I’ve tapped out a summary of the films I’m intending to put into the 2010 Oscar Balloon but without acting nominations, which no one ever knows anything about until they happen. Here’s how the list looks as we speak — suggestions/critiques are welcome. Nearly 60 films of some apparent distinction, or so it would appear.
BEST PICTURE
True Grit (Paramount, d: Joel and Ethan Coen; Inception (Warner Bros.), d: Chris Nolan; Fair Game (Zucker/Participant), d: Doug Liman; The Conspirator (Wildwood), d: Robert Redford; The Social Network (Sony/Columbia), d: David Fincher; Hereafter (Warner Bros.), d: Clint Eastwood; Green Zone (Universal), d: Paul Greengrass; Biutiful (Focus Features), d: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu; How Do You Know? (Sony/Columbia), d: James L. Brooks; Tree of Life (Apparition), d: Terrence Malick; The American (Focus Features), d: Anton Corbijn; Black Swan (distributor), d: Darren Aronofsky; The Way Back (Paramount), d: Peter Weir; London Boulevard (distributor), d: William Monahan; The Descendants (distributor), d: Alexander Payne; Somewhere (distributor), d: Sofia Coppola; Betty Ann Waters (Fox Searchlight), d: Tony Goldwyn, Oliver Stone‘s Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps. (19)
HIGH INTRIGUE / ELITE POPCORN
Eat Pray Love (distributor), d: Ryan Murphy; Rum Diary (distributor), d: Bruce Robinson; Phillip Noyce‘s Salt; The Expendables (Lionsgate); Greenberg (Focus Features), d: Noah Baumbach; You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger (distributor), d: Woody Allen; David Gordon Green‘s Your Highness (Danny McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel, etc.); Tony Scott‘s Unstoppable; Todd Phillips‘ Due Date w/ Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Jamie Foxx; Rabbit Hole (Fox Searchlight), d: John Cameron Mitchell; Lee Unkrich‘s Toy Story 3; Jon Favreau‘s Iron Man 2, Tim Burton‘s Alice in Wonderland, Ridley Scott‘s Maximus Hood, Matthew Vaughn‘s Kick-Ass, Aaron Schneider‘s Get Low; Mark Romanek‘s Never Let Me Go (Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield); Love and Other Drugs (distributor), d: TKTKTK; Mother and Child (distributor), d: Rodrigo Garcia; Rowan Joffe‘s Brighton Rock (distributor, w/Sam Riley); Roger Michel‘s Morning Glory (Paramount, w/ Harrison Ford); Jim Loach‘s Oranges and Sunshine (w/ Emily Watson); Tom Hooper‘s King’s Speech (w/ Helena Bonham Carter). (28)
PLUS: Buried; Blue Valentine; Please Give; Triage, Untitled Mike Leigh project. (5)
PLUS: The Special Relationship (d: Richard Loncraine), Cast: Dennis Quaid, Michael Sheen, Hope Davis, Helen McCory; The Town (d: Ben Affleck) — Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper; 3 Backyards (d: Eric Mendelsohn) — Embeth Davidtz, Edie Falco, Elias Koteas, Rachel Resheff, Kathryn Erbe; Tamara Drewe (d: Stephen Frears) — Gemma Arterton, Dominic Cooper, Roger Allam, Luke Evans, Bill Camp; The Debt (d: John Madden) — Sam Worthington, Helen Mirren, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Wilkinson, Martin Csokas; Burlesque (d: Steve Antin) — Cher, Christina Aguilera, Stanley Tucci, Kristen Bell, Alan Cumming. (6)
