Next year’s Oscars

In theaters Friday: Being Flynn [limited], The Lorax, Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie [limited], Project X

New on Blu-ray/DVD: Hugo, I Melt with You, Puss in Boots

Nothing gets me in the mood for making farcically early Academy Award predictions like the hyperbolic pabulum that overflows from an Oscar ceremony. Consider this my unsolicited epilogue to the glittering, run-on-sentence that was this past Sunday’s anti-climax to an uninspired year at the movies.

From the looks of it, 2012 will be a banner year compared to 2011. So mark these down. Here are your 10 nominees for Best Picture next year.

Cogan’s Trade (9/21)

Brad Pitt goes dark as a walking slice of gut-turning mob muscle on revenge in this crime thriller. Cogan will make it on the strength of its talented young director—Andrew Dominick of The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford fame—Pitt pulling a Denzel Washington and the story’s Boston-based grit, something the academy loves (think: The Departed).

The Dark Knight Rises (7/20)

2008’s The Dark Knight was snubbed in this category, pushing the Academy to expand the slate from five films to 10. If the epic, Tom Hardy- and Anne Hathaway-fueled conclusion to director Christopher Nolan’s thrilling and surprisingly relevant Batman series doesn’t get a nod here, it would be one cruel joke.

The Great Gatsby (12/25)

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Long Island drama gets updated in 3D—why?—by Baz Lurhmann, though the cast, particularly Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton look as golden as a West Egg soiree.

Hyde Park on Hudson (12/7)

Bill Murray as Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Apologies to Mr. Day-Lewis (see below), but this is the presidential depiction I am most interested in seeing next year. Plus the mini-Rushmore reunion with Olivia Williams as Eleanor will be cool to see, too.

Les Miserables (12/7)

Musicals are once again poised for a comeback with the help of Oscar’s new golden boy, The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper, and his new adaptation of this Victor Hugo classic. It doesn’t hurt that his cast includes Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and arguably the two most versatile, multi-talented and vocally-gifted young actresses of their generation: Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried.

Lincoln (12/14)

Spielberg will likely walk away with Best Director for his long-in-the-works look at the life and death of “Honest Abe.” Daniel Day-Lewis could not be more perfect for the role—unless he were Liam Neeson, and the film was made five years ago as originally planned.

The Master (TBD)

P.T. Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Magnolia) is back with a 1950s-set drama that looks at the birth of a religion that sounds an awful lot like Scientology, but is, like, totally not, for legal reasons. Joaquin Phoenix returns from outer space, playing a young drifter who falls under the spell of Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s self-made guru figure in what’s sure to be one of the most talked about and controversial films of the year.

On the Road (TBD)

Finally, Jack Kerouac’s generation-defining beat novel will arrive on screen later this year boasting a talented young cast, romantic coast-to-coast visuals, and a bebopping soundtrack—any one of which could make it a smart dark horse pick for several 2013 Oscars. The Motorcycle Diaries director Walter Salles at the helm makes it a lock for the Top Ten.

Prometheus (7/8)

Is it a prequel to Alien? Can audiences enjoy smart science fiction again? Who cares, this looks amazing, and like a perfect return-to-form for director Ridley Scott, the sci-fi genius behind Alien and Blade Runner. The Academy will welcome him back, too.

The Wettest County (8/31)

John Hillcoat’s Depression-era bootleggers vs. the man battle royale features a who’s-who of hot-right-now actors, including Jessica Chastain, Tom Hardy, Mia Wasikowska and Gary Oldman, who, fresh off his first ever Oscar nomination, shows now signs of slowing down with expected knock-out performances in this and The Dark Knight Rises.

Others to watch out for:

Skyfall (11/9)

Sure James Bond is about as fresh as a 50-year-old martini, but if ever there was an entry in this long-running franchise to contend for the golden guy, it is this one with the incredible supporting cast that surrounds Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench—including recent Oscar-winner Javier Bardem and past nominees Ralph Fiennes and Albert Finney.

World War Z (12/21)

This will be the most expensive zombie movie ever made, and the first to star Brad Pitt, so nominations for special effects and sound editing shouldn’t come as a surprise.