It’s that time of year again. Unfortunately, I’m still missing a lot of movies on my “have watched” that could have an effect on these, but it will be updated as we go along. Keep in mind– this is me basically filling out my own, personal Oscar ballot in all the “major” categories. Other people are trying to pick the actual nominees; I’m just interested in sharing the films and people I would vote for, if I could.
Viva La Resistance!
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
Best Picture
“Gravity”
“Her”
“Before Midnight”
“Stories We Tell”
“Stoker”
“Blackfish”
“12 Years a Slave”
“The Conjuring”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
Best Director
Alfonso Cauron, “Gravity”
Spike Jonze, “Her”
Sarah Polley, “Stories We Tell”
Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave”
Chan-wook Park, “Stoker”
Honorable Mention: Richard Linklater, “Before Midnight”; James Wan, “The Conjuring” & “Insidious: Chapter 2”; Thomas Vinterberg, “The Hunt”; Ron Howard, “Rush”; Paul Greengrass, “Captain Phillips”; Woody Allen, “Blue Jasmine”; Frances Lawrence, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”; Guillermo Del Toro, “Pacific Rim”; Peter Jackson, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”; Ryan Coogler, “Fruitvale Station”; Ben Stiller, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”; David O. Russell, “American Hustle”; Rufus Chaffee, “The Muse”; David C. Snyder, “Swing Lowe Sweet Chariote”; Danny Boyle, “Trance”; Joss Whedon, “Much Ado About Nothing”; Noah Baumbach, “Frances Ha”; Fred Carpenter, “Send No Flowers”; James Ponsoldt, “The Spectacular Now”; Edgar Wright, “The World’s End”
Best Actor
Joaquin Phoenix, “Her”
Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”
Ethan Hawke, “Before Midnight”
Tom Hanks, “Captain Phillips”
Mads Mikkelsen, “The Hunt”
Honorable Mention: Miles Teller, “The Spectacular Now”; Michael B. Jordan, “Fruitvale Station”; Christian Bale, “American Hustle”; Alexis Denisof, “Much Ado About Nothing”; Chris Hemsworth, “Rush”; Isaac Simons, “The Muse”; Forrest Whitaker, “Lee Daniels’s The Butler”; Simon Pegg, “The World’s End”; Ben Stiller, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”; Chadwick Boseman, “42”; Asa Butterfield, “Ender’s Game”; Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “Don Jon”; Patrick Wilson, “The Conjuring”; Josh Brolin, “Oldboy”; Nicholas Hoult, “Warm Bodies”; Martin Freeman, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”; Jude Law, “Side Effects”
Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, “Gravity”
Julie Delpy, “Before Midnight”
Greta Gerwig, “Frances Ha”
Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”
Amy Adams, “American Hustle”
Honorable Mention: Amy Acker, “Much Ado About Nothing”; Mia Wasikowska, “Stoker”; Shailene Woodley, “The Spectacular Now”; Naama Kates, “The 10 Commandments of Chloe”; Phillia Thomas, “Swing Lowe Sweet Chariote”; Vera Farmiga, “The Conjuring”; Jennifer Lawrence, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”; Rooney Mara, “Side Effects” Sandra Bullock, “The Heat”; Sean Young, “Send No Flowers”
Best Supporting Actor
Matthew Goode, “Stoker”
Barkhad Abdi, “Captain Phillips”
Nathan Fillion, “Much Ado About Nothing”
James Franco, “Spring Breakers”
Daniel Brühl, “Rush”
Honorable Mention: Michael Fassbender, “12 Years a Slave”; Donald Sutherland, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”; Bradley Cooper, “American Hustle”; Dwayne Johnson, “Pain & Gain”; Nick Frost, “The World’s End”; Patton Oswalt, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”; Richard Armitage, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”; Phillip Seymour Hoffman, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”; Andrew Dice Clay, “Blue Jasmine”; Russ Camarda, “Send No Flowers”; Rob Corddry, “Warm Bodies”; Sean Penn, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”; Jonah Hill, “This is the End”; Ron Livingston, “The Conjuring”; Benedict Cumberbatch, “12 Years a Slave” & “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”; Jeremy Renner, “American Hustle”; Harrison Ford, “Ender’s Game” & “42”; Josh Hutcherson, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”; Jim Carrey, “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone”; Paul Dano, “12 Years a Slave”; Woody Harrelson, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”
Best Supporting Actress
Scarlett Johansson, “Her”
Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave”
Annika Wedderkopp, “The Hunt”
Amy Adams, “Her”
Octavia Spencer, “Fruitvale Station”
