Oscar Winners: Gravity Cleaned up but 12 Years a Slave won the Big Prize

by Christopher Barr

Over all I think the show went rather well, as award shows go.  Jared Leto won best supporting actor and took his time out to mention political conflicts in both, the Ukraine and Venezuela which I thought was quite classy.  The Cinderella story was Lupita Nyong’O winning for best supporting actress.  She was so graceful and sweet and very deserving. 

Ellen Degeneres was quite good as the host but her best part was when she had the pizza delivered, that was pretty classic.  It wasn’t surprising that Gravity won all the technical awards it was expected to win, after all the film was a technical marvel.

Most of what was expected came to pass.  All the acting categories went to those that were predicted as well as director and Film.  Jennifer Lawrence could have won and Gravity could have taken best picture but didn’t.

Spike Jonze’s humorous quirky speech for winning best original screenplay was pleasant and funny.  Matthew McConaughey ‘s acceptance speech started out like ‘wha’ with all the God crap.  I was thinking didn’t he even listen to his philosophical character he plays on HBO’s True Detective?  But I did like his insight on chasing yourself and realizing that you will never catch him but you must always be trying.

Two of the biggest ambitious films of the year, American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street walked away empty handed.  Gravity took home the most with seven awards.  12 Years a Slave is a film that will last a long time down the road and deserved to win best picture.  Over all the ceremony was conservatively satisfying compared to recent years, I’m looking at you James Franco.  

Winner is highlighted in red.

BEST PICTURE

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

BEST DIRECTOR

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

BEST ACTOR

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

BEST ACTRESS

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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

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

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell - American Hustle
• Woody Allen - Blue Jasmine
• Craig Borton, Melissa Warlick – Dallas Buyers Club
• Spike Jonze – Her
• Bob Nelson – Nebraska 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

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

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• The Broken Circle Breakdown
• The Great Beauty
• The Hunt
• The Missing Picture
• Omar

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

• The Croods
• Despicable Me 2
• Ernest & Celestine
• Frozen
• The Wind Rises

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• The Act of Killing
• Cutie and the Boxer
• Dirty Wars
• The Square
• 20 Feet from Stardom

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

• CaveDigger
• Facing Fear
• Karama Has No Walls
• The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
• Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Jack Hall

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• American Hustle
• Gravity
• The Great Gatsby
• Her
• 12 Years a Slave

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• The Grandmaster
• Gravity
• Inside Llewyn Davis
• Nebraska
• Prisoners

BEST FILM EDITING

• American Hustle
• Captain Phillips 
• Dallas Buyers Club
• Gravity
• 12 Years a Slave

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• The Book Thief
• Gravity
• Her
• Philomena
• Saving Mr. Banks 

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• “Happy” – Despicable Me 2
• “Let It Go” – Frozen
• “The Moon Song” – Her
• “Ordinary Love” – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• Gravity
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• Iron Man 3
• The Lone Ranger
• Star Trek Into Darkness 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• American Hustle
• The Grandmaster
• The Great Gatsby
• The Invisible Woman
• 12 Years a Slave 

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

• Dallas Buyers Club
• Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
• The Lone Ranger 

BEST SOUND EDITING

• All Is Lost
• Captain Phillips
• Gravity
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• Lone Survivor

BEST SOUND MIXING

• Captain Phillips
• Gravity
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• Inside Llewyn Davis
• Lone Survivor 

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

• Feral
• Get a Horse!
• Mr. Hublot
• Possessions
• Room on the Broom 

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE-ACTION)

• Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)
• Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)
• Helium
• Pitakko Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)
• The Voorman Problem