The Academy awards night is fast approaching and here are some of the leading oscar contenders.
Leading Oscar Contenders:
Leading Oscar Contenders:
ANOTHER YEAR (SONY PICTURES CLASSICS, OPENS DEC. 29)
Director: Mike Leigh
Writer: Mike Leigh
Stars: Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen and Lesley Manville
About: A married couple who have managed to remain blissfully happy into their autumn years, are surrounded over the course of the four seasons of one average year by friends, colleagues, and family who all seem to suffer some degree of unhappiness.
BLACK SWAN (FOX SEARCHLIGHT, OPENS DEC. 1)
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Writers: Mark Heyman (screenplay), Andres Heinz (screenplay), and 2 more credits »
Stars: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel
Writers: Mark Heyman (screenplay), Andres Heinz (screenplay), and 2 more credits »
Stars: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel
About: Darren Aronofsky's follow-up to "The Wrestler." A thriller that zeros in on the relationship between a veteran ballet dancer and a rival.
THE FIGHTER (PARAMOUNT, OPENS DEC. 10)
Director: David O. Russell
Writers: Scott Silver (screenplay), Paul Tamasy (screenplay), and 4 more credits »
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo
Writers: Scott Silver (screenplay), Paul Tamasy (screenplay), and 4 more credits »
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo
About: David O. Russell's boxing movie is a worthy successor to "Raging Bull," "Rocky" and "Million Dollar Baby." A look at the early years of boxer "Irish" Micky Ward and his brother who helped train him before going pro in the mid 1980s.
HEREAFTER (WARNER BROS., IN THEATERS)
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: Peter Morgan
Stars: Matt Damon, Cécile De France and Bryce Dallas Howard
Writer: Peter Morgan
Stars: Matt Damon, Cécile De France and Bryce Dallas Howard
About: A drama centered on three people -- a blue-collar American, a French journalist and a London school boy -- who are touched by death in different ways.
HOW DO YOU KNOW (SONY, OPENS DEC. 17)
Director: James L. Brooks
Writer: James L. Brooks
Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson
Writer: James L. Brooks
Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson
About: Feeling a bit past her prime at 27, former athlete Lisa Jorgenson finds herself in the middle of a love triangle, as a corporate guy in crisis competes with Lisa's current, baseball-playing beau.
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (DREAMWORKS ANIMATION, ON DVD)
Directors: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders
Writers: Cressida Cowell (novel), William Davies (screenplay), and 2 more credits »
Stars: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler and Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Writers: Cressida Cowell (novel), William Davies (screenplay), and 2 more credits »
Stars: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler and Christopher Mintz-Plasse
About: A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.
INCEPTION (WARNER BROS., ON DVD DEC. 7)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page
Writer: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page
About: In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job till date, Inception.
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (FOCUS FEATURES, ON DVD)
Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Writers: Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg
Stars: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo
Writers: Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg
Stars: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo
About: Two children conceived by artificial insemination bring their birth father into their family life.
THE KING'S SPEECH (THE WEINSTEIN CO., OPENS NOV. 26)
Director: Tom Hooper
Writer: David Seidler (screenplay)
Stars: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter
Writer: David Seidler (screenplay)
Stars: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter
About: The story of King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.
127 HOURS (FOX SEARCHLIGHT, IN THEATERS)
Director: Danny Boyle
Writers: Danny Boyle (screenplay), Simon Beaufoy (screenplay), and 1 more credit »
Stars: James Franco, Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara
Writers: Danny Boyle (screenplay), Simon Beaufoy (screenplay), and 1 more credit »
Stars: James Franco, Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara
About: A mountain climber becomes trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone near Moab, Utah and resorts to desperate measures in order to survive.
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: Laeta Kalogridis (screenplay), Dennis Lehane (novel)
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Emily Mortimer and Mark Ruffalo
Writers: Laeta Kalogridis (screenplay), Dennis Lehane (novel)
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Emily Mortimer and Mark Ruffalo
About: Drama set in 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote Shutter Island.
Director: David Fincher
Writers: Aaron Sorkin (screenplay), Ben Mezrich (book)
Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake
About: A story about the founders of the social-networking website, Facebook.
IMDB Link
Director: Ben Affleck
Writers: Peter Craig (screenplay), Ben Affleck (screenplay), and 2 more credits »
Stars: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall and Jon Hamm
About: As he plans his next job, a longtime thief tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager connected to one of his earlier heists, as well as the FBI agent looking to bring him and his crew down.
Director: Lee Unkrich
Writers: John Lasseter (story), Andrew Stanton (story)
Stars: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack
About: The toys are mistakenly delivered to a day-care center instead of the attic right before Andy leaves for college, and it's up to Woody to convince the other toys that they weren't abandoned and to return home.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Writers: Charles Portis (novel), Joel Coen (screenplay)
Stars: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Hailee Steinfeld
About: A tough U.S. Marshal helps a stubborn young woman track down her father's murderer.
Director: Woody Allen
Writer: Woody Allen
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts and Josh Brolin
IMDB Link
Source: www.imdb.com ; www.reuters.com
