Tag Archives: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

This Fall’s Awards Contenders

Being originally from New England, fall has always been my favorite season. You’ve got the cool, crisp air and the bright-colored leaves. Then there’s the holidays and my birthday. But chief among it all … the movies! We’re ramping up for awards season, so now’s the time for the studios—big and small—to put out some of the best cinematic fare of the year. I spend all year keeping my eye on awards contenders, but the fall is when the best films are released. It’s a simple principle: the last thing you see is the first thing you remember. And that’s why studios wait until the end of the year to put out their big guns. These are the films that voters are most likely to remember (and consider) for the year’s top awards. Here are just some of the remaining films to be released this year that are primed for awards consideration, as well as some of the categories for which they stand to potentially receive nominations. (Note: This is not an exhaustive list, as several earlier releases are worthy of consideration in various categories.)

If you’re anything like me and you determine which movies to watch based, at least partly, on awards viability, then set your calendars for these upcoming releases (release dates listed below).

Best Picture

       

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First Look: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50ZQoOJv5vg]

Based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s sophomore novel, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close tells the story of nine-year-old Oskar Schell, whose beloved father was killed in the 9/11 attacks. Young Oskar finds a strange key that was left behind by his dad, and he takes it upon himself to journey throughout New York City to find out what it unlocks.

I’m currently reading this book and have to say that the Oskar in my head while reading does not exactly match the Oskar in this trailer. Though the character’s precociousness is consistent, I don’t get the impression that Trailer Oskar would make the same fart references that Book Oskar does. And who doesn’t love a good fart reference? Still, I’m looking forward to this film, which features an impressive cast, including Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, James Gandolfini, John Goodman, Viola Davis, Max von Sydow, and Jeffrey Wright. Teen Jeopardy! winner Thomas Horn makes his acting debut as Oskar. The film is directed by three-time Oscar nominee Stephen Daldry (The Reader, The Hours, Billy Elliot).

Foer’s first novel, Everything Is Illuminated, was made into a 2005 Liev Schreiber-directed film starring Elijah Wood. Foer was just 25 years old when the book was published in 2002. What were you doing when you were 25?