Lincoln
DIR. Steven Spielberg /TBA
I’m not sure there’s a name in Hollywood that is not in Spielberg’s Lincoln and from the top down it’s a list of who’s who in the acting world at this time including favorites outside of the big names such as James Spader, John Halks, Walkt Goggins and Jackie Earle Haley. If War Horse can get a nomination then Lincoln has to be in your list of major, early Oscar contenders.
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Hal Holbrook, James Spader, John Hawkes, Tim Blake Nelson, Bruce McGill, Joseph Cross, Gloria Reuben, David Warshofsky, David Strathairn, Walt Goggins, Lee Pace, Jackie Earle Haley, David Oyelowo and Jared Harris
Get more on this film here.
Looper
DIR. Rian Johnson /September 28
This year has several actors that have found solid roles in multiple high-profile upcoming features. I mentioned Sacha Baron Cohen is in Les Miserables and Django Unchained. Justin Timberlake is in Inside Llewyn Davis and Trouble with the Curce. There’s also Leonardo DiCaprio who’s also in Django Unchained as well as The Great Gatsby. Carey Mulligan is in Gatsby with DiCaprio and Inside Llewyn Davis with Timberlake and another member of the Django Unchained crew is Joseph Gordon-Levitt who is also in The Dark Knight Rises and, last, but certainly not least, Rian Johnson’s Looper.
Johnson is best known for Brick and hopefully most of you also know him for The Brothers Bloom, but with Looper he’s upping his game and bringing his unique style of storytelling to a sci-fi actioner that has already earned advanced buzz from select folks that have seen it.
As always, however, the question as to whether or not this is in the Academy’s wheelhouse comes into play, but for now let’s be optimistic as this one could potentially find a place in the Toronto Film Festival just before its September release and ride a wave of praise all the way through awards season.
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Jeff Daniels, Piper Perabo and Noah Segan
Get more on this film here.
The Master
DIR. Paul Thomas Anderson /TBA
It’s Paul Thomas Anderson. It’s being handled by the Weinstein Co. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman. What more do you need to consider it an Oscar favorite?
Early speculation believes this may end up at the Cannes Film Festival in May, which would be quite the pleasant surprise, but I’m not getting my hopes up. I have a feeling this one won’t hit theaters until late this year and would have a better chance of premiering in Venice where the buzz could begin slowly rather than as a tidal wave.
Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Lena Endre, Jesse Plemons, David Warshofsky, Rami Malek and Joshua Close
Get more on this film here.
Nero Fiddled
DIR. Woody Allen /June 22
Woody Allen reminded us all why we love his films with Midnight in Paris last year and this year he’s moving from Paris to Rome for Nero Fiddled, a film we know little about, but he has once again assembled a cast with an endless number of names I simply can’t wait to see get their mitts on Allen’s dialogue. In fact, even Allen will play a role in this one, marking his first on-screen performance since Scoop in 2006.
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Penelope Cruz, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Woody Allen, Riccardo Scamarcio, Judy Davis, Greta Gerwig, Alison Pill, Ornella Muti and Flavio Parenti
Get more on this film here.
Not Fade Away
DIR. David Chase /October 19
It was recently revealed David Chase‘s new film would not be titled Twylight Zones, but instead Not Fade Away. Best known for “The Sopranos”, Chase is pulling a 180 and delivering a music-driven story set in 1960s suburbia centered on a postwar, post-Depression era parent (James Gandolfini) who has given his kid every advantage that he didn’t have growing up, but now can’t help feeling jealous of the liberated, more adventurous destiny his son is able to enjoy. Will Chase move from award-winning television to award-winning feature films?
Cast: James Gandolfini, Jack Huston, Brad Garrett, Bella Heathcote, Christopher McDonald, Lisa Lampanelli, Will Brill and John Magaro
Get more on this film here.
Savages
DIR. Oliver Stone /July 6
Tough one to figure out what to do with this one. On one hand it’s Oliver Stone and the story combined with the cast sounds excellent. On the other hand, Stone hasn’t exactly delivered award-worthy stuff for some time. The film was originally set for a September 28 release, but Universal bumped it all the way up to a summer slot on July 6. Does that mean it’s more of a flash-bang popcorn feature or what? I don’t quite know how to read that move, especially since we haven’t seen any kind of trailer yet.
The story centers on two pals (Aaron Johnson and Taylor Kitsch) from Laguna Beach who share the same girlfriend (Blake Lively) and a thriving business growing and distributing the best-quality pot on the planet. When they resist being muscled by a Mexican drug cartel, the girl is kidnapped and the ransom is every cent they’ve made for the last five years. They agree to pay, but hatch an alternate plan to get her back, get revenge, and then get lost. Take that and mix in the cast Stone has assembled and I know I can’t wait to see it.
