The Golden Globes are now just a handful of hours away - this will give us a real indication as to where the Oscar may go in a few weeks.
All week we have been taking a look at the performances and movies that are in the running for gongs to try and predict the winners.
Today we look at the final major category as five fantastic films are set to go head to head to be crowned Best Picture - Drama.
- 12 Years A Slave
12 Years A Slave has been an awards favourite ever since it started screening on the festival circuit at the back end of last year - it still seems to be the movie to be beat.
The film marks the return of Steve McQueen to the director’s chair for the big screen adaptation of Solomon Northup’s powerful slave memoir.
12 Years A Slave follows the story of Solomon, a free man living in New York who is tricked and sold into slavery.
This is one of the most powerful movies that we will see all year as McQueen has delivered a film that is not a glamorised Hollywood take on slavery. Instead, this movie is real and raw and it will live with you long after the credits have rolled.
The Oscar nominations are revealed later this week and 12 Years A Slave is expected to be in the mix - don’t be surprised if we see this movie waltz off with the Best Picture prize.
- Captain Phillips
Captain Phillips is a movie that was both a critical and commercial success at the back end of last year, as Paul Greengrass returned to the director’s chair.
The movie tells the true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.
Captain Phillips sees Tom Hanks take on the title role as he and director Greengrass team up for the very first time.
It is a powerhouse performance from Hanks as he dominates every scene that he is in and holds your attention from start to finish. The final scene is Hanks at his very best as he shows why he is a double Oscar winner.
Greengrass has always made excellent action movies, and from the second that Phillips spots the boats on the radar, Greengrass doesn’t allow you to take a breath.
- Gravity
Gravity was another movie that lit up the festival circuit last year as it marked the long awaited return of Alfonso Cuaron to the director’s chair.
Bullock plays Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring.
But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone - tethered to nothing but each other and spiralling out into the blackness.
Without a doubt, Gravity is the greatest movie set in space that I have ever seen; Alfonso has really captured the vastness, emptiness, stillness and eeriness of space, put at the same time it is incredibly beautiful.
The special effects really are tremendous from start to finish, and yet they do not overshadow the terrific central performance from Sandra Bullock.
While this is a movie set in space, it is also a movie about love, loss, grief and the acceptance that someone is gone and moving on with your life. Gravity is also set to be a major Oscar player.
- Philomena
Philomena was a 2013 that really struck a chord with cinemagoers as it is based on the heartbreaking book of the same name by Martin Sixsmith.
Directed by Stephen Frears, the movie tells the story of Philomena Lee, a woman who spent her whole life searching for the son that she was forced to give up when she was a girl.
Stephen Frears really has delivered a truly fantastic movie that is as uplifting and inspiring as it is heart breaking. However, the driving force really is this central relationship as the audience is taken on a fascinating journey with these great characters.
Judi Dench is on fine dramatic and comedic form in the title role, while this is more of a straight role for Steve Coogan - who also penned the screenplay. Dench and Coogan are an unlikely partnership, and yet they do work so fantastically together.
Philomena is a movie that you will laugh and cry along with equal measure, as it really is a terrific film. I would love to seen Dench win the Best Actress Oscar for her central performance.
- Rush
Rush was my favourite of 2013, and it is fantastic to see it recognised at the Golden Globes. The movie marked the return of Ron Howard - this was his first film since the terrible The Dilemma.
Set against the sexy and glamorous golden age of Formula 1 racing, Rush portrays the exhilarating true story of two of the greatest rivals the world has ever witnessed - handsome English playboy Hunt and his methodical, brilliant opponent, Nikki Lauda.
Taking us into their personal lives on and off the track, Rush follows the two drivers as they push themselves to the breaking point of physical and psychological endurance, where there is no shortcut to victory and no margin for error. If you make one mistake, you die.
From the second the first trailer for Rush dropped, you just knew that we were going to get a very special movie indeed. And Howard didn't disappoint as he gave us a fast paced, thrilling, and exciting ride that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
Rush may be a movie that captures some fantastic on the track moments - the racing scenes really are some of the most adrenaline fuelled that you will see all year - but this is also an intense character study; Hemsworth and Bruhl are both terrific as Hunt and Lauda.
Winner: 12 Years A Slave
Tagged in Golden Globes 12 Years A Slave