If I were in charge of the Oscars

With the awards set to commence tonight, I thought I would weigh in on how it should have gone down. I'm mostly satisfied with the nominees this year, but there are some glaring omissions as well as some relatively undeserving (in my opinion) performances that have been nominated. If I were an Academy Member (and I'm still working on getting my card) here are the nominees and winners for the big 8 categories.

Best Picture There is leeway on this one, but I've only come up with 8 instead of the 9 nominated this year. The current rule is that between 5-10 films can be nominated as long as they each receive a certain minimum number of votes. Disclaimer: I haven't yet seen Philomena, but I feel confident leaving it off this list, although I've heard rave reviews of the performance by Judi Dench, so I'm leaving her on the ballot.

Gravity
Captain Phillips
Rush
World War Z
Prisoners
Lone Survivor
Dallas Buyer's Club
The Way, Way Back

Winner: Captain Phillips. It was the best film of the year. Full of suspense, action, incredible individual performances, and smartly directed.

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron
Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips)
Ron Howard (Rush)
Marc Forster (World War Z)
Steve McQueen

Winner: Alfonso Cuaron. Fantastic direction, cinematography, visual effects. Nothing else like it in 2013.

Best Actor

Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips)
Leonardo DiCaprio
Matthew McConaughey
Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Robert Redford (All is Lost)

Winner: Tom Hanks. The final 5 minutes alone wins him this award. It's a travesty that he wasn't nominated. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Forest Whitaker are the next two on this list, but there can only be five.

Best Supporting Actor

Jared Leto
Michael Fassbender
Barkhad Abdi
Ben Foster (Lone Survivor)
Sam Rockwell (The Way, Way Back)

Winner: Jared Leto. This is a tough one because both Jonah Hill and Jake Gyllenhaal (Prisoners) deserve nominations as well, but Ben Foster and Sam Rockwell did more of what a supporting actor is supposed to do; bring life to the film beyond their role.

Best Actress

Amy Adams
Cate Blanchett
Sandra Bullock
Judi Dench
Meryl Streep

Winner: Sandra Bullock. Her performance was the most demanding of any nominees, and although Cate Blanchett did a nice job, Woody Allen pitches lobs to actresses. Bullock deserves it.

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Lawrence
Lupita Nyong'o
Daniella Kertesz (WWZ)
Scarlett Johannson (Her)
Sally Hawkins

Winner: Lupita Nyong'o. The strongest performance in a supporting role this year.

Best Writing - Original

Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Dallas Buyer's Club
Nebraska
Prisoners

Winner: Her. The winner of this should be exactly what the category calls for; originality. Her was far and away the quirkiest film of the year.

Best Writing - Adapted

Captain Phillips
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street
Lone Survivor
Rush

Winner: Captain Phillips. All of the films in this category deserve recognition for a job well done, but that's what the nomination is for. Captain Phillips was the best all-around film from top to bottom.

There you have it. The Oscars according to Adam, but it's not my show, so enjoy Hollywood's tonight.