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Demian Bichir, Mia Maestro, Salma Hayek, Benicio del Toro and Joel David Moore
Get more on this film here.
The Silver Linings Playbook
DIR. David O. Russell /November 21
David O. Russell hit it big with The Fighter a couple years ago and he’s back with a curious film based on Matthew Quick’s debut novel centering on a former high school teacher (Bradley Cooper) who was institutionalized for depression and then released into the care of his mother. He tries to win back his ex-wife but becomes involved with an eccentric neighbor with problems of her own.
I like the make up of the cast in this one, especially seeing Chris Tucker in something that isn’t a Rush Hour movie.
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Tucker, Jacki Weaver, Julia Stiles, John Ortiz and Shea Whigham
Get more on this film here.
This is Forty
DIR. Judd Apatow /December 21
When will comedy be honored by the Academy? Ever? I think if there had been ten nominees back in 2006 that The 40 Year-Old Virgin would have had a shot, either that or Wedding Crashers, but it isn’t often we see an all-out laugher get Oscar attention, but perhaps Judd Apatow‘s follow-up to Knocked Up will be just the feature to do it. I’m not counting on it, but from what I can see, if a comedy is going to have a chance this year this is most likely the one.
Cast: Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Megan Fox, Melissa McCarthy, Albert Brooks, Ryan Lee, John Lithgow and Charlyne Yi
Get more on this film here.
Trouble with the Curve
DIR. Robert Lorenz /September 28
Clint Eastwood won’t be directing a movie for release this year, but he will be starring in one for his longtime Malpaso producing partner, Robert Lorenz. The story centers on a veteran baseball scout (Eastwood) who takes his daughter (Amy Adams) on the road with him to eye a hot prospect. Eastwood was thought to be done with acting after Gran Torino so it will be interesting to see what exactly made him change his mind.
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Matthew Lillard, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman and Scott Eastwood
Get more on this film here.
Zero Dark Thirty
DIR. Kathryn Bigelow /December 19
It was just revealed that Kathryn Bigelow‘s once-titled Kill Bin Laden will now be released as Zero Dark Thirty, a definitely snappier, less-to-the-point title that tells me it’s going to have a serious edge to it as she and her Oscar winning screenwriter of The Hurt Locker, Mark Boal, explore the black ops mission that led to the death of Osama bin Laden during a high-stakes raid on his compound in Pakistan.
There will be obvious concern for Columbia Pictures to paint the film as something other than The Hurt Locker 2 when it comes to awards time, but this is definitely a title I’m anxious to see.
Cast: Jason Clarke, Chris Pratt, Joel Edgerton, Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Edgar Ramirez, Kyle Chandler, Nash Edgerton, Jennifer Ehle, Harold Perrineau Jr. and Fares Fares
Get more on this film here.
And now finally for a dark horse…
Parker
DIR. Taylor Hackford /October 12
Since Ray saw Taylor Hackford nominated for Best Director he hasn’t done much. Love Ranch was his first feature film in six years back in 2010 and it fizzled and faded into obscurity without anyone seeing it and now he returns with Parker, a heist-thriller with Jason Statham in the lead role as a thief who follows a strict moral code, but a hard guy who’s willing to kill if crossed.
The film is based on the character created in Donald E. Westlake’s books and the screenplay was written by John J. McLaughlin who co-wrote Black Swan as well as the upcoming Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of ‘Psycho’.
The only reason I think this film has any shot is due to the fact it does come out later in the year, is directed by an Oscar nominated director and I am leaving room for Hackford to tap into what Roger Donaldson got into with the wrongfully overlooked crime-thriller The Bank Job back in 2008, a film Lionsgate dumped in early March four years ago and is one of the few films in Statham’s career where it didn’t wholly rely on him beating people up the whole time. It had subtlety and a ’70s style vibe. For that matter, maybe I should also add Lee Daniels’ Paperboy seeing how the first poster for that film is attempting to do everything I just described and it too has an interesting cast not to mention the director of Precious at the helm.
Cast: Jason Statham, Michael Chiklis, Nick Nolte, Clifton Collins Jr. and Jennifer Lopez
Get more on this film here.
And so there you have it, 25 films plus one to grow on. What films do you think I missed? Are you prepared to say, “Absolutely no way!” for any of the 25 I listed? If so, speak up below and let’s get the conversation started…
