The Oscars

The Oscars are here! This year is probably the tightest race ever.  While there are clear frontrunners in all of the major categories, there are a few nominees worthy of upsetting.  After a lengthy awards season, tonight we finally find out who takes home the coveted Academy Award.  Here are my choices for 5 of the many categories that will finally be announced tonight.  (FYI: Yes, sometimes I have more than one choice for a category. It's hard to choose just one!)

Best Picture
Gravity
This is a two way race, in spite of the other nominees.  Expected to win in this category tonight is Gravity or 12 Years a Slave.  I liked Gravity a lot and while 12 Years a Slave is an important film and a necessary film, it isn't the best film in this category.  It's too long for me and I did get bored a little towards the middle of it.  The last half hour is incredible, though.  Those final moments make up for everything I don't like about the movie and if it wins tonight who could argue with that?  Still, Gravity is it for me.

Best Actress 
Sandra Bullock - Gravity
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
These two are the clear frontrunners and I am rooting for a tie.   Is that even possible?  I don't know.  They both deserve it.  I have seen Blue Jasmine about 15 times already－and that's not hyperbole.  I'm addicted to it and I love it.  Cate Blanchett's performance as a financially strapped, mentally broken-down socialite is pitch perfect in every way.  From her manic mannerisms to her cold stares into space and her wacky monologues, it's the performance of a lifetime. Every time I've watched her in this movie, I have been in complete awe. It's the kind of performance aspiring actors should study.  This is why she deserves to win.  However, there's Sandra Bullock fighting to edge her out as the final victor tonight.  In Gravity, Ms. Bullock manages to carry the entire film all on her own.  There isn't a single moment of boredom in this one-woman, edge-of-your-seat thriller about an astronaut stranded in space.

Best Actor 
Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
This is another category where two winners would make more sense than just one.  It takes a great actor to take on a role completely unlike anything they've ever done.  It's unexpected, it shows the actor's range, and there is always something to be said about the actor who is brave enough to take risks.  In Dallas Buyers Club, one cannot help but forget it's the Matthew McConaughey before us as an HIV infected rodeo cowboy given just 30 days to live.  Matthew McConaughey is known for his burly physique but he is almost unrecognizable here. No other actor in this category has gone through such a transformation.  Chiwetel Ejiofor is a force in his movie so a win for him would make much sense.  It really is a toss up between these two.  Chiwetel made me cry, Matthew made it hard for me to forget.  My choice, in the end is Matthew.

Best Supporting Actress
Lupita N'yongo - 12 Years a Slave
Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine
Honestly, everyone nominated here deserves it.  I was most-affected by these two.  Of course, Lupita's got a slighter edge because she's gotten every other award leading up to the Oscars and, frankly, her performance packs a punch.  But Sally Hawkins is a doll as sister to the unraveling Jasmine in Blue Jasmine.  Lupita N'yongo is my sentimental favorite but I would love to see Sally Hawkins win.

Best Supporting Actor
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
That scene when he's in bed in obvious bad shape and his friend urges him to get to the hospital, he cries "I don't wanna die." That nailed it for me.  There were goosebumps all over my body.  For me, the most impactful performance deserves to win.  Rayon is still with me today. This one has that epic edge and I hope Jared Leto wins for it tonight.

Best Original Song
Happy - Pharrell Williams
This is usually the wackiest Oscar category.  The winner is almost never the most popular song or the most deserving.  I don't love any of the songs as much as I love this one.