Oscars 2014: Matt Damon backs Cate Blanchett for Academy Award win

AS our Cate prepares to battle for the best actress Oscar, her number one fan Matt Damon says she’s got his vote. LIVE COVERAGE: 9.30am AEDT

IF Matt Damon’s vote counts, Cate Blanchett is just hours away from Oscar glory.

The Australian is the only real sure-bet favourite at the 86th Academy Awards, which will be handed out in Hollywood from 12.30pm on Monday (AEDT).

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Blanchett is nominated for Best Actress for her role in Blue Jasmine, a performance which has already bagged her more than 20 trophies including Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, BAFTA and AACTA awards.

Damon first worked with Blanchett on The Talented Mr Ripley in 1998. The pair reunited last year to shoot George Clooney’s The Monuments Men, which opens on March 13.

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The American star told News Corp Australia that Blanchett is in a class alongside only Meryl Streep.

“There aren’t very many male or female actors in that stratosphere,” Damon said. “It’s a very special thing to see. I remember being 27 years old and seeing it: she walked out after shooting something with us and (director) Anthony Minghella and I just looked at each other, shook our heads and went, ‘What the hell was that?’

“Now, she’s the same actress except with 16 more years of experience. Her range, which I didn’t see an end to back then, has only expanded. She’s a really special person.”

Oscar voting closed last Tuesday, with nominees such as Matthew McConaughey, Jonah Hill, U2 and Lupita Nyong’o hitting every event and TV talk show possible in the final two weeks of campaigning. During this period, Blanchett was the subject of a glowing profile on the US version of 60 Minutes.

While B lue Jasmine’s Oscar chances were given a battering by renewed allegations of abuse targeted at writer-director Woody Allen in early February, Blanchett has just gone on winning.

With her husband Andrew Upton by her side, Blanchett picked up one last pre-Oscar best actress gong at the Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica on Saturday.

Should she prove the pundits right today, the statuette will join her Best Supporting Actress Oscar won for The Aviator in 2005.

Other Australians vying for Academy Awards are Catherine Martin, who is nominated for both Costume and Production Design for The Great Gatsby; Beverley Dunn, who is co-nominee with Martin in the Production Design category; and David Clayton in the Visual Effects category for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

FULL LIST OF OSCAR 2014 NOMINEES:

BEST PICTURE:

12 Years a Slave

Captain Phillips

Gravity

Philomena

The Wolf of Wall Street

Nebraska

American Hustle

Dallas Buyers Club

Her

BEST DIRECTOR:

David O Russell - American Hustle

Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity

Alexander Payne - Nebraska

Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave

Martin Scorsese - The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

Christian Bale - American Hustle

Bruce Dern - Nebraska

Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street

Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave

Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:

Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine

Amy Adams - American Hustle

Sandra Bullock - Gravity

Judi Dench - Philomena

Meryl Streep - August Osage County

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Bradley Cooper - American Hustle

Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips

Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave

Jonah Hill - The Wolf of Wall Street

Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle

Lupita Nyong’o - 12 Years a Slave

Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine

Julia Roberts - August Osage County

June Squibb - Nebraska

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:

Despicable Me 2

Frozen

The Croods

Ernest & Celestine

The Wind Rises

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke - Before Midnight

Billy Ray - Captain Phillips

Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope - Philomena

John Ridley - 12 Years a Slave

Terence Winter - The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Eric Warren Singer and David O Russell - American Hustle

Woody Allen - Blue Jasmine

Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack - Dallas Buyers Club

Spike Jonze - Her

Bob Nelson - Nebraska

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

The Great Beauty (Italy)

The Hunt (Denmark)

The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium)

The Missing Picture (Cambodia)

Omar (Palestine)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:

Let It Go - Frozen

Ordinary Love - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Alone Yet Not Alone - Alone Yet Not Alone

Happy - Despicable Me 2

The Moon Song - Her

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

The Book Thief

Gravity

Her

Philomena

Saving Mr Banks

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

The Act of Killing

Cutie and the Boxer

Dirty Wars

The Square

20 Feet from Stardom

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT:

SaveDigger

Facing Fear

Karama Has No Walls

The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life

Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall

BEST FILM EDITING:

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

12 Years a Slave

BEST MAKE-UP & HAIRSTYLING:

Dallas Buyers Club

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

The Lone Ranger

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED):

Feral

Get a Horse!

Mr Hublot

Possessions

Room on the Broom

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION):

Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)

Avant Que De Tour Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)

Helium

Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)

The Voorman Problem

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

American Hustle

Gravity

The Great Gatsby

Her

12 Years a Slave

BEST SOUND EDITING:

All Is Lost

Captain Phillips

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Lone Survivor

BEST SOUND MIXING:

Captain Phillips

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Inside Llewyn Davis

Lone Survivor

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Iron Man 3

The Lone Ranger

Star Trek Into Darkness

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

American Hustle

The Grandmaster

The Great Gatsby

The Invisible Woman

12 Years a Slave

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

The Grandmaster

Gravity

Inside Llewyn Davis

Nebraska

Prisoners