If I Were the Oscars 2014: My Favorite Film Achievements of 2013
I’m sure every year cinephiles all over the world are heartbroken or at the very least bummed that their favorite films of the year weren’t even considered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I still naively hope that it will get better the next year and that they might get it “right”, but it’s useless. I stopped believing that the 9-10 Best Pictures nominees represent the years best films. I don’t even watch all of the nominees anymore, just the ones that look interesting.
All negativity aside, I would like to highlight my favorite achievements in film for the year 2013, Academy Awards style. Here’s a list of what was most remarkable for me personally this past year. I’m not saying that these are the best per se, because I haven’t seen every 2013 release. Also, so many great 2013 films will be released in 2014, especially the foreign ones. Speaking of foreign films, if I were the Oscars there would be no distinction between English-speaking and foreign language.
The whole release date thing is complicated so I’ll just go by what’s 2013 according to IMDb. So without further ado, here are some of my favorites in the categories that I felt comfortable judging, so don’t be surprised if there isn’t best documentary short film or best animated feature. I have no idea what’s going on in that department so I’ll just focus on what I know. Oh, and also since I’m not good with ranking stuff it will always be in alphabetical order.
BEST PICTURE
Before Midnight
Blue is the Warmest Color (La vie d’Adèle)
Blue Jasmine
Her
Moebius (뫼비우스)
Nebraska
Nymphomaniac
The Bling Ring
The Great Beauty (La grande bellezza)
The Wolf of Wall Street
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
Ethan Hawke (Before Midnight)
Joaquin Phoenix (Her)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Toni Servillo (La Grande Bellezza)
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color)
Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Katie Chang (The Bling Ring)
Lee Eun-woo (Moebius)
Stacy Martin (Nymphomaniac)
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (Pain & Gain)
Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)
Stellan Skårsgard (Nymphomaniac)
Will Forte (Nebraska)
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Charlotte Gainsbourg (Nymphomaniac)
Léa Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Color)
Rooney Mara (Her)
Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine)
Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring)
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Harris Savides (The Bling Ring)
Larry Smith (Only God Forgives)
Manuel Alberto Claro (Nymphomaniac)
Manuel Dacosse (The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears)
Philippe Le Sourd (The Grandmaster)
COSTUME DESIGN
Man of Steel (Jim Acheson & Michael Wilkinson)
Nymphomaniac (Manon Rasmussen)
Only Lovers Left Alive (Bina Daigeler)
Her (Casey Storm)
The Great Beauty (Daniela Ciancio)
DIRECTING
Abdellatif Kechiche (Blue is the Warmest Color)
Lars von Trier (Nymphomanaic)
Paolo Sorrentino (La Grande Bellezza)
Sofia Coppola (The Bling Ring)
Spike Jonze (Her)
FILM EDITING
Blue is the Warmest Color (Sofian El Fani)
Blue Jasmine (Alisa Lepselter)
The Bling Ring (Sarah Flack)
The Great Beauty (Cristiano Travaglioli)
The Wolf of Wall Street (Thelma Schoonmaker)
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Blue is the Warmest Color (Pierre Olivier Persin)
Moebius (N/A)
Nebraska (Robin Fredriksz, Waldo Sanchez, Melanie Smith & Jay Wejebe)
Nymphomaniac (Dennis Knudsen & Astrid Weber)
The Great Beauty (Rossella Gregorio, Peter Nicastro, Marco Perna, Aldo Signoretti, Matteo Silvi, Maurizio Silvi & others)
ORIGINAL SCORE
Arcade Fire (Her)
Cliff Martinez (Only God Forgives)
Ennio Morricone (The Best Offer)
Hans Zimmer (Man of Steel)
Jozef van Wissem (Only Lovers Left Alive)
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Blue Jasmine – Santo Loquasto (Production Design) & Kris Boxell (Set Decoration)
Her – K.K. Barrett (Production Design) & Gene Serdena (Set Decoration)
Nymphomaniac – Simone Grau (Production Design) & Thorsten Sabel (Set Decoration)
The Bling Ring – Anne Ross (Production Design) & Sara Parks (Set Decoration)
The Great Beauty – Stefania Cella (Production Design)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Abdellatif Kechiche & Ghalia Lacroix (Blue is the Warmest Color)
Jonathan Levine (Warm Bodies)
Richard Linklater (Before Midnight)
Sofia Coppola (The Bling Ring)
Terence Winter (The Wolf of Wall Street)
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Kim Ki-duk (Moebius)
Lars von Trier (Nymphomaniac)
Paolo Sorrentino (La Grande Bellezza)
Spike Jonze (Her)
Woody Allen (Blue Jasmine)
What are some of your favorite films or cinematic achievements that the Academy Awards failed to recognize?
black is white 
Great post. I totally agree with you. Unfortunately, we don’t yet live in the kind of the world where such films as ‘Blue is the Warmest Colour’ and ‘Nymphomaniac’ are embraced with open arms and gain worldwide support and recognition. But I am not surprised at all..Remember what happened with ‘Shame’ (2011) and ‘Drive’ (2011)?The Academy seemed to pretend these films didn’t even exist, well almost. At least I am grateful that all the violence in ’12 Years a Slave’ passed the Oscar’s mark and got through.
Thank you! 🙂 Yeah, it’s basically the same thing every year. 2011 was a great year for film, good call. Melancholia and Young Adult were also completely ignored.. Oh well, what are you gonna do? At least it’s good to know that there are other thinking cinephiles out there. The thing that annoys me most is how little foreign cinema is considered, it’s like there’s only the US making films..
Love this post. You have excellent taste. Looks like I have to see Moebius!
Thank you 😀 I see you did a similar one and I’d certainly echo your picks for the most part! Moebius isn’t for everyone, but I was a fan, but then I love everything Kim Ki-duk puts out so.. 🙂
haha it is easy to see your favorite films from the last year! I wouldn’t have even known about Blue is the Warmest Color if I hadn’t gotten into blogging. Sad, isn’t it? I didn’t see anything about it in terms of advertising, previews, etc. I thought “No,” set in Chile during the dictatorship, was also quite good. And of course it got no attention. Though you should remember that the Oscars really were set up to honor American films. *cough cough* i mean, to pander to not-always-good directors and to pat yourself on the back so hard that you get bruised.
It really is more of a collection of my favorite films you’re right 🙂 I’m glad to hear that blogging is not so useless after all 😀 You’re right of course about the Oscars, but I don’t like that most people seem to think that there’s only American cinema. I love American films, most of the films I watch are American, but there are so many other countries making great films as well.
I agree, I guess I just assume that other countries have national awards for their own movies, right? But as the world grows more “international” or whatever, I think it’s time the Oscars started incorporating more “foreign” films since they are by far the most-watched awards ceremony worldwide!
Today, I went to the beachfront with my kids. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She placed the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!