2014 Academy Award winners & review

Last night we celebrated the 2014 Academy Awards hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. Gravity was the big winner of the night taking home a total of seven statues including Best Director while 12 Years a Slave took home Best Picture. There weren't really any big surprises in terms of where the awards went this year, but overall I think the night went well.
As far as the total production and the host, I thought everything looked nice and flowed very well. Ellen was fun to watch and she didn't go over the top with anything. It was a night full of selfies, Tweeting, and pizza. I have seen people already complaining about the inevitable drag in the middle of the show and I know how it could have been avoided; they should have put Pharrell in the middle of the show instead of at the beginning. "Happy" is such a fun song in general and it would have definitely given the energy a needed boost.
Speaking of the musical performances, I feel a bit sorry for Idina Menzel because on top of John Travolta butchering her name and introduction she was obviously very nervous. As a result she rushed the hell out of the song. Pink was very nice and sounded great as did Karen O. The questionable one was Bette Midler mainly because she couldn't even sing her own song. She kept taking the pitch all over the place and lost track of the song. It was a bit gross.

Anyway, here are the winners!

Best Picture - 12 Years a Slave
Best Actor - Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
Best Actress - Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Best Director - Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)
Best Supporting Actor - Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Best Supporting Actress - Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)
Best Original Screenplay - Spike Jonze (Her)
Best Adapted Screenplay - John Ridley (12 Years a Slave)
Best Animated Feature - Frozen
Best Original Score - Steven Price (Gravity)
Best Original Song - Robert Lopez & Kristen Anderson-Lopez ("Let It Go" from Frozen)
Best Foreign Film - The Great Beauty
Best Documentary Feature - 20 Feet from Stardom
Best Documentary Short - The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
Best Animated Short - Mr. Hublot
Best Live Action Short - Helium
Best Production Design - The Great Gatsby
Best Costume Design - The Great Gatsby
Best Cinematography - Gravity
Best Editing - Gravity
Best Visual Effects - Gravity
Best Hair & Makeup - Dallas Buyers Club
Best Sound Editing - Gravity
Best Sound Mixing - Gravity


In other fun news, Robert Lopez is now the youngest person to "EGOT." That meaning he has now won a Golden Globe, Oscar, Tony, and Emmy award. He also has won Grammys for The Book of Mormon. He joins the short list including Mel Brooks, Whoopi Goldberg, Mike Nichols, Scott Rudin, and Audrey Hepburn.

Oscar nomination rescinded for Alone Yet Not Alone

This is a rare occurrence for sure, but the Academy's Board of Governors has rescinded the Best Original Song nomination for Alone Yet Not Alone. Reasoning has been cited as insider campaigning. Former Academy member Bruce Broughton, and writer of the film's song, apparently sent a hefty amount of emails to his Academy friends in order to bring the attention to the song and to the film. The Board came to a conclusion that Broughton's actions were not in compliance with the promotional regulations and policies in place and that including the film would make the competition unfair and biased.

Despite losing out on one nominee, the Academy also concluded that there will be no replacement named. The Best Original Song category will now only have four nominees. Those nominees are:

"Happy" by Pharrell Williams - Despicable Me 2
"Let It Go" by Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez - Frozen
"The Moon Song" by Karen O. & Spike Jonze - Her
"Ordinary Love" by U2 - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

2014 Oscar nominations announced

American Hustle and Gravity turned out to be the hits with the Academy this year as they both lead with 10 nominations each. 12 Years a Slave ended up with 9 total. There are quite a few surprises including the complete snub of Monsters University and the fact that Jonah Hill got nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Also a bit surprising: Tom Hanks not being nominated for Captain Phillips, Cate Blanchett not being nominated for Blue Jasmine, Spike Jonze not being nominated for Best Director, Blue is the Warmest Color not being nominated for Best Foreign Film (that was just expected), and Monsters University not being nominated for Best Animated Feature. Seriously, why the hate for Pixar this year? It wasn't a bad movie and the animation was beautiful.

The Academy Awards will air on March 2nd.

Here are the nominees!

