Hollywood observer Jeffery Wells over at hollywood-elsewhere.com has, what he calls, the Oscar Ballon. In the Ballon are his predictions of the movies and actors he thinks will be in contention for the next batch of Oscars. Gary (garyburleigh.com) recently listed the Ballon’s 2011 picks. I decided to fill out the list with some details. It might occur to you, as it did to me, that these films were pretty much selected because the “names” are involved. I’d like to see someone predict the dark horses . . . something done by an unknown . . . which will be a break out box office and/or critical success.
Let’s break down the Oscar Ballon list . . . and sort it by release date . . . if I have a release date.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Dig this cast: Carey Mulligan, Shia LaBeouf, Charlie Sheen, Michael Douglas, Josh Brolin, Susan Sarandon, Frank Langella, Natalie Morales to name a few. Plot Summary: As the global economy teeters on the brink of disaster, a young Wall Street trader partners with disgraced former Wall Street corporate raider Gordon Gekko on a two-tiered mission: To alert the financial community to the coming doom, and to find out who was responsible for the death of the young trader’s mentor. ( Release date: April 23 )
Inception
Quite a cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Michael Caine . . . just to name a few. It’s Sci-Fi thriller depicting a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a single idea within one’s mind can be the most dangerous weapon or the most valuable asset. ( Release date: July 16 )
Biutiful
A man involved in illegal dealing is confronted by his childhood friend, who is now a policeman. Stars Javier Bardem. Director Alejandro Innaritu . . . who, by the way, is the guy behind Amores Perros, Babel and 21 Grams. (Release: August)
The American
Clooney’s next film is a thriller about a master assassin. When a job in Sweden ends more harshly than expected. The American abroad hightails to the Italian countryside to hole up in a small town where romance develops with local woman. But by stepping out of the shadows, he may be tempting fate. (Release: September 1)
The Social Network
The story behind Facebook. (I am not kidding) With Rashida Jones, the annoying Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake and other members of the slacker generation. ( Release date: October 15 )
How Do You Know
Jack is back! With his As Good as It Gets director. Also in the romantic comedy cast: Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, and Paul Rudd. Brooks’ story sees Witherspoon as a professional softball player torn between two men, a solid guy played by Rudd and a charming ball player with a 94-mile an hour fastball played by Wilson. I heard Jack jumped in when Bill Murray pulled out of the role as the father. (Release: December 17 )
True Grit
Redo . . er . . re-imagination . . . of the 1969 western about a drunken, hard-nosed U.S. Marshal and a Texas Ranger who help a stubborn young woman track down her father’s murderer in Indian territory. Jeff Bridges in the John Wayne role as Marshal Reuben J. Cogburn. Matt Damon plays the Ranger. (scheduled for a Christmas release)
Hereafter
Matt Damon back working with Eastwood in a supernatural thriller centered on three people — a blue-collar American, a French journalist and a London school boy — who are touched by death in different ways. Also in the cast: Bryce Dallas Howard, Jay Mohr, Marthe Keller among others. (Release: December )
Somewhere
A hard-living Hollywood actor re-examines his life after his 11-year-old daughter surprises him with a visit. Benicio Del Toro, Michelle Monaghan, Elle Fanning, Stephen Dorff are in the cast. (2010 release date to be announced.)
Betty Ann Waters
Betty is a working mother who puts herself through law school in an effort to represent her brother, who has been wrongfully convicted of murder and has exhausted his chances to appeal his conviction through public defenders. Betty is played by Hilary Swank. Also in the cast: Sam Rockwell, Juliette Lewis, Minnie Driver, Peter Gallagher and Melissa Leo. (2010 release date to be announced.)
London Boulevard
My man Ray Winstone in the cast with Keira Knightley, Colin Farrell, Anna Friel. Crime and romance in London, where an ex-con becomes involved with a reclusive actress. (2010 release date to be announced.)
The Way Back
A fact-based story centered on soldiers who escaped from a Siberian gulag in 1940. Saoirse Ronan, Colin Farrell, Ed Harris star. (2010 release date to be announced.)
Black Swan
A thriller that hones in on the relationship between a veteran ballet dancer and a rival. With Mila Kunis, Natalie Portman, Winona Ryder, Vincent Cassel and Barbara Hershey. (2010 release date to be announced.)
Tree of Life
Brad Pitt and Sean Penn in a story which centers around a family with three boys in the 1950s. The eldest son witnesses the “loss of innocence.” (2010 release date to be announced.)
Fair Game
Okay it’s Vallerie Plame Wilson’s well known story . . Remember . . Plame’s status as a CIA agent was revealed by White House officials allegedly out to discredit her husband after he wrote a 2003 New York Times op-ed piece saying that the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq. Naomi Watts and Sean Penn play Mr and Mrs Wilson. The title is based on a Karl Rove comment (now he claims he can’t remember saying it on MSNBC). (2010 release date to be announced after a festival premiere.)
The Conspirator
A period piece from Redford? Yep. You remember Mary Surratt? She ran the boarding house where John Wilkes Booth and others met and planned the simultaneous attacks against the President, Vice President and others. Robin Wright plays Surratt. (2010 release date to be announced.)
Love and Other Drugs
A salesman competes in the cutthroat world of pharmaceuticals to hawk a male performance enhancement drug. Based on Jamie Reidy’s memoir “Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman.” Cast: Anne Hathaway, Jake Gyllenhaal, Judy Greer, Hank Azaria, Oliver Platt, George Segal, Jill Clayburgh, Jeffrey Jones and the ubiquitous David Morse.
The Decendants
Won’t be out until 2011 with George Clooney as a land baron who, with his two daughters, set out on a mission to keep their family together. Based on a novel.
