It’s never too early for Oscars conversations
As hopefuls debut at fall film festivals, here are 11 movies to pay attention to
Oscars talk in August? ❚ Hey, in Hollywood, it’s never too early to start polishing statues. ❚ While the 2019 Oscars (Feb. 24) may seem a million years away, a slew of awards hopefuls will be unveiled this fall at prestigious film festivals in Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York. After scouring the offerings, here are 11 films you should be paying attention to.
Lady Gaga is taking on a Hollywood classic
Warner Bros. is betting big on Lady Gaga’s “A Star Is Born” (in theaters Oct. 5), which marks Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut. Cooper co-stars as an alcoholic rocker who falls for a girl singing in a dive bar (Gaga). All eyes are on the remake, which will play at Venice Film Festival before its showcase in Toronto and features a Gagaheavy soundtrack to boot.
There’s a Damien Chazelle-Barry Jenkins rematch brewing
As fate would have it, Damien Chazelle (“La La Land”) and Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”) – the directors who are forever linked by the biggest Oscar flub of all time – both have new movies in play this year. Chazelle will open Venice Film Festival with his astronaut drama “First Man” (Oct. 12), starring Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong, while Jenkins returns with “If Beale Street Could Talk” (in select theaters Nov. 30), an adaptation of James Baldwin’s Harlem-set novel.
Emma Stone is back, too – but this time in a period piece
If Gosling and Stone both end up at the Oscars again, we will be #blessed. This year, Stone arrives in a corset, thanks to her 18th century-set drama “The Favourite” (in select theaters Nov. 23), which will also debut in Venice before opening New York Film Festival. In the richly royal film, Stone plays a servant who goes head to head with an aristocratic royal confidante (Rachel
Weisz) for the attention of mercurial Queen Anne (Olivia Colman).
Everyone’s speculating about ‘Widows’
Director Steve McQueen (“12 Years A Slave”) returns with “Widows” (Nov. 16), a contemporary thriller following four women forced to handle their dead husbands’ debts. Industry observers seem torn over whether the movie (which features a stacked cast, from Liam Neeson to Viola Davis) will be edgy enough to warrant awards consideration – but curiosity is at a boil.
Must-see performances
This season brings plenty of A-list stars taking big swings. Matthew McConaughey plays the father of a police-informant-turned-incarcerated drug dealer in the crime drama “White Boy Rick” (Sept. 14), Melissa McCarthy shows off dramatic chops in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Oct. 19) as author-turned-celebrity forger Lee Israel, while Hugh Jackman pivots from singing in “The Greatest Showman” to playing fallen presidential candidate Gary Hart in Jason Reitman’s political biopic “The Front Runner” (in select theaters Nov. 7).
Emotional odes to family
Ties that bind are at the heart of several movies moving into awards contention this year. Amazon’s “Beautiful Boy” (Oct. 12) features Steve Carell as a father struggling to understand his son’s (Timothee Chalamet) drug addiction. Netflix is behind “Gravity,” Alfonso Cuaron’s black-and-white “Roma,” described as an ode to the women who raised him (out this fall). And Julia Roberts plays an apprehensive mother welcoming her allegedly clean son (Lucas Hedges) home on Christmas Eve in “Ben Is Back” (Dec. 7).