The race has started!

       With the Gotham Awards announced along with New York Film Critics the race has taken off. It's the race with the finish line on March 2nd on the night of the Oscars. The night on which we all wear the most elegant pajamas to watch Hollywood's most glamorous night. 
       Anyways, the Pole Position goes to American Hustle (still going to stay with "12 Years a Slave" in the preds for now) which topped the NYFCs with 3 awards including the best feature. Besides that we had "Inside Llewyn Davis" and "Fruitvale Station" shine at Gotham Awards. 
       Also nobody has seen The Wolf of Wall Street, not even the Satellite Awards, which nominated it so that's all about speculation, a hunch, and Martin Scorsese working with Di Caprio along with great actors. So "The Wolf" steps down for now, we'll see when the reviews are published tomorrow, after today's test screenings. 
       Also I decided to shuffle the Best Actress a little to check how that looks, because of anyone is stealing Cate's Oscar it's Judi Dench. 
       Along with the next predictions (end of the week) will come a leaderboard of the race. Points collected by contenders in predictions will be combined into a total to determine who is on the top and so on. 
      Here are the predictions for November-beginning of December:


Oscar Predictions - 12.4.13



Best Picture:
1. 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen)
2. American Hustle (David O. Russel)
3. Gravity (Alfonso Cuaron)
4. Saving Mr. Banks (John Lee Hancock)
5. Captain Phillips (Paul Greengrass)
6. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel & Ethan Coen)
7. The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese)
8. Lee Daniels' The Butler (Lee Daniels)
9. Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler)



Best Director:
1. Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)
2. Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)
3. Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips)
4. John Lee Hancock (Saving Mr. Banks)
5. David O. Russel ( American Hustle)

Best Actor:
1. Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
2. Mathew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
3. Robert Redford (All Is Lost)
4. Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips)
5. Forest Whitaker (Lee Daniels' The Butler)

Best Actress:
1. Judi Dench (Philomena)
2. Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
3. Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks)
4. Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
5. Sandra Bullock (Gravity)

Best Supporting Actor:
1. Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)
2. Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
3. Tom Hanks (Saving Mr. Banks)
4. James Gandolfini (Enough Said)
5. Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)

Best Supporting Actress:
1. Lupita Nyong'O (12 Years a Slave)
2. Oprah Winfrey (Lee Daniels' The Butler)
3. Julia Roberts (August: Osage County)
4. Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
5. June Squibb (Nebraska)

Best Original Screenplay:
1. American Hustle (Eric Singer & David O. Russel)
2. Saving Mr. Banks (Sue Smith & Kelly Marcel)
3. Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen)
4. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel & Ethan Coen)
5. Gravity (Alfonso & Jonas Cuaron)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
1. 12 Years a Slave (John Ridley)
2. Captain Phillips (Billy Ray)
3. August: Osage County (Tracy Letts)
4. Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke)
5. Philomena (Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope)

Best Original Score:
1. 12 Years a Slave (Hans Zimmer)
2. Saving Mr. Banks (Thomas Newman)
3. Gravity (Steven Price)
4. Philomena (Alexandre Desplat)
5. Nebraska (Mark Orton)

Best Cinematography:
1. Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki)
2. 12 Years a Slave (Sean Bobbit)
3. Inside Llewyn Davis (Bruno Delbonnel)
4. Captain Phillips (Barry Ackroyd)
5. Prisoners (Roger Deakins)