Best Director
- David O. Russell - American Hustle
- Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity
- Alexander Payne - Nebraska
- Steve McQueen (No not that Steve McQueen) - 12 Years a Slave
- Martin Scorcese - The Wolf of Wall Street
WILL WIN: Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity
SHOULD WIN: Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity
BIGGEST SNUB: Spike Jonze - Her
Did I mention the bit about filming in Space?
Harvey Weinstein Presents the Best Picture
- American Hustle - Everything about this movie is just good. Everything.
- Captain Phillips - A big-budget re-enactment of a minor incident at sea, told with the subtlety of a powerdrill and the insight of a drive-by shooting.
- Dallas Buyers Club - A brilliant performance surrounded by half a movie. The first half is outstanding - well-paced, believable. The latter half is a flaccid mess. The punch line is that after spending an hour outraged at a specific drug, the movie ends with an ambiguous note that this same drug, in lesser dosages, was used in an AIDS cocktail that extended the lives of millions. I'm still confused - are we being told that this whole screed was pointless? Or that it succeeded in getting a better dosage? Or that the evil drug company kept winning? All of these things? Luckily, we can all take comfort in the unambiguous miracle of science that the Egyptian military found the cure and can now feed your your AIDS back to you as a nutritious kebab. Look forward to Dallas Buyers Club 2: The Cairo Connect.
- Gravity - What I haven't already mentioned is that by having no plot or cultural bymarkers to speak of, this movie is just as empty entertainment in every language and market as it was in America.
- Her - Spike Jonze is always interesting if not overly subtle. I think this is his best work to date and, I'd wager, possibly the best work he will do. The premise had a high "possibly awful" factor which goes mostly unrealized. And no I'm not partial to this because it stars my doppleganger.
- Nebraska - It has the pace of a Grandpa Simpson story but each casting decision, most importantly of a SNL washout as a bit of a loser, was spot on.
- Philomena - It's not a good movie, though it is a Harvey Weinstein movie...but I repeat myself. You keep waiting for the nuns to do something to redeem themselves, but no! They're even more vile than you could have imagined! The nominations were all backwards on this one. Judi Dench is an autonomination except she never does lose her dame-bloom in trying to play country. Meanwhile, Steve Coogan is uncomfortably believable as an arrogant prick, yet goes unacknowledged.
- 12 Years a Slave - Where this broke new ground is that there has not been a cannon movie about being a slave before. It was an error that needed correcting and this one does it admirably. It's not groundbreaking or brilliant, and the long cuts of Southern scenery are jarringly inept. This was my second most memorable viewing experience of the year, because the young lady who accompanied me balled her eyes out, informing me that she, "feels the weight of historical injustice more than most people." Including, it would seem, more than the two elderly black women seated next to us, who never murmured a peep.
- The Wolf of Wall Street - Destined to be the rallying cry of every jobber, hack, and con man for generations to come. Unapologetic, hilarious, ribald, and extraordinarily entertaining. It has absolutely no chance, except in hell.
WILL WIN: 12 Years a Slave
SHOULD WIN: American Hustle
WORST NOMINEE: Captain Phillips
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