The 2014 Gutty Awards

2013 has been exciting. I remarked last year that 2012 was one of the best years for film in a while, and it was, but 2013 was certainly more interesting. This has been a year of an abundance of artful black and white, a noteworthy amount of impressive visuals, more films than expected about the poisons of greed and extravagance, usually starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and at least two otherwise unrelated films being described by several different critics with the exact phrase "neon-soaked nightmare." This year I have nominated twenty-two different films in twelve categories (three more films than last year!), and even then, I had to make a few painful omissions (my apologies in advance to Jared Leto).

But anyway. Here are the nominations for the 2nd annual Gutty Awards:

Best Picture

12 Years a Slave
All Is Lost
Frances Ha
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Director

J.C. Chandor - All Is Lost
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - Inside Llewyn Davis
Alfonso Cuarón - Gravity
Harmony Korine - Spring Breakers
Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave

Best Lead Actor

Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Oscar Isaac - Inside Llewyn Davis
Robert Redford - All Is Lost

Best Lead Actress

Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy - Before Midnight
Greta Gerwig - Frances Ha
Brie Larson - Short Term 12
Amy Seimetz - Upstream Color

Best Supporting Actor 

Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave
James Franco - Spring Breakers
Jake Gyllenhaal - Prisoners
Matthew McConaughey - Mud

Best Supporting Actress

Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine
Scarlett Jonhansson - Her
Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
June Squibb - Nebraska

Best Ensemble Cast

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o, Michael Fassbender, Sarah Paulson, Benedict Cumbetbatch, Adepero Oduye, Alfre Woodard, etc. - 12 Years a Slave
Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K., Robert DeNiro, etc. - American Hustle
Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Dice Clay, Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg, etc. - Blue Jasmine
Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Stacy Keach, Bob Odenkirk, Mary Louise Wilson, Angela McEwan, etc. - Nebraska
Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello, Viola Davis, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano, etc. - Prisoners

Best Original Screenplay

Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig - Frances Ha
Andrew Bujalski - Computer Chess
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - Inside Llewyn Davis
Spike Jonze - Her
Bob Nelson - Nebraska

Best Adapted Screenplay

Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope - Philomena
Destin Daniel Cretton - Short Term 12
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater - Before Midnight
John Ridley - 12 Years a Slave
Terrence Winter - The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Cinematography

Sean Bobbitt - 12 Years a Slave
Roger Deakins - Prisoners
Bruno Delbonnel - Inside Llewyn Davis
Matthais Grunsky - Computer Chess
Emmanuel Lubezki - Gravity

Best Production Design

K.K. Barrett - Her
Jess Gonchor - Inside Llewyn Davis
Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy - The Great Gatsby
Andrew Neskoromny, Carol Spier - Pacific Rim
Adam Stockhausen - 12 Years a Slave

Best Original Score

Ramin Djawadi - Pacific Rim
Alex Ebert - All Is Lost
Cliff Martinez - Only God Forgives
Mark Orton - Nebraska
Steven Price - Gravity


Some Notes:

- There are two films in particular from this year that I liked quite a bit but chose not to nominate in any individual category. They are Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station and Derek Cianfrance's The Place Beyond the Pines. Go watch them sometime.
- Though I haven't seen The Wind Rises, as of right now the best animated film of the year goes to Frozen.
- Since I am not an actual film critic and I live far away from any major film festivals, I have seen woefully few foreign films from 2013 so far. This is usually the case and also the reason I don't put them in my nomination field. However, Johnnie To's Drug War is on Netflix right now, and is both extremely well-done and highly accessible. Watch it at your soonest convenience.
- Ditto the above for documentaries. I saw Stories We Tell and Blackfish, both of which were perfectly good but not terribly awe-inspiring. Very interested in The Act of Killing, though.