Best Hair
Lea Seydoux - Blue is the Warmest Colour
Javier Bardem - The Counsellor
The Cast of Anchorman 2
Amy Adams - American Hustle
I spent the whole of American Hustle mesmerised by Amy Adams's curves. And no, perverts, I'm not talking about her T and A here, I'm talking about the perfect curl of her ringlets. Seriously, her hair in this film is how I dream my hair will look when I get out of bed every day. (Instead, I end up looking more like Christian Bale, minus being balding with bits of fluff glued to my head) Adams's hairstyles in the film vary from soft waves to the volcanic eruption of curls pictured above, and pulls each of them off with ease.
GBP
Best Inappropriate Relationship
Mia Wasikowska & Matthew Goode – Stoker
Jonah Hill & his cousin – The Wolf of Wall Street
Benedict Cumberbatch & Julianne Nicholson – August: Osage County
2013 was the year of a lot of incestuous relationships in film, a worrying amount in fact. In Stoker it’s creepy; in The Wolf of Wall Street it’s funny and in August: Osage County it’s just plain sad. But, let’s face it guys Benedict Cumberbatch looks inbred-y anyway so the big twist *SPOILERS* that he’s actually been shagging his sister isn’t that shocking but we’ll award him it anyway.
BJ
Best Soundtrack
Her
Only Lovers Left Alive
Drinking Buddies
Frances Ha
Inside Llewyn Davis
It's a draw! The soundtracks for the new Coens and Baumbach films are so different, and yet both so perfect. With Inside Llewyn Davis, the soundtrack is a core part of the film. Without it, it would just be a sad film about a man and a cat. The music of this film - actually performed by its cast by the way, which adds another reason to a very long list of why Oscar Isaac is the best person ever - is glorious, and also helps give the characters an extra level of depth. Plus Oscar Isaac has like, the dreamiest voice ever. PLUS ADAM DRIVER AND JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE DO A SONG AND IT IS PERFECT.
Moving on to Frances Ha - which coincidentally, also stars Adam Driver - which has a more mixtape-like approach when it comes to its soundtrack. Just like ILD, music is crucial to the film, and not just any music, but music from other films. Baumbach was inspired by the French New Wave when he made the film, hence why he uses the infamous music from The 400 Blows in the film. And in one of the greatest scenes in the film, Frances skips and twirls across the street to David Bowie's Modern Love - a cheeky and accidental reference to Leos Carax's weird and wonderful Mauvais Sang. It also features Hot Chocolate's second finest song, played oddly enough during a montage of Greta Gerwig loafing around Paris.
GBP
Moving on to Frances Ha - which coincidentally, also stars Adam Driver - which has a more mixtape-like approach when it comes to its soundtrack. Just like ILD, music is crucial to the film, and not just any music, but music from other films. Baumbach was inspired by the French New Wave when he made the film, hence why he uses the infamous music from The 400 Blows in the film. And in one of the greatest scenes in the film, Frances skips and twirls across the street to David Bowie's Modern Love - a cheeky and accidental reference to Leos Carax's weird and wonderful Mauvais Sang. It also features Hot Chocolate's second finest song, played oddly enough during a montage of Greta Gerwig loafing around Paris.
GBP
Best McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey – Mud
Matthew McConaughey – The Paperboy
Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club
Matthew McConaughey – The Wolf of Wall Street
What a year for Matthew McConaughey. Once the go-to lead for rom-coms, he’s now the front runner for Best Actor tonight. Although it’s not the film he’s nominated for, his improvised chest pumping scene from the Wolf of Wall Street is one of the most memorable of the year. It’s also his own personal relaxation technique that he does before scenes and he has even said he’ll probably be doing it tonight on the way to the Oscars.
BJ
Best Actor Not Nominated
Oscar Isaac - Inside Llewyn Davis
Ethan Hawke - Before Midnight
James Mccavoy - Filth
Sam Rockwell - The Way, Way Back (and like everything he's ever been in EVER)
Joaquin Phoenix - Her
Joaquin Phoenix - Her
The fact that Joaquin Phoenix wasn't even nominated for his modest, quiet turn in Her this year is completely beguiling. Even in years where he was pretty much guaranteed to lose - such as last year for The Master up against Daniel Day-Lewis - he at least garnered a nomination, but this year, The Academy just chose to ignore him. This could be in part due to the fact that he pretty much said he doesn't give a shit about the Oscars, or partly due to the strong contenders already in that category. Nevertheless, his performance is as usual, pretty damn flawless in a film that I do not mind pointing out has a fair few flaws. It's easy to forget how a Joaquin Phoenix can be simultaneously funny and heartbreaking, subtle and powerhouse, but luckily he's here to remind you just how good he can be.
