The 86th Academy Awards Ceremony is set to take place at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood this Sunday with American Hustle, Gravity and 12 Years a Slave leading the way for nominations. Popular movie commentator LiLiCo has been following the lavish event for years and is once again going to be presenting an after-show program on Movie Plus that will first be aired on March 3. We recently caught up with the Swedish-born star to hear who she thinks will be walking away with the 34cm gold-plated statuette in some of the main categories.

Best Picture

When I first saw Gravity I thought straight away that would win. Since then, however, I have seen the others and realized that it is far from guaranteed. In fact I now think 12 Years a Slave is more likely to get it. Out of all the films on the list—the majority of which are based on true stories—that was the one that hurt me the most as it conveyed such deep and raw emotions. Another one that really touched me was Nebraska, which is actually my personal favorite, but I don’t think it will get the award.

Nominees: American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave, The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director

Alfonso Cuarón’s directing for Gravity was truly amazing; I could hardly walk after watching that film. He was unlucky not to win it before with Children of Men, but I think he has a great chance this time. That said, I wouldn’t rule out Martin Scorsese, who is very popular in Hollywood. I’m a big fan of his and really enjoyed The Wolf of Wall Street. One of his movies that I didn’t like was The Departed and that is the one he eventually got an Oscar for. I always used to be able to predict confidently who would win these awards. These days it is much harder!

Nominees: David O. Russell (American Hustle), Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity), Alexander Payne (Nebraska), Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street)

Best Actor in a Leading Role

I think Matthew McConaughey’s performance in Dallas Buyers Club was incredibly powerful. You could see how committed he was to the character by the fact that he lost so much weight for the role (he shed 38lb: 1/4 of his body weight). I know many people are talking about Leo (DiCaprio), wondering if this could finally be his year and it would be great to see him win as he does deserve an Academy Award. I just think that this time McConaughey will edge it. He is known for doing these light romantic comedies, but after this people will take him more seriously as an actor.

Nominees: Christian Bale (American Hustle), Bruce Dern (Nebraska), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Actress in a Leading Role

This one is more difficult for me to say as I haven’t seen three of them. I was very impressed by Sandra (Bullock) in Gravity though. It must have been so difficult stuck in that tube alone all the time. If you have someone to act with it is much easier to express yourself, you can bounce off each other. She didn’t have that luxury, yet still managed to give a memorable performance. She is a really adaptable actress, who can play so many different roles. I particularly love her in comedies. Miss Congeniality is one of my favourite movies of all time.

Nominees: Amy Adams(American Hustle), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Sandra Bullock (Gravity), Judi Dench (Philomena), Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)

Best Actor/Actress in a Supporting Role

I think for the Best Supporting Actor it has be Jared Leto who was sensational as the transgender character Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club. I was captivated as I watched him, thinking he was more feminine than me! He is such a versatile guy; I believe he can thrive in almost any role he chooses. The Best Supporting Actress is not so clear cut. I would like to see Lupita Nyong’o win it. She gave a very dynamic and realistic performance as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave. There were a number of moving performances in that film, but she still managed to stand out.

Actor Nominees: Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips), Bradley Cooper (American Hustle), Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave), Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Actress Nominees: Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine), Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), Julia Roberts (August: Osage County), June Squibb (Nebraska)

Image: © Leslie Kee (super sonic)