1.
Les Misérables
Director: Tom Hooper
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Helena Bonham Carter, Sasha Baron Cohen and Samantha Barks
Synopsis: "An adaptation of the successful stage musical based on Victor Hugo's classic novel set in 19th-century France, in which a paroled prisoner named Jean Valjean seeks redemption."
The adaptation of one of the most loved musical shows in the whole world - Les Misérables - promises to be breath taking and one of the most acclaimed movies of the year. Directed by Tom Hooper (The King's Speech), this movie set the bar high for itself by releasing a beautiful and emotional movie trailer, generating the strongest Oscar buzz of the pre-awards season. The stage adaptations of the movie tend to be always epic and the same may happen with the movie if Hooper knows how to manage everything. Starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and a big couple of other stars, this story about the dramas of a group of people in 19th-century Paris, promises a lot and if it achieves all its potential, Les Miz will be a certain Best Picture nominee.
2.
Hyde Park On Hudson
Director: Roger Michell
Starring: Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Olivia Williams, Olivia Colman and Samuel West
Synopsis: "The story of the love affair between FDR and his distant cousin Margaret Stuckley, centered around the weekend in 1939 when the King and Queen of the United Kingdom visited upstate New York."
The AMPAS loves American Presidents and British Royality and, well... Hyde Park On Hudson is about the historical meeting between the British Royal Family and President Roosevelt! Bill Murray stars this comedy-drama that kind of reminds me The King's Speech a bit. It's about a story of a love affair during an important weekend for two nations, with some funny situations and lovely moments, making me believe it will be Oscar-baity enough in order to compete in the Best Picture Oscar race. I think Hyde Park On Hudson will be a movie both critics and audiences will love and I believe the AMPAS will fall in love easily for this one - it's just its kind of movie!
3.
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Director: Ben Zeitlin
Starring: Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry
Synopsis: "Faced with her father's fading health and environmental changes that release an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy leaves her Delta-community home in search of her mother."
Considered one of the most memorable indie productions of the last years and one of the best Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winners since the film festival exists, but the truth is that Beasts of the Southern Wild may be almost "too good" to get a Best Picture Oscar nomination. Ben Zeitlin did a "miracle" with less than 2 million dollars and critics noticed that, calling Beasts "a game-changer that gets you excited about movies again" (Peter Travers in Rolling Stone) and praising its direction, the young star (miss Wallis) and the cinematography work. Empathy is needed in order to get AMPAS recognition and while happiness may not be easy to find in a movie about tragedy and poor people, the fact is that the movie offers some sweet moments and fills your heart with hope. I believe the Academy will fall in love for this one.
4.
Moonrise Kingdom
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman and Tilda Swinton
Synopsis: "A pair of young lovers flee their New England town, which causes a local search party to fan out and find them."
A tale of naïve young love, directed by the always vibrant Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom emerges as a major Best Picture contender since its box-office performance looks more like a successful big-studio-Christmas-family-movie than a "normal" independent production in the middle of Summer. If there's something we all experienced is "living our first love" and the AMPAS members may connect with the movie in that way. Plus, there's an all-star composed ensemble cast, which brings a lot of pedigree to this production and it will call some attentions from Oscar voters. While I don't see Moonrise Kingdom as a "lock" in the Best Picture race, the critical praise and tickets sales are a really strong indicator of the cinematic quality and, at this time, ignoring this movie is impossible.
5.
The Dark Knight Rises
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard and Morgan Freeman
Synopsys: "Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, the terrorist leader Bane arrives in Gotham City, pushing it and its police force to their limits, forcing its former hero Batman to resurface after taking the fall for Harvey Dent's crimes."
Early reports say The Dark Knight Rises is something spectacular and truly brilliant and very well-made, which makes me think about its Oscar chances. The second installement of the "Batman Nolan movies" got a big snub in the Best Picture and Best Director fields, but will the Academy pass another opportunity to recognize Nolan's inovative work in the this franchise? First reviews say that, more than a superhero movie, The Dark Knight Rises is a provocative, sad and brutal reflexion about the American society when confronted with chaos: sounds juicy, right? I believe the DKR will get some serious Oscar buzz in the major categories and I truly hope it will be good and profitable enough (I mean, it is a guarantee), making a Best Picture Oscar nomination very likely to happen - people just love Batman!
6.
The Great Gatsby
Director: Baz Luhrman
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgerton and Isla Fisher
Synopsys: "Nick Carraway, a Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy."
In spite of Luhrman's last directorial effort, Australia, being a predictable and unoriginal soapy romantic drama, The Great Gatsby is building a surprisingly strong Best Picture Oscar buzz and I hope it will rock. The last time F. Scott Fitzgerald novel got a movie adaptation, it starred Robert Redford and Mia Farrow and it was "good looking" and featured good acting performances, but it was kinda "lifeless". This time, Luhrman promises something more dynamic and emotionally ressonating (at least, it is what the electrifying trailer tells me) and if he adopts a little more elaborated directing "formula" he used in Moulin Rouge! and in Romeo + Juliet, I can see it working. Plus, this is a period piece and it has Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan - the AMPAS loves a classic novels' adaptations, period pieces and a pair of talented and good-looking leads.
