2014 Oscar Predictions (continued)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki - Gravity
Another lock. It'll be a well-deserved first win for Lubezki, one of the luminaries in his field (along with Deakins, whose Prisoners I didn't see -- but someone get this man an Oscar already!).

BEST EDITING
Christopher Rouse - Captain Phillips
Gravity can't win every technical award, can it? It's nipping at Rouse's heels here and could easily win. Still, AMPAS rarely goes against the ACE winner (Rouse), although that logic has hurt me before.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Andy Nicholson and Rosie Goodwin - Gravity
It won the guild award and is poised to do some serious damage in the techs. Any of the other challengers would upset though, although Her is a longshot. Gatsby, Slave, or Hustle could hear their names called.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Michael Wilkinson - American Hustle
This is one I seem to miss every year. All I know is that people actually talked about the costumes in American Hustle (also, Amy Adams sideboob for the win). But Gatsby seems to be a serious contender.

BEST MAKEUP
Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews - Dallas Buyers Club
Lock it in. Moving on. (Although a Jackass win would be hilarious and actually deserving.)

BEST SCORE
Steven Price - Gravity
Alexandre Desplat is 0-6 and could be "due" -- but Price and Gravity will be tough to beat. This could be a place where Philomena picks up a statue if it's going to get one.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez - "Let It Go" (Frozen)
That's the Disney movie everyone has been obsessing over, right? Let's go with that one. (Although Pharrell and U2 are formidable challengers.) Also, "Please Mr. Kennedy" was robbed!

BEST SOUND MIXING
Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead, and Chris Munro - Gravity
I think I'm just picking Gravity for most of the techs this year. Everything but The Hobbit probably has a chance. Would be cool to see Inside Llewyn Davis win something as well.

BEST SOUND EDITING
Glenn Freemantle - Gravity
Moving on. (I will say that a Captain Phillips win in either of these categories is fairly likely.) 

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould - Gravity
Lock of the night. Moving on.

BEST ANIMATED FILM 
Frozen - Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, and Peter Del Vecho
Lock. It. In. We're done here.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Great Beauty - Paolo Sorrentino (Italy)
It's between this and Denmark's The Hunt (although there is a contingent for Belgium's The Broken Circle Breakdown as well). This is often a category with surprises.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Act of Killing - Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
If this wins, I promise to watch it on Netflix (I usually hate documentaries, but I've heard very good things about this one). Speaking of Netflix, it has a movie up, The Square, that seems to be in the race, along with backup singer doc 20 Feet from Stardom.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The Lady in Number 6 - Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed
I think it has a Holocaust survivor in it. Sometimes, it's that easy.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Mr. Hublot - Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares
The best of a weak group this year. Disney's uninteresting Mickey Mouse short "Get a Horse!" has been tipped just about everywhere to win though.

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
Avant que de tout perde (Just Before Losing Everything) - Xavier Legrand and Alexandre Gavras
The live action shorts, on the other hand, were very good. This one from France about an abused wife and mother going on the run is the best. Cancer-kid short Helium and Martin Freeman-starring The Voorman Problem could spoil.