Not too far from now, the Critics Choice will begin handing out their awards. The big question is really what is going to win Best Picture. We probably won’t know for sure until the Producers Guild on Sunday. If the SAG ensemble and the Producers Guild match then the mystery might be over. Gravity, it’s worth noting, is not nominated for the SAG but it might win the PGA, putting the whole thing into flux.
At any rate, many over at Gold Derby are predicting 12 Years a Slave to win the CCMA’s. I seriously doubt it. This is an American Hustle crowd if there ever was one. I fully expect it to win tonight, along with David O. Russell and it will give the film and its director its first real moment to shine after the Globes.
Here are my predictions, such as they are:
BEST PICTURE
American Hustle <—predicted winner
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity <—but it might be
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Saving Mr. Banks
12 Years a Slave The Wolf of Wall Street<—Wouldn’t it be funny if?
BEST ACTOR
Christian Bale – American Hustle <–Caught up in Hustle love.
Bruce Dern – Nebraska <–or maybe..
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club <–predicted winner
Robert Redford – All Is Lost
BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine <–predicted winner
Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Judi Dench – Philomena
Brie Larson – Short Term 12
Meryl Streep – August: Osage County
Emma Thompson – Saving Mr. Banks
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips
Daniel Bruhl – Rush
Bradley Cooper – American Hustle
Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave
James Gandolfini – Enough Said
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club <–predicted winner
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Scarlett Johansson – Her
Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle <—predicted winner
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave <—but maybe…
Julia Roberts – August: Osage County
June Squibb – Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey – Lee Daniels’ The Butler
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Asa Butterfield – Ender’s Game
Adele Exarchopoulos – Blue Is the Warmest Color <—predicted winner
Liam James – The Way Way Back
Sophie Nelisse – The Book Thief
Tye Sheridan – Mud
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
American Hustle <—predicted winner
August: Osage County
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Nebraska
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street
BEST DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity <—but it could be…
Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips
Spike Jonze – Her
Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave
David O. Russell – American Hustle <—predicted winner
Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Eric Singer and David O. Russell – American Hustle — or it could be…
Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine
Spike Jonze – Her <—predicted winner
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis
Bob Nelson – Nebraska
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Tracy Letts – August: Osage County
Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke – Before Midnight <—but it might be…
Billy Ray – Captain Phillips
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope – Philomena
John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave
Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street <—predicted winner
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki – Gravity <—predicted winner
Bruno Delbonnel – Inside Llewyn Davis <—or it could be…
Phedon Papamichael – Nebraska
Roger Deakins – Prisoners
Sean Bobbitt – 12 Years a Slave
BEST ART DIRECTION
Andy Nicholson (Production Designer), Rosie Goodwin (Set Decorator) – Gravity
Catherine Martin (Production Designer), Beverley Dunn (Set Decorator) – The Great Gatsby
K.K. Barrett (Production Designer), Gene Serdena (Set Decorator) – Her — Predicted winner
Dan Hennah (Production Designer), Ra Vincent (Set Decorator) – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Adam Stockhausen (Production Designer), Alice Baker (Set Decorator) – 12 Years a Slave
BEST EDITING
Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers – American Hustle <—predicted winner
Christopher Rouse – Captain Phillips
Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger – Gravity
Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill – Rush
Joe Walker – 12 Years a Slave
Thelma Schoonmaker – The Wolf of Wall Street <—or it could be…
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Michael Wilkinson – American Hustle <–predicted winner
Catherine Martin – The Great Gatsby
Bob Buck, Lesley Burkes-Harding, Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Daniel Orlandi – Saving Mr. Banks
Patricia Norris – 12 Years a Slave
BEST MAKEUP
American Hustle <–predicted winner
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Rush
12 Years a Slave
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Gravity <—predicted and eventual winner
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man 3
Pacific Rim
Star Trek into Darkness
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Frozen <—predicted winner
Monsters University
The Wind Rises
BEST ACTION MOVIE
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Iron Man 3
Lone Survivor <– Predicted winner
Rush
Star Trek into Darkness
BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Henry Cavill – Man of Steel
Robert Downey Jr. – Iron Man 3
Brad Pitt – World War Z <—or it might be
Mark Wahlberg – Lone Survivor <—predicted winner
BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Sandra Bullock – Gravity <—predicted winner
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Evangeline Lilly – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Gwyneth Paltrow – Iron Man 3
BEST COMEDY
American Hustle <–predicted winner
Enough Said
The Heat
This Is the End
The Way Way Back
The World’s End
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Christian Bale – American Hustle
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street <–predicted winner
James Gandolfini – Enough Said
Simon Pegg – The World’s End
Sam Rockwell – The Way Way Back
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Amy Adams – American Hustle <–predicted winner
Sandra Bullock – The Heat
Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Enough Said
Melissa McCarthy – The Heat
BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
The Conjuring
Gravity <–predicted winner
Star Trek into Darkness
World War Z
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Blue Is the Warmest Color <–predicted winner
The Great Beauty
The Hunt
The Past
Wadjda
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Act of Killing <–predicted winner
Blackfish
Stories We Tell
Tim’s Vermeer
20 Feet from Stardom
BEST SONG
Atlas – Coldplay – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Happy – Pharrell Williams – Despicable Me 2
Let It Go – Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez – Frozen <–predicted winner
Ordinary Love – U2 – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Please Mr. Kennedy – Justin Timberlake/Oscar Isaac/Adam Driver – Inside Llewyn Davis
Young and Beautiful – Lana Del Rey – The Great Gatsby
BEST SCORE
Steven Price – Gravity
Arcade Fire – Her <–predicted winner
Thomas Newman – Saving Mr. Banks
Hans Zimmer – 12 Years a Slave