7.
Django Unchained
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Don Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Sasha Baron Cohen, Kerry Washington and Jonah Hill
Synopsys: "With the help of his mentor, a slave-turned-bounty hunter sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner."
Quentin Tarantino became a synonym of violence, blood and strong language, but he also became a synonym of quality. This Christmas he brings Django Unchained, a western tale of revenge with a stunning ensemble cast. While Django may be more in the line of Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (snubed in the major awards categories) than Pulp Fiction or Inglorious Basterds (Tarantino Best Picture nominated movies), it may have in its advantage being a western: an high-quality western is rare, but when there's one, it gets always some kind of recognition from the Academy. The search of the loved one, slavery, revenge and tiranny look like subjects of Tarantino upcoming movie, juicy and interesting subject, that may call the attentions of the Oscar voters and make Django Unchained more award-worthy looking, putting this movie in the run for a Best Picture Oscar nomination.
8.
The Sessions
Director: Ben Lewin
Starring: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt and William H. Macy
Synopsys: "A man in an iron lung who wishes to lose his virginity contacts a professional sex surrogate with the help of his therapist and priest."
Winning the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award - Dramatic is a strong indicator of how loved The Sessions (previously named The Surrogate) were at the time the film festival was running. Acclaimed by the critics and loved by the audiences, the story of a man in an iron lung may be this awards season surprise in my point of view. People love this kind of stories and The Sessions is driven by amazing acting performances, according to reviews, which will benefit the movie, giving it some visibility in the way that the actors work shows the movie itself. Precious or The Station Agent are some previous winners of the Audience Award of Sundance and both were in the run for a Best Picture Oscar nomination, with Precious getting one of the spots of the nominees shortlist, so, I believe The Sessions has good chances, specially if it receives strong recognition from indie cinema awards.
9.
Life of Pi
Life of Pi
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan and Tobey Maguire
Synopsys: "The story of an Indian boy named Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean."
Ang Lee's comeback to Oscar glory? After being the first non-white director winning the Academy Award of Best Director for Brokeback Mountain, Lee has been away from big awards races and his last effort, Taking Woodstock, was the less well-received of his career, but things may change with his adaptation of Life of Pi. It promises to be a movie different from any other released or that will be released this year, so standing out from the crowd will not be a problem, but, to be honest, I don't know what to think about this project... It sounds like the kind of movie that may turn into a hit or into a flop, but Lee is a gifted director, so I believe this one will be one of the most interesting movies of 2012 - and the Academy loves to honour a big director's triumphant comeback with a Best Picture nod!
Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan and Tobey Maguire
Synopsys: "The story of an Indian boy named Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean."
Ang Lee's comeback to Oscar glory? After being the first non-white director winning the Academy Award of Best Director for Brokeback Mountain, Lee has been away from big awards races and his last effort, Taking Woodstock, was the less well-received of his career, but things may change with his adaptation of Life of Pi. It promises to be a movie different from any other released or that will be released this year, so standing out from the crowd will not be a problem, but, to be honest, I don't know what to think about this project... It sounds like the kind of movie that may turn into a hit or into a flop, but Lee is a gifted director, so I believe this one will be one of the most interesting movies of 2012 - and the Academy loves to honour a big director's triumphant comeback with a Best Picture nod!
10.
The Hunger Games
Director: Gary Ross
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks and Lenny Kravitz
Synopsis: "Set in a future where the Capitol selects a boy and girl from the twelve districts to fight to the death on live television, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her younger sister's place for the latest match."
Considered by a lot of forum predictions folks as the first Best Picture Oscar contender (including me), The Hunger Games is too big to be completely snubed by the AMPAS, but I've some doubts about how strong will the Best Picture buzz be around it by the end of the year. The movie has quality, it's an emotional and breathtaking cinematic journey with an extremely successful box-office performance, but some fear the future of the franchise in the way that it may turn into something more ticket-selling than award-deserving. I think The Hunger Games deserves a Best Picture nod, but it will be a hard sell: Oscar tends to stay away from franchises, specially when they are adaptations of litterary phenomenoms (I'm talking about Harry Potter saga but excluding The Godfather).
11. Anna Karenina
Director: Joe Wright
Starring: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Johnson, Kelly MacDonald, Emily Watson and Alicia Vikander
Synopsys: "Set in late-19th-century Russia high-society, the aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the affluent Count Vronsky."
12. Lincoln
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Jackie Earle Haley, Jared Harris, John Hawkes, Sally Field, David Strathairn and Hal Holbrook
Synopsys: "The sixteenth President of the United States guides the North to victory during the Civil War."
13. Inside Llewyn Davis
Director: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman and Garrett Hedlund
Synopsys: "A singer-songwriter navigates New York's folk music scene during the 1960s."
14. The Master
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams
Synopsys: "A 1950s-set drama centered on the relationship between a charismatic intellectual known as "the Master" whose faith-based organization begins to catch on in America, and a young drifter who becomes his right-hand man."
15. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett and Andy Serkis
Synopsys: "Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit, journeys to the Lonely Mountain accompanied by a group of dwarves to reclaim a treasure taken from them by the dragon Smaug."
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