WE’RE RIGHT IN the thick of film festival season and you know what that means — loads of Oscar contenders coming to the fore?
So, what films might be battling it out for a gold statue next spring?
Well…
1. Hell or High Water
Release date: September 9th
Starring: Ben Foster, Chris Pine, Jeff Bridges
Hell or High Water follows two brothers as they carry out a series of bank robberies in a bid to save their family ranch. While that might sound like a film for dads, it is one of the best reviewed films of the year so far.
So now.
2. The Girl on the Train
Release date: October 7th
The Girl on the Train was a total literary phenomenon so naturally Hollywood didn’t wait long before adapting it for the big screen. It stars Emily Blunt in the titular role alongside Alison Janney and Justin Theroux, among others. Just think of it as this year’s Gone Girl.
3. Nocturnal Animals
Release date: November 4th
Nocturnal Animals, the second film from fashion designer Tom Ford, debuted at Venice last week to rapturous reviews. (The Guardian called it a “terrifically absorbing thriller with that vodka-kick of pure malice”.)
It stars Amy Adams as a gallery owner who reads her ex-husband (Jake Gyllenhaal’s) manuscript and discovers some decidedly creepy parallels between the world represented in the novel and real life. We have the popcorn on standby.
4. The Light Between Oceans
Release date: November 4th
Starring our very own Michael Fassbender opposite his real-life love Alicia Vikander, The Light Between Oceans tells the story of a couple who find an infant washed up in a boat and decide to raise it as their own.
Reviews have been, er, a little mixed so far, but both Fassbender and Vikander (Fassander?) have earned positive reviews so…
5. Arrival
Release date: November 11th
Amy Adams again! This time she plays a linguist tasked with communicating with aliens. It’s currently at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. 2016′s The Martian?
6. Allied
Release date: November 25th
In which Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard play two assassins who fall in love with each other. The film is brought to you by the creator of Peaky Blinders and Robert Zemeckis. Decent enough calibre, right?
7. A United Kingdom
Release date: November 25th
Starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike, A United Kingdom tells the true story of Prince Seretse Khama who caused a stir in his native Botswana when he married a white woman, but went on to become the country’s first president.
8. Sully
Release date: December 2nd
Tom Hanks as Captain Sullenberger, AKA the pilot who successfully landed a plane on the Hudson River in 2009. Already sounds like the ultimate “9.30 on RTÉ One on St. Stephen’s Day” movie.
9. Passengers
Release date: December 23rd
We know very little about Passengers thus far except that it’s about a spaceship that’s transporting thousands of people to a distant planet. Two sleeping pods open prematurely — enter Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt — and romance ensues.
Just think of it as, like, While You Were Sleeping in space. (For what it’s worth, the film is directed by the director of The Imitation Game. So it definitely has Oscar pedigree.)
10. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Release date: January 6th
Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is a drama about a group of war veterans brought around the USA on a ‘victory tour’. The film,
11. Manchester by the Sea
Release date: January 13th
A touching drama directed by Kenneth Lonergan about a man forced to become his nephew’s guardian after his brother dies. It’s already being touted as a leading Oscar contender and Casey Affleck is widely seen as a favourite for Best Actor. (Although it is still early days…)
12. La La Land
Release date: January 13th
What could be more dreamy than a tender musical starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone? And when it’s helmed by the director of Whiplash? Well, it’s easy to see why people are excited for La La Land.
The film generated ecstatic reviews following its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The Daily Beast described it as “an achingly romantic movie-musical that makes the old new again”. Colour us excited.
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13. 20th Century Women
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Release date: January 20th
A period comedy-drama starring the always delightful Annette Bening, Greta Gerwig and Elle Fanning as three women “exploring love and freedom in Southern California during the late 1970s”. From the director of Beginners, so it promises to be charming and whimsical, at the very least.
14. The Birth of a Nation
Release date: January 20th
The Birth of a Nation tells the story of Nat Turner, who led a slave rebellion in 1831. The film debuted at Sundance earlier this year and subsequently sold for $17.5 million, the biggest deal in the festival’s history.
However the film, directed by Nate Parker, has come under scrutiny of late after rape allegations from Turner’s past resurfaced.
15. Loving
Release date: February 3rd
Could Limerick’s own Ruth Negga be nominated for an Oscar? That’s the word on the street.
Negga stars opposite Joel Edgerton in this true-life drama about an interracial couple who took their case Loving vs. Virginia to the Supreme Court, which later ruled that state bans on interracial marriage were unconstitutional. We expect good things.
16. Hidden Figures
Release date: February 24th
The inspiring story of three African-American female mathematicians, whose calculations were instrumental in early NASA mission. Starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and the impossibly cool Janelle Monae.
17. Fences
Release date: TBA
Based on the beloved play of the same name, Fences is a period drama starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. Did we mention it’s directed by Denzel Washington as well? Expect big things.
18. Jackie
Release date: TBA
The Kennedys have been the subjects of many films and mini-series over the years. And, for whatever reason, a lot of them have been kind of rubbish. Jackie, however, looks set to buck the trend.
The film premiered in Venice earlier this week and is already garnering buzz for Natalie Portman’s lead performance as First Lady Jackie Kennedy in the days following JFK’s assassination.
19. Lion
Release date: TBA
You know how they say truth is stranger than fiction? Enter Lion, the remarkable true story of an Indian-Australian man who tracked down his birth mother using Google Earth. (You may have read about it.)
The film stars Dev Patel and Rooney Mara, and is directed by Top of the Lake’s Garth Davis.
20. Moonlight
Release date: TBA
A sprawling story told over three time periods of an African-American man living in Miami and coming to terms with his sexuality.
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21. Silence
Release date: TBA
And finally there’s Silence. Nobody really knows anything about it save for that it’s directed by Martin Scorcese and it’s about Jesuit priests in 17th century Japan. Is it even coming out next year? Is it any use? Only time will tell.
