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

I have heard this is a tough film to watch and I have also heard it may serve as the surprise film of the Oscar season. Granted, the people I heard this from aren’t exactly the best Oscar handicappers, but I heard it nonetheless.

In the Land of Blood and Honey is Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut set during the Bosnian War and centered on a love affair between two people from different sides and as the war moves forward their relationship grows darker. Personally, I’m interested in seeing it just because Jolie directed it as it definitely doesn’t look like an upbeat, good time at the cinema. Whether it’s a legit Oscar contender remains to be seen.

Potential Oscar Nominations for… Best Picture, Score (Gabriel Yared), Cinematography

The biggest mystery of the 2011 awards season remains Stephen Daldry’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as no one has seen it, but with its September 11th theme and a cast that includes Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, John Goodman, Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright, Max von Sydow and James Gandolfini and a director whose last two films were nominated for Best Picture and he was nominated for Best Director for his last three films (The Reader, The Hours and Billy Elliot) I would say this one is one to look out for. I’ve had this film at the top of my Best Picture predictions since I unveiled them on September 6. Boy would I love to have been right from the start.

Potential Oscar Nominations for… Best Picture, Director (Daldry), Supporting Actor (Max von Sydow), Score (Alexandre Desplat), Cinematography, Art Direction, Editing, Adapted Screenplay (Eric Roth)

This is a very good film, and sadly a film that is not likely to get its due this awards season primarily because after Focus picked it up they didn’t attempt to build the buzz around it the same way Fox Searchlight was able to with Precious after picking it up out of Sundance. This isn’t to say the two films are comparable in any way outside of their distribution path, but they will be viewed as similar simply because they are independent films with black protagonists. Pariah, however, is defined by so much more than the color and/or sexuality of its actors and director. This is a film that breaks down walls and has a universality to it that will strike a chord in anyone that watches it.

The story centers on Alike (Adepero Oduye), a young girl struggling with her sexual identity in that she knows she is gay but is having a hard time embracing it, primarily because her mother is not open to the idea and suspects it to be the case. Writer/director Dee Rees has described the film as partially autobiographical and there is an honesty in the way that it’s told that will have you gravitating toward Alike from the very start and struggling with (and cheering for) her throughout.

It’s a gracefully told film about understanding and I hope you’ll forget the Oscar consideration on this one and just go see it.

Potential Oscar Nominations for… Best Original Screenplay (Rees)

Steven Spielberg’s equestrian war epic has received a wide range of opinion so far and I am still holding my tongue as Disney’s embargo has forced me to. However, I think I can safely say this is a film that will be among the Best Picture candidates and Spielberg will be among the Director nominees and John Williams will likely be earning his 46th Oscar nomination.

Potential Oscar Nominations for… Best Picture, Director (Spielberg), Adapted Screenplay (Lee Hall and Richard Curtis), Cinematography, Editing, Sound, Makeup, Costumes, Art Direction, Original Score (Williams)