2014 Oscar Nominations

My picks are in yellow. For categories I did not know I left blank. 

Best picture 
"12 Years a Slave" 
"The Wolf of Wall Street" 
"Captain Phillips" 
"Her" 
"American Hustle" 
"Gravity" 
"Dallas Buyers Club" 
"Nebraska" 
"Philomena"

Best director 
Steve McQueen -- "12 Years a Slave" 
David O. Russell -- "American Hustle" 
Alfonso Cuaron -- "Gravity" 
Alexander Payne -- "Nebraska" 
Martin Scorsese -- "The Wolf of Wall Street"

Best actor 

Bruce Dern -- "Nebraska" 
Chiwetel Ejiofor -- "12 Years a Slave" 
Matthew McConaughey -- "Dallas Buyers Club" 
Leonardo DiCaprio -- "The Wolf of Wall Street" 
Christian Bale -- "American Hustle"

Best actress 
Amy Adams -- "American Hustle" 
Cate Blanchett -- "Blue Jasmine" 
Judi Dench -- "Philomena" 
Sandra Bullock -- "Gravity" 
Meryl Streep -- "August: Osage County"

Best supporting actor 
Barkhad Abdi -- "Captain Phillips" 
Bradley Cooper -- "American Hustle" 
Jonah Hill -- "The Wolf of Wall Street" 
Jared Leto -- "Dallas Buyers Club" 
Michael Fassbender -- "12 Years a Slave"

Best supporting actress 
Jennifer Lawrence -- "American Hustle" 
Lupita Nyong'o -- "12 Years a Slave" 
June Squibb -- "Nebraska" 
Julia Roberts -- "August: Osage County" 
Sally Hawkins -- "Blue Jasmine"

Best original screenplay 
"American Hustle" -- David O. Russell and Eric Warren Singer 
"Blue Jasmine" -- Woody Allen 
"Her" -- Spike Jonze 
"Nebraska" -- Bob Nelson 
"Dallas Buyers Club" -- Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack

Best adapted screenplay 
"12 Years a Slave" -- John Ridley 
"Before Midnight" -- Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater 
"The Wolf of Wall Street" -- Terence Winter 
"Captain Phillips" -- Billy Ray 
"Philomena" -- Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope

Best animated feature 
"The Wind Rises" 
"Frozen" 
"Despicable Me 2" 
"Ernest & Celestine" 
"The Croods"

Best foreign feature 
"The Hunt" (Denmark) 
"The Broken Circle Breakdown" (Belgium) 
"The Great Beauty" (Italy) 
"Omar" (Palestinian territories) 
"The Missing Picture" (Cambodia)

Best music (original song) 
"Frozen": "Let it Go" -- Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez 
"Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom": "Ordinary Love" -- U2, Paul Hewson 
"Her": "The Moon Song" -- Karen O, Spike Jonze 
"Despicable Me 2": "Happy" -- Pharrell Williams 
"Alone Yet Not Alone": "Alone Yet Not Alone" -- Bruce Broughton, Dennis Spiegel

Best music (original score) 
"Gravity" -- Steven Price 
"Philomena" -- Alexandre Desplat 
"The Book Thief" -- John Williams 
"Saving Mr. Banks" -- Thomas Newman 
"Her" -- William Butler and Owen Pallett

Best cinematography 
"Gravity" -- Emmanuel Lubezki 
"Inside Llewyn Davis" -- Bruno Delbonnel 7
"Nebraska" -- Phedon Papamichael 
"Prisoners" -- Roger Deakins 
"The Grandmaster" -- Phillippe Le Sourd

Best costume design 
"The Great Gatsby" -- Catherine Martin 
"12 Years a Slave" -- Patricia Norris 
"The Grandmaster" -- William Chang Suk Ping 
"American Hustle" -- Michael Wilkinson 
"The Invisible Woman" -- Michael O'Connor

Best documentary feature 
"The Act of Killing" 
"20 Feet From Stardom" 
"The Square" 
"Cutie and the Boxer" 
"Dirty Wars"

Best film editing 
"Gravity" -- Alfonso Cuaron, Mark Sanger 
"12 Years a Slave"-- Joe Walker 
"Captain Phillips" -- Christopher Rouse 
"American Hustle" -- Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten 
"Dallas Buyers Club" -- John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa

Best makeup and hairstyling 
"The Lone Ranger" -- Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny 
"Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa" -- Stephen Prouty 
"Dallas Buyers Club" -- Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews

Best production design 
"12 Years a Slave" -- Adam Stockhausen and Alice Baker 
"The Great Gatsby" -- Catherine Martin and Beverley Dunn 
"American Hustle" -- Judy Becker and Heather Loeffler 
"Gravity" -- Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard 
"Her" -- K.K. Barrett and Gene Serdena

Best visual effects 
"Gravity" 
"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" 
"Star Trek Into Darkness" 
"Iron Man 3" 
"The Lone Ranger"

Best sound mixing 
"Gravity" 
"Captain Phillips" 
"Lone Survivor" 
"Inside Llewyn Davis" 
"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"

Best sound editing 
"Gravity" 
"All Is Lost" 
"Captain Phillips" 
"Lone Survivor" 
"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"

Best short film, live action 
"Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me)" 
"Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)" 
"Helium" 
"Pitaako Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)" 
"The Voorman Problem"

Best short film, animated 
"Feral" 
"Get a Horse!" 
"Mr. Hublot" 
"Possessions" 
"Room on the Broom"

Best documentary short 
"CaveDigger" 
"Facing Fear" 
"Karama Has No Walls" 
"The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life" 
"Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall"

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Now that the Oscar nomination season is behind us we can enjoy films with mindless violence and gratuitous sex. Regrettably this was not one of those films. There was more action than mindless violence with the exception of the opening scene which gave false hope of mayhem. The only sexy thing in the movie was Kiara Knightly. She is very attractive, but a pole dancer she ain’t.

The plot is somewhat complex, but thankfully there are enough bullets and explosions that your grasp of high finance does not strain your brain. The arch Russian enemy is played by Kenneth Branagh (he also directed). He typically plays a sophisticated Englishman with a public school accent. He tries hard to look menacing but with his pudgy London tanned face, he is not convincing.

Chris Pine (Star Trek/Captain Kirk) is the prequel Jack Ryan. He sports his signature cockiness. As with the other Jack Ryans (Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck) he uses his analytic prowess to source out clues. The ladies will not be disappointed.

Kevin Costner is reviving his movie career. He is the CIA handler who recruits Jack Ryan.  Costner always plays his roles with his trade mark cool confidence and this works well for him here.  In this film he supplements his confidence with a sniper rifle and deadly aim. There is a sort father son relationship between Costner and Pine, but Costner early recognizes Ryan’s analytical skills.

Kiara Knightly is Ryan’s fiancé. Not to give away any spoiler details she gets into the mix because of plot necessity. She plays the strong wily female with a dash of moxie. She does a good job but this role was a cake walk for her.

The plot involves high finance so you have to pay attention in the beginning. Mercifully the rest of the movie racks up body counts and there is some impressive pyrotechnics. The movie has a pacing problem, between finding clues and action. The film is more of like a caffeine buzz rather than an adrenaline rush. The two main locations are Moscow and Manhattan (it is fun seeing some of the old buildings). This is a nice winter movie, but if it is too cold stay home and wait for Netflix in the mail.