After a surprisingly strong summer at the multiplexes, it's once again time to turn our direction to the "prestige" films vying for Oscar consideration. But first, it's worth mentioning the contenders that have already been released this year.
During the same weekend that "Moonlight" scooped a shocking Best Picture win, Jordan Peele gave us an early preview of the next awards race with "Get Out". This horror-comedy opened to raves from critics and chart-topping box office numbers, with audiences praising its astute satire about race in America.
Towards the end of the summer, another film about race relations made its own Best Picture claims in the form of Kathryn Bigelow's "Detroit". But while some praised raw intensity of this true story, others criticized its depiction of brutality against African-Americans and questioned Bigelow's intentions as a white director.
With the bona fide "genre" style of "Get Out" and controvery surrounding "Detroit", it remains to be seen whether the Academy will ultimately embrace them. But there was one summer film that emerged with serious potential to go all the way. Namely, Christopher Nolan delivered another astonishing masterwork to his filmography with "Dunkirk", a truly nerve-wracking cinematic experience. You can expect Warner Bros. to pull out all the stops to get Nolan his first Best Director nomination to go along with a likely Best Picture nod.
Looking ahead, "Dunkirk" will surely face some stiff competition however, as evidenced by the reactions to the recent Venice and Telluride premieres. And in a few days, the Toronto International Film Festival gets under way with even more possibilities to consider. With so many Oscar hopefuls, it can be hard to keep track of the race. But if you dig deep enough, you can see the Best Picture field starting to take shape. With that in mind, here are the trailers for the major films to keep an eye on over the next 6 months:
MOTHER! (Sep 15)
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris
Plot: A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.
BATTLE OF THE SEXES (Sep 22)
Director: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Starring: Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Elisabeth Shue
Plot: The true story of the 1973 tennis match between World number one Billie Jean King and ex-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs.
BLADE RUNNER 2049 (Oct 6)
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, Jared Leto
Plot: A young blade runner's discovery of a long buried secret leads him on a quest to track down former blade runner, Rick Deckard, who's been missing for thirty years.
ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ (Nov 3)
Director: Dan Gilroy
Starring: Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell, Nazneen Contractor
Plot: Denzel Washington stars as Roman Israel, a driven, idealistic defense attorney who, through a tumultuous series of events, finds himself in a crisis that leads to extreme action.
LADY BIRD (Nov 10)
Director: Greta Gerwig
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Odeya Rush, Lucas Hedges
Plot: The adventures of a young woman living in Northern California for a year.
MUDBOUND (Nov 17)
Director: Dee Rees
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Jonathan Banks
Plot: Two men return home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi, where they struggle to deal with racism and adjusting to life after war.
DARKEST HOUR (Nov 22)
Director: Joe Wright
Starring: Gary Oldman, Ben Mendelsohn, Kristin Scott Thomas
Plot: Within days of becoming Prime Minister, Winston Churchill must face his most turbulent and defining trial: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation.
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (Nov 24)
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Starring: Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg
Plot: An American-Italian is enamored by an American student who comes to study and live with his family.
THE CURRENT WAR (Nov 24)
Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon, Katherine Waterston
Plot: The dramatic story of the cutthroat race between electricity titans Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to determine whose electrical system would power the modern world.
WONDER WHEEL (Dec 1)
Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Kate Winslet, Juno Temple, Debi Mazar
Plot: On Coney Island in the 1950s, a lifeguard tells the story of a middle-aged carousel operator and his beleaguered wife.
ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD (Dec 8)
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Kevin Spacey, Michelle Williams
Plot: A left-wing paramilitary organization in Italy hatches a massive kidnapping plot in the 1970s.
THE SHAPE OF WATER (Dec 8)
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Michael Shannon, Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer
Plot: An other-worldly fairy tale, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1962.
DOWNSIZING (Dec 22)
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Laura Dern
Plot: A social satire in which a guy realizes he would have a better life if he were to shrink himself.
THE POST (Dec 22)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Alison Brie, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep
Plot: A cover-up that spanned four U.S. Presidents pushed the country's first female newspaper publisher and a hard-driving editor to join an unprecedented battle between journalist and government. Inspired by true events.
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN (Dec 27)
Director: Michael Gracey
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zendaya
Plot: Inspired by the imagination of P.T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman is an original musical that celebrates the birth of show business and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.
UNTITLED PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON PROJECT (Dec 27)
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, Camilla Rutherford
Plot: Set in the fashion world of 1950s London, a dressmaker is commissioned to design for members of high society and the royal family.
HOSTILES (TBA)
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Peter Mullan
Plot: In 1892, a legendary Army captain reluctantly agrees to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory.
Which films do you think will be Best Picture contenders? Let me know in the comments.
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