GBP
Best Actress Not Nominated
Paulina Garcia - Gloria
Greta Gerwig - Frances Ha
Julie Delpy - Before Midnight
Adele Exarchopoulos - Blue is the Warmest Colour
Brie Larson - Short Term 12
Short Term 12 basically doesn't exist in Academy terms, as it managed to gain an impressive amount of... ZERO nominations, however for a little indie film it's really great, and manages to be absolutely devastating without falling into cliched melodrama territory too much. Like Phoenix, Brie Larson manages to keep her performance low-key, and it's only towards the end of the film that we actually find out what's going on in her head. Were she nominated for an award, or had she gone on to win one, this could easily have been the type of performance that could've turned Larson's career into something incredible. Sadly it looks like we'll have to wait a few years for her inevitable award-winning film.
GBP
Worst Accent
Shia LeBeouf
I haven't even seen Nymphomaniac yet but just judging by this clip from the film's trailer, we have a winner! Yikes. Nothing is gonna beat this.
GBP
Best Facial Hair
Joaquin Phoenix - Her
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave
Oscar Isaac - Inside Llewyn Davis
James Mccavoy - Filth
George Clooney - The Monuments Men
Precise, defined, sophisticated - Clooney's moustache is pretty much everything that his film sadly wasn't. Compared to Fassbender, Mcavoy and Isaac's wonderful array of beards, (extra kudos must go to Mcavoy for the brown hair/ginger beard combo) this moustache isn't extravagant. It doesn't want to draw attention to itself, and it doesn't need to - just look whose face it's sitting on. I bet it took you a while to even realise Clooney had a moustache in that photo because you were too busy swooning.
GBP
Best Performance in a Bad Film
Dane Dehaan - Kill Your Darlings
Gaby Hoffman - Crystal Fairy and the Magical Cactus
Bradley Cooper - American Hustle
Kristen Scott-Thomas - Only God Forgives
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Otherwise known as the "being slightly controversial just because it's Awards season and I'm bored" award. I'm SORRY but I personally didn't think much of any of these films, and while I've picked out Blue Jasmine as the winner of this award, it certainly isn't the worst of the bunch. In fact, Cate Blanchett's superb performance in it almost tricks you into thinking it's wonderful - it's only afterwards that you realise it left a slightly bad aftertaste in your mouth. Cate Blanchett is wonderful because she's a heavy drinking neurotic mess, which is pretty much everything you would imagine Cate Blanchett isn't. I would be more than happy for her to receive the Oscar for this performance... it's just a shame that it has to be for this film. (Also, because I'm sure people will confused about this - Bradley Cooper is on the list because I thought he was really surprisingly good in American Hustle? Maybe it's because I find him a little too convincing when he's playing absolutely pathetic slimeballs....)
GBP
GBP
Best Effort
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Great Gatsby
Oh poor Leo. I’m sure he thought that playing the lead role in an adaption of a classic was sure to be the one. Too bad the release date got moved from last award season to summer blockbuster season. And so, for second year running our pal, Leo takes the award for Best Effort.
BJ
Worst Effort
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street
Real talk here: do you really believe that playing a drug taking, rich, partying, generally corrupt, shagging dickhead is a stretch for Leo? COME ON! All he does is shag young models and play about on his yachts! Him and his friends even named themselves the Pussy Posse!
BJ
Best Overlooked Film
Before Midnight
Short Term 12
Blue is the Warmest Color
Inside Llewyn Davis
Were I a Harvey Weinstein-like figure in Hollywood, (A girl can dream I guess) Inside Llewyn Davis would definitely be the film that I would be plugging during Awards season. Really, the fact that I have anything left to say about it after ranting and raving on social networks and to my peers astounds me. But it is just so good, a quiet little gem of a film that sadly justifies the fact that it was snubbed at the Oscars purely because it's about a guy who's pretty much walked out of Beck's much beloved 1994 classic. The soundtrack, beards and performances I have already briefly mentioned, but there are so many other elements that go towards making this such a great film, cinematography and art direction being just two of them. (Also, Adam Driver. Singing Cowboy. Just gonna keep pressing that.) I saw it three times in the cinema - the first time I liked it, the second I loved it, and the third I adored it. Every time I watched it, I found something else in it that I'd never noticed before, and I can't help but think that maybe the Academy skipped the rewatch (probably due to the length of Wolf of Wall Street?!) and took it at face value.
GBP
Grace Barber-Plentie and Beth Johnston
