Today’s collection is a complete, eight-page look at all of the preliminary 2011 Oscar Contenders I’ve featured over the week in one complete post. There are a few I’ll be adding, such as yesterday’s Welcome to the Rileys suggestion and hopefully a few more documentaries, before the doors to the new “The Contenders” section opens up in April, but until then this is your one-stop-shop.
As we move along add any thoughts or films you think should be added in the comments below or send me an email directly if you have thoughts on additional contenders or news on any of those on this list. Your suggestions are welcomed and encouraged.
Release Date: Release date not yet set
Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Directed By: Danny Boyle
Quick Thoughts: Directed by Danny Boyle whose last film, Slumdog Millionaire, racked up eight Oscars including Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay returns with James Franco, who seems to be an actor just prime for Oscar recognition. With Fox Searchlight handling this film you would have to expect they will know exactly what to do with it should it live up to the billing. Just look what they did at the end of last season with the late run for Crazy Heart and Jeff Bridges sweeping the major awards. I also think the Academy may need to make up for the obvious dismissal of Anthony Dod Mantle’s work on Antichrist and give him a look for what I expect to be some great cinematography with what should be a predominately outdoor and on location shoot.
Release Date: Release date not yet set
Distributor: Still looking for distribution
Directed By: Andrew Jarecki
Quick Thoughts: Oscar-nominated Capturing the Friedmans documentarian Andrew Jarecki directs his first feature length narrative All Good Things and fills his cast with the likes of Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kristen Wiig and Frank Langella. The film is described as an intriguing love story and murder mystery set against the backdrop of a New York real estate dynasty in the 1980s. The Weinsteins are no longer distributing domestically as Jarecki spent several million dollars to regain the U.S. rights and now he and his team at Creative Artists Agency are meeting with potential distributors and hope to have a deal in place shortly.
Release Date: Release date not yet set
Distributor: Still looking for distribution
Directed By: Richard J. Lewis
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachelle Lefevre , Scott Speedman, Bruce Greenwood
Quick Thoughts: “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” director/producer Richard J. Lewis is taking a stab at feature film directing for the first time since his debut feature release Whale Music in 1994, but this time around he has attracted a much more impressive cast including Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachelle Lefevre , Scott Speedman and Bruce Greenwood . The synopsis is limited, but the cast makes it an attractive prospect as it tells the story of the politically incorrect, fully lived life of the impulsive, irascible and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky (Giamatti). Michael Konyves adapted the story from Mordecai Richler’s novel.
