Our predictions for this year’s Oscars!

It’s that time of year again, where our Entertainment Editor Candace Whitehead dangles ourselves out to the vultures and makes her predictions for this year’s Academy Awards.

This year’s Oscar line-up has been described as one of the most hotly contested in years – which makes it more exciting than usual.

So, with no further ado, allow Candace to make her picks for the winners in the major categories at this year’s Academy Awards, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres this Sunday (2 March).

Best Picture

Nominees: American Hustle, Captain Phillips, The Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebrasksa, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave, The Wolf of Wall Street

This year, it’s quite clearly a three-horse race for Best Picture between American Hustle, Gravity and 12 Years a Slave. While American Hustle is a critics’ favourite, scooping the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast and picking up the Golden Globe for Best Comedy film, Gravity and 12 Years a Slave seem the more likely picks. The pair shared the Producers Guild of America Award, while 12 Years a Slave scooped the Golden Globe for Best Drama and the BAFTA for Best Picture.  

Our pick: 12 Years a Slave.

Why? Think Avatar vs The Hurt Locker. Gritty (period) dramas almost always triumph over technical masterpieces.

Best Actor in a Leading Role

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

This category is packed with major names and some massive performances – particularly from DiCaprio, Ejiofor and McConaughey. But, hate to say it, Internet – this isn’t DiCaprio’s year for an Oscar either, even though he was magnificent in The Wolf of Wall Street. It’s a two-man battle between BAFTA-winner Ejiofor for his magnificent turn in 12 Years a Slave and McConaughey, whose powerhouse role as a real-life Aids activist has earned him a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Our pick: Matthew McConaughey – The Dallas Buyers Club

Apart from the fact that everybody loves a good transformation for a film (Charlize in Monster, for a start), McConaughey was utterly unstoppable in Dallas Buyers Club, and his chemistry with co-star Jared Leto (more on him later) was breathtaking to watch.

Best Actress in a Leading Role

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

Another category positively packed with A-list leading ladies – each one with a host of awards to her name. The only non-Oscar winner on the list is American Hustle’s Amy Adams – who is a five-time Academy Award nominee anyway.

Our pick: Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Cate Blanchett has picked up pretty much every statue she’s been able to lay her hands on for her role in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine. Some have suggested that the recent re-emergence of Allen’s alleged sexual assault of his daughter Dylan could put a dent in Blanchett’s chance, but somehow we don’t see that happening.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

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

First-time actor Barkhad Abdi stunned with his win at the BAFTAs for his role as a Somali pirate alongside Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips, and Michael Fassbender was riveting as a sadistic slave owner in 12 Years a Slave. But so far this season nobody has been able to touch Jared Leto.

Our pick: Jared Leto – The Dallas Buyers Club

Leto has picked up every major award – bar the BAFTA, for which he was not nominated – for his role as a transgender Aids patient in The Dallas Buyers Club. From the moment he first appeared on the screen in full make-up and a pink dressing gown to kick ass at poker, Leto – also the frontman of 30 Seconds to Mars – stole the film, and with McConaughey, pulled off one of the most brilliant on-screen partnerships of the year.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

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

Much like the best actor race, the fight for best supporting actress comes down to Jennifer Lawrence vs. Lupita Nyong’o. Lawrence – who has become a pop culture darling since her Oscar win for Silver Linings Playbook last year – picked up the BAFTA and the Golden Globe for her role in American Hustle, while Kenyan actress Nyong’o has won a host of other major awards, including the Screen Actors Guild Award, for her mesmorising turn as the slave girl Patsey in 12 Years a Slave.

Our pick: Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

To be honest, this could go either way. But I’m picking Nyong’o not only on the basis of her performance, but also the amount of work she has put into campaigning for this film. She’s charmed the pants off the media at every awards ceremony she has been to and has stunned with her fashion choices. Lawrence, on the other hand, has been less focused on campaigning this awards season (compared to last year), and even skipped the BAFTAs. And much goes into how well you campaign (I’m looking at you, Anne Hathaway, for Les Miserables). Still, Lawrence is Hollywood’s darling, and could yet nab the award.

Best Director

Nominees: David O Russell (American Hustle), Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity), Alexander Payne (Nebraska), Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) and Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street).

With so many great films this year, the best directing category was also going to be full of the big guns. 12 Years a Slave was no easy task to handle – and McQueen’s directing was immensely impressive, earning him a BAFTA for Best Film. Scorsese’s Wolf of Wall Street was another incredible collaboration with DiCaprio, and Russell’s handling of the ensemble cast of American Hustle was seamless.

Our pick: Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity)

It’s almost a given that the director that scoops the Directors Guild of America prize will take home the Academy Award – and so in that instance, Cuarón pretty much has it in the bag, along with his Golden Globe and his BAFTA. And for good reason, too. Gravity – his space drama starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as two astronauts afloat in space – was a technical and directorial masterpiece, and a huge step forward in film making.

Best Animated Feature

Nominees: The Croods, Despicable Me 2, Ernest & Celestine, Frozen and The Wind Rises.

Honestly, I’m not sure what The Croods is doing there. Or Despicable Me 2, to be honest – which was nowhere near as fun as its predecessor. The little-known Ernest & Celestine is up against one of Disney’s biggest hits in recent years, Frozen, as well as anime legend Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises – both of which have a stronger chance at winning than Ernest & Celestine.

Our Pick: Frozen

While I love Miyazaki’s work – the Oscar-winning Spirited Away remains one of my favourite films – it still comes down to campaigning. And Frozen – backed by the powerhouse that is Disney – definitely has the edge. It’s also one of Disney’s best films in years – building on the renaissance that began with The Princess and the Frog and Tangled.

Bonus category: Best Original Song

Nominees: Happy – Despicable Me 2, Let It Go – Frozen, The Moon Song – Her and Ordinary Love – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.

Always one of my guilty-pleasure categories, the best original song category this year was hit by controversy after one of the nominees was disqualified for breaking qualifications rules, whittling it down to four – including a nod for U2’s Ordinary Love for the Nelson Mandela biopic.

Our pick: Let It Go – Frozen

Broadway superstar Idina Menzel’s Let It Go has all the hallmarks of a Disney musical classic, and I’m pretty sure is a shoe-in for best original song. Largely because it has been stuck in my head for weeks now.