Fandor Breaks Down Major Oscar Races: Who Really Deserves to Win?

Kevin B. Lee of Fandor.com has published his video essay on the major acting races. I've got to to say, watching Lee break down the performances, right down to the screen time, had me reevaluate my own choices for who deserves to win the Oscar... especially in the case of Supporting Actor. Even if you disagree with his preferences, you can't deny he presents very persuasive reasons for his case(s).

I would even recommend watching his entries from last year's race, which you can find on his Youtube channel.

Check out the analyzations below.

New Godzilla Trailer

I have to admit, even I'm starting to want to go and see this.

Godzilla opens everywhere May 16th. The film stars Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Academy Award Nominee Ken Wantanabe, Juliette Binoche, Academy Award Nominee Sally Hawkins and Bryan Cranston.

7 Days Till Oscar: Rating the Best Picture Nominees' Trailers

That's right ladies and gentlemen, we're 7 days away from the biggest night in film: the 88th Academy Awards. Oscar season always seems like a never-ending circus, and it certainly feels like this season especially has been going on forever. Bur fret not! Soon I'll be able to officially move into the 2014 film season once this madness is over (and once 2014 delivers me a movie worth seeing, though admittedly I have not seen The Lego Movie yet, and probably should).

In any event, until that time comes, I've got to keep you interested in the dog and pony show currently coming to its much needed end: 2013's awards season. Next weekend, I'll be publishing my acting ballot, complete with my personal choices and winners if I were to have the ability to cast a vote. Today, however, I've decided I would rank the Best Picture nominees by their trailers (which in some cases are better than the actual movies themselves).

So, without further adieu, your 2013 Best Picture nominees ranked by yours truly!

Final Say of Lupita vs JLaw? Plus Director & Supporting Actor

My sentiments exactly. Grantland's Wesley Morris and Chris Connelly discuss the 2 woman race that's been building all year.

Below is the breakdown of Best Director & Supporting Actor 

Lupita Nyong'o vs. Jennifer Lawrence: Who Will Be This Year's Best Supporting Actress Winner?

Over the past few months, there's been talk of movement in the acting races. You'll recall that before last Sunday's BAFTA's, there was internet chatter over whether Amy Adams and Leonardo DiCaprio could overtake frontrunners Matthew McConaughey in the lead actor and actress categories. But now that Blanchett has collected yet another trophy (has she lost one this entire season?), and Chiwetel Ejiofor picked up one in McConaughey's absence, it seems a bit silly that we even considered for a second that anyone else could win in the year of Jasmine and Ron Woodroff, 2 critically acclaimed and very popular performances; one given by an actress returning from a bit of a hiatus and another given by an actor who continues to reinvent and push himself.

Looking back, however, it seems as if the true race to win was not between Blanchett and Adams, nor McConaughey and DiCaprio (with some heat from Ejiofor), but between Lupita Nyong'o and Jennifer Lawrence.

New Trailer for Unbroken, Directed by Angelina Jolie

It's been quite awhile since we've had an Angelina Jolie; she'll headline this year's Maleficent in the titular role, her first live action role in almost 4 years.

In 2011, Jolie stepped into the director's chair, directing the foreign language film "In The Land of Blood and Honey". The film received tepid reviews and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language film.

Jolie, however, is back in the director's chair, however with a brand new film, guns blazing. It's called Unbroken, and though we haven't truly put an end to 2013's award season, it's stirring up 2014 awards chatter.

Not only is Jolie's name reason to pay attention, but Oscar nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins is shooting it, and boy does it look gorgeous. Universal is promoting it, and it managed to nab a huge TV spot during the Olympics; you couldn't buy better publicity. The fact it's being released in the Oscar friendly month of December (on Christmas Day) doesn't hurt either.

Is Unbroken on your "One to watch" list? Take a look below, watch the trailer, and see for yourself.

BAFTA Winners: 12 Years A Slave Comes Out on Top

What started out as a night for Gravity, ended with a startling comeback for 12 Years A Slave. It's Best Picture hopes just got that much better. 

It seemed like Gravity was getting ready to sweep in a style evident of past winner "The King's Speech" when it won the first 2 big awards it was up for. Then, American Hustle came back swinging hard with wins for actress Jennifer Lawrence and the film's screenplay. 

12 Years A Slave, however, seemed like it was going home empty handed. Had that tie with Gravity at the PGA simply been a coincidence? 

No. In another comeback story, almost exactly like the one at this year's Golden Globes, 12 Years A Slave nabbed the BAFTA's top honor, in addition to an award for leading man Chiwetel Ejiofor. With only a few weeks left till the Oscars, things are looking really good for the film that's momentarily on top in a very competitive race.

It can't be ignored, however, that there was obvious love for Gravity, which won 6 awards. American Hustle won 3 (1 of which, I feel was goodwill for actress Jennifer Lawrence losing to Emmanuelle Riva last year. The win, however, shouldn't be ignored, though the Oscar is still Lupita's to lose); Hustle is still a threat to 12 Years A Slave, but considerably less of a threat than Gravity is... though it now seems that with the PGA and BAFTA behind it, 12 Years A Slave is looking like our Academy Award Winner for Best Picture. 

In the acting races, Cate Blanchett continued her overwhelming (but deserving) dominance by winning Best Actress. That last minute surge for Amy Adams seems to have been just an internet trend; she will most certainly be the bridesmaid (yet again). 

Speaking of a last minute surge, it certainly seemed that Leonardo DiCaprio was on his way to picking up his first BAFTA and challenging the frontrunner Matthew McConaughey (who was not nominated here) for the Oscar. But the BAFTA's choice to go with Ejifor tells me that this is McConaughey's time to win. 

In Supporting Actor, Barkhad Abdi from Captain Phillips won with frontrunner Jared Leto being absent (the BAFTA's clearly did not like Dallas Buyers Club). While I certainly believe Leto has this all sewn up, if this season has taught me anything, it's that no one is safe. Abdi might swoop in Tilda Swinton style with some last minute support and win... but it's more than likely Leto will waltz his way to his first Oscar. 

See the complete list of winners below. You can see the updated awards tally for the entire season here.