The Pre-Fall Oscars

Or, the movies and roles that the academy better damn well not forget about. Every year there are numerous Oscar season previews: The Onion A.V. Club just came up with a good one, but I haven't seen any of those movies, and I couldn't speculate on their chances.

Instead, I decided to come up with the major nominations I'd submit if the awards were on September first. What are the best movies and performances released before "awards season"?

Best Supporting Actress

Olympia Dukakis, Away From Her
Laura Morante, Moliere
Michelle Pfeiffer, Hairspray
Adrienne Shelley, Waitress
Maggie Smith, Becoming Jane

I'll admit that this category was pretty thin- I haven't even seen Hairspray, but I hear that Pfeiffer's getting some buzz. Maggie Smith puts in a similar bitchy turn in a different context, but I gave her the lifetime achievement nod, really. Adrienne Shelley's tragic death proabably still won't push her film to any more prestigious nominations, as it's just too cute in the end, but I decided she deserve's some respect for playing a wallflower friend in her last directorial effort. Olympia Dukakis has an Oscar already, and really brings a much needed cynicism to a moving film. But it's Laura Morante for the win, as she really keeps the Moliere biopic from becoming a farce.

Best Supporting Actor

Robert De Niro, Stardust
Robert Downey Jr., Zodiac
James McAvoy, Becoming Jane
Gary Oldman, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Seve Zahn, Rescue Dawn


Robert De Niro plays a wopsy, cross-dressing, flying pirate: enough said. Downey Jr. makes you wish all of Zodiac had followed him instead of Jake Gyllenhaal's cartooonist. Gary Oldman is the best part of a series that's growing in acting gravitas in leaps and bounds, and James McAvoy continues breaking hearts with aplomb. But for my money, Steve Zahn is the one guy that should be among the five nominees in February, no matter what else comes out- he's pure desperation as the less willful friend of a prison-of-war camp escapee.

Best Actress

Julie Christie, Away From Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose
Anne Hathway, Becoming Jane
Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
Keri Russell, Waitress

So it's been a slow year for leading actress as well- I had to include Cotillard and Jolie as likely candidates, even though I haven't seen the films in question. Keri Russell finally sheds the WB Network classification in Waitress, and Anne Hathaway is pretty solid in yet another author biopic. But if you've been reading this blog through its short history, you had to know I'm already giving this Oscar to Julie Christie in Away From Her.

Best Actor

Christian Bale, Rescue Dawn
Romain Duris, Moliere
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, The Lookout
Gordon Pinsent, Away From Her
Adam Sandler, Reign Over Me

Yeah, that's right: Adam Sandler- I still have no idea why that film was puched back from last December (to qualify for the most recent Oscars) to March. It turns out he can act, when we wants to apparently. Duris is more grandiose as the famed satirist than I would have expected, given his deer in headlights previous roles in movies like L'Auberge Espagnole. Gordon-Levitt continues his evolution into the relative Pacino to Ryan Gosling's De Niro. But it all comes down to a tough call between my man Christian Bale, and Gordon Pinsent in my favorite film of the year. I'm tempted to say Pinsent just for his awesome voice, but I say this should be Bale's year when all is said and done. By a hair.

Best Picture

Away From Her
Once
Reign Over Me
Rescue Dawn
Zodiac

Yeah, I can't really see a low-budget, under the radar film like Once being nominated, either. But it's honestly as good as anything else I saw this year so far.

As for what I pick to win, do you really need to ask? Did you know it recently won big at the Director's Guild of Canada Awards? That's a homer pick, but still. Also, did you know it came out on DVD on September 11th? You should buy it. Seriously, you should probably start heading to the store right now.