Honorable Mention: Sally Hawkins, “Blue Jasmine”; Rinko Kikuchi, “Pacific Rim”; Melonie Diaz, “Fruitvale Station”; Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle”; Oprah Winfrey, “Lee Daniels’s The Butler”; Rosario Dawson, “Trance”; Lily Taylor, “The Conjuring”; Olivia Wilde, “Her”; Nicole Kidman, “Stoker”; Evangeline Lilly, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”; Kristen Wiig, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”; Jena Malone, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”; Catherine Zeta-Jones, “Side Effects”; Rooney Mara, “Her”
Best Original Screenplay
“Her” (Spike Jonze)
“Stoker” (Wentworth Miller)
“Blue Jasmine” (Woody Allen)
“The Conjuring” (Chad & Carey Hayes)
“The Hunt” (Tobias Lindholm & Thomas Vinterberg)
Honorable Mention: “This is the End” (Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg); “Gravity” (Alfonso & Jonas Cauron); “The 10 Commandments of Chloe” (Princeton Holt & Naama Kates); “Frances Ha” (Noah Baumbach & Greta Gerwig); “The Muse” (Rufus Chaffee); “Spring Breakers” (Harmonie Korine); “The World’s End” (Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright); “Pacific Rim” (Travis Beacham & Guillermo Del Toro); “Fruitvale Station” (Ryan Coogler); “Trance” (Joe Aherne & John Hodge); “Send No Flowers” (Lee Kolinsky & Michael Lovaglio); “American Hustle” (David O. Russell & Eric Warren Singer); “Side Effects” (Scott Z. Burns); “The Synthetic Man” (John R. Hand)
Best Adapted Screenplay
“Before Midnight” (Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater, Kim Krizan)
“12 Years a Slave” (John Ridley)
“Much Ado About Nothing” (Joss Whedon)
“The Spectacular Now” (Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber)
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (Steven Conrad)
Honorable Mention: “Warm Bodies” (Jonathan Levine); “Swing Lowe Sweet Chariote” (David C. Snyder); “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Phillippa Boyens, Guillermo Del Toro); “Monsters University” (Dan Scanlon, Daniel Gerson, Robert L. Baird); “Man of Steel” (David S. Goyer & Christopher Nolan); “Iron Man 3” (Shane Black and Drew Pearce); “Epic” (William Joyce, James V. Hart, Daniel Shere, Tom J. Astle, Matt Ember, Chris Wedge); “Oblivion” (Karl Gajousek, Michael DeBruyn);
Best Original Score
“Gravity” (Steven Price)
“Stoker” (Clint Mansell & Philip Glass)
“Her” (Arcade Fire)
“The Lone Ranger” (Hans Zimmer)
“Oblivion” (M83)
Honorable Mention: “The Conjuring” (Joseph Bishara); “Spring Breakers” (Skrillex & Cliff Martinez); “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (Howard Shore); “12 Years a Slave” (Hans Zimmer); “Pacific Rim” (Ramin Djawadi); “Jack the Giant Slayer” (John Ottman); “Man of Steel” (Hans Zimmer); “Star Trek Into Darkness” (Michael Giacchino); “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” (James Newton Howard); “The Croods” (Alan Silvestri); “Monsters University” (Randy Newman); “You’re Next” (Mads Heldtberg, Jasper Justice Lee, Kyle McKinnon); “Elysium” (Ryan Amon); “Rush” (Hans Zimmer); “Warm Bodies” (Marco Beltrami & Buck Sanders); “Epic” (Danny Elfman)
Best Original Song
“The Moon Song” from “Her” (Karen O)
“Becomes the Color” from “Stoker” (Emily Wells)
“I See Fire” from “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (Ed Sheeran)
“Oblivion” from “Oblivion” (Anthony Gonzalez & Susanne Sundfør)
“How Lowe?” from “Swing Lowe Sweet Chariote” (C Ridenhour & DC Snyder)
Honorable Mention: “Young and Beautiful” from “The Great Gatsby” (Lana Del Rey & Rick Howels); “F*#% You Like a Porn Star” from “The Muse” (Jeff Allison & Issac Simons); “My Lord Sunshine” from “12 Years a Slave” (Nicholas Britell); “Atlas” from “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” (Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin)
Best Animated Feature
“The Croods”
“Epic”
“Monsters University”
“Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2”
Best Documentary Feature
“Stories We Tell”
“Blackfish”
“56-Up”
“Salinger”
“Inequality for All”
Best Foreign-Language Film
“The Hunt”
“The Silence”
Best Visual Effects
“Gravity”
“Pacific Rim”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
“Jack the Giant Slayer”
“Ender’s Game”
Best Sound Mixing
“Gravity”
“Pacific Rim”
“Rush”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
“The Conjuring”
Best Sound Effects Editing
“Gravity”
“Rush”
“Pacific Rim”
“The Conjuring”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
Best Cinematography
“Gravity”
“The Conjuring”
“12 Years a Slave”
“Pacific Rim”
“Her”
Best Film Editing
“Gravity”
“Pacific Rim”
“Her”
“Rush”
“Spring Breakers”
Best Production Design
“Rush”
“12 Years a Slave”
“The Great Gatsby”
“American Hustle”
“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”
Best Costume Design
“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”
“American Hustle”
“The Great Gatsby”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
“12 Years a Slave”
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“American Hustle”
“Warm Bodies”
“12 Years a Slave”
