2011 Oscar Contenders. Did I Miss Any?

UPDATED W/ SUGGESTIONS - FIRST WAVE CHART PREDIX (04/01 THROUGH 04/08)

As you can see over at the Oscar chart pages, I'm setting up the charts for Oscar's 84th year. This takes me awhile, alas. But here are some films I'm pondering for the "April Fool" predictions. i.e. not truly a prank but still foolish to try and guess this far in advance. I'll be filling in the pages all week. I never get this done in one day's time. Bear with me. Am I missing any 2011 films of note?

BIGGIES
These are the films that only have to be "good". Some will be much better than that and others will be worse but they'll get plenty of attention no matter what.

• CARNAGE Roman Polanski adapts the terrific one set/four character darkly comedic stage play. Can Jodie Foster, Christoph Waltz, Kate Winslet and John C Reilly pull this off?
  
• HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 Will Oscar take this opportunity to reward the series as a whole or will they figure a couple of nods here and there were reward enough? 
• THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET Martin Scorsese tries his hand at adapting a children's book, a Caldecott winner too.
• J. EDGAR Clint Eastwood's Hoover biopic is supposedly a 2012 film. But Clint is fast and they've been filming for some time. I'd be very surprised if it wasn't December 2011.
• SUPER 8 JJ Abrams tries to become the new Spielberg with this child's eye sci-fi
• THE TREE OF LIFE Terrence Malick's mysterious 50s-era (sort of) drama. Even if people don't love it, they'll pretend that they do.
• WAR HORSE It's been six years since Steven Spielberg was enmeshed in an Oscar race (Munich). Will this WWI drama return him to AMPAS's good graces (not that he ever left. Can we please let someone else present Best Picture goddamnit.)

Many more after the jump. What am I missing? Save me from my own forgetfulness!

Click to read more ...

Best Posters of Best Pictures?

I visit the IMP Awards pretty often since it's such a great source for movie posters, and because they get posters from different markets, not just the typically lesser American ones.

At the moment they have voting open for you to choose the best movie posters from all 83 Oscar winners. I'm telling you about this because West Side Story (1961) is not in their top ten at this current voting tally and that is yo-yo, schoolboy... KRUP YOU, voters!* You'd think that this would be the one type of voting where the most recent movies wouldn't automatically win from familiarity because it's a visual marketing opinion, not a "which movie is your favorite?" question.

The famous poster conveys two things that you'd think wouldn't go together. It gives us the gritty edge of inner city stories and the transcendent power of the musical genre and it manages both in perfect harmony. It's just Reason #100,721,009 that Saul Bass was a buggin' ever lovin'* genius. I have the West Side Story poster framed on my wall right next to the All About My Mother poster as they're maybe my two favorite posters of all time.

Go vote... and tell us what you selected in the comments.

*Creative profanity courtesy of the immortal West Side Story, the 50th anniversary of which we'll celebrate this coming October.

Best Picture Title Cards

♪ Tradition.... TRADITION.
This is beautiful even if 65% of the movies were undeserving of the Best Picture of the Year title. [via]

We'll undoubtedly be adding The King's Speech to this tonight, though we know which movie* is really deserving. You can vote for it at the Best Picture chart.

*whichever you want it 2 B -- opinions are magic that way!

File Under Fun: Best Picture Palate Chart

Chart by Foodzie by way of I Love Charts

My favorite part is the chain from "imported or local", imported taking you to The King's Speech and local asking you "so local you'd forage it in your backyard?" which answers with The Fighter. LOLZ.

A Map of the (Oscar) World

If all that chatter about the now infamous address where The King's Speech was partially filmed gets you thinking about location, location, location, here's something to make you even more obsessive. Here's  a map of the 83rd Oscar World.

View 83rd Annual Oscars, The Films of 2010 in a larger map

What's happening closest to your location? Is the Black Swan dancing near you? Maybe you're skinning squirrel's in those Winter's Bone Ozarks with Ree Dolly? Or horseback riding into dangerous True Grit territory? Or maybe you're attending college near The Social Network. (A lot of people do!). Maybe one of the foreign language films is happening right next to  you. Do you know where Amy Adams was born? I didn't until looking it up to drop the pin.

If you like it make sure to pass it on to friends. Or perhaps cartographers.

Related Charts: Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Animated Feature and Foreign Film.