Oscar Countdown 2014: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

This year probably has the best group of acting nominees in recent memory. Any one of the 20 men and women could win, and very little would complain if they do (only in that some are more deserving than others). Because of this, we're doing a special four-week event, in which we break down each of the acting categories and their respective nominees. This week, we're diving into a category soaked with some of the greatest villains, transformations, and eccentric personalities of the year. Today, we're looking at the category Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Here are the nominees:

Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips

From taxi driver to Oscar nominee in a year: the Academy loves awarding this category with newcomers. And Abdi gives a fascinating first performance. In Captain Phillips, he plays the story's antagonist, but is far from being a bad guy; Abdi makes Muse sympathetic and relatable, making the audience empathize with his character's tough situation. The audience does not root for him necessarily, but they certainly get where he's coming from. And in a thriller's villain, what more could we ask for? Barkhad Abdi sinks his teeth into this role, and even awarding him a nomination is praise enough. I'm so glad that the Academy recognized his talent (even though they virtually ignored his co-star, but that's another story...).
OSCAR CHANCES: LOW-MEDIUM


Bradley Cooper, American Hustle

His nomination is hardly a surprise, considering how much the Academy adored American Hustle. But in such a competitive year, it's nice to see Cooper's talents being recognized once again. For two years in a row, he's been nominated for his work on a David O. Russell picture, and this year's Richie DiMaso is a completely different kind of crazy. Obsessive, determined, and violently unstable, Cooper's portrayal of an out-of-control FBI agent is certainly worth the attention. He holds his own amidst a highly talented ensemble, and could end up walking away with one of Hustle's four acting nominations (though not likely). Richie DiMaso is a character you both love and hate, and is a fun character for the surprisingly talented Bradley Cooper.
                                                             OSCAR CHANCES: MEDIUM




Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave

After being robbed of an acting nod in 2011, Fassbender's reunion with Steve McQueen on 12 Years a Slave has earned him much-deserved praise and his first Oscar nomination. Michael Fassbender is an incredibly powerful actor, able to dominate a scene with his gentleman-like charm and beast-like ferocity. In this slave drama, he plays a brutal slave owner named Epps, who becomes the bane to Solomon Northrup's existence. A staunchly racist, bible-thumping driver with problems of his own, Epps takes villainy to a whole new level. Fassbender is the vessel by which to guide that villainy, and will possibly be rewarded for that dedication with an Academy Award.
OSCAR CHANCES: MEDIUM


Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street

One of the biggest shocks on Nomination Day was Jonah Hill being announced as a candidate for Best Supporting Actor. Not that Hill doesn't deserve the attention, because his Donnie Azoff is an eccentric character that makes the audience roll in hilarity. Hill is becoming an odd favorite of the Academy, which voted for him two years ago for his work in Moneyball. While Hill's performance may not be as fresh as it was in 2011, no one can deny the comedian's dramatic chops. In The Wolf of Wall Street, he is wild, exuberant, daring, and almost... real. Who would have thought the guy from Superbad and 21 Jump Street would be so convincing?
OSCAR CHANCES: LOW


Ok, there are the nominees. But, wait, there's one more, right? Yes, and this is going to be the only nominee that matters. This category has pretty much the only lock of the evening, and although there are one or two frontrunners in the other acting awards, Best Supporting Actor will undoubtedly go to this man:


Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club


The 30 Seconds to Mars-frontman and hardcore method actor will take home his first Academy Award on March 2. And rightfully so- Jared Leto completely morphs into a transgender AIDs patient who helps McConaughey's Ron Woodruff to sell medicine. His role is gut-wrenchingly hilarious yet heartbreakingly tragic. But that's not what's going to win Leto the Oscar; it's his complete devotion to the role, right now to his dangerous weight loss that rivals McConaughey's own; it's this transformation and dedication to the character that the Academy loves to reward. No matter how much I love the other characters up for Best Supporting Actor, Leto gives the best performance, and this is his year to shine.
OSCAR CHANCES: VERY HIGH

But on the off chance that Leto doesn't win this award, who will take home the prize? Fassbender and Cooper are the only possible upsets, though the odds of that happening are slim. Leto deserves and will win Best Actor in a Supporting Role. However, simply having a nomination is a prize enough, and these five men should be lucky to have been included in such a great year for acting on the silver screen.

Bottom line, here are the predictions as of January 24, 2014 (NOTE: I'm giving the dates next to bottom-line predictions, because there's still lots of jockeying and stuff that can happen before the Academy Awards on March 2):

WILL WIN: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
COULD WIN: Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
SHOULD WIN: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Join us next week as we take an inside look at the Best Actress in a Supporting Role category!

Her (Jonze, 2013)

There's a reason Her's subtitle is "A Spike Jonze Love Story". 

The director, known for his dream-like films Being John Malkovich and Where the Wild Things Are, presents a romance with an only-slightly-sci-fi scenario. A man (Joaquin Phoenix), falls in love with his artificially intelligent operating system (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). Of course, there's more than just that, but on the surface-level it's a simple look at the state of modern relationships, where a man falling in love with his computer is not such a strange concept. 

The production design is beyond beautiful, as the attention to the details is staggering. Everyone on set has earpieces that connect them to their OS's, and most of them spend their time in the background chatting away to an unknown recipient. Each actor is costumed in brightly-colored outfits, marking a possible turn in the fashion of the next few decades. And, of course, the AI's are personalized and almost human, much like Apple is trying to replicate with Siri. 

