Oscar 2014 nominations were an episode of the recent Hollywood bustle. Every year the Oscar nominations come with big expectations and this year was no exception. For example, Oprah Winfrey, the talk show queen, appeared in a film Lee Daniels’ The Butler, as a White House butler’s wife. Her film did miss out on Best Picture. Also, Tom Hanks returned empty handed from the Academy this year in the Best Actor category. He acted in the ocean-set drama Captain Phillips. Additionally, two critically acclaimed films, American Hustle and 12 Years a Slave are taking the lead.
In the 86th annual Academy Awards, the Oscar 2014 nominations were announced in Los Angeles. Two films received 10 nominations–Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity and David O. Russell’s American Hustle. While Steve McQueen directed film 12 Years a Slave received nine nominations. These three films are ahead in the Oscar 2014 nominations list. The movies bring with it a wealth of acting skills, emotional storylines and show the stellar cinematography inspiring truly good movies. Here is a breakdown of the movies:
American Hustle
American Hustle, a fictional crime comedy-drama film, based on the true story of the ABSCAM case that took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It focuses on the FBI who collaborated with a convicted con-man to trap public officials into taking bribes on camera. The story is about a superb con artist, Irving Rosenfeld and his British partner Sydney Prosser. The pair are forced to work for Richard Richi, a FBI agent. The FBI agent drives them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that is as dangerous as it is fascinating. Irving’s friend pretends to be a rich Arab Sheikh searching for probable investments in the US. A junior of Irving’s advises that the Sheikh do business with Camden Mayor Carmine Polito of New Jersey. The mayor campaigns to revive gambling in Atlantic City but has struggled to get the essential funds. American Hustle, is basically a comedy about corruption, duplicity, loyalty and love. The script was developed by Eric Singer.
Gravity
Gravity, a British-American 3D science-fiction thriller, directed and co-written by Alfonso Cuarón, is a huge and tech-enriched alluring film. The film is about astronauts dealing with disaster. The views of astronauts falling against star-fields and floating through space stations are both revealing and interesting. The most amazing and remarkable thing about Gravity is not its scale, its suspense or its sense of wonder; it is that, in its heart, it is not primarily a film about astronauts, space, or even a specific catastrophe. The film stars George Clooney and Sandra Bullock.
12 Years a Slave
Director Steven McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave is an adaptation of the memoirs of Solomon Northup, a freeborn black American family man from New York who was kidnapped from Washington D. C. and sold into slavery. After kidnapping, Solomon Northup, a skilled carpenter and fiddle player, was shipped to the South and sold to the owner of a Louisiana plantation in 1841. After being enslaved for 12 years, Northup is restored to freedom and returned to his family. The movie is based on a true story, which Northup relayed in a book of the same title, published in 1853.
A complete list of Oscar 2014 nominations:
Gravity
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Genre: Sci-Fi Thriller
Number of categories nominated in: 10 (Picture, Director, Actress, Editing in film, Cinematography, Art direction, Visual effects, Sound, Sound editing and Original score).
American Hustle
Director: David O. Russell
Genre: Drama
Number of categories nominated in: 10 (Picture, Director, Actor in a supporting role, Actress in a supporting role, Original screenplay, Editing in film, Art direction and Costume design).
12 Years a Slave
Director: Steve McQueen
Genre: Drama
Number of categories nominated in: Nine (Picture, Director, Actor, Actor in a supporting role, Actress in a supporting role, Adapted screenplay, Editing in film, Art direction and Costume design).
Captain Phillips
Director: Paul Greengrass
Genre: Drama
Number of categories nominated in: Six (Picture, Actor in a supporting Role, Adapted Screenplay, Editing in film, Sound and Sound editing).
The Wolf of Wall Street
Director: Martin Scorsese
Genre: Drama
Number of categories nominated in: Five (Picture, Director, Actor, Actor in a supporting role and Adapted screenplay).
Philomena
Director: Stephen Frears
Genre: Drama
Number of categories nominated in: Four (Picture, Actress, Adapted screenplay and Original score).
Dallas Buyers Club
Director: Jean-Marc Vallee
Genre: Drama
Number of categories nominated in: Six (Picture, Actor, Actor in a supporting role, Original screenplay, Editing in film and Make up).
Her
Director: Spike Jonze
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Number of categories nominated in: Five (Picture, Original screenplay, Art direction, Original score and Original song).
Nebraska
Director: Alexander Payne
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Number of categories nominated in: Six (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress in a supporting role, Original screenplay and Cinematography).
The Oscar 2014 nominees for the 86th Academy Awards were announced on January 16, 2014 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California.
By Rahad Abir
Sources:
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