You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.
A Mobile Streaming Guide To The 2014 Academy Awards

A Mobile Streaming Guide To The 2014 Academy Awards

February 27, 2014
The 86th Annual Academy Awards arrive on Sunday, March 2 from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif. Want to see every best picture nominee before the show? We’re here to help. Here’s our 2014 mobile streaming guide for the Oscars: "American Hustle"
When small-time con man Irving Rosenfeld meets Sydney Prosser, an ambitious hustler who persuades him to up the stakes in his scams, they find themselves targeted by FBI agent Richie DiMaso. With the threat of prison looming, Irving and Sydney agree to cooperate with DiMaso in a far-reaching sting operation that will target prominent political figures.
Streaming Availability: Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, and best director, "American Hustle" is still in theaters. It arrives in iTunes on March 11. "Captain Phillips"
When the freighter ship Maersk Alabama is pursued and captured by a handful of Somali pirates, Captain Richard Phillips faces off against Muse, the band's leader, in an effort to protect the lives of his crew. In an explosively dangerous situation, Phillips must strike a careful balance between strength and compliance if he and the men he is responsible for are to survive.
Streaming Availability: "Captain Phillips" has been nominated for six Academy Awards including best supporting actor. The film is available to buy ($17.99) and rent ($4.99) in iTunes. "Captain Phillips" is also available through Amazon -- $13.99 to buy and $4.99 to rent. "Dallas Buyers Club"
When Ron Woodroof learns he is HIV-positive, the homophobic Texan finds himself sharing an unexpected bond with gay men also battling the illness. Quickly realizing that their only chance of survival lies in making an end run around government regulations and powerful pharmaceutical companies, Ron organizes an illicit trade in a drug cocktail that shows signs of slowing the virus's progress.
Streaming Availability: Nominated for six Academy Awards including best actor, and best supporting actor, "Dallas Buyers Club" is available to buy ($9.99) and rent ($5.99) in iTunes, as well as Amazon. "Gravity"
As three members of the shuttle crew work outside the craft to repair the Hubble telescope, they have a catastrophic encounter with a field of space debris. Cut off from all communication with Houston ground control, novice astronaut Dr. Ryan Stone must master her terror and rely on instructions from her veteran flight companion, Matt Kowalski, if she is to survive.
Streaming Availability: "Gravity" has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards includes those for best actress, and best director. The film is available in iTunes to buy ($19.99) and rent ($4.99). The prices are identical through Amazon. "Her"
In a future when most of society's problems have been resolved, the search for companionship continues. For Theodore, a recently divorced writer of other people's love letters, the possibility of love arises from an unexpected quarter: an artificial intelligence computer operating system known as Samantha.
Streaming Availability: This dark horse received five Academy Award nominations, and isn't yet available to stream. "Nebraska"
Woody Grant is an obstreperous, hard-drinking man, now elderly and confused, who becomes convinced by a magazine sweepstakes mailer that he has won a million dollars. When he persists in leaving his Montana home in an attempt to walk to Lincoln, Nebraska, and claim his prize, his son David takes him on a road trip that will revisit the sites of his father's youth.
Streaming Availability: Another long shot, "Nebraska" received six Academy Award nominations, including those for best actor, best supporting actress, and best director. The film is available to buy ($19.99) and rent ($4.99) through iTunes and Amazon. "Philomena"
When Irishwoman Philomena Lee gave birth to her son in 1952, the boy was taken from her by the Catholic home for unwed mothers to which she had been consigned, and adopted out to a family in America. Accompanied by a former BBC correspondent in search of a human interest story, Philomena travels to Washington, D.C. in an attempt to find her now-grown child.
Streaming Availability: The final dark horse on the list, "Philomena" received five Academy Award nominations include one for best actress. The film is not yet available to stream. "12 Years a Slave"
Solomon Northup, a free black man living with his wife and children in New York in 1841, is tricked by slave traders into traveling to Washington, D.C., where he is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Sent to Louisiana, he experiences the violence and degradation of life as a slave while clinging to the hope that he will someday regain his freedom.
Streaming Availability:  Considered this year's favorite for Best Picture, "12 Years a Slave" received nine nominations including those for best actor, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, and best director. The film is available to purchase for $14.99 in iTunes and through Amazon. Rentals begin March 4. "The Wolf of Wall Street"
In the heady financial world of the 1990s, stockbroker Jordan Belfort enjoys a meteoric rise as one of Wall Street's power players. Tossing aside ethics and legality, he embraces the excesses of the era and enters into a series of scams that will have far-reaching implications throughout the financial community.
Streaming Availability:  "The Wolf of Wall Street" received five Academy Award nominations including those for best actor, best supporting actor, and best director. The film is not yet available to stream.

Final note

The Oscars will be live streamed via the free Watch ABC app. Coverage begins on Sunday, March 2 at 4 p.m. PST. Note: Each film synopsis is courtesy of Oscars.com. Who's your pick for Best Picture?

Mentioned apps

Free
WATCH ABC
WATCH ABC
ABC Digital

Related articles