Hooka Dooka, Soda Cracker, Does Your Mama Chew Tobacker

Dave Van Ronk as sung by Oscar Isaac. Which can only mean it's that time of year again: Oscar Nominations Eve. My dream ballot is below, chosen from AMPAS' list of eligible films. There are some titles still outstanding that I'd like to get around to (OUT OF THE FURNACE, SPECTACULAR NOW, FRUITVALE, BLING RING, FROZEN, WALTER MITTY, WAY WAY BACK) and some that I may or may not bother with, depending on which names are read in a few hours' time (PHILOMENA, SAVING MR. BANKS, RUSH). Onwards!

Best Picture

AMERICAN HUSTLE
BEFORE MIDNIGHT

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS

FRANCES HA 

GRAVITY

HER

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

MUD

NEBRASKA

SHORT TERM 12

Special mentions:

ENOUGH SAID

THE HEAT 

Best Director

Joel and Ethan Coen - INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

Alfonso Cuaron - GRAVITY

Spike Jonze - HER

Alexander Payne - NEBRASKA

David O. Russell - AMERICAN HUSTLE

Special mentions:

Noah Baumbach - FRANCES HA

Destin Cretton - SHORT TERM 12

Paul Greengrass - CAPTAIN PHILLIPS

Richard Linklater - BEFORE MIDNIGHT

Jeff Nichols - MUD 

Best Actor

Christian Bale - AMERICAN HUSTLE

Matthew McConaughey - DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
Bruce Dern - NEBRASKA

Oscar Isaac - INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

Joaquin Phoenix - HER

Special mentions:

Tye Sheridan - MUD

Leonardo DiCaprio - THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

Tom Hanks - CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
Ethan Hawke - BEFORE MIDNIGHT

Simon Pegg - THE WORLD'S END

Mark Wahlberg - PAIN & GAIN

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett - BLUE JASMINE

Sandra Bullock - GRAVITY

Julie Delpy - BEFORE MIDNIGHT 

Greta Gerwig - FRANCES HA

Brie Larson - SHORT TERM 12

Special mentions:

 

Sandra Bullock - THE HEAT

Julia Louis-Dreyfus - ENOUGH SAID

Melissa McCarthy - THE HEAT

(the rest after the jump)

Best Supporting Actor

Bradley Cooper - AMERICAN HUSTLE

Will Forte - NEBRASKA

James Franco - SPRING BREAKERS

Jake Gyllenhaal - PRISONERS

Jared Leto - DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

Special mentions:

Barkhad Abdi - CAPTAIN PHILLIPS

Bobby Cannavale - BLUE JASMINE

Andrew Dice Clay - BLUE JASMINE

Michael Fassbender - 12 YEARS A SLAVE

John Gallagher, Jr. - SHORT TERM 12

 

James Gandolfini - ENOUGH SAID

David Oyelowo - LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER

Jeremy Renner - AMERICAN HUSTLE

Keith Stanfield - SHORT TERM 12

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams - HER

Jennifer Lawrence - AMERICAN HUSTLE

Lupita Nyong'o - 12 YEARS A SLAVE

Adepero Oduye - 12 YEARS A SLAVE

Julia Roberts - AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

Special mentions:

 
 

Juliette Lewis - AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

Oprah Winfrey - LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER

Alfre Woodard - 12 YEARS A SLAVE 

Adapted Screenplay

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY - Tracy Letts 

BEFORE MIDNIGHT - Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater 

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS - Billy Ray

SHORT TERM 12 - Destin Cretton

12 YEARS A SLAVE - John Ridley

Original Screenplay

ENOUGH SAID - Nicole Holofcener

FRANCES HA - Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig

HER - Spike Jonze
IN A WORLD... - Lake Bell

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS - Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Special mentions:

AMERICAN HUSTLE - David O. Russell, Eric Singer

THE HEAT - Katie Dippold
MUD - Jeff Nichols

NEBRASKA - Bob Nelson

THIS IS THE END - Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg

THE WORLD'S END - Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg

Cinematography



GRAVITY - Emmanuel Lubezki

HER  - Hoyte van Hoytema

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS - Bruno Delbonnel

PRISONERS - Roger Deakins

12 YEARS A SLAVE - Sean Bobbitt

Special mentions:

ALL IS LOST - Frank G. DeMarco

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS - Barry Ackroyd

SIDE EFFECTS - Peter Andrews

SPRING BREAKERS - Benoit Debie

STOKER - Chung-hoon Chung

Original Score

ALL IS LOST - Alexander Ebert

HER - Arcade Fire, Owen Pallett

PRINCE AVALANCHE - Explosions in the Sky, David Wingo 

 RUSH - Hans Zimmer 

SIDE EFFECTS - Thomas Newman

Original Song

ALL IS LOST - "Amen" (Alexander Ebert)

THE GREAT GATSBY - "Young and Beautiful" (Lana Del Rey)

HER - "The Moon Song" (Karen O)

SHORT TERM 12 - "So You Know What It's Like" (Keith Stanfield)

TRANCE - "Here it Comes" (Emeli Sande ft Rick Smith)

Documentary Feature

STORIES WE TELL and THE ARMSTRONG LIE are unfortunately the only ones I've seen from the shortlist thus far. The former is still one of my favourite films from the 2012 festival circuit, and the latter is another strong, engaging work by Alex Gibney, so I'd be happy with the inclusion of both.

Animated Feature

Here again, ERNEST & CELESTINE is the only one I've seen so far, and every gorgeous frame remains in my mind from TIFF 2012, so I'm hoping for a nomination a la THE ILLUSIONIST a few years back.

So there it is. Here's to a strong showing for the Coens, for Spike Jonze, for David O. Russell, for Linklater/Delpy/Hawke, for Gerwig/Baumbach, and for everyone associated with the tremendous SHORT TERM 12. Lemmon out.