2012 Awards Season Guide: 13 Oscar Contenders to Look Out for in December

Roman Polanski’s latest film has not done well with critics and was pretty much dismissed following its debut at the Venice Film Festival. I watched it twice recently and actually really liked it (hence the watching it twice part), though I will admit a film featuring two couples arguing in a New York City apartment for 80 minutes isn’t likely to sell a bunch of tickets.

I loved Christoph Waltz’s performance here and felt Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet and John C. Reilly were also quite good. Polanski has also done his best to keep the energy high, trying to inject some clever camera movements here and there with cinematographer Pawel Edelman. However, I don’t see this film doing a lot with the Academy. I almost considered leaving it off this list entirely, though it is still a legitimate contender, even if it will most likely end up below the nomination line in all the categories its contending in.

Potential Oscar Nominations for… I can’t say I see any strong chances in any categories.

Meryl Streep is looking like more and more of a lock for Best Actress this year, which would finally earn her that third Oscar win. I sort of hope it happens just so we can stop talking about how long its been since she won an Oscar (28 years) and it’s looking like her turn as Margaret Thatcher just might do it though the film itself hasn’t been as highly praised.

Potential Oscar Nominations for… Best Actress (Streep), Costumes, Makeup, Score (Clint Mansell and Thomas Newman)

We’re purely looking at a Best Animated Film Oscar here and as of right now this is my front-runner and audiences overseas seem to be loving it as The Adventures of Tintin has scored over $200 million in foreign ticket sales already since releasing late October.

With a rather weak field of animated contenders this year, Tintin certainly looks to be the favorite.

Potential Oscar Nominations for… Best Animated Feature Film

David Fincher’s adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo just might end up being this year’s Silence of the Lambs or it could end up doing virtually nothing and hardly securing a single nomination. Little is known and few people have seen it so far so there isn’t much to say beyond the fact it stands a chance at a myriad of categories from Best Picture to Art Direction and everything in-between.

Potential Oscar Nominations for… Best Picture, Director (Fincher), Actress (Rooney Mara), Score (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross), Art Direction, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Sound, Makeup, Costumes