The 10 Movies To Watch Before The Oscars

Arts & Culture

The 10 Movies To Watch Before The Oscars

By Men's Folio
January 14, 2015

It is that time of the year again, when Hollywood big names gather to give accolades to the crème de la crème of films that have hit the big screens in the past year. With a little over a month left to the Oscars, we sit tight in anticipation, awaiting the reveal of the nominees for what is perhaps the most coveted award in Tinseltown – The Academy Award for Best Picture. If it were up to us, here’s what the list of nominees would look like.

10 Movies To Watch Before The Oscars 1

BOYHOOD

Filmed intermittently over 12 years with the same cast, Boyhood is a groundbreaking portrayal of childhood. It follows the growth of Mason (Ellar Coltrane), both physically and emotionally, from 1st grade at 6 to the day he leaves home for college at 18. (Trailer)

10 Movies To Watch Before The Oscars 2

BIRDMAN

Faded Hollywood actor Riggan Thompson (Michael Keaton), once famous for his role on the big screen as masked crusader Birdman, struggles to land a role on Broadway in a bid to return to his former glory. The highly-acclaimed film features a star-studded cast of Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts and Zach Galifianakis. (Trailer)

10 Movies To Watch Before The Oscars 3

GONE GIRL

Adapted from Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel of the same, Gone Girl uncovers the mysterious disappearance of Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike). As the investigations deepens, her husband Nick (Ben Affleck) becomes the prime suspect in the case as light is shed on his lies and strange behaviour. Who do you believe? (Trailer)

10 Movies To Watch Before The Oscars 4

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

Based on the memoir Travelling To Infinity: My Life With Stephen by Jane Hawking, the film retells the romance between renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) and his fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones). Their romance defies the impossible odds as she stands by his side, through his groundbreaking discoveries in medicine and science and his physical disintergration from amyothrophic lateral sclerosis. Redmayne took home the Best Actor at the recent Golden Globes for his moving portrayal of Hawking. (Trailer)

10 Movies To Watch Before The Oscars 5

THE IMITATION GAME

The film follows legendary crpytanalyst Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) as he leads a group of scholars, intelligence officers, chess champions and linguists to crack Nazi Germany’s Engima code during World War II. Keira Knightley, Mark Strong, Allen Leech and Charles Dance also star. (Trailer)

10 Movies To Watch Before The Oscars 6

SELMA

Set against the tumultuous racial tensions in 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (David Oyelowo) leads an epic march across Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in a move to secure equal voting rights for African Americans. (Trailer)

10 Movies To Watch Before The Oscars 8

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham) recounts the events that led to his ownership of the now-fading Grand Budapest Hotel. A murder, a priceless Renaissance painting and a whirlwind journey are involved – all told through Wes Anderson’s distinctive directorial style and sepia-toned lenses. (Trailer)

10 Movies To Watch Before The Oscars 9

WHIPLASH

Andrew (Miles Teller), a budding jazz drummer who dreams of greatness, enrolls at the Shaffer Conservatory. There, he comes under the tutelage of the fearsome Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), the institute’s jazz maestro who pushes the young man beyond his limits in a bid to realise his full potential. (Trailer)

10 Movies To Watch Before The Oscars 10

NIGHTCRAWLER

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as the gaunt Lou Bloom, a driven and intelligent young man who earns a living by filming footage of crime scenes and selling them to local TV stations for profit. The lines between observer and participant blur as Bloom progresses deeper into his career as a “nightcrawler”. (Trailer)

10 Movies To Watch Before The Oscars 11

FOXCATCHER

Based on actual events, the film tells the story of Olympic Gold Medalist wrestler Mark Schultz’s (Channing Tatum) escape from a life of poverty when he is invited by millionaire John du Pont (Steve Carell) to move into his estate and train on his lavish estate “Foxcatcher Farm”. Things begin to go array as time progresses, with du Pont leading Schultz down a path of emotional destruction. (Trailer)