Best Actress Fall Film Calendar
Saturday, July 25, 2015 at 6:01PM Manuel here to help you sort out your actressexual film calendar with some key release dates. The following list is prompted by the news that Sandra Bullock’s political drama, Our Brand is Crisis is set for an October release date. Based on the 2005 documentary of the same name, the film was written by Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and was directed by David Gordon Green and features TFE favorite Ann Dowd in the all star ensemble.
With that, our growing list of “Fall films featuring a recent Best Actress Oscar winner that might find their way into awards season” ballooned to an even twelve and well, it's time to share. Yes, some of these will be longshots (word is not good on Dark Places, though hopefully some critics and voters remember Charlize's work in Mad Max Fury Road) but it’s exhilarating to see so many juicy and high profile actress-centered projects coming our way!
In chronological order after the jump...
AUGUST
Meryl Streep
Ricki and the Flash (YNMS Trailer, Song), August 7, 2015
Charlize Theron
Dark Places, August 7, 2015
Not 'recent Best Actress winners' but The Diary of a Teenage Girl (also August 7th with breakout Bel Powley) and Grandma (August 21st starring Lily Tomlin) are also all about their leading ladies
SEPTEMBER
Natalie Portman
Jane Got a Gun (First Look), September 4, 2015
OCTOBER
Marion Cotillard
MacBeth (YNMS Trailer), October 2, 2015 (UK)
Julianne Moore
Freeheld (YNMS Trailer), October 2, 2015
Kate Winslet
The Dressmaker (YNMS Trailer), October 22, 2015
* This release date is only confirmed for Australia thus far. We're hoping more news is forthcoming on US distribution plans.
Julia Roberts & Nicole Kidman
The Secret in their Eyes (YNMS Trailer), October 23, 2015
Sandra Bullock
Our Brand is Crisis, October 30, 2015
Not a 'recent best actress winner' but Crimson Peak (Oct 16th) is actress-heavy with Mia Wasikowska leading and Jessica Chastain in shifty support. There's also Suffragette (Oct 23rd) starring Carey Mulligan so October is the most Best Actressy month this year.
NOVEMBER
Helen Mirren
Trumbo, November 6, 2015
*a supporting role but she fits into our list purposes
Not a recent Best Actress winner but Brooklyn (November 6th also) is headlined by Saoirse Ronan and is likely to figure into the Oscar conversation. Angelina Jolie also returns with the marital drama By The Sea (November 13th). Maggie Smith headlines The Lady in the Van (Nov 13th, UK but US release date shifting)
DECEMBER
Cate Blanchett
Carol (Cannes Review), 18 December 2015
Jennifer Lawrence
Joy (Teaser trailer), December 25, 2015
Do you think Halle, Reese and Hilary will feel left out since everyone else from 2000 to the present is accounted for? Will all these star-turns hog the conversation and make the 2015 Best Actress class a 2012 Best Supporting Actor-type situation?
Reader Comments (33)
Wouldn't it be odd / fun if the best actress nominees were the five most recent best actress winners - Moore, Blanchett, Lawrence, Streep, Portman? They all have films in the running!
The best list ! Thanks Manuel
Has TFE not declared Dec 18 an international holiday yet?
Sadly the Maggie Smith entry was pushed to 2016.
I hope Cotillard's nomination from last year means that she'll be able to snag more Oscar nods in the future without precursor support. I think it's a good precedent to never rule her out if the performance and reviews are there. Her peers are obviously in awe of how unilaterally she is killing it.
But I also thought that about Tilda's unnecessary (she deserved it but they weren't *compelled* to award her) win. And she's given the same number and caliber of phenomenal performances since 2007 as Cotillard, but can't get arrested by the Academy for some reason.
Other food for thought: In a single year have two more genius actresses won Oscars together than Tilda and Marion?
wow, I thought the list was going to be much longer; it just ended so suddenly
Hilary hasretired to look after her father,pity The Homesman is not out this year.
Hayden - I think that Tilda saying that she was going to give her Oscar to her agent rubbed them up the wrong way :-(
I'm looking forward to The Dressmaker the most, and then Carol, followed by Macbeth because it's my favourite Shakespeare tragedy.
