Oscar Run IV

The Oscar Run is a weekly feature discussing how the Oscar race is shaping up.

Doug Laman, Staff Reporter/Movie Critic
October 29, 2013

The Oscar Run is a weekly feature discussing how the Oscar race is shaping up. This week, The Oscar Run is looks at a new release date for The Monuments Men, announces that The Wolf of Wall Street is coming out this year after all and takes a look at the Best Visual Effects category.

A mere hours after last week’s “Oscar Run” installment was posted, Sony Pictures officially moved The Monuments Men from December 18, 2013 to February 7, 2014. This was reportedly due to visual effects not being completed in time for the film, but I’d wager that an overly competitive December cinema landscape played a part in the move as well. Either way though, it’s officially out of the Oscar race and that leaves the room open for another Best Picture contender. I’ve decided to put Saving Mr. Banks in The Monuments Men’s former place, thanks to Banks’ early positive reception discussed last week.

Meanwhile, The Wolf of Wall Street finally got a proper release date, with it being given a Christmas date. While there’s still a chance the movie could get moved (the lack of posters or trailers for the film suggests another release date change could be imminent). Still, I’m fairly confident the film will be completed in time, allowing us to experience another Martin Scorsese film by the end of the year.

Due to there not being much other news besides those two release date changes (the lack of film festivals this week being the main culprit behind the lack of news). I decided to take a look at the Best Visual Effects, which is one of the few places where the years biggest box office success can have a chance at Oscar glory. The only shoo-in so far appears to be Gravity, although The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and Iron Man 3 are likely to get in as well due to their predecessors finding much success in this category. Aside from Gravity, I don’t see any other Best Picture contenders having much success in this category, so I’ll give over the last two slots to two of my favorite movies from this past summer: Star Trek Into Darkness and Pacific Rim. Both have some excellent visuals (especially Pacific Rim with it’s wondrous designs of the many robots and monsters the film features).

And now, the nominee predictions for the week:

Best Picture:

* Gravity

* Lee Daniels’ The Butler

* Captain Phillips

* The Wolf of Wall Street

* Inside Llewyn Davis

* American Hustle

* The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

* 12 Years A Slave

* Saving Mr. Banks

Best Actor: