Should be a contender: the 50 big films vying for Oscar's attention

The end of July means the start of the awards season: it's when the two big autumn film festivals – Venice and Toronto – start to announce their programmes, and when we get a first look at those movies that'll be on everyone's radar next spring. Here are our top 50 Oscar tips, ranked in order, from top to bottom. Let us know what you think, and what we've forgotten (we'll deal with documentary and foreign language films separately)
Young Adult. Director Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air) takes another shot at analysing first world problems with a drama about a recently divorced author (Charlize Theron) who returns to her home town in an attempt to woo a married ex-boyfriend. Theron and writer Diablo Cody (pictured above with Reitman and Juno star Ellen Page) already have an Oscar apiece for Monster and Juno respectively. Reitman, with two directing nominations but no award, must be itching to join them
Another vaguely delayed project is Walter Salles's take on the Jack Kerouac classic. Should On the Road make it into cinemas before the voting deadlines end, there could be the jangle of gongs for Salles, or cast members Kirsten Dunst, Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund and Sam Riley
The Help. A 1960s period piece on race relations in small-town Mississippi. Director Tate Taylor's folksy morality tale could play well with the voters who nominated The Color Purple for 11 Oscars back in 1985. Based on a best-selling book by Kathryn Stockett, The Help follows three women – two black maids working in white households and a white college graduate – as they attempt to challenge conventional attitudes to race and place in southern society. Viola Davis, previously nominated for her performance in Doubt (2008), is the one to watch here. But Emma Stone and the ubiquitous Jessica Chastain also feature
Like Crazy. LA boy Anton Yelchin and London-based girl Felicity Jones weather the dips and highs of a long distance relationship in this low budget romantic drama. So far, so mumblecore. But then there's the Grand Jury prize it picked up at Sundance, and the bidding war that followed (Paramount won out to the tune of $4 million). And the critical acclaim for Jones's prize-winning performance. With the right promo, the Academy could well fall for it
Woody Allen's most profitable film ever hasn't had critics completely swooning, butMidnight in Paris should still pick up a screenwriting nod, even – whisper it – one for best picture. Owen Wilson plays the wannabe novelist who steps back in time and starts carousing with the likes of Hemingway and Fitzgerald
Half oafish comedy, half cancer diary – it's hard to set the odds on this one. From Brick to Inception, 50/50 lead Joseph Gordon-Levitt has proved himself a friend of Hollywood's art crowd and the money men both. He's a good bet for a best actor nomination eventually, but whether this is the film to provide it is debatable. Oscar likes its illnesses serious (Philadelphia, Rain Man, A Beautiful Mind), not stoner (Seth Rogen is on board as Gordon-Levitt's best mate). Still, at least they renamed the thing – it's tough to imagine anyone announcing: 'And the Oscar goes to … I'm With Cancer'
guardian for the rest
xoxo
Carrie