The Oscars: Fields I'm willing to die on

Let me get the obvious out of the way--the Oscars are a 3+ hour commercial for Hollywood. The winners aren't always representative of the best work being done in the industry, and it's a little silly that we continue to get conned into thinking that the awards are the ultimate designation of success in the film industry.

Okay, whew, that's over. Now I'm going to go on and on about my Oscar picks.

There are a few awards that I have strong opinions on, and I thought I'd share them for you to read during the breaks from the endless pandering. These are the fields I'm willing to die on, and rest assured, if they turn out differently I'll be cranky for a couple days. I didn't get around to seeing absolutely everything, but I think I've seen enough to have this conversation.

Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave

I found myself in conscious awe of the dialogue in 12 Years a Slave. It was rich, poetic, and yet incredibly direct. For my money it beat out Tony Kushner's nominated screenplay for Lincoln. Argo won the Oscar last year, but I think Lincoln was the favorite for this category. If 12 Years a Slave is better than Lincoln, it follows that only a juggernaut should beat it. I don't think one was nominated that deserves that honor. Granted, I haven't seen Philomena or Before Midnight, but they seem like underdogs in this fight.

Best Original Screenplay: Not Nebraska, please, please, please

It wasn't difficult to see what Nebraska's screenplay was trying to do. That's the point. It was so on the nose that I found myself getting two steps ahead of it for its entire duration. I knew what the ending would be the moment the truck was mentioned, and I knew what sort of character development we were in for as soon as the music started at the opening credits. Bob Nelson's got a short resume, and in this movie I thought his inexperience showed. So, if it wins, I'll be pissed.

Best Animated Short Film: "Feral" all the way

I watched most of the animated shorts this year, and I thought "Feral" by Daniel Sousa was the clear frontrunner. It's a visually entrancing story about a feral child unable to cope with civilization. It has some clear post-colonial undertones (which always draw me in), but it managed to tell a captivating story in 10 minutes with no dialogue. Well done.

Best Documentary Feature: Dirty Wars

Dirty Wars is one of the most affecting docs I've ever watched--it has the intrigue of All the President's Men, and all the heart of Hotel Rwanda. And it's beautifully shot for a documentary. The reality of the War on Terror is uncomfortable and a little frightening, but this is a story that needs to be heard.

I also loved The Act of Killing, but I'm voting against it because I think Dirty Wars is more urgent a film. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, it needs to win, for no other reason than that the President (who we all know will be watching) realizes that someone's watching him.

But seriously, see The Act of Killing--it's gripping in a train wreck sort of way. That last scene. Man.

Best Cinematography: Llewyn Davis better punch Nebraska in its bread basket

Okay, there's a bit of bias here. I loved Inside Llewyn Davis, and was crushed when it wasn't nominated for much beyond this category. And, as some of you noticed this morning, I hated Nebraska's cinematography, from its lighting to its camerawork to the cheap-looking black and white. Llewyn Davis has an incredibly foggy look--the lights bled into infinite shadows in the back of many scenes, and it created this surreal effect of entering a dark tunnel for two hours.Bruno Delbonnel is a genius. Of course, I realize that this is a film that's more polished than the purposefully low-fi Nebraska, but the same logic would call a stick figure better than an oil painting. That's only true if that stick figure's got some seriously powerful thought behind it. In my opinion, Nebraska was too predictable to have that.

Best Supporting Actor: Michael Fassbender--in your face, racists!

There was something so human about Michael Fassbender's horrendous character in 12 Years a Slave. It stands in stark contrast to how too many racists are characterized in Hollywood films. We don't see them as people, because we're afraid to admit that they're all too similar to us. I loved Fassbender in this role because he wasn't a caricature, and that's an example that should be followed. Also, I think that the strength of the opposition is all built on the writing, not so much on the acting. Across the board, Jared Leto included (although his performance was great).

Best Picture: 12 Years again

Not too much to say about this that I haven't already said in my review here. For me, 12 Years a Slave took the trash out. No contest.