The Roundtable Predicts the Oscars

This Sunday, Ellen Degeneres will grace the stage and Americans’ televisions (as well as over 200 other countries) to honor the magic of moviemaking. As recappers for film and TV, the PSRecaps crew of Zach Brooks, Tyler Smith and Jeremiah Panhorst dive into their educated and uneducated predictions for the Oscars’ big 5 categories.

Whoever has the most picks right will receive a statue and give a long winded speech thanking everyone they’ve ever met in their lives.

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)[/caption]

Zach Brooks Prediction
Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
America loves J-Law right now. In a category without one standout performance, I think the voters lean toward Jennifer Lawrence and award her for her work in American Hustle

Tyler Smith Prediction
Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
This one is basically a toss-up at this point, between Nyong’o and Jennifer Lawrence for American Hustle.  Such different types of performances, with Lawrence being more showy.  However, Lawrence just won Best Actress last year, and the Academy tends to shy away from awarding somebody twice in a row.  So I think it will be Lupita Nyong’o by a razor thin margin, which I’m fine with, as her performance proved to be the backbone of the whole film.

Jeremiah Panhorst Prediction
Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
As much as I love Jennifer Lawrence, (no really I am in love with her!) I think Lupita Nyong’o is going to be the big winner Sunday night. She is a very talented actress that I think everyone is excited about seeing more from. A film filled with with a lot of talent, she shined as Patsey! My dark horse will be…you guessed it, Jennifer Lawrence.

Best Supporting Actor

Zach Brooks Prediction
Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave)
Fassbender is fantastic in almost every role he plays. And his on-screen presence as a plantation owner is so evil and ruthless. I think the voters reward Fassbender’s good work the last few years with an Oscar. Side note: Why the hell is Bradley Cooper in this category? He was one of the three leads of that movie and I don’t think he should have been considered a supporting actor.

Tyler Smith Prediction
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Again, I haven’t seen Dallas Buyers Club, but Leto has become even more of a frontrunner than McConaughey.  And he could well deserve it.  I will say, though, it would take quite a performance for me to forget just how wonderful Jonah Hill was in The Wolf of Wall Street, standing toe-to-toe with a powerhouse like Leonardo DiCaprio and more than holding his own.  His Donnie Azoff was funny, angry, pathetic, and dangerous all at once; his was a crucial part in selling the manic, morally-bankrupt reality of the film.

Jeremiah Panhorst Prediction
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Both Barkhad Abdi and Jared Leto are easily the two favorites. I had a hard time deciding who should win, but I am going to go with Jared Leto for the win. When watching Jared play Rayon, I almost forgot that he really is not a transgender person. People forget that this guy is much more than a pretty face and a good voice, because he can really act! It should come to no surprise that my dark horse pick is Barkhad Abdi.

Best Actress

Zach Brooks Prediction
Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
I have not seen Blue Jasmine yet, but everything I’ve heard about her performance says Cate Blanchett will win this award playing. This movie is on the list to see in the near future.

Tyler Smith Prediction
Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Ever since the release of Blue Jasmine, Blanchett has been considered a sure thing, and rightfully so.  She takes what could have seemed in the hands of a lesser actress like a series of mannerisms and ticks and crafts a consistent, tragic character that is both funny and heartbreaking.

Jeremiah Panhorst Prediction
Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
After much deliberation I am going to go with Cate Blanchett for best actress. She really did bring out the craziness of the Jasmine character, even though I am still scratching my head on Woody Allen’s terrible ending to the film. Personally I think Amy Adams should win just for her side-boob, but we can not get everything we want in life. My dark horse pick is Sandra Bullock for “Gravity”.

Best Actor

Zach Brooks Prediction
Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
The Year of McConaughey! What a 12-months for this guy. While I actually think his best performance of the year was in Wolf of Wall Street — seriously, what a great character — he was also fantastic in Dallas Buyers Club. I think Matthew McConaughey wins a stacked Best Actor category.

