Two dramas that have had much Oscar hype surrounding them; All Is Lost and 12 Years A Slave come in with mixed results. All Is Lost didn’t live up to the hype, even if Robert Redford did give an engaging performance that deserves acclaim, while 12 Years A Slave lived up to every word of the praise it has received. It may be the hardest movie I’ve ever had to watch in my critical career, but it’s still an important film that contains the two best performances I’ve seen all year–Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong’o, who are both guaranteed not only nominations but also victory in their respective categories.

Meanwhile, the box office was bustling with major movies like Thor: The Dark World and The Best Man Holiday making large amounts of dough. But a major Oscar hopeful also debuted this weekend to good box office and spectacular reviews; Nebraska. Thanks to the hype it’s receiving, I’ve not only added it to the Best Picture category, but I’ve made my first major change to the Best Actor category by adding Bruce Dern to the prestigious proceedings. If the praise doesn’t continue, the film will be booted out of both categories, but for now, I’m being optimistic about their chances.

One last thing before we get to the nominations; I’ll be taking the week off for Thanksgiving Break, family and watching a ton of movies. The column will resume it’s normal schedule in two weeks on December 3.

Best Picture:

* Gravity

* Lee Daniels’ The Butler

* Captain Phillips

* The Wolf of Wall Street

* Inside Llewyn Davis

* American Hustle

* Blue Jasmine

* 12 Years A Slave

* Saving Mr. Banks

* Nebraska

Best Director:

* Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)

* Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street)

* Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave)

* The Coen Brothers (Inside Llewyn Davis)

* Woody Allen (Blue Jasmine)

Best Actor:

* Bruce Dern (Nebraska)

* Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

* Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave)

* Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips)

* Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis)

Best Actress:

* Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

* Sandra Bullock (Gravity)

* Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks)

* Amy Adams (American Hustle)

* Judi Dench (Philomena)

Best Supporting Actor:

* Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

* Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)

* Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)

* Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave)

* Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)

Best Supporting Actress

* June Squibb (Nebraska)

* Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)

* Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years A Slave)

* Oprah Winfrey (Lee Daniels’ The Butler)

* Scarlett Johansson (Her)