Best Picture:

12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Actor:

Christian Bale - American Hustle
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club

Best Actress:

Amy Adams - American Hustle
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock - Gravity
Judi Dench - Philomena
Meryl Streep - August: Osage County

Best Supporting Actor:

Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper - American Hustle
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave
Jonah Hill - The Wolf of Wall Street
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress:

Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts - August: Osage County
June Squibb - Nebraska

Best Director:

Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity
Alexander Payne - Nebraska
David O. Russell - American Hustle
Martin Scorsese - The Wolf of Wall Street
Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave

Best Original Screenplay:

Woody Allen - Blue Jasmine
Craig Borten & Melisa Warlick - Dallas Buyers Club
Eric Warren Singer & David O. Russell - American Hustle
Bob Nelson - Nebraska
Spike Jonze - Her

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope - Philomena
Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke - Before Midnight
Billy Ray - Captain Phillips
John Ridley - 12 Years a Slave
Terence Winter - The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Animated Film:

Despicable Me 2
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen
The Croods
The Wind Rises

Best Original Score:

Alexandre Deslplat - Philomena
Thomas Newman - Saving Mr. Banks
William Butler & Owen Pallett - Her
John Williams - The Book Thief
Steven Price - Gravity

Best Original Song:

"Alone, Yet Not Alone" - Alone, Yet Not Alone
"Let it Go" - Frozen 
"Happy" - Despicable Me 2 
"The Moon Song" - Her
"Ordinary Love" - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Best Cinematography:

Phillipe Le Sound - The Grandmaster
Phedon Papamichael - Nebraska
Bruno Delbonnel - Inside Llewyn Davis
Emmanuel Lubezki - Gravity
Roger Deakins - Prisoners

Best Visual Effects:

Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man 3
The Lone Ranger
Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Foreign Language Film:

The Broken Circle Breakdown
The Great Beauty
The Hunt
The Missing Piece
Omar

Best Documentary Feature:

The Act of Killing
Cutie and the Boxer
Dirty Wars
The Square
20 Feet from Stardom

Best Documentary Short Subject:

CaveDigger
Facing Fear
Karama Has No Walls
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Jack Hall

Best Production Design:

American Hustle
Gravity
The Great Gatsby
Her
12 Years a Slave

Best Costume Design:

American Hustle
The Grandmaster
The Great Gatsby
The Invisible Woman
12 Years a Slave

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

Dallas Buyers Club
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
The Lone Ranger

Best Sound Editing:

All is Lost
Captain Phillips
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Lone Survivor

Best Sound Mixing:

Captain Phillips
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Inside Llewyn Davis
Lone Survivor

Best Animated Short:

Feral
Get a Horse!
Mr. Hublot
Possessions
Room on the Broom

Best Live-Action Short:

Aquel No EraYo
Avant Que De Tout Perdre
Helium
Pitakko Mun Kaikki Hoitaa?
The Voorman Problem

Oscar nominations to be voted on

It's almost that time!

The secret ballots for the 2014 Academy Awards have been made available as of today, December 27th. Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are to electronically cast their votes by January 8, 2014 to determine the nominees. The official nominations will be announced on January 16, 2014. Frontrunners are expected to be American Hustle and 12 Years a Slave as they have been already for the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild nominees.

Ellen DeGeneres is set to host the 86th Academy Awards on March 2, 2014.

First Academy Award teaser feat. Ellen DeGeneres

114 scores eligible for Oscars

Quite a list!

The shortlist for Best Original Score has been released and it contains a whopping 114 options. Included are Gravity, Man of Steel, The Book Thief, 12 Years a Slave, Star Trek Into Darkness, Pacific Rim, The Conjuring, and many more. Here is the full list:

Admission by Stephen Trask
Ain't Them Bodies Saints by Daniel Hart
*All is Lost by Alex Ebert
Alone Yet Not Alone by William Ross
The Armstrong Lie by David Kahne
Arthur Newman by Nick Urata
At Any Price by Dickon Hinchliffe
Austenland by Ilan Eshkeri

Before Midnight by Graham Reynolds
The Best Man Holiday by Stanley Clarke
*The Book Thief by John Williams
The Butterfly's Dream by Rahman Altin

The Call by John Debney
*Captain Phillips by Henry Jackman
Closed Circuit by Joby Talbot
The Company You Keep by Cliff Martinez
The Conjuring by Joseph Bishara
Copperhead by Laurent Eyquem
The Counselor by Daniel Pemberton
The Croods by Alan Silvestri

Despicable Me 2 by Heitor Pereira

Elysium by Ryan Amon
Ender's Game by Steve Jablonsky
Enough Said by Marcelo Zarvos
Epic by Danny Elfman
Ernest & Celestine by Vincent Courtois
Escape from Planet Earth by Aaron Zigman
Escape from Tomorrow by Abel Korzeniowski
Evil Dead by Roque Banos

