On Monday, Oscar ballots were sent to 5,777 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In a month — at 6:30 a.m. Feb. 2 to be exact — the nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards will be announced. Hollywood’s biggest night, hosted by “It’s Complicated” simpletons Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, airs March 7 on ABC.
Remember, there are 10 best-picture slots. So get the jump on your Oscar pool by catching some of these current releases, although the past weekend’s overall box-office take — $270 million, the “highest-grossing weekend” in history, according to — suggests you may already have started.
Wondering about other titles popping up on critics’ lists more often than heads in a Whac-A-Mole game? “The Hurt Locker” will be released on DVD Jan. 12. “District 9” was out on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday.
Keep an eye on these:
“Avatar” for best picture; “The Blind Side” for best actress;
“Invictus” for best actor; “Precious: Based on the novel by Sapphire” for best picture, best actress best supporting actress;
and “Up in the Air” for best picture, best actor, best supporting actress.
“Avatar”
Sci-fi epic, 3.5 stars; PG-13.
The bells ring sharp, the whistles beckon in James Cameron’s technologically advanced sci-fi epic about a wheelchair-bound Marine named Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a moon called Pandora and an indigenous tribe under siege. This movie screens in regular format, as well as 3-D and IMAX 3-D. But it’s the immersive tug of the story — rife with nods to “gone native” flicks, Ray Harryhausen creatures and Cameron’s own “Terminator” and “Aliens” — that make for a wondrous, wild, even wise, ride. Sigourney Weaver stars as head of the research program that links humans telepathically to avatar bodies.
“The Blind Side”
Drama, 3 stars; PG-13
The mystery of what makes Leigh Anne Tuohy such a steely magnolia isn’t resolved in John Lee Hancock’s affirming drama. But Sandra Bullock’s turn as the woman who brings a hulking, shut-down, African-American teen named Michael Oher into her well-to-do Memphis family convinces us it has a lot to do with love. Tim McGraw and newcomer Quinton Aaron also star in this adaptation of Michael Lewis’ terrific nonfiction tale of gridiron star Oher and the Tuohys, football and family.
“Invictus”
Drama, 3.5 stars; PG-13
In 1995, South Africa was to play host to the rugby World Cup final. The recently elected president, Nelson Mandela, saw in white minority favorites the Springboks a chance to unite his deeply divided country. He was in a minority. Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon portray Mandela and Francois Pienaar, the Springboks’ captain. Based on John Carlin’s uplifting recounting, “Playing the Enemy,” and directed by Clint Eastwood, “Invictus” proves a rousing example of how the best sports dramas distill our “more than a game” ambitions.
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Drama, 4 stars; R
You’ll remember her name. Claireece Precious Jones is an obese, illiterate, abused Harlem teen. Yet Gabourey Sidibe’s performance makes those woeful adjectives insufficient of her humanity. And Mo’Nique’s turn as her brutalizing mother is jaw-dropping. This front-runner for an Oscar is directed by Lee Daniels and produced by local company Smokewood Entertainment. Mariah Carey and Paula Patton also star.
“Up in the Air”
Comedy, 4 stars; R
Before a sneak preview at the Telluride Film Festival, folks wondered if Jason Reitman’s comedy starring George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a frequent flier who crisscrosses the country helping corporations lay off workers, might have a hard time landing an audience. Its theme of economic downturn was just too glum, too close to the bone. It is precisely Reitman’s whole-hearted, smart-minded depiction of the sorrow of workers, the pitilessness of employers and the seductive arguments against forming bonds — familial and romantic — that make this classy, sexy comedy so current and enduring. As a fellow traveler and a co-worker, respectively, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick soar as they threaten to clip Ryan’s wings.
