Oscar Season: A Prestige Film Preview

Matthew Goode and Colin Firth in Tom Ford's "A Single Man"

Now that fall is almost done and winter is headed our way, your local movie house—assuming you don’t live in a red state or on Staten Island—will be heading into what is normally considered the prestige film season that lasts from September right up to December 31st, when films become ineligible for next year’s Academy Awards nominations. Sure, sometimes the odd Hollywood blockbuster/disaster/action movie will sneak in under the radar (read: “2012″), but for the most part you can assume that most of the movies with a post-September release date will be gunning for a golden statuette. And now, with several publications and other film organizations beginning to release their top flicks of the year—you can see the picks the International Press Academy chose here—we figured it might be best to offer up a look at what you don’t want to miss. After the jump, a few films you’ll want to check out as 2009 comes to a close — lest your Oscar ballot become a bigger flop than Labor Pains.

Note: This list isn’t a definitive run down of all of the movies we think are headed for starting positions in the Oscar race, but merely a look at a few of the movies we know everyone will be talking about and that you, dear reader, should be ready to talk about too. If you think we’ve left something our or that we’re completely out of our gay minds then let us know! Our Comments section below would love to hear from you.

A Single Man (Trailer)
What more can we said that we haven’t already said about this, what many are already calling the gayest movie of the prestige season, if not of the year? We loved the poster, we fawned over the trailer, and now you all will have to sit through it if not for any reason other than watching Colin Firth make a potentially successful run for a Best Actor win.

A Serious Man
The Coen Brothers can seemingly do no wrong in the eyes of the Academy, and although this movie was released at the end of the summer that doesn’t mean that it’s completely out of the running. Glowing reviews across the board and the pedigree of its directing team—who we all know already won Oscar gold in 2007 with “No Country For Old Men”—makes “A Serious Man” definitely one to watch come nominations time.

An Education
Peter Sarsgaard and Carey Mulligan head up this pre-war British coming of age drama about a young girl struggling with a single decision: Oxford? or Life? In the wake of the Precious’ of the world, it might seem odd that this small British film is even being considered on people’s Oscar watch lists. Then again, the Academy sure does love them some small British indies almost as much as they love awarding Oscars for prosthetic noses.

The Road (Trailer)
Cormac McCarthy’s tale of a father and son surviving in a post-apocalyptic United States is sure to hit everything on the Oscar-bait checklist: based on a best-selling novel, starring a child in peril, a high stakes morality tale. Basically, it’s got everything. And add to all that a case helmed by two people who aren’t unaccustomed to being apart of the Oscar ballyhoo, Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron? Well, let’s just say being called the “feel-bad movie of the year” won’t hurt your chances much, to say the least.

Broken Embraces (Trailer)
In a season that many consider to be one of the weakest in years for the “prestige pictures” we may just see Pedro Almodovar’s latest break out of the traditional Best Foreign Language Film category that it may just be a shoo-in for and gun for several other top awards, including Director, Actress, and Screenplay. He’s proven himself—like Joel and Ethan Coen—to be an Academy darling, and with Penelope Cruz serving up another dynamite performance in her native tongue plus Almodovar’s penchant for serving up some of the best portrayals of queer characters of any modern director working today, this one is a no-brainer.

Invictus
Not that we’re huge fans of Clint Eastwood, but he definitely has the Midas touch when it comes to Academy nominations. And a movie about a post-apartheid South Africa that doesn’t involve aliens might be a much more palatable choice for Academy voters.

The Messenger
One of two strong movies about the Iraq war—the other being this year’s “The Hurt Locker,” another very big early Oscar contender—this one will be one of a few movies that are must-sees purely for the performances. Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson’s portrayals of members of the corps of soldiers whose duty it is to deliver the news of a death in the field to the departed’s loved ones have garnered considerable praise, with talk of a possible nomination for both. You’ve come a long way from Flash Forward, haven’t you Ben?

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Monique. Mariah. Awards at Sundance, Toronto. Need we say more? Well, if you still haven’t already seen it, we may have to.

Up in the Air
George Clooney does it again in 2009, this time playing a disaffected corporate down-sizer who espouses the joys of being a man with no ties who is suddenly forced to come to terms with the choices he’s made in life. Though a movie like “Precious” gunned for Best Picture out of the gate early, many aren’t counting out “Up in the Air” for the win thanks to Clooney’s performance and a killer screenplay, and neither should you.

Nine (Trailer)
With an all-star cast, a Vogue cover, and the pedigree of the TONY Award winning musical it’s based off of behind it, “Nine” is certain to make everyone’s Oscar lists despite the lukewarm receptions we’ve heard its been getting (you can read our own take on this year’s Oscar-bait musical here). Nevertheless, the Academy has taken a liking to musicals again in recent years and Marion Cotillard—who also had an amazing turn this year opposite Johnny Depp in “Public Enemies” earlier this year—is already making her way to the head of the pack in the Best Supporting Actress category (Look out, Monique!).

The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus
A lot has been said about Heath Ledger’s last movie, mostly about the band of A-Listers—Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell—who signed on as a tribute to their fallen friend and help director Terry Gilliam complete the film in his memory. But with a strong showing already in its initial weeks in Europe and the strong buzz it’s received here in the US, we’re sure that “Dr Parnassus” won’t just be that Heath Ledger movie for very much longer.

So there you have it. Obviously there are movies that have come and gone that aren’t on our list that we know will be front-runners also (“Inglorious Basterds” and “Where the Wild Things Are,” here’s looking at you!) but, like we said, this isn’t definitive. For a better look at all of the movies of the past year we think will be in the running be sure to check out our Oscar picks coming soon.

 Related posts:

1. Robert Downey Jr’s Oscar Look Goddamn what a gorgeous suit! “Iron Man,” Robert Downey Jr arrived on the Oscar Red Carpet with one of the most stand-out looks of...
2. (500) Reasons We’re Afraid To Watch The Oscars* Here @ hN we really do have an unending love of award shows of all kinds. But if the Golden Globes and the SAG...
3. Betty White for Best Supporting Actress? Every year around this time Variety.com becomes besieged by FTC ads. FTC is trade-speak for “For Your Consideration” — these are ads paid for...
4. NY Film Festival | Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah Italy’s oldest organized criminal organization isn’t the Sicilian Mafia — often glamorized in pop-films like The Godfather or Scarface — it’s the Neapolitan Camorra:...
5. Hedi Slimane Holiday Film for V Man Hedi Slimane sends his Holiday Best with a short film starring 16-year-old, Oscar Nilsson, an apprentice of The Royal Danish Ballet Theatre. ...