My predictions for the 2014 Academy Award Nominations

Whoa, what a difficult year.  Every single category came down to a ridiculous choice between one ideal option and another, and most didn't allow for creative, "out-of-the-box" selections. That's how stupendous this movie year has been, and how unforgiving--and understandibly generic--it has become this awards season.

On the release of my final year-end round-up (due to drop on January 24th, two days before the MOVIE GEEKS UNITED year-end wrap-up), I will provide the nominees I think SHOULD have been recognized. But, in the interest of the game (and this IS a game...much like fantasy football or the like), here are my predictions. (I should say, since I 'm feeling it, this game was more fun to play when sites like Awards Daily, In Contention and The Envelope were not around. I'm utterly thankful for them, because I'm an Oscar loon...but they make me feel like an amateur, when I know I'm nothing but; as it is, I kinda long for the salad days when I was provoking such boldness all by myself.)

The nominations for the 86th Annual Academy Awards will be announced on Thursday, January 16th at 8:30 EST/5:30 PST.   

My predictions: 

PICTURE
American Hustle (Producers: Megan Ellison, Jonathan Gordon, Chales Roven, Richard Suckle)
Blue Jasmine (Producers: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum)
Captain Phillips (Producers: Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, Scott Rudin)
Dallas Buyers Club (Producers: Robbie Brenner, Rachel Winter)
Gravity (Producers: Alfonso Cuarón, David Heyman)
Inside Llewyn Davis (Producer: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Scott Rudin) 
Nebraska (Producers: Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa)
12 Years a Slave (Producers: Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner) 
The Wolf of Wall Street (Producers: Riza Aziz, Emma Koskoff, Joey McFarland)
ALT: Her (Producers: Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze, Vincent Landay)

DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave 
David O. Russell, American Hustle 
Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street
ALT: Spike Jonze, Her

ACTOR
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
Chewitel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips  
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club 
ALT: Robert Redford, All is Lost (this prediction actually pains me) 

ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Judy Dench, Philomena 
Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks
ALT: Adele Exarchopolous, Blue is the Warmest Color

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper, American Hustle 
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave  
James Gandolfini, Enough Said
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
ALT: Tom Hanks, Saving Mr. Banks  

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine 
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
Oprah Winfrey, Lee Daniels' The Butler 
ALT: Margot Robbie, The Wolf of Wall Street 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
American Hustle, Eric Singer and David O. Russell, 
Blue Jasmine, Woody Allen
Inside Llewyn Davis, Joel and Ethan Coen
Her, Spike Jonze
Nebraska, Bob Nelson
ALT: Enough Said, Nicole Holofcener

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
August: Osage County, Tracy Letts
Before Midnight, Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke
Captain Phillips, Billy Ray
12 Years a Slave, John Ridley   
The Wolf of Wall Street, Terrence Winter
ALT: The Spectacular Now, Scott Newstadler and Michael H. Weber

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM 
The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium)
The Great Beauty (Italy)
The Hunt (Denmark)
The Missing Picture (Cambodia)
Omar (Palestine)
ALT: Two Lives (Germany)

ANIMATED FEATURE
Despicable Me 2
Frozen
The Wind Rises 
ALT: Monsters University

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Act of Killing
Blackfish
The Crash Reel 
The Square
Tim's Vermeer
ALT: Life According to Sam

CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Grandmaster, Phillipe Le Sourd
Gravity, Emmanuel Lubezki  
Inside Llewyn Davis, Bruno Dubonnel   
Nebraska, Phedon Papamichael
12 Years a Slave, Sean Bobbitt
ALT: Captain Phillips, Barry Ackroyd 

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Gravity 
The Great Gatsby 
Inside Llewyn Davis 
Oz, The Great and Powerful 
12 Years a Slave 
ALT: Her 

COSTUME DESIGN
American Hustle
The Great Gatsby
The Invisible Woman
Oz, The Great and Powerful
Saving Mr. Banks  
ALT: Lee Daniels' The Butler 

ORIGINAL SCORE
The Book Thief, John Williams 
Frozen, Christophe Beck  
Gravity, Steven Price 
12 Years a Slave, Hans Zimmer
Saving Mr. Banks, Thomas Newman
ALT: The Great Gatsby, Craig Armstrong  

ORIGINAL SONG
"Long Road Home" from August: Osage County (Music and lyrics by Caleb Followill, Nathan Followill, Jared Followill, and Matthew Followill) 
"Let It Go" from Frozen (Music by Robert Lopez and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez)
"Young and Beautiful" from The Great Gatsby (Music and lyrics by Elizabeth Grant and Rick Howels) 
"The Moon Song" from Her (Music and lyrics by Karen O and Spike Jonze)
"Ordinary Love" from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (Music and lyrics by Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr., and Brian Burton)
ALT: "Amen" from All Is Lost (Music and lyrics by Alex Ebert)

FILM EDITING
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Gravity
12 Years a Slave 
The Wolf of Wall Street
ALT: Rush

SOUND MIXING

Captain Phillips
Gravity  
Inside Llewyn Davis
Lone Survivor
Rush

ALT: Iron Man 3

SOUND EFFECTS EDITING 
All is Lost
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Iron Man 3
Rush
ALT: The Lone Ranger 

VISUAL EFFECTS
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Lone Ranger
Pacific Rim
World War Z
ALT: Iron Man 3

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
American Hustle
Dallas Buyers Club
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
ALT: The Lone Ranger

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Get a Horse!
Gloria Victoria
Requiem for Romance
Hollow Land
Subconscious Password
ALT: The Missing Scarf

BEST  DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
CaveDigger
Facing Fear
Karama Has No Walls
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall
ALT: SLOMO

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM
Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)
Dva (Two)
Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)
Record/Play
Tiger Boy
ALT: Helium

Honorary Oscars have already been awarded to Steve Martin and Angela Lansbury. The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award has been given to Angelina Jolie, and the Gordon E. Sawyer Award for technical achievement has been voted to visual effects artist Peter W. Anderson. 

The Oscars will be awarded on March 2, 2014, with Ellen Degeneres as host.