Oscar 2014 Winners, Recap, Analysis: Why Every Oscar Category Was Predictable

After one of the closest Oscar races in years the Academy Awards once again felt overly predictable and anticlimactic. Let's take a closer look at each category and why every award could have been called from a mile away.

Best Picture: The Steve McQueen slavery period piece "12 Years a Slave" was seen as the front-runner after it won the Toronto Film Festival's Audience Award. This was significant because "American Beauty," "The King's Speech" and "Slumdog Millionaire" all went home with the two awards. Additionally "12 Years" had won the BAFTA, Critics Choice, Producers Guild of America, and Golden Globe awards. It also swept the Critics awards and was hailed by every critic. While "Gravity" won the most awards it failed to get a Best Original Screenplay nomination and also failed to get a Screen Actors Guild Best Ensemble nomination. Both these awards are key and necessary to win Best Picture.

The Acting Categories: Cate Blanchett and Jared Leto swept the critics' awards and later went on to win the Globe, SAG, and Critics Choice awards. Leto was omitted from the BAFTA awards but Blanchett won the British Oscars. Meanwhile, Matthew McConaughey won the Globe, SAG and Critics Choice even though he failed to win many critics societies. Like Leto, he was omitted from the BAFTA but that was not enough to steal his thunder. Lupita Nyong'o may have been the least predictable after losing the Globe and BAFTA. However, she won the SAG and Critics Choice and it was unlikely that the Oscars would give Jennifer Lawrence—Nyong'o's biggest adversary in the race—a second Oscar in a row.

Best Director: The Oscars very rarely split the Best Director and Best Picture categories. However, Alfonso Cuaron won the majority of the director awards during precursor season. The director took home the Directors Guild of America, Golden Globe, Critics Choice and BAFTA awards. "Gravity" never won a single Best Picture award with these societies and as a result it was evident the categories would diverge.

Best Animated Film: "Frozen" started out the season losing to "The Wind Rises" with the Critics awards. However, it gained traction and eventually won every major precursor including the Globe and BAFTA. Additionally, Disney has dominated the category for a number of years, and considerin the film is the best reviewed and highest grossing film of the nominees, it was unlikely the movie would go home empty-handed. 

Best Documentary: "The Act of Killing" may have been the critics' darling but "20 Years From Stardom" was the Harvey Weinstein film that got the most marketing and even won the Independent Spirit Award over "The Act of Killing"

Best Visual Effects and Best Cinematography: It seems odd to put these two categories together but for the past five years the Academy has given these two awards as a package. "Gravity" joined "Life of Pi" (2012), "Hugo (2011),  "Inception" (2010), and "Avatar" (2009) in winning both categories.

Best Costume Design: While Catherine Martin lost the Costume Designers Guild, she won the BAFTA and Critics Choice. It was predictable that she would win because the Academy enjoys awarding lavish and glitzy costumes over more monochromatic and less showy work.   

Best Film Editing: "Gravity" may have lost the BAFTA and EDDIE awards in this category, but it won the Critics Choice. Additionally, the fact that the EDDIE split their awards between two Best Picture nominees only signified that there was no clear favorite amongst its winners and that another film would win. The same happened in 2011 when "The Artist" and "The Descendants" won the EDDIE but "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" won the Oscar.

Best Makeup: The category could have been considered a big joke as "The Lone Ranger" and "Bad Grandpa" were far from critical darlings and a win would have been easily criticized by audiences and pundits. "Dallas Buyers Club" was the only real contender in this category.

Best Music: When the nominations were announced and Han Zimmer and Alex Ebert's scores were omitted it was obvious that Steven Price was the front-runner. Ebert had won the Golden Globe and was seen as the front-runner afterword, but no nomination at the Oscars left the category without a favorite. While "Her" and "Philomena" were also nominated, the fact that the films had few nominations at the Academy Awards indicated that the Academy was not completely in love with them.

Best Foreign Film: "The Great Beauty" had not competed against "Omar" and "The Missing Picture" and as a result it was not a sure bet that the film would win Foreign Film. However, after winning the Golden Globe and the BAFTA awards, "The Great Beauty" had enough steam and enough approval for the Oscars to vote in favor of it.

Best Original Song: "Frozen's" song "Let it Go" was a favorite from the beginning of the race as it became a radio hit. While U2 won the Golden Globe for "Ordinary Love" from "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom," the win seemed like an award that was being catered to an A-List star. Additionally, "Mandela" had no other nomination while "Frozen" had already won the Best Animated Film.

Best Production Design: "The Great Gatsby" was the front-runner from the start winning at the Critics Choice and the BAFTA in this category as well as the Art Directors Guild. The film was also helped by the fact that it had a glamorous and colorful look, which the Academy relishes each year.

Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing: These two categories do not always come in a package. However, when a film like "Gravity" wins both sound societies and is a technical wonder, the Oscars tend to give both awards to one film. The same happened in 2011 with "Hugo" and 2010 "Inception."

Best Adapted and Original Screenplay: John Ridley's script for "12 Years a Slave" was always seen as a lock after winning the majority of the critics' awards and the Critics Choice. Additionally, the fact that the McQueen film was a front-runner for Best Picture only helped his cause. Spike Jonze was also seen as a lock for his script for "Her." The film won every award except the BAFTA. However, it was the Writers Guild of America that defined the race because Jonze beat out every single one of the nominees shortlisted at the Oscars.