Watch all ‘Best Picture’ nominees on the big screen this week to qualify your Oscar predictions

The ‘Oscar Buzz’ is heating up as the countdown to the 86^thAcademy Awards ceremony on 02 March starts. In a year in which almost every category is still being hotly contested, Cinema Nouveau is pre-releasing three multi-nominated titles, two of which have ‘Best Picture’ nominations after their name, to allow South African audiences the opportunity to view them on the big screen before the Oscars are announced.

Each of the pre-release titles, Nebraska and Philomena, will have one screening each at 20:00 on 26 and 27 February respectively, at the four Cinema Nouveau theatres at Rosebank Mall in Johannesburg, Brooklyn Mall in Pretoria, Gateway in Durban and the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. Bookings are now open for these three special pre-Oscar screenings.

On Wednesday, 26 February at 20:00, Cinema Nouveau audiences are transported to another American state with the pre-release of Nebraska. With an impressive six Oscar nominations, for Best Picture, Best Actor – Bruce Dern, Best Supporting Actress – June Squibb, Cinematography, Best Director – Alexander Payne, and Original Screenplay, this black-and-white masterpiece explores another complex family relationship.

Director Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants) takes the helm for this black-and-white road trip drama starring Bruce Dern as a tempestuous Missouri father who is convinced he has won a million dollar magazine sweepstakes. His son, played by Will Forte, begrudgingly agrees to drive him to Nebraska to claim his winnings. June Squibb, Bob Odenkirk and Stacy Keach co-star.

(Official “Nebraska” trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuIBvmxIN4w)

With four Oscar nominations – Best Picture, Best Actress – Judi Dench, Best Original Score and Best Adapted Screenplay –Philomena plays on the Cinema Nouveau circuit at 20:00 on Thursday, 27 February.

When former journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) is dismissed from the Labour Party in disgrace, he is at a loss as to what to do. All that changes when a young Irish woman approaches him about a story of her mother, Philomena (Judi Dench), who had her son taken away when she was a teenage inmate of a Catholic convent. Martin arranges a magazine assignment about Philomena’s search for her son that eventually leads to America. Along the way, Martin and Philomena discover as much about each other as about her son’s fate, as their basic beliefs are challenged.

(Official “Philomena” trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DBPqcp6Hc4)

With these two pre-releases, all nine contenders for the lucrative ‘Best Picture’ category can be seen on the big screen at select Ster-Kinekor and Cinema Nouveau sites during the course of next week. Audiences will need to plan their week’s viewing carefully in order to take in all nine titles – and make their predictions – before the winner of ‘Best Picture’ is announced during the early hours ofMonday, 03 March (SA time) from Hollywood, LA!

The full list of nominees vying for this prestigious award are:Gravity; Captain Phillips (both titles re-released by Ster-Kinekor recently); American Hustle (28 Feb); Dallas Buyers Club (28 Feb); Her; Nebraska (14 Mar); Philomena (28 Mar); 12 Years a Slave;and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Released exclusively at Cinema Nouveau and select Ster-Kinekor cinemas is another Oscar contender, Inside Llewyn Davis, which has been nominated in two categories – Best Achievement in Cinematography and Best Achievement in Sound Mixing.

The film embodies the spirit of a great American folk tale, but finds the power of a lyrical odyssey when told by the talents of Joel and Ethan Coen. With T Bone Burnett as their musical muse, the Coens brilliantly encapsulate the saturated soul of the early sixties, as they play this cyclical ballad sparked by a bar fight and a cat on an incredible journey.

Oscar Isaac is Llewyn Davis and his finely tuned performance is inseparable from the character he plays, as he wanders down the road to redemption. Lost between undeniable talent and hopeless abjection, he sees his music as we see the film: “…it’s never new and it never gets old; it’s a folk song…”.

Inside Llewyn Davis follows a week in the life of the young folk singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of New York City in 1961. Llewyn Davis (masterfully played by Isaac) is at a crossroads in his life. With guitar in tow and huddled against the unforgiving New York winter, he is struggling to make it as a musician as he comes up against seemingly insurmountable obstacles… many of them of his own making.

There is also still time to test your ‘Oscar Buzz’ knowledge and win some awesome weekly prizes, including DVD box sets of previous Oscar-winning films and movie tickets. Visit the Cinema Nouveau Facebook page and click on the ‘Oscar Buzz’ app to play the quiz.

For more information and to make a booking, visit the Ster-Kinekor website at www.sterkinekor.com or the Cinema Nouveau website at www.cinemanouveau.co.za Call Ticketline on 082 16789. Follow us on Twitter @sktheatres / @nouveaubuzz, or on Facebook at Ster-Kinekor Theatres / Cinema Nouveau. Own an iPhone, Nokia, Samsung Android or Blackberry? Download Ster-Kinekor’s app now, to get the latest news and updates on what’s showing at Ster-Kinekor and Cinema Nouveau, and to make a booking.