Oscar Season: Five Films You Should Know

Next week's Golden Globe nominations and forthcoming year-end lists will announce who's in the running for the Oscar. For those of us who are not a) critics, b) members of the Academy, c) did not attend Cannes, Sundance, Venice, or Toronto Film Festivals, or c) are within 5 miles of an art-house theater, a lot of these film titles will mean nothing. But that's how it always is; after all, at this time last year no one in the mainstream had even heard of Slumdog Millionaire.

So here's a list of 5 films you should know going into awards season, which is starting right... about... NOW.

1. Up in the Air (George Clooney, Vera Farmiga; directed by Jason Reitman)
Plot: Clooney plays a guy who lives on (and loves) corporate travel; he's essentially the guy hired by corporations to fire people. He then meets the woman of his dreams (Farmiga) who also spends life with rolling luggage
Buzz: On the shortlist to receive nods in all major categories and the of-the-moment frontrunner for Best Picture. Twilight's Anna Kendrick has major Supporting Actress buzz as a young trainee.
Dinner Party Trivia: With the exception of the actors, every person we see fired in the film is a real-life recently laid off person. The filmmakers put out ads in St. Louis and Detroit posing as a documentary crew looking to document the effect of the recession. When people showed up, they were instructed to treat the camera like the person who fired them and respond as they did or use the opportunity to say what they wished they had.
Opens: In limited release; Dec. 25th (wide)

2. An Education (Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard; directed by Lone Scherfig)

Plot: A bright teenage girl in 1960s suburban London makes plans to go to Oxford but meets a playboy twice her age who shows her an, um, different type of education.
Buzz: Best Actress for 24-year-old newcomer Mulligan, plus Supporting Actor for Alfred Molina, who plays her father
Dinner Party Trivia: It's based on a memoir by Lynn Barber, but the screenplay was written by Nick Hornby, the author of High Fidelity and About a Boy; Mulligan appeared in the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice as Kitty, the youngest Bennet sister.
Opens: In limited release.

3. The Hurt Locker (Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie; directed by Kathryn Bigelow)

Plot: Follows the leader of a bomb disposal team in Baghdad (Renner), whose love of the adrenaline high he gets every time he does his job puts his entire squad at risk.
Buzz: Best Picture and Director for Bigelow (ex-wife of James Cameron), who could be only the fourth woman ever to be nominated for Best Director.
Dinner Party Trivia: A "hurt locker" has several meanings; a period of inescapable pain; a figurative place where someone is said to be if they are expecting to get hurt or beaten; a casket. The title is not addressed in the film.

Opens: Currently available to pre-order on DVD and Blu-ray.

4. A Single Man (Colin Firth, Julianne Moore; directed by Tom Ford)

Plot: Set in the 1960s, a 52-year-old British college professor (Firth) looks for meaning after his longtime life partner (Matthew Goode) passes away.
Buzz: Best Actor for Firth, who's said to have found the role of his career (and ultimately propel him beyond that whole Mr. Darcy thing); Best Supporting Actress for Moore
Dinner Party Trivia: It's the debut directorial effort of Tom Ford, the fashion designer of his own eponymous label who's best known for reviving the Gucci label in the '90s,
Opens: In limited release.

5. Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique; directed by Lee Daniels)

Plot: An overweight, illiterate teen (Sidibe) pregnant with her second child enrolls in an alternative school hoping to turn her life around.
Buzz: Best Actress (Sidibe), Supporting Actress (Mo'Nique), Best Picture
Dinner Party Trivia: It wowed at Sundance earlier this year, but its original name was Push, after the book it's based on. However, the action film Push was released in theaters around the same time, so Precious changed its title to avoid confusion.
Opens: In limited release.

What other Oscar season films are you most excited to see? --Ellen

Comments

[Chelsea on December 10, 2009 at 10:52 AM]

Did you really have to stipulate that Kathryn Bigelow was once married to James Cameron? What bearing does that have on HER abilities as a director?

[Chris Kimbell on December 10, 2009 at 12:36 PM]

Go Kathryn Bigelow! From Point Break to one of the saddest films about war in years, and probably one of the best by a long shot.

[Matt on December 10, 2009 at 12:48 PM]

To Chelsea

Cry about it.

[Aj on December 10, 2009 at 01:40 PM]

What about "A Serious Man", "Invictus", & "Nine"?

[Naomi on December 10, 2009 at 05:41 PM]

Correction: I know it's a trivial detail, but I can't let it go by (sorry). Carey Mulligan did play Kitty in Pride and Prejudice, but Kitty was the 2nd youngest Bennett daughter, not the youngest. The youngest was Lydia, who at 15 was also the wildest, and the first married (to the villain Mr. Wickham.)

[LA on December 10, 2009 at 06:51 PM]

Just to let you know, in "Pride and Prejudice," Lydia is the youngest Bennett sister--not Kitty.

[Rob on December 10, 2009 at 09:20 PM]

Patton Oswalt in "Big Fan" needs to be getting more buzz.

[Oonagimaki on December 10, 2009 at 09:38 PM]

I think it boosts both Kathryn's and James' profiles to let it be known that they were once married--they're both spectacular action film-makers and that they formed a union says something about their respect for each other-which primarily stems from the respect they have for each other's work.

[joesen on November 01, 2010 at 12:23 AM]

Best Actor for Firth, who's said to have found the role of his career (and ultimately propel him beyond that whole Mr. Darcy thing); Best Supporting Actress for Moore

[xiao on November 16, 2010 at 05:19 PM]

who's said to have found the role of his career