So much Oscar talk! It’s only September 22nd, but the 9 slots for the 10 Best picture nominees (don’t ask) are starting to take slots and take shape. In no order of any kind, here are more than 10 films that could find themselves in the Oscar mix. These are films with release dates and/or definite intentions of opening (or have already opened) in 2014:
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel – directed by Wes Anderson
2. Boyhood — directed by Richard Linklaker
3. The Theory of Everything — directed by James Marsh
4. The Imitation Game – directed by Morten Tyldum
5. St. Vincent — directed by Theodore Melfi
6. Wild — Jean Marc Vallee
7. Birdman — directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
8. Foxcatcher — directed by Bennett Miller
9. Whiplash– directed by Damien Chazelle
10. Belle — directed by Amma Asante
11. Men, Women, and Children — directed by Jason Reitman
12. Mr. Turner — directed by Mike Leigh
There are a few additional films no one’s seen yet. They are are all major players: Inherent Vice, Gone Girl, Unbroken, Into the Woods, American Sniper, Big Eyes, Interstellar. We’ll see three of them at the New York Film Festival– Gone Girl, Inherent Vice, and Birdman. (Technically, Birdman has been played at Telluride and Venice, so that’s why I’m including it above.) The others will come later. But already there are polarizing opinions about which film deserves what prize, and which actor is yada, yada, yada. Everyone involved would like to see a surprise entry, a dark horse, something to stir the pot. But these will be the group of films we’re working with now, give or take one or two.
