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HOLLYWOOD, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- One anonymous Oscar voter certainly has a lot of opinions on this year's Academy Award nominees. The voter, a longtime member of the Academy's directors branch, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter as the first of five "brutally honest" Oscar ballots shared with the magazine by Academy members.
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On the Best Picture nominees:
"Captain Phillips struck me as a slightly hokey, overacted, not particularly gripping action movie." "Philomena...was an effective tearjerker...but that doesn't make it a great film." "The Wolf of Wall Street had almost nothing to say, but I found it hysterically funny."
The voter's pick to win Best Picture is American Hustle. The person says they wouldn't "put it in the legendary masterpiece category," but it doesn't "fail on any level."
On who should win Best Actor:
"[Chiwetel] Ejiofor was good." "DiCaprio has been better..." and put on a "popcorn performance."
The voter's pick for Best Actor is Christian Bale, "I was...taken by Bale's performance... It's the role of a lifetime."
On Best Actress:
"Bullock is the weak link -- she's just OK." "For Streep...this is a bottom-drawer performance."
The voter says, "Adams I love," but that "Blanchett has to win this... She was just a revelation; she was just spectacular."
For Best Supporting Actor:
"Everyone was at least very good." "I found [Jonah Hill] so funny." "Jared Leto was good...but he's getting...points because of the person he's playing more than the way he played it, which is as close to pandering as you can get."
Their conclusion: "Cooper was the best... the best he's been in anything."
On Best Supporting Actress:
"Julia Roberts was horrendous." "Lupita [Nyong'o] was very good, but a lot of the commotion...is attributable to people's tremendous empathy with and sympathy for the role she's playing." "Hawkins had a difficult part...she's intentionally overshadowed constantly by Blanchett."
Jennifer Lawrence stood out to the voter, who says, "She just dazzles; she's always doing something original and bold and surprising and believable."
On Best Director:
"Cuaron was part of a committee of technicians who made that movie, and I have seen things at the planetarium that were at least as impressive."
The Academy member's pick for Best Director? "David O. Russell, hands down."
The Hollywood Reporter will release one brutally honest ballot a day leading up to Sunday's awards ceremony. Two ballots have been released so far. Read everything the first disgruntled voter has to say here, and his peer's slightly nicer take on the nominees here.
