Over the last week and a half we've asked In Contention readers for their preference in each of the Academy's 24 Oscar categories in our daily Oscars Lowdown features. The results are in and, like a number of people and organizations this year, our readership had a tough time deciding between “12 Years a Slave” and “Gravity” for top honors. In the end, Steve McQueen's film was voted Best Picture by those who participated, while Alfonso Cuarón was the preference in Best Director.
If In Contention readers had their druthers Sunday evening, Cuarón's film would walk away with five Oscars total, for Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects in addition to Best Director, while they'd give just one other trophy to “12 Years a Slave”: Best Supporting Actress for Lupita Nyong'o.
Looking across the spread, the interesting results came in Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio rather than frontrunners Matthew McConaughey or Chiwetel Ejiofor), Best Adapted Screenplay (a rather surprising show of support for “Philomena”) and Best Original Song (Pharrell's “Happy” holding off Disney's “Frozen” track “Let It Go” and u2's “Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”).
And we're here to tell you: Best Film Editing and Best Production Design nearly ended in ties. It's just that tight a year all around.
Check out the results below to see what our readers would like to see happen tonight, and tune in to the Oscars telecast (as if you weren't going to?) to see how their taste aligns with the Academy's.
Best Picture: “12 Years a Slave”
Best Director: “Alfonso Cuarón, “Gravity”
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, “12 Years a Slave”
Best Adapted Screenplay: “Philomena”
Best Original Screenplay: “Her”
Best Cinematography: “Gravity”
Best Costume Design: “The Great Gatsby”
Best Film Editing: “Captain Phillips”
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: “Dallas Buyers Club”
Best Music (Original Score): “Her”
Best Music (Original Song): “Happy” from “Despicable Me 2”
Best Production Design: “The Great Gatsby”
Best Sound Editing: “Gravity”
Best Sound Mixing: “Gravity”
Best Visual Effects: “Gravity”
Best Animated Feature Film: “Frozen”
Best Documentary Feature: “The Act of Killing”
Best Documentary Short: “The Lady in Number 6: Music Changed my Life”
Best Foreign Language Film: “The Broken Circle Breakdown”
Best Short Film (Live Action): “Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)
Best Short Film (Animated): “Feral”