47 Ronin by Ilan Eshkeri
42 by Mark Isham
Free Birds by Dominic Lewis
Free China: The Courage to Believe by Tony Chen
Fruitvale Station by Ludwig Goransson

G.I. Joe: Retaliation by Henry Jackman
Gangster Squad by Steve Jablonsky
*Gravity by Stephen Price
The Great Gatsby by Craig Armstrong

The Hangover Part III by Christophe Beck
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters by Alti Orvarsson
Haute Cuisine by Gabriel Yared
*Her by William Butler & Owen Pallett
*The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug by Howard Shore
Hollywood Seagull by Evgeny Shchukin
Hours by Benjamin Wallfisch
How Sweet it Is by Matt Dahan
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire by James Newton Howard

Identity Thief by Christopher Lennertz
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone by Lyle Workman
Insidious: Chapter 2 by Joseph Bashara
Instructions Not Included by Carlo Silotto
The Internship by Christophe Beck
The Invisible Woman by Ilan Eshkeri
*Iron Man 3 by Brian Tyler

Jack the Giant Slayer by John Ottman
Jobs by John Debney

Kamasutra 3D by Sreejith Edavana & Saachin Raj Chelory

Labor Day by Rolfe Kent
*Lee Daniels' The Butler by Rodrigo Leao
Live at the Foxes Den by Jack Holmes
Love is All You Need by Johan Soderqvist

Mama by Fernando Velazquez
*Man of Steel by Hans Zimmer
*Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom by Alex Heffes
The Missing Picture by Marc Marder
*Monsters University by Randy Newman
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by Alti Ovarsson
Mud by David Wingo
Murph: The Protector by Chris Irwin & Jeff Widenhofer

Now You See Me by Brian Tyler

Oblivion by Anthony Gonzalez & Joseph Trapanese
Oldboy by Roque Banos
Olympus Has Fallen by Trevor Morris
Oz the Great and Powerful by Danny Elfman

*Pacific Rim by Ramin Djawadi
Pain & Gain by Steve Jablonsky
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters by Andrew Lockington
Philomena by Alexandre Desplat
The Place Beyond the Pines by Mike Patton
Planes by Mark Mancina
Prisoners by Johann Johannsson

R.I.P.D. by Christophe Beck
Reaching for the Moon by Marcelo Zarvos
Romeo & Juliet by Abel Korzeniowski
Runner Runner by Christophe Beck
*Rush by Hans Zimmer

Safe Haven by Deborah Lurie
Salinger by Lorne Balfe
*Saving Mr. Banks by Thomas Newman
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by Theodore Shapiro
Short Term 12 by Joel P. West
Side Effects by Thomas Newman
The Smurfs 2 by Heitor Pereira
The Spectacular Now by Rob Simonsen
*Star Trek Into Darkness by Michael Giacchino
Stoker by Clint Mansell

Thor: The Dark World by Brian Tyler
Tim's Vermeer by Conrad Pope
Trance by Rick Smith
Turbo by Henry Jackman
*12 Years a Slave by Hans Zimmer
2 Guns by Clinton Shorter

The Ultimate Life by Mark McKenzie
Unfinished Song by Laura Rossi

Wadjda by Max Richter
Walking with Dinosaurs by Paul Leonard-Morgan
Warm Bodies by Marco Beltrami & Buck Sanders
We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks by Will Bates
We're the Millers by Theodore Shapiro & Ludwig Goransson
What Maisie Knew by Nick Urata
Why We Ride by Steve Gutheinz
The Wind Rises by Joe Hisaishi
Winnie Mandela by Laurent Eyquem
*The Wolverine by Marco Beltrami

* the frontrunners most likely to make the final decision list
The highlighted ones in red have already received Golden Globe nominations

Ellen DeGeneres returns to host the Oscars

After the seeming failure of Seth MacFarlane's show this year, the Oscars have tapped yet another previous host to return for the 86th Academy Awards on March 2, 2014. That would be Ellen DeGeneres.

She first hosted back in 2007 and was tapped after MacFarlane apparently turned down an offer to return after citing scheduling conflicts. Many are speculating the choice to go with DeGeneres is due to her ability to keep the mood light and fun without rocking the boat toward too raunchy. Not to mention the fact that she earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for her hosting skills back in 2007. She has also earned a total of 45 Daytime Emmy nominations for her talk show Ellen which has aired for 10 seasons. Show producers Craig Zadan and Neal Meron will return for the show as well.
Another project DeGeneres has coming up is voice work to return as Dory for the Disney/Pixar sequel Finding Dory which hits theaters in 2015.