Tyler Smith Prediction
Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
I haven’t yet seen Dallas Buyers Club, but the writing is on the wall.  While there is always a chance that Chiwetel Ejiofor could win for 12 Years a Slave, there has been such a surge for McConaughey in the last month- not to mention the pleasing narrative of rewarding a fluff Hollywood actor for reinvigorating his career by embracing an indie sensibility- that I think it’ll ultimately go his way.  As for who should win, I refuse to comment, mostly because I think the most deserving actor was not nominated (Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips).

Jeremiah Panhorst Prediction
Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
All right, all right, all right….my pick for best actor is Matthew McConaughey. Matthew has come a long way since playing David Wooderson in my favorite stoner movie “Dazed and Confused”. His portrayal of Ron Woodroof in “Dallas Buyers Club” was simply amazing! He has already won the Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and Screen Actors Guild awards for this performance, but he didn’t compete against Leonardo DiCaprio in any of those award shows and DiCaprio is due, but I don’t believe DiCaprio will steal this from Matthew. I still can not believe that Tom Hanks did not make the cut, but there was a lot of solid performances this year. My Dark Horse pick is Chiwetel Ejiofor for “12 Years a Slave”.

Best Picture

Zach Brooks Prediction
12 Years A Slave
Every year I make it a point to see most if not all of the movies nominated for Best Picture. This year I’ve seen 7 of the 9 movies nominated, only missing Nebraska and Philomena. I really thought the most powerful film I saw all year was 12 Years a Slave. It’s was emotional and hard to sit through but at the same time I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. Once it was over, my friend and I were speechless during our walk out of the movie theater. I think 12 Years A Slave should and will win Best Picture.

Tyler Smith Prediction
12 Years a Slave
It’s a three-way race, between 12 Years a Slave and Gravity, with American Hustle bringing up the rear.  And while Gravity has been gaining momentum of late, I think the Academy will view it mostly as a technical achievement, and will undoubtedly reward it accordingly (likely even giving it Best Director).  That leaves 12 Years a Slave, a film that is viewed not only as good, but important!  The Oscars have a tendency to reward films that they see as having social significance, so I think they’ll ultimately give it to 12 Years a Slave.  My personal preference would be Spike Jonze’s Her, which is arguably even more socially vital than 12 Years, with the added bonus of being original and intimate.  It’s fascinating how a film that is so small can have an emotional landscape as vast as the most epic Hollywood crowd pleaser.

Jeremiah Panhorst Prediction
12 Years a Slave
What a tough group to pick from but once you take a close look at each movie, I think there is no doubt that “12 Years a Slave” will win. As good as “Gravity”, “American Hustle”, “Dallas Buyers Club”, “Her”, “Nebraska”, “Philomena” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” is, I think “12 Years a Slave” is the kind of movie the voters are going to want to see win. With the brilliant writing by John Ridley and direction from Steve McQueen, this should easily be our winner Sunday night. My dark horse is “American Hustle”.

Wild Card Picks

Zach Brooks Prediction
All is Lost will win for Best Sound Editing
I watched All is Lost last weekend and thought it was really fantastic. I can’t believe The Academy actually nominated The Lone Ranger more times than All is Lost. So I’m hoping this movie can win the one award it’s up for. On top of that, the sound in the film was really great, with a subtle heart pounding sound throughout the feature and really great differences between the sound under and above water. I’d definitely recommend this flick.

Tyler Smith Prediction
Her will win Best Original Screenplay.
Admittedly, this isn’t so wild.  Of the five nominees in the Best Original Screenplay category, there are really only two in contention, the other being American Hustle.  And while many people rightly assume that a screenplay award will be the consolation prize for a film that had achieved frontrunner status for a couple of months- only to falter in the last few weeks- I think the sheer originality and beauty of Her will ultimately win out.

Jeremiah Panhorst
Steven Price for Best Score
It could go to Alexandre Desplat for Philomena, but I am leaning towards Price. I think it moves the picture along very well and helps really tell the story.

(Stylerecap)