Joaquin Phoenix is perfectly cast as Theodore, the creepy and socially awkward central protagonist. He is the man that would fall for his OS Samantha, a sexy fantasy that is literally designed to be the perfect companion for him. Later in the movie, there's a majestic, Oscar-nominated song that serves as a conduit between the real emotions of Theodore and the simulated feelings of Samantha. It's a wonderful romance story, and we as the audience actually start to believe that this futuristic form of love can work. 

But being Spike Jonze, he doesn't stop there. Instead, he takes audiences on a bizarre, seemingly endless trek through nearly every phase of a relationship- the ups, the downs, the weird, the uncomfortable, the friendly, and anything in between. 

This is where Her lost its appeal for me. The concept is strong enough, and combined with the crisp writing, Jonze's film should have been a masterpiece. However, the director could not let a good thing end, so he keeps it going for no less than forty-five minutes of unnecessary and out-of-left field subplots. Every interesting idea, every wonderful concept that was established in the first half is lost by the time the meandering second part rolls around. 

Amy Adams, Her's anchor and arguably all-around most likable character, says during the film that "falling in love is a form of socially acceptable insanity". I fell in love with this film at the beginning, and thought it could have been Hollywood's most creative romance of the past decade. However, I soon discovered that loving Her would be insanity, as Spike Jonze's clear point is that falling in love only leads to heartbreak. 

It really is a Spike Jonze romance.

Three out of five stars. 

Oscar Nominations Day 2014

Happy Oscar Noms Day!

After a very interesting (albeit early) nominations announcement this morning, the race is on for the 86th Academy Awards. There have been numerous analysts perusing through this latest crop of nominees, and Movie Critic's Club is bringing you the highlights from the eventful day. We're giving you the surprises, snubs, and early frontrunners leading the pack before Oscar Sunday on March 2nd.

Some filmmakers ended their journeys early, with tight competition in 2013 leading to locked categories with little room to spare. In the end, only 20 performances make it each year, and up to 10 films can be chosen for the big prize. This year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences selected nine nominees for Best Picture. But before we get to that, let's take a look at the awards season so far.

While most of you just go into awards mode on Sunday with the Golden Globes, there has been a lot of year-end film activity from various critics groups. There was widespread opinions from these city-based prizes, and 12 Years a Slave, Her, Gravity, and American Hustle charged into the lead at this time. The Golden Globes, while practically meaningless (only about 80 members vote, and they're journalists in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association), voted similarly. Specifically, 12 Years a Slave is winning Best Picture, Alfonso Cuaron is garnering prizes for directing Gravity, the Actor prize is crazy split, Cate Blanchett's Blue Jasmine performance is making her an early favorite for Best Actress, Jared Leto from Dallas Buyers Club is one of the only sure-things as Best Supporting Actor, and Jennifer Lawrence is sweeping awards for American Hustle.

Phase I of the Awards Season ended with the Golden Globes on Sunday, and now the next phase of awards begin. These are the ones voted by fellow filmmakers, like the Producer's Guild Awards and the Screen Actor's Guild Awards, and are more representative of who's going to win the Super Bowl of moviedom. Speaking of which, let's return to the day's main event: the 2014 Oscar Nominations!

No real surprises in the Best Picture category, besides the fact that there were nine candidates for the prize. American Hustle, Gravity, and 12 Years a Slave were undisputed locks, and Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, and Her weren't far behind them. Philomena and Nebraska were a little shocking, just because up to this point they weren't really considered favorites. Once again, to be nominated for Best Picture, you need 5% of the #1 choices on the Academy members nomination ballots.

Early favorites (that some expected to win, mind you) Tom Hanks and Robert Redford were snubbed in the Best Actor category, replaced by Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio. Also, Emma Thompson was shamefully ignored in the Best Actress race, replaced by either Amy Adams or Meryl Streep (I'd REALLY like the Academy to release the voting breakdown, both for the nominees and the winners, because I think this would a fascinating case study). Jonah Hill got a surprise nomination in the Best Supporting Actor field, unfortunately leaving James Gandolfini without a posthumous Oscar nod.

This year probably has the best group of acting nominees in recent memory. Any one of the 20 men and women could win, and very little would complain if they do (only in that some are more deserving than others). Because of this, we're doing a special four-week event, in which we break down each of the acting categories and their respective nominees. Personally, I think it'll be a fun and exciting way to praise each of these amazing performances.

Other Oscar tidbits from this year include the inevitable no-shows, with some movies gaining only poultry nominations. Films like Inside Llewyn Davis (2 nominations), Saving Mr. Banks (1 nomination), and Lee Daniel's The Butler (no nominations) were left in the dust of the Academy votes. In a year full of great dramas, there was bound to be a few unfortunate victims.  Meanwhile, there were a few shocking (to say the least) nominations for duds like The Lone Ranger, The Great Gatsby, and... Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (I'm not making this up).

However, today is a happy day for Gravity and American Hustle, who each hold 10 nominations a piece. 12 Years a Slave follows right behind with 9, while Nebraska and The Wolf of Wall Street round out the Best Director group. As for early frontrunners, American Hustle is proving to be a serious challenger, with lots of Academy love and deserved nominations in all four acting categories. Gravity is a technical marvel, and the biggest crowd-pleaser of the bunch in box-office and critical terms. But it's 12 Years a Slave that has been claiming the top awards, so only time will tell who will take home Academy Awards gold. There's plenty of time for jockeying, with an extended Oscar race because of the Winter Olympics.

Stick around Movie Critic's Club for weekly updates, breakdowns of the nominees, and predictions of the winners for your ballots. In the meantime, go check out a nominated movie!