Welcome To Your First Look At The 2011 Oscars!!
The Red Carpet at the Kodak Theater hasnít even been rolled up, and Tinseltown is already talking about next yearís Oscar race.
Will Jeff Bridges and George Clooney be squaring off for Best Actor again?
Bridges is stepping into John Wayneís Oscar-winning role as a grumpy old lawman in Joel and Ethan Coenís remake of the western classic ìTrue Grit,î while Clooney plays a hit man lying low in Italy before one last job in ìThe American.î
Welcome to Hollywoodís version of fantasy baseball, where insiders try to dope out the Oscar prospects of films that largely havenít been completed, often donít have firm release dates, and in a few cases, lack even a US distributor yet.
A year out, itís mostly about the past performances of the talent and the pedigree of the material.
Clint Eastwood may have struck out with ìInvictus,î but because heís got two Best Picture and two Best Director Oscars on his mantle, youíve got to seriously consider his globespanning supernatural thriller ìHereafterî starring Matt Damon.
Similarly, it probably isnít wise to ignore the yet-untitled romantic dramedy from writerdirector James Brooks, especially since it stars Oscar winners Jack Nicholson and Reese Witherspoon.
With 10 Best Picture slots, you canít even rule out something as unlikely sounding as ìThe Beaver,î starring Mel Gibson as a depressed man who finds solace in . . . a hand puppet. Jodie Foster directs and plays his wife.
Hereís a far-from-complete list of contenders:
ìInceptionî ó Christopher Nolan (ìThe Dark Knightî) directs Oscar winners Leonardo DiCaprio and Marion Cotillard with nominee Ellen Page in a futuristic sci-fi thriller.
ìFair Gameî ó Biopic with Naomi Watts and Sean Penn as outed CIA agent Valerie Plame and her husband.
ìThe Social Networkî ó Jesse Eisenberg in the story behind the creation of Facebook, directed by David Fincher (ìThe Curious Case of Benjamin Buttonî).
ìTree of Lifeî ó Brad Pitt and Sean Penn in a family drama spanning half a century, from Terrence Malick (ìThe Thin Red Lineî).
ìThe Green Zoneî ó Matt Damon hunts for WMDs in Iraq.
ìThe Black Swanî ó Dark thriller with Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis as rival ballerinas.
ìSomewhereî ó Sofia Coppola directs Benicio del Toro as a hard-living Hollywood celebrity who re-examines his life after the arrival of his 11-year-old daughter (Elle Fanning).
ìWall Street: Money Never Sleepsî ó Michael Douglas reprises his Oscar-winning role in Oliver Stoneís belated sequel set during the Great Recession.
ìLove and Other Drugsî ó Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway in a fact-based story about a Viagra salesman.
ìEat Pray Loveî ó Julia Roberts travels the world after a divorce, finds Javier Bardem.
ìThe Townî ó Boston-set thriller directed by and starring Ben Affleck; with Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner.
ìThe Fighterî ó Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg as half-brothers in the ring, one on the way up, the other on the way down.
ìThe Tempestî ó Julie Taymor (ìAcross the Universeî) directs the latest version of the Shakespeare fantasy with Russell Brand and Helen Mirren.
ìNever Let Me Goî ó Adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro novel about three former classmates (Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Sally Hawkins) who reunite to face their dark past.
ìSecretariatî ó Diane Lane as the great thoroughbredís owner, John Malkovich as his trainer. Well, nobody expected ìSeabiscuitî to be nominated as Best Picture, either.
ìToy Story 3î ó Because it is from Pixarís and it is ìToy Story 3î!!
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