Welcome to our 2019 Fall Movie Preview. All week long we're covering the films you need to know about as we head into the final months of the year, from indie gems to awards hopefuls to blockbuster smashes.
The Academy Awards aren't for another five months, but the race to them begins... oh, right about now.
The last few months of the year are when studios unleash all those titles they're hoping will go the distance. Some will prevail, others will stumble, still others will come out of nowhere to trip up the more expected contenders -- and we'll be there watching it all, drinking in the drama and mentally preparing our Globes bets.
Here's what to watch if awards season is your thing...
... and you'd never bet against Christian Bale: Ford v. Ferrari (Nov. 15)
There are no sure bets in awards season, especially this far out -- but Christian Bale in a historical drama comes pretty close. The actor's been nominated four times in the past decade, and he could be in the running again with Ford v Ferrari, which pairs him up with Matt Damon (another Oscar favorite) in a thrilling true story about the determined men who built a race car for Ford that could take on Ferrari.
... and you stan Adam Driver: The Report (Nov. 15)
It's been a great year to be an Adam Driver fan: Not only did he nab his first Oscar nomination for BlacKkKlansman, he's appeared in two films already with three more coming this fall. One of those is The Report, which garnered serious Sundance buzz for Driver in particular. You know that line about actors so compelling, you'd watch them read a phone book? Driver turns writing a 7,000-page report into utterly riveting stuff.
... and the foreign language categories are your fave: Portrait of a Lady on Fire (December 6)
Since its world premiere at Cannes, Portrait of a Lady on Fire has been scooping up prizes and nomination