Hollywood Popular Artists

Sep 9th 2013, 20:47, by Kevin P. Sullivan

If you weren't paying attention to the Toronto International Film Festival for the past few days, you also missed out on the latest updates from the 2014 Academy Award race, as crazy as that might sound.

Some early frontrunners emerged after Telluride and Venice, but TIFF is making their chances all the more solid.

For a quick recap on how the Oscar race is looking after the first few days of TIFF, click past the jump for our round up.

"Gravity"
Two movies have emerged as top contenders in the "ALL THE CATEGORIES!" Alfonso Cuarón's 90-minute breath-holding marathon, "Gravity," appears to be as good as everyone is saying it is, and if it's true, we could have a big box office and critical hit. The nature of the film — it opens with a 12-minute take — pretty much guarantees a nomination for Alfonso Cuarón, and Bullock is receiving raves for what some are calling her best work ever.

"12 Years A Slave"
The other "ALL THE CATEGORIES!" movie looks to be Steve McQueen's "12 Years A Slave." The true-life story of Solomon Northup is wowing crowds with its brutal and realistic depictions of slavery in the mid-19th century. Chiwetel Ejiofor was named a contender for Best Actor, sight unseen, but now that the film has screened multiple times, he has shot to the top of many lists, and he's joined by co-star Lupita Nyong'o in her first feature film, getting buzz for Best Supporting Actress.

"Best Actor"
To Ejiofor, you can add Matthew McConaughey in "Dallas Buyers Club" and Daniel Brühl in Ron Howard's "Rush." The two have both been earmarked for potential awards attention, and the buzz grew significantly over the weekend.

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