2010 Oscar hopefuls

For those of you who look forward to the Oscar race every year, or at least try to know what’s on the radar of most pundits out there, here are the films to keep your eye on in the coming months.

An Education: Winner of the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, An Education is the one of the biggest front runners in this year’s Oscar race, with across the board praise for its female lead Carey Mulligan, and raves for lead actor Peter Sarsgaard, and supporting performance by the under appreciated Alfred Molina. At this point, Carey Mulligan is the biggest front runner in all the races combined with an assured nomination and possible victory.

The Lovely Bones:  Peter Jackson‘s highly anticipated return comes in the adaptation of the Alice Sebold novel The Lovely Bones.  The film tells the story of a young woman who is brutally raped and murdered and watches from heaven, as her family tries to cope with the loss, and try to solve what or why it happened.  One of the biggest front runners in this year’s Oscar race has already been screened  a  few times, and is slowly loosing steam as reviews come in saying the film is magnificent, but plays more as a thriller, rather than solid drama.  Keep a look out for technical nominations, as well as nominations in lead for past Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan of Atonement, and supporting nominations for Rachel Weisz, as with as the big ones for Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay.

Avatar:  To put this film, as being highly anticipated would not do the film justice with fans and fanboys, to see what the master filmmaker has conjured up with his first feature length film since 1997′s record breaking phenomenon Titanic.  Oscar prognosticators seem to be at odds whether the film will be a Best Picture nominee, with the Academy changing to 10 films, but those  who have seen cuts or scenes from the film overwhelmingly believe it can.  Expect the film to sweep the technical categories.

Precious: Based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire :  Already the front runner for a Supporting Actress win, Mo’Nique seems to be on every one’s radar at the moment, since the film’s reception at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where the film went on to win the coveted Grand Jury Prize, along with the Audience Award.  The film has been slowly gaining steam towards a Best Picture nomination, as well as, a nom for Gabourey Sidibe as the film’s lead playing an overweight black woman who is pregnant with her second child, and under pressure from her cruel mother (Mo’Nique), while seeking guidance from a social worker (Mariah Carey).

Nine : On the Oscar train since the film’s announcement; Nine marks the return to the musical for Chicago director Rob Marshall in an adaptation of the Broadway play of the same name.  The film stars a virtual roster of Oscar winners and nominees, with Judy Dench, Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman and in the singing and dancing lead, Daniel Day Lewis.  Early buzz has been mixed, but likely to take a Best Picture nomination, as well as, acting categories going either way for Judy Dench and Marion Cotillard.

Bright Star: Still the only female to every win the best director award at the Cannes film festival, Jane Campion returns with Bright Star, an original screenplay of her own that tells  of poet John Keats and his lover Fanny Brawne, played by Abbie Cornish in a star making performance, whose previous work in Candy and Stop-Loss first put the talented actress on the Hollywood map.  Though the film’s reception has considerably cooled since it’s Cannes premiere, the film is growing a strong following hoping to muster up some Oscar attention, with its best chances in the lead actress and original screenplay categories.

The Road: Loved by many, and indifferent to others, the film tells the incredibly bleak story of a father and son on their trek to to the coast in a post apocalyptic America.  Viggo Mortenson returns in top form as the father protecting his son, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee.  Both actors are looking to earn Oscar nominations for their respective performances, but with Mortenson and the film’s cinematography so far the one’s up ahead.

The Hurt Locker:   One of the summer’s breakout films The Hurt Locker has been receiving raves since its premier at the Venice Film Festival last year and has not slowed down since.  The Hurt Locker is primed for Oscar gold with enough love for the film to earn its slot in the Oscar top 10 list, as well as, nomination love for Best Director Kathryn Bigelow, and possible nomination for lead actor Jeremy Renner and supporting actor Anthony Mackie.

UP:  With Oscar prognosticators still reeling over last year’s omission of Wall*E in the Best Picture category, UP seems to have all the right marks to fit the bill, and give Pixar its coveted Best Picture nomination, a first for an animated film since 1991′s Beauty and the Beast.

Amelia: Beloved director Mira Nair returns with the ambitious biopic of legendary pilot Amelia Earhart played by Oscar winner Hilary Swank in an attempt to get Oscar number 3.  Don’t expect Ms. Swank to obtain the win, but a nomination is very likely for the film, along with coveted Best Picture nomination and long shot nominations for Richard Gere and Ewen McGregor, to have the next possible acting nominations outside of the film’s technical nominations.

Invictus:  In the most obvious Oscar film out there, the secretive Invictus tells pseudo biopic of famed civil rights activist Nelson Mandela, played by Morgan Freeman and his hosting of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, in hopes to unify his country with Matt Damon, as one of the film’s rugby players.  With the film directed by Oscar winner Clint Eastwood and previous Oscar track record look for Invictus to do well at the big show.

A Prophet: France’s official entry into the Best Foreign Film race, as well as hopes to crack the Best Picture race, A Prophet has earned nothing but raves, with many calling the film the best prison film ever made, with comparisons to last year’s Gomorrah.

Up In The Air: Jason Reitman returns again from the Toronto International Film Festival, after his success last year with Juno, with his new dramedy Up In The Air starring a never better George Clooney, in what folks are describing as the best film of the year so far (up till September). It’s a story of a lonely businessman working up to 10 million frequent flyer miles, who falls for a similar woman on the way played by Vera Farmiga.  Look for the film to aim toward nominations for lead George Clooney, supporting noms for Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga, as well as luck for Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay.

The Informant! : Based on the book by Kurt Eichenwald, Warner Bros. is looking to gain some serious momentum towards getting the Steven Soderbergh dark comedy nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as a Best Actor for Matt Damon as the corporate whistle blower.

A Single Man: After earning raves at this year’s Venice Film Festival and winning the fest’s Golden Lion Award, along with Best Actor Colin Firth, A Single Man is shaping up to be this year’s dark horse. The film tells the story of  a gay college professor, who learns his lover has died. It has just been purchased by The Weinstein Company, and we all know how  well they do come Oscar time.

Get Low: In the dark dramedy starring  Robert DuVall in a performance earning him raves surpassing his work in The Apostle, Get Low tells the folk fairy tale of a man about a 1930′s recluse who goes as far as throwing his funeral party while still alive.

And if the film gets released this year, look for Terrence Malick to score well with his highly secretive film starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn in The Tree of Life, but seeing as the man takes around 2 years per film and takes even longer in between, we can never count him in the race until  his film is completed.  The film’s plot has been keptsecret by the studio, but is known to be a 1950′s period peace telling  a multi-generational family story, with information leaked that Malick is indeed working with CGI for the first time including pre-historic dinosaurs.