue is the warmest Color (Oct 25th)

The Winner of Palme d’Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, Blue is the warmest Color became the first film to be awarded the prize to both the director and the main actresses. Based on the 2010 French graphic novel Blue Angel (“Le Bleu est une couleur chaude”) by Julie Maroh, the film is written, produced, and directed by Abdellatif Kechiche and will hit the U.S. theaters on October 25th. The film depicts the relationship between two young women (played by Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux) and will be released with an NC-17 rating in the United States.

5. Dallas Buyers Club (Nov 1st)

Matthew McConaughey is having a wonderful year with the already released Mud and the two eagerly anticipated upcoming films this year. One of them is Dallas Buyers Club. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallee, the film is based on the true life story of Ron Woodroof who was diagnosed with HIV positive and given 30 days to live. The trailer looks quite promising and I won’t be surprised if McConaughey snatches a nomination in the Best Actor category for this role.

6. The Past (Dec 20th)

After the ground breaking Oscar winning film “A Separation” (which belongs to those section of films that should be watched to understand cinema), the maestro Asghar Farhadi is back  with his new French-Iranian drama film Le Passe (The Past). The film is another complex tale of human relationships masterfully crafted by the director himself and already been selected as the Iranian entry for the Best Foreign Language category at the academy this year.

7. Inside Llewyn Davis(Dec 20th)

The Coen brothers are considered among the pioneers of the modern film-making for their extremely stylish and innovative way of storytelling. Their films have always been priceless, riveting and needless to say they are among my most favorite directors. Set up in 1960’s New York City, their latest venture Inside Llewyn Davis is based on the life of a struggling folk singer starring Oscar Issac, Carry Mulligan, John Goodman and others.

8. The Wolf of Wall Street (Nov 15th)

The Wolf of Wall Street is directed by Martin Scorsese. Do I need to say anything more? Doesn’t the last name has enough power in it to make you watch the film? The film is another collaboration of Scorsese and Di Caprio and also stars Matthew McConaughey, Jonah Hill and others. It depicts the story of a New York stock broker and is based on Jordan Belfort’s memoir of the same name. I would definitely not give this film a miss as anything from Scorsese is naught to be missed if you like cinema.

9. Nebraska (Nov 22^nd)

Alexander Payne is back with his much awaited release “Nebraska” which won the Best Actor Award (Bruce Dern) at Cannes 2013. The trailer looks warm, charming and humorous and it’s undoubtedly going to be a joyful ride. Payne has always been noted for creating likeable and real characters that you can relate very easily. The story of the film revolves around an aged retired man who believes that he has won a million dollars as prize money in some lottery. His family tries hard to convince him that it might be a scam, but he is determined to take this trip to claim his money and eventually his son accompanies him. The film is about their journey where the father-son duo meets up people to whom the father actually owes money.

10. The Monuments Men (Dec 18th)

After the critically acclaimed “The Ides of March”, George Clooney is back in the director’s seat once again with the upcoming drama film The Monument’s Man with a stunning star cast including Matt Damon, Clooney himself, and Cate Blanchett. The film is based on the book The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel.

11. Philomena  (Nov 27th)

Philomena is a 2013 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears. The film stars extremely talented Judi Dench in a central role and depicts her journey and discovery of her relationship with her son. The trailer looks quite moving and I am predicting a nomination of Dench in the Best Actress category this year. The film was awarded the People’s Choice Award Runner-Up prize at TIFF 2013.

12. All is Lost (Oct 18^th)

All Is Lost is a 2013 drama film and it features the legendary actor Robert Redford as a sailor who is lost in the sea. He is the only actor in the film and there is no one else in the supporting cast and there is barely any dialogue in the film. The film was screened in Out of Competition category in Cannes Film Festival and it received brilliant responses especially about Redford’s riveting performance.

Some other notable mentions which I cannot include in the list as I am unsure of their release dates:

• Her
• Ugly (Indian Hindi language film)
• Under the Skin
• The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby
• August Osage County
• Bethlehem (Israeli Film)