Oldboy
DIR. Spike Lee /October 11
After going small with Red Hook Summer last year, Spike Lee is back with a remake of Chan-wook Park‘s Oldboy and he has one hell of a cast along for the ride. However, this one may be a bit too dark for Academy tastes, though let’s not forget The Silence of the Lambs once moved the organization enough to win Best Picture. I am curious to hear what Bruce Hornsby‘s score sounds like and, again, I really like Sean Bobbitt‘s work behind the camera and with this, Twelve Years a Slave and The Place Beyond the Pines this year, he has a great shot at a nomination.
STUDIO: FilmDistrict
CAST: Josh Brolin, Sharlto Copley, Elizabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson and James Ransone
SYNOPSIS: Oldboy follows the story of an advertising executive (Josh Brolin) who is kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement without any indication of his captor’s motive. When he is inexplicably released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his bizarre and torturous punishment only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment. His quest for revenge leads him into an ill-fated relationship with a young social worker (Elizabeth Olsen) and ultimately to an illusive man (Sharlto Copley) who allegedly holds the key to his salvation.
Out of the Furnace
DIR. Scott Cooper /TBA 2013
Scott Cooper is back with his first film since Crazy Heart. Out of the Furnace is a Blacklist script from Brad Inglesby called The Low Dweller, which Cooper re-wrote and located to the Rust Belt. He’s taken his time settling on a follow-up to his debut and with a cast like this he’s, at the very least, assured all eyes wll be on him once this one finds a release date.
STUDIO: Relativity Media
CAST: Christian Bale, Zoe Saldana, Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard, Woody Harrelson, Willem Dafoe and Forest Whitaker
SYNOPSIS: From the critically-acclaimed writer and director of Crazy Heart comes a gripping and gritty dramatic thriller about fate, circumstance, and justice. Russell (Bale) and his younger brother Rodney (Affleck) live in the economically-depressed Rust Belt, and have always dreamed of escaping and finding better lives. But when a cruel twist of fate lands Russell in prison, his brother is lured into one of the most violent and ruthless crime rings in the Northeast – a mistake that will almost cost him everything. Once released, Russell must choose between his own freedom, or risk it all to seek justice for his brother.
Parkland
DIR. Peter Landesman /TBA 2013
Writer/director Peter Landesman adapted and will direct Parkland based on the book “Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy” by Vincent Bugliosi and he’s got an all-star cast to help him do it. Only problem in terms of Oscar is this one doesn’t have a distributor, but production began at the end of January giving this one time to be sold at the Cannes marketplace and perhaps find itself a nice, late year release and Toronto premiere.
UPDATED: As a commenter has pointed out below, Open Road Films will distribute Parkland.
STUDIO: Open Road Films
CAST: Zac Efron, Marcia Gay Harden, Paul Giamatti, Billy Bob Thornton, Jacki Weaver, James Badge Dale, Jackie Earle Haley, Colin Hanks and David Harbour
SYNOPSIS: Parkland recounts the chaotic events that occurred at Parkland Hospital in Dallas on the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, November 22nd 1963. Part thriller, part real-time drama, Parkland is the ferocious, heart-stopping story of unexceptional people fighting for survival and reaching for heroism in an exceptional time.
The Place Beyond the Pines
DIR. Derek Cianfrance /March 29
I don’t think Derek Cianfrance‘s The Place Beyond the Pines has much of a shot at Best Picture, Focus’ decision to release it in March more-or-less sealed that deal, but acting wise Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling may have a shot her, though I wouldn’t wager too much money on either of them, especially with Cooper having Serena and possibly David O. Russell’s Abscam project later this year and Gosling starring in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives. You can read my review of the film from Toronto last year right here.
STUDIO: Focus Features
CAST: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta, Rose Byrne, Dane DeHaan, Bruce Greenwood, Ben Mendelsohn and Emory Cohen
SYNOPSIS: Luke (Ryan Gosling) is a professional motorcycle rider who turns to bank robberies to support his newborn son, but when he crosses paths with a rookie police officer (Bradley Cooper) their violent confrontation spirals into a tense generational feud. The Place Beyond the Pines is a rich, dramatic thriller that traces the intersecting lives of fathers and sons, cops and robbers, heroes and villains.
That does it for today’s installment. Featured below are links to Parts One and Two and tomorrow I will have the final ten films in this preview for you starting with Denis Villeneuve‘s Prisoners and ending the whole thing with Martin Scorsese‘s The Wolf of Wall Street. There’s still a lot more to get to, so stay tuned…
2014 Oscar Preview Navigation
