Barney looks forward to this year’s Oscars.
As preparations commence for the famous awards ceremony on Sunday, the hot topic of the week for any film publication or website is this year’s Academy Awards.
It’s that time of year when hundreds of actors, directors, editors, composers and a myriad other industry folk eagerly anticipate receiving a golden statue of some bloke to prove that they are good at what they do. The rest of us get to have fun guessing who is going to get what, but alas, no statue for us!
The forerunners this year range from the spectacular to the tear-jerking to the downright quirky (yes, Her, I’m looking at you…).
Possible winners in the Best Picture category this year are American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave and The Wolf of Wall Street. Whilst it is nice to see a crime comedy and a sci-fi comedy about a man who falls in love with an AI computer program nominated for this accolade, I think the smart money is on 12 Years a Slave.: the trend in the ceremony these days does seem to be for the more serious films to win.
Gravity may have a shot at one of the gongs (why are they called that? They are shaped nothing like a gong!), but it would be more likely to win something for the editing or special effects which are simply breath-taking. Sandy B does a great job of making us believe she is experiencing the far-fetched nightmare of a first-time astronaut getting stranded in space and actually SURVIVING. However, it is the magnificent shots of Earth from space and the death-defying leaps from one craft to another that deserve all the praise here. Besides, Sandra got her gong in 2009 – move along, woman!
It is nice to see Dame Judy’s role as Philomena up for Best Actress. The last British person to pick up an award in this category was Helen Mirren in her role as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen, so another Brit win would be very good to see.
For the male equivalent award, the actors very much reflect the choice of films up for Best Picture. Christian Bale is in the running for Best Actor for his turn in American Hustle, and having previously only received Best Supporting Actor, a major win would be a boon for him, and quite deserved too based on his glittering career so far. There are far too many categories to go into here in too much detail, but it is anyone’s game as to who is going to receive the awards and who’s going to leave empty-handed; it’ll be a close run thing.
Whatever happens, it is certain to be a major talking point over the next few days for us here at Cultured Vultures.
Now to nip down to Carpet World to see if they have anything in red…
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