I could totally envision a roster of Streep, Lawrence, Cotillard, Blanchett, and Moore. This would probably be a stellar lineup, and historically the first Actress field to feature 5 previous winners.
wishful thinking: watch out for elisabeth moss in queen of earth
A race with 5 previous winners as nominees sounds awfully boring.
It will be like that time when Christoph Waltz won his secod Oscar.
It is not necessary at all and makes the whole thing uninteresting.
I'd very much prefer if Charlotte Rampling wins this year's Oscar.
@Hayden: No. That was the peak. Two actual geniuses.
Hayden-1977, 1978, and 1982 all come to mind as being equal to 2007.
How come Sandra Bullock is the only one that got a shiny looking Oscar? I can't even remember why she won. The other ladies' hardware looks tarnished and dirty. Could see Streep, Lawrence, Blanchett and two other performances that we are not aware of yet. The other contenders listed above feel iffy at best.
I screened "Grandma" last night - I'm a big Tomlin fan...who isn't. The movie is beyond dreadful, awkward, angry. A one note, unsympathetic, blah performance. Count her and the movie out. Very disappointed.
@ Annie, that would be awful
Gold really is the colour to wear when you win then?
The Lawrence magic is once again picking up steam. No nod to Mulligan here? Not a winner yet, but certainly a member of the actress elite.
I love the endless possibilities of best actress this year because in comparison to best actor contenders the actress race has never been stronger. Sure the returning winners make strong cases but add into that previous nominees like Ronan who is entertaining the age when she will be given projects she deserves and I can see a case being made over the next decade that she exceeds other actresses her age and being called the best. Then there's Lily Tomlin who coming off her recent emmy nomination could return to the Oscars 40 years after her first nom. Charlotte Rampling has already won Berlin for this performance and throughout her career she has enjoyed great critical reception but maybe this year is finally her time and she gets the critics push that got Cotillard her much deserved second nom last year. Then another actress is Elisabeth Moss who got her final emmy nom for Mad Men and was well received in her previous work with Perry and word out of Berlin for Queen of Earth is that Moss is said to be brilliant.
While I would love a list full of winners I would hope some newbies get in because last time we had a category full of winners was supporting actor 2012 and that race was dull and produced a winner as dull as the race with so much more deserving supporting actors getting snubbed that year because they weren't so called respected veterans.
waiting for Carol and Secret In Their Eyes!!!
Jimmy- I felt the same way about Grandma! Why is everyone digging it so much? It's not good.
We need a Best Actress Winner dressed in red.
Carey Mulligan will win this!
@Peggy Sue
I think Halle Berry was the only best actress winner in red.
Except for her, red is the unlucky color of LEADING actress Oscar dresses.
(for Meryl it's simple: dress gold-get gold! *lol*)
Sonja - she wore gold when she won for Sophie's Choice too!
Are Page and Rooney supporting? I feel like they deserve a mention.
Ryan -- the list was specifically about the previosu BEST ACTRESS winners which is why they aren't named with their films. From our understanding both CAROL & FREEHELD are dual-lead films but you know Oscar campaigns. The younger actresses are likely to cheat and claim to be "supporting"
winslet - the dressmaker
blanchett - carol
theron - mad max
rampiling - 45 years
cotillard - macbeth
if will be like that, GOD, what a dream!
Isn't Dark Places ineligible for Oscars b/c it's starting on VOD? I see it advertised all the time on DIRECTv as an exclusive.
@Sonja - same as Cate Blanchett, both of her wins see the goddess wearing the golden/yellowish shades ;)
eion -- agreed. i don't much care for all winning lineups. cinema needs to respect its legends but it also needs room for fresh blood. a mix tends to be perfect.
What about The Last Face? Sounds like Charlize has a promising role in that.
During years where it looks like there's a crazy supply of female-driven films and performances, I often idealize how nice it'd have been had some of these vehicles been applied to the prior, weaker year (see: the abysmal 2014). But then I wonder, why the hell aren't there this many female-driven films and performances available every single year?!
I heard Nicole kidman is superb in Strangerland, do you think she stand a chance?
@Ryan
Yepp, that's what I was implying. She wore gold both times when she won in Lead.
Coincidence?
@Yavor
Hmmm... To me Blanchett's dress last year is mainly nude/flesh color plus crystals and silver. But everyone can see it differently.
Yellow is yellow.