In advance of the coming festival season, the Gurus ‘O Gold have made their first picks of the ten top contenders for best picture nominations. Here’s my top ten list–with many of the films sight unseen (the Gurus list is on the jump).
1. The Artist
2. Jane Eyre
3, Midnight in Paris
4. The Tree of Life
5. War Horse
6. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
7. The Help
8. Moneyball
9. The Ides of March
10. Carnage
I left off one of two George Clooney projects, Alexander Payne’s family comedy The Descendants, two genre films, the spy thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ( which is getting good advance buzz out of London), and David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (for which Sony is chasing box office, not awards), as well as Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar (which I must see, as it could go either way). Despite my reservations about The Help, I know many Academy members like the film, so I did put it in my top ten. I am also more bullish on Roman Polanski’s Carnage and baseball drama Moneyball than most. But I was the only Guru to pick Cary Fukanaga’s exquisite Jane Eyre. While most of my fellow forecasters may reflect a male bias (as does the Academy), the women did not vote for this either. Wow. I also included Mia Wasikowska as a long-shot surprise pick for best actress, along with long-shot actor Ralph Fiennes in Coriolanus, a movie that I recognize will not go far with the Academy; it’s Shakespeare at its most pure and violent. Vanessa Redgrave will mark that film’s only likely nomination.
1. War Horse
2. The Ides of March
3. The Artist
4. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
5. The Descendants
6. Midnight In Paris
7. J. Edgar
8. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
9. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
10. The Tree Of Life
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
