Films with Oscar aspirations like to plan for an end-of-the-year release in the hopes of remaining fresh in Academy voters' minds while still meeting the December 31 release deadline. This leads to an ‘award season' jam-packed with quality films. However, every year there are a few contenders that sneak in before fall. Remember ""The Hurt Locker,"" ""Up"" and ""District 9""? All three were summer releases, which have the added challenge of maintaining a place in voters' hearts for a few extra months.
On October 1 the more ‘serious' award-seeking movies will start hitting theaters. But let's take a look at some best picture contenders that you may have already seen.
""Toy Story 3""
Released June 18
Last year, ""Up"" took advantage of the extra Best Picture slots to become the second animated feature ever nominated for Best Picture (the other was ""Beauty and the Beast""). While ""Toy Story 3"" lacks the originality ""Up"" had, it manages to be both hilarious and touching enough to compensate. ""Toy Story 3"" is a lock for best animated picture and I can't see it being left out of the Best Picture race either.
""The Kids Are All Right""
July 9
Coming out of Sundance and with a mid-summer theatrical release, ""The Kids Are All Right"" is a dramedy following a lesbian couple (played by Julianne Moore and Annette Bening) who each have a child from the same anonymous sperm donor. When their daughter and her younger brother find their biological father (Mark Ruffalo) and build a relationship with him, major mama drama ensues. ""Kids"" is well acted and will probably elicit a few acting Oscar nods.
The film explores the dynamics of the modern American family with honesty, insight and humor. The Academy loves to think of itself as a progressive group (see: George Clooney's acceptance speech for ""Syriana""). While ""Kids"" is no ""Milk,"" it does carry a message the Academy can get behind—families with same-sex parents are just like every other family.
""Inception""
July 15
This one is a shoe-in. One of the suspected catalysts for the increase in best-picture nominations from five to ten last year was the snubbing of ""The Dark Knight."" The Academy wanted to make room for ‘popular' films and draw in a wider audience.
They have a Groundhog Day situation with ""Inception,"" and the Academy isn't going to wait for another Christopher Nolan film to give him a Best Picture nomination. Just like ""The Dark Knight,"" ""Inception"" was a popular seat-filler, a critical favorite and a giant nerdgasm all rolled into one. A nomination is in the bag—let's give them the editing award right now too.
And though none of the following movies have gotten wide releases yet, a few have had festival premieres, and all of them are heavily buzzed as best picture nominees.
""The Social Network""
Oct. 1
David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin team up for this ‘based-on-a-true-story' film about the birth of Facebook, with Jesse Eisenberg as creator Mark Zuckerberg and Justin Timberlake as Napster designer Sean Parker. With a well-put-together trailer, an incredibly relevant subject and Fincher and Sorkin behind the scenes, ""The Social Network"" is certainly one of the most buzzed-about releases this fall.
""Black Swan""
Dec. 1
Darren Aronofsky, director of ""The Wrestler,"" is back with ""Black Swan,"" the story of a ballet dancer (Natalie Portman) in the midst of a psychological breakdown. Portman's character, whose plays the lead role in a production of Swan Lake, begins to imagine she herself is turning into a swan as she finds herself in increasingly aggressive competition with her own understudy (Mila Kunis). Considering the early buzz from its premier in Venice and the director's previous snubbing for ""The Wrestler,"" ""Black Swan"" looks like a good shot.
""Somewhere""
Dec. 22
Sofia Coppola wrote and directed ""Somewhere"" as her fourth feature film. The movie follows Stephen Dorff, a detached movie star living out of hotels who tries to forge a better relationship with his young daughter (Elle Fanning). It was inspired by Sofia's own experience following her father, Francis Ford Coppola, around the world. The movie opened at the Venice Film Festival and took the prestigious Golden Lion for best picture. Although Quentin Tarantino, president of the Venice festival judges, is also a close friend of Sofia Coppola and has been accused of bias, the committee vote for ""Somewhere"" was unanimous. Clearly, there's something to ""Somewhere.""
""True Grit""
Dec. 25
In ""True Grit,"" the Coen brothers remake a classic John Wayne Western about a tough, alcoholic U.S. Marshal helping a stubborn young woman track down her father's killer. Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin stack the cast with Oscar potential. Come award season, never count the Coen brothers out.
The expansion to ten Best Picture nominees has shaken up the world of Oscar predictions quite a bit. These days, you can't safely count out any film until the names are read in February.
