November 2013 Oscar Predictions: Best Picture

November 2013 Oscar Predictions: Best Picture

Alright, over the next week or so, I'm going to be posting my predictions to the 8 main categories at the Oscars. However wrong they may be, these are the the films I believe will be nominated for Best Picture com January 16th, when the nominations are announced, plus a few other strong contenders.

1. American Hustle

2. 12 Years a Slave

3. Gravity

4. Saving Mr. Banks

5. Captain Phillips

6. Inside Llewyn Davis

7. The Wolf of Wall Street

8. Nebraska

9. Lee Daniels' The Butler

---------------------------------------(cut-off point)

10. Blue Jasmine

11. August: Osage County

12. Labor Day

13. Her

14. All is Lost

15. Lone Survivor

16. Philomena

17. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

18. Mud

19. Rush

20. Dallas Buyers Club

Analysis: I've stuck with American Hustle since I heard it was being released this year, so why stop now? But there are other incredibly strong contenders ready to over-throw it, like 12 Years a Slave, which is a critically-acclaimed period piece; Gravity, which has the general audience vote; and Saving Mr. Banks, which is another period piece, and is the only serious contender for Best Picture backed by Disney. I was tempted to move Lone Survivor up some slots, as press screenings seem to have been going very well, but I'm waiting for the reaction from the AFI festival to come in before making any bold moves.

Do you have any predictions of your own? Do you think my predictions are downright terrible? Do you think 47 Ronin is going to be the Dark Horse no one is expecting? Sound off in the comments below.