With the calendar turning to October, we officially need to be on alert for a constant stream of Oscar-hopeful releases. While there sure to be movies released prior to October to be nominated, it’s this last three month stretch of the year where the heavy-hitters really come out. I’ll be going in order of release date. And for our purposes here, I will only be focusing on the six major categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress. Though I may note if I feel strongly about a film’s chances in any additional categories. Each movie’s title will link to its accompanying IMDB page. All plot descriptions taken from IMDB.
Venom (October 5)
A Star is Born (October 5)
“A musician helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.”
Best Picture
Best Director: Bradley Cooper
Lead Actor: Cooper
Lead Actress: Lady Gaga
Supporting Actor: Dave Chappelle
Original Song: We’ll have to wait just a little longer to see what the big hit will be, but this seems like a given. Though “The Shallow” seems like a good bet at this point.
The Hate U Give (October 19)
“Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressures from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what’s right.”
Best Picture: This might seem like a long shot, but given the subject matter, and the fact that there can be up to 10 Best Picture nominees, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see this snag a nomination.
Best Director: George Tillman, Jr.
Lead Actress: Amandla Stenberg
Supporting Actor: Russell Hornsby
First Man (October 12)
“A look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.”
Best Picture
Best Director: Damien Chazelle
Lead Actor: Ryan Gosling
Lead or Supporting Actress: Claire Foy – I’m not sure if she will be in the movie enough to qualify for a “Lead” nomination, but either way she seems set up to be in the running for whichever she gets put up for.
Supporting Actor: Kyle Chandler – Come on, it’s Coach Taylor. Has to be on here out of respect. And he’s been nominated for multiple Emmy’s, including one win, so the acting chops are there.
Multiple technical categories
Seriously, if First Man is as good as I believe it might be, it could be a huge winner come Oscar Night. I honestly believe it could challenge some of the current Academy Award records.
Bad Times at the El Royale (October 12)
“Seven strangers, each with a secret to bury, meet at Lake Tahoe’s El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. Over the course of one fateful night, everyone will have a last shot at redemption – before everything goes to hell.”
Some combination of acting categories: You can’t tell yet who will be the “lead” in this movie. Though Chris Hemsworth and Jeff Bridges seem like the likeliest to me based on the trailers we’ve seen. But this movie is loaded so this is more founded on the hope that one or more of them steps up and delivers a killer performance.
Beautiful Boy (October 12)
Best Picture
Best Director: Felix Van Groeningen
Lead or Supporting Actor: Timothée Chalamet
Lead or Supporting Actor: Steve Carell
It’s still unclear how the screen time will shake out between Chalamet and Carell. But seeing either or both nominated for one acting category or the other wouldn’t be shocking in the least.
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (October 19)
“When Lee Israel falls out of step with current tastes, she turns her art form to deception. An adaptation of the memoir Can You Ever Forgive Me?, the true story of best-selling celebrity biographer Lee Israel.”
Lead Actress: Melissa McCarthy
Mid90s (October 19)
“Follows Stevie, a thirteen-year-old in 90s-era LA who spends his summer navigating between his troubled home life and a group of new friends that he meets at a Motor Avenue skate shop.”
Best Picture: This is probably unlikely to happen, but it’s getting a lot of hype leading up to its release, so you never know.
Best Director: Jonah Hill
Supporting Actor: Lucas Hedges – Pro tip: If Hedges is in a movie, just assume he’s getting nominated. With that in mind, you can be sure you’ll see his name pop up for both the November and December “Oscar Watch” previews.
Wildlife (October 19)
“A boy witnesses his parents’ marriage falling apart after his mother finds another man.”
Lead Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal
Lead Actress: Carey Mulligan
And that concludes October. Should be a fun month of movies. And with two months still to go, along with the bevy of quality movies that have already come out, the Academy is going to be in for some tough decisions.
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