Entertainment
'Wild,' 'Foxcatcher' & 11 More Movies You'll Be Talking About This Oscar Season
Rejoice, movie lovers! Now that Labor Day weekend has passed, the best time of year has officially begun: Oscar season. While the actual awards won't be given out for another six months, the movies they'll be honoring are starting to come out. From September onwards, every celebrity-led, overly dramatic, tear-jerking film that hits theaters will be vying for nominations, and for Oscar watchers everywhere, nothing could be better.
And while many of the (hopefully) great movies coming out this year won't be released for another few months, several of them are already making waves. From Wild to Foxcatcher , here's everything to know about the movies you'll be talking about from now until the red carpet rolls up at the Dolby Theatre.
Image: Fox Searchlight
'Gone Girl' (Oct. 3)
What to Know: It’s the first of two Gillian Flynn adaptations you’ll be hearing about this fall, and this one’s the biggest. It stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, is directed by David Fincher, and will mess with your mind. A lot.
Oscar Potential: Its stars might score nods, but the movie’s biggest chances are for Fincher’s direction, Flynn’s script, and the film as a whole.
Image: 20th Century Fox
'Wild' (Dec. 5)
What to Know: It’s Reese Witherspoon’s big drama comeback, based on Cheryl Strayed’s bestselling memoir about hiking the PCT.
Oscar Potential: Reviews for the movie have been mixed, but the performances of Witherspoon and Laura Dern (as Strayed’s mom) have been singled out for their strength.
Image: Fox Searchlight
'Birdman' (Oct. 17)
What to Know: Michael Keaton plays Michael Keaton in a strange, original film about a washed-up actor trying to rebound on Broadway.
Oscar Potential: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Keaton and Supporting Actress for Emma Stone — this movie might just have it all.
Image: Fox Searchlight
'Foxcatcher' (Nov. 14)
What to Know: This is the “Oscar” movie everyone’s already talking about, thanks to festival screenings that received major acclaim.
Oscar Potential: Acting nods for stars Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, and Mark Ruffalo seem inevitable, and the movie might just make it into the race, too.
Image: Sony Pictures Classics
'Unbroken' (Dec. 25)
What to Know: About the incredible life of Louie Zamperini, it’s one of those epic, moving tear-jerkers that always seem to come out around Christmas.
Oscar Potential: Director Angelina Jolie (that still seems weird to say) is a likely contender, as is star Jack O’Connell and possibly the movie itself.
Image: Universal
'Selma' (Dec. 25)
What to Know: It’s not quite a biopic, but it tells the story of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous 1965 march for voting rights.
Oscar Potential: Hopefully, a nod for director Ava DuVernay (Middle of Nowhere); this year’s Best Director race could use the addition of some deserving women. Both the movie and star David Oyelowo, too, could earn honors.
Image: Paramount Vantage
'Kill the Messenger' (Oct. 10)
What to Know: It’s Jeremy Renner’s long-awaited chance to shine, in a journalism thriller based off a bestselling book.
Oscar Potential: Renner, all the way.
Image: Focus Features
'The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them' (Sep. 12)
What to Know: It’s three films combined into one, all telling the story of a young couple’s troubled marriage.
Oscar Potential: There seems to be little question Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy will score nods, but as for the actual film, we’ll have to wait and see.
Image: The Weinstein Company
'Interstellar' (Nov. 7)
What to Know: Very little at this point; after all, it is a Christopher Nolan movie. Just be aware that it stars Matthew McConaughey, is about space, and will probably be very confusing.
Oscar Potential: McConaughey (again) and Nolan are definite possibilities, but the movie’s nomination is tentative; sure, Inception got a nod, but we all remember what happened with The Dark Knight.
Image: Paramount
'Whiplash' (Oct. 10)
What to Know: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, lots of shouting and good music.
Oscar Potential: Teller and Simmons won raves at Sundance, so expect both of them to be serious contenders.
Image: Sony Pictures Classics
'Fury' (Oct. 17)
What to Know: Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Shia LaBeouf and World War II.
Oscar Potential: Several of the lead actors have a chance, and the movie itself might click with voters as a mix of Inglorious Basterds and Saving Private Ryan.
Image: Columbia
'The Imitation Game' (Nov. 21)
What to Know: It’s an exciting, historical-based biopic, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as a brilliant mathematician cracking Nazi codes.
Oscar Potential: Academy voters, make room for Cumberbatch.
Image: The Weinstein Company
'Big Eyes' (Dec. 25)
What to Know: It’s Tim Burton’s take on the life and controversy of painter Margaret Keane and her husband, Walter.
Oscar Potential: Amy Adams could finally get that Oscar. Expect Burton and Adams’ co-star Christoph Waltz to potentially score nods, too.
Image: The Weinstein Company
