Napoli Predicts the Oscar Nominations

by Michael Napoli

It's almost here. Yes, the nominations for the 86th Academy Awards will be announced tomorrow morning (8:30 am ET/ 5:30 am PT). Some of the big questions of the award seasons will be answered? Which film will receive the most nominations? Will it be 12 Years a Slave or Gravity? Is American Hustle the one to watch? What will be surprising inclusions? What will be snubbed?

Many pundits, experts, and critics will all have their prediction ready on nomination morning. I will also be watching as well and I attempted to predict the nominations in all 24 categories. Let's hope I'm right.

Best Picture
1. American Hustle
2. Captain Phillips
3. Dallas Buyers Club
4. Gravity
5. Her
6. Inside Llewyn Davis
7. Nebraska
8. Saving Mr. Banks
9. 12 Years a Slave
10. The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director

1. Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity
2. Paul Greengrass - Captain Phillips
3. Spike Jonze - Her
4. Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave
5. Alexander Payne - Nebraska

Best Actor 

1. Bruce Dern - Nebraska
2. Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street
3. Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
4. Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips
5. Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club

Best Actress 

1. Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
2. Sandra Bullock - Gravity
3. Judi Dench - Philomena
4. Brie Larson - Short Term 12
5. Emma Thompson - Saving Mr. Banks

Best Supporting Actor

1. Barkhad Abid - Captain Phillips
2. Daniel Bruhl - Rush
3. Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave
4. James Gondolfini - Enough Said
5. Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress

1. Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
2. Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
3. Julia Roberts - August: Osage County
4. June Squibb - Nebraska
5. Oprah Winfrey - Lee Daniel's The Butler

Best Original Screenplay

1. American Hustle - David O. Russell, Eric Singer
2. Gravity - Alfonso Cuaron, Jonas Cuaron
3. Her - Spike Jonze
4. Inside Llewyn Davis - Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
5. Nebraska - Bob Nelson

Best Adapted Screenplay

1. Before Midnight - Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy
2. Captain Phillips - Billy Ray
3. Philomena - Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope
4. 12 Years a Slave - John Ridley
5. The Wolf of Wall Street - Terence Winter

Best Production Design

1. Gravity - Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin
2. The Great Gatsby - Catherine Martin, Beverly Dunn
3. Her - K.K. Barrett, Gene Serdana
4. Inside Llewyn Davis - Jess Goncher, Susan Bode
5. 12 Years a Slave - Adam Stochausen and Alice Baker

Best Cinematography

1. Captain Phillips - Barry Ackroyd
2. Gravity - Emmanuel Lubezki
3. Inside Llewyn Davis - Bruno Delbonnel
4. Nebraska - Phedon Papamichael
5. 12 Years a Slave - Sean Bobbit

Best Editing

1. Captain Phillips - Christopher Rouse
2. Gravity - Alfonso Cuaron & Mark Sanger
3. Inside Llewyn Davis - Roderick James
4. 12 Years a Slave - Joe Walker
5. The Wolf of Wall Street - Thelma Schoonmaker

Best Costume Design

1. American Hustle - Michael Wilkinson
2. The Great Gatsby - Catherine Martin
3. The Invisible Woman - Michael O'Connor
4. Saving Mr. Banks - Michael Orlandi
5. 12 Years a Slave - Patricia Norris

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

1. American Hustle

2. Dallas Buyers Club

3. The Great Gatsby

Best Sound Editing

1. Captain Phillips
2. Gravity
3. Lone Survivor
4. Rush
5. 12 Years a Slave

Best Sound Mixing

1. Captain Phillips

2. Gravity

3. Inside Llewyn Davis

4. Rush

5. 12 Years a Slave

Best Original Song

1. "Let It Go" - Frozen

2. "The Moon Song" - Her

3. "Ordinary Love" - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

4. "So You Know What It's Like" - Short Term 12

5. "Young and Beautiful" - The Great Gatsby

Best Original Score

1. The Book Thief - John Williams

2. Gravity - Steven Prince

3. Rush - Hans Zimmer

4. Saving Mr. Banks - Thomas Newman

5. 12 Years a Slave - Hans Zimmer

Best Visual Effects

1. Gravity

2. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

3. Pacific Rim

Best Foreign Language Film

1. Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium)

2. The Grandmaster (Hong Kong)

3. The Great Beauty (Italy)

4. The Hunt (Denmark)

5. Omar (Palestine)

Best Documentary Feature

1. The Act of Killing

2. Blackfish

3. The Square

4. Stories We Tell

5. 20 Feet from Stardom

Best Animated Feature

1. Despicable Me 2

2. Ernest & Celestine

3. Frozen

4. Monsters University

5. The Wind Rises

Best Animated Short Film

1. Gloria Victoria

2. Get a Horse!

3. The Missing Scarf

4. Mr. Hublot

5. Subconscious Password

Best Live Action Short Film

1. Dva (Two)

2. Helium

3. Record/Play

4. Tiger Boy

5. The Voorman Problem

Best Documentary Short Film

1. CaveDiggers

2. Karama Has No Walls

3. The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life

4. Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hill

5. SLOMO

"Wishful Thinking" Nomination(s):

Best Picture - Before Midnight

Best Actor - Michael B. Jordan for Fruitvale Station

Total nominations:

12 Years a Slave: 13 predicted nominations

Gravity: 11 predicted nominations

Captain Phillips: 8 predicted nominations

Nebraska & Inside Llewyn Davis: 6 predicted nominations

Now looking at my predictions, the big notice I see is that I only have American Hustle only getting five nominations. I'm probably shooting myself in the foot for not putting O. Russell in Best Director. To be honest, I don't think Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper will get a nomination. Amy Adams is the one that might steal Meryl Streep's spot for the fifth nomination. Even though I strongly dislike the film, I cannot deny the fact that everyone else likes it. It really could be a threat to win many awards because it's a very Academy friendly movie. 

I decided to make some risks with my prediction just going off of what I've seen the Academy do in prior years. Last year alone proves that the Academy is willing to make brave choices in nominations, which was a real thrill as opposed to other years where they solidify the awards consensus. I hope the Academy really did their homework this year and took the whole year into consideration. We will know soon.

Who do you think will be the most nominated film of the year? What is your "wishful thinking" nomination?

*Check back later this week for my reactions on the nominations*