Oscars 2014 Predictions: Latin Times Picks Winners Plus Who Really Deserves The Academy Award

Who will take home an Oscar this Sunday? That is the question that tortures our cinephile souls every year. Sometimes, the Academy Awards are all about public relations, movie company interests, who did the best media campaign, and who has been overlooked in recent years, rather than awarding the most talented actor, technician or the best movie of the year.

For the 2014 Oscars edition, two Latin Times movie aficionados, Ernesto Sánchez (Editor-In-Chief) and Anthony Smith (Deputy Social Media Editor, IBT) -- or Sánchez & Smith as they dream to be known one day as -- chose who they felt the Academy would select as winners in the main categories and also selected who they believe really deserves the Oscar this year.

With "Gravity" and "American Hustle" leading the race with 10 nods each, and "12 Years A Slave" following with nine nominations, logic would say these are the movies that Oscar will reward. But make no mistake, no such significant film was done in 2013 that deserves to sweep many categories. Expect to see "Gravity" with four, "American Hustle" with three, and "12 Years A Slave" maybe with one or two. The rest will be divided among the other contenders.

THE PREDICTIONS

BEST MOTION PICTURE: "12 Years A Slave," "American Hustle," "Captain Phillips," "Dallas Buyers Club," "Her," "Gravity," "Philomena," "The Wolf Of Wall Street," "Nebraska"

Sánchez' Pick: "12 Years A Slave" / Smith's Pick: "American Hustle" / Should win: "The Wolf Of Wall Street"

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: Cate Blanchett, Amy Adams, Sandra Bullock, Judi Dench, Meryl Streep

Sánchez' Pick: Cate Blanchett, "Blue Jasmine" / Smith's Pick: Cate Blanchett / Should win: Cate Blanchett

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Bruce Dern, Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Leonardo Di Caprio

Sánchez' Pick: Matthew McConaughey "Dallas Buyers Club" / Smith's Pick: Matthew McConaughey / Should win: Leonardo Di Caprio "The Wolf Of Wall Street"

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Sally Hawkins, Jennifer Lawrence, Lupita Nyong'o, Julia Roberts, June Squibb

Sánchez' Pick: Jennifer Lawrence "American Hustle" / Smith's Pick: Lupita Nyong'o, "12 Years A Slave" / Should win: Sally Hawkins, "Blue Jasmine"

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Barkhad Abdi, Bradley Cooper, Michael Fassbender, Jonah Hill, Jared Leto

Sánchez' Pick: Jared Leto, "Dallas Buyers Club" / Smith's Pick: Jared Leto / Should win: Michael Fassbender, "12 Years A Slave"

BEST ANIMATED FILM: "The Croods," "Despicable Me 2," "Frozen," "Ernest & Celestine," "The Wind Rises"

Sánchez' Pick: "Frozen" / Smith's Pick: "Frozen" / Should win: "The Wind Rises"

BEST DIRECTOR: Alfonso Cuarón, Steve Mcqueen, Alexander Payne, David O Rusell, Martin Scorsese

Sánchez' Pick: Alfonso Cuarón, "Gravity" / Smith's Pick: Alfonso Cuarón / Should win: Alfonso Cuarón

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "The Hunt," "The Broken Circle Breakdown," "The Missing Picture," "Omar," "The Great Beauty"

Sánchez' Pick: "The Great Beauty" / Smith's Pick: "The Great Beauty" / Should win: "The Great Beauty"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: "The Grandmaster," "Gravity," "Inside Llewyn Davis," "Nebraska," "Prisoners"

Sánchez' Pick: Emmanuel Lubezki, "Gravity" / Smith's Pick: "Gravity" / Should win: Emmanuel Lubezki, "Gravity"

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: "The Book Thief," "Gravity," "Her," "Philomena," "Saving Mr. Banks"

Sánchez' Pick: Thomas Newman, "Saving Mr. Banks" / Smith's Pick: William Butler, Owen Pallet, "Her" / Should win: William Butler, Owen Pallet, "Her"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: "Happy," "Let It Go," "The Moon Song," "Ordinary Love"

Sánchez' Pick: "Let It Go", from Frozen / Smith's Pick: "Let It Go", from Frozen / Should win: Karen O For "The Moon Song", Her

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: "American Hustle," "Blue Jasmine," "Dallas Buyers Club," "Her," "Nebraska"

Sánchez' Pick: "American Hustle" / Smith's Pick: "Her" / Should win: "Her"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: "Before Midnight," "Captain Phillips," "Philomena," "12 Years A Slave," "The Wolf Of Wall Street"

Sánchez' Pick: "The Wolf Of Wall Street" / Smith's Pick: "Before Midnight" / Should win: "Philomena"