It’s about time to start taking a closer look at this year’s Oscar race. Release dates are being set and I just booked my trip to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) where last year I saw not only 2010 Best Picture nominees Black Swan and 127 Hours, but last year’s Best Foreign Language winner In a Better World and Best Picture winner The King’s Speech. Here’s to hoping this year’s TIFF brings just as many great films.
As for this update I’ve been doing a little cleaning in my “For Your Consideration” section, adding a few films here and there and removing a few others. Some of the titles I removed include Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire, which will now be released on January 20 and I haven’t seen signs there will be an Oscar run in December. I also removed Tom Hanks’ latest film Larry Crowne as it just doesn’t have the goods. I also removed Tarsem Singh’s Immortals, which, to me, just appears to be something that won’t be contending for any of the top awards even though there may be an art direction nod in its future.
The one film I debated removing and ultimately left on was J.J. Abrams’ Super 8. I previously saw this film having a chance at the Best Picture slots acquired by District 9 and Inception in the past, but after seeing it and taking note of the critical response I don’t see it hanging around. However, the only reason it remains on the list is I see a slight chance that once Academy screeners are sent out in December that Super 8 could possibly see an uptick. Then again, at the same time Academy members will be dealing with other Steven Spielberg-related fare in War Horse and The Adventures of Tintin which tells me the likelihood of a Spielbergian homage, produced by the man himself just won’t have enough in the end.
There are also several films already on the list that have received release dates over the last several weeks as several studios have begun setting their dates in preparation for their Oscar runs.
First off there’s Roman Polanski‘s Carnage starring Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly which will hit theaters on November 18. This film, based on Yasmina Reza’s Tony Award-winning drama, seems like it’s an opportunity for two if not more acting nominations as well as opportunities for Best Picture, Director and Screenplay with Polanski and Reza combining to adapt the play for the screen.
Sony Classics also set a date for Pedro Almodovar‘s The Skin I Live In, which will hit theaters on October 7. The early placement is one I look at as more of a hope for some box-office play rather than a legit Oscar bid as this is a good film (read my review from Cannes here), but I don’t see it amounting to much at the Oscars.
The Weinstein Co. has been busy dating their Oscar fodder beginning with Cannes silent standout The Artist from director Michel Hazanavicius. I saw this one at Cannes (my review here) and I think there is a bona fide shot it finds its way into contention for Best Picture. The November 23 placement puts it in prime position for Oscar campaigning and considering it’s a silent film it may appeal greatly to the Academy’s older demo. Not to mention the younger members with an appreciation for the past.
The Weinsteins will release Ralph Fiennes‘ directorial debut, Coriolanus, on December 2. The updated adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy features Fiennes in the title role alongside Gerard Butler, Brian Cox, Vanessa Redgrave, James Nesbitt and Jessica Chastain. It will be interesting to see what kind of directorial talent Fiennes may have been keeping from us all these years.
The Weinsteins have also picked up and will release W.E. the second directorial feature from Madonna starring Andrea Riseborough, Oscar Isaac, Abbie Cornish and James D’Arcy. The film will release one week after Coriolanus on December 9 and follows a dual storyline, one featuring Cornish as a modern woman obsessed with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and another focusing on the royal couple itself. The film is expected to debut at the Venice Film Festival.
November 4 will see the release of My Week with Marilyn , Michelle Williams‘ latest bid for an Oscar nomination as she plays Marilyn Monroe for director Simon Curtis (“Cranford”). Williams has been nominated for an Oscar twice, including a nom last year for her performance in Blue Valentine, but the Best Actress category is going to be stiff this year… but more on that in just a second.
And when I say “just a second,” I mean right now as the Weinsteins may have more than one Best Actress nominee in their 2011 stable as they will release The Iron Lady starring Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher, the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!) the film also stars Jim Broadbent as Thatcher’s husband Denis. The film is set for a December 16 release and the international teaser trailer just debuted, which you can watch directly below.
And we can’t talk about the Best Actress race unless we also mention Liddell Entertainment and Roadside Attractions’ latest acquisition, Albert Nobbs, starring five-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close as a woman passing as a man in order to work and survive in 19th century Dublin. It’s a role that won Close an Obie Award in 1982 and most pundits are already taking sides as to whether this year’s Oscar will go to Close or Streep. Streep, of course, holds the record for the most nominations, but she does at least already have one win. Close’s last nomination was back in 1989 for Dangerous Liaisons and she has never won. I guess we’ll have to let the performances do the talking. Liddell and Roadside teamed last year to deliver Biutiful to theaters, which ended in a nomination for Javier Bardem. While Albert Nobbs does not yet have a release date, the studio is eying a fall 2011 release.
I should also mention I’ve added John Hillcoat‘s The Wettest County, which I forgot to add back in May while I was at Cannes and the Weinstein Co. picked it up for distribution later this year. The film is based on Matt Bondurant’s novel, “The Wettest County in the World,” and is described as a true gangsters story of the Bondurant boys (Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy), bootlegging siblings taking the law into their own hands in Prohibition-era Virginia while making a run for the American Dream. The film co-stars Jessica Chastain, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman, Mia Wasikowska and Jason Clarke and is expected to have a qualifying run in December.
Finally, Warner Bros. is still deciding on when exactly to release Clint Eastwood‘s J. Edgar, a biopic on controversial FBI director J. Edgar Hoover starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Judi Dench and Armie Hammer, but Deadline reports an October release is likely in the offing. The site also reports WB is looking to release Stephen Daldry‘s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close sometime in December. The film is an adaptation of the Sept. 11-themed novel by Jonathan Safran Foer and stars Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, John Goodman, Viola Davis and Jeffrey Wright. Both films are considered Best Picture front-runners at this point, not to mention the myriad of acting, directing, screenwriting and other categories both are likely to compete in.
Speaking of Best Picture and predictions in general, I have not yet sorted through the entire field, but my goal at this point is to have my first predictions of the year up and online no later than July 18. So stay tuned for that.
As far as closing out this first full-fledged Oscar update, I wanted to end with a surefire Sound Design and Mixing contender, and at the moment frontrunner, with the Soundworks Collection’s featurette taking a behind-the-scenes look at the sound done for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Check out the video below, it’s a pretty good watch and check back often as the Oscar race is just getting started.
For all of my Oscar coverage including news, awards schedules, predictions, contenders and award precursor tracking check out my “The Contenders” section right here. It is alive and kicking.
