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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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Winter brings possible Oscar contenders

The Columbian
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Jennifer Lawrence stars as Katniss Everdeen in &quot;The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.
Jennifer Lawrence stars as Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. Photo Gallery

The hot summer months are behind us, signaling the season when movie studios turn serious. As we draw nearer to December, the cinematic hotbed of silliness and sci-fi shrinks, as likely Oscar nominees arrive.

This year’s prestige films share noticeable trends. Often the material is dark, even when the actors are likable. Steve Carell (“Foxcatcher”), Bradley Cooper (“American Sniper”) and Mark Wahlberg (“The Gambler”) star in movies whose essential premises are matters of life and death.

There are high hopes for such contenders as Angelina Jolie’s World War II adventure “Unbroken,” Reese Witherspoon’s dramatic hiking tale “Wild” and Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s “Inherent Vice,” potentially the nuttiest film noir since “The Big Lebowski.” Movie theaters are getting cool again, along with the season itself.

• Carell is dramatic, disturbing and unrecognizable as the late multimillionaire recluse John du Pont in the true-crime saga “Foxcatcher.” The film features Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo as brothers Mark and David Schultz, respectively, wrestlers who won gold medals in the 1984 Olympic Games. Three years later, Mark was in need of employment and money, until Du Pont invited him to his vast estate to train for the ’88 Olympics in Seoul. What began as a break mutates into anguish and first-degree murder. From Bennett Miller, the two-time Oscar-nominated director of “Capote” and “Moneyball.”

• “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1” brings the futuristic revolutionary hero Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) into combat with her nemesis, President Snow (Donald Sutherland). “If we burn,” the gladiator says, her eyes burning with anger, “you burn with us!” “Prepare to pay the ultimate price,” the leader replies. The popular war fantasy begins its final arc as Lawrence plays the most significant woman warrior since Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley. (Friday)

• Nobody would try to repeat a murder plot, not even three miserable workers (Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis) with terrible employers. Kidnapping, however, might be a fine return to the scene of their crimes. “Horrible Bosses 2” returns co-stars Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Jamie Foxx alongside new cast members Christoph Waltz and Chris Pine. When the Jasons meet the Chrises, it should be … colorful. Directed by Seth Gordon and Sean Anders. (Wednesday)

• Tommy Lee Jones and Hilary Swank star in “The Homesman,” as 1850s Westerners escort three insane female “cuckoo clocks” to their families back East. She is a hardy but lonely farm owner doing what she believes the Lord desires. He’s a lowlife claim jumper who agrees to help her after she rescues him from a thief’s hanging. The film is a solid portrait of an almost feral chapter of U.S. history, turning its dangerous cross-country trek into a thrilling (and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny) adventure. Directed by Jones. (Nov. 28)

• In “Wild,” Witherspoon pursues emotional healing through a physically punishing 1,000-mile solo hike across the Pacific Crest Trail. Based on the critically acclaimed memoir by Minnesotan Cheryl Strayed, the drama follows its lead through her drug addiction, infidelity and destruction of her marriage to the man she loved. Part outdoor adventure, part visionary personal journey. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallee (“Dallas Buyers Club”). (Dec. 5)

• After ambitious dramatic work with “The Master” and “There Will Be Blood,” filmmaker Anderson pumps out laughing gas in his adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s lighthearted detective yarn “Inherent Vice.” Joaquin Phoenix plays a stoned 1960s-era private dick investigating the conspiracy-cloaked vanishing of his ex-girlfriend in a parody of classic Los Angeles private-eye yarns. Other stars in the lineup include Witherspoon, Jena Malone, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Owen Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short and Eric Roberts. Sounds like a major contestant in the Oscar marathon race. (Dec. 12)

• “Exodus: Gods and Kings” brings “Gladiator” director Ridley Scott into the realm of ancient Biblical action. The epic dramatizes the early story of Moses, depicting him as God’s warrior unleashing the Ten Plagues against Egypt, leading the Jews out of slavery and freeing them from the Pharaoh Ramses. Christian Bale is the Egyptian prince turned prophetic Jewish hero; Joel Edgerton is the malicious ruling villain. (Dec. 12)

• After 13 years of work on J.R.R. Tolkien adaptations, Peter Jackson’s filmmaking journey is nearing the end. The arrival of “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” brings the climax of an era. It will be the final film in Jackson’s six-part series. This battle-torn chapter sees Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) at the entry to Smaug’s lair, finally ready to face the cunning dragon (his menacing baritone voice courtesy of Benedict Cumberbatch). (Dec. 17)

• Classic musical “Annie” has been remade with help from some unlikely sources. Will Smith and hip-hop mogul Jay Z are the producers of this 21st century re-imagining. “Beasts of the Southern Wild” star Quvenzhané Wallis — the youngest Oscar candidate ever — has the titular role of the plucky orphan. Jamie Foxx is Will Stacks, a wealthy New York mayoral candidate whose ambition hides a softy’s heart. When Will discovers that being seen with Annie gives him a campaign edge, the duo discover a father-daughter dynamic. Cue the street-wide song-and-dance numbers. (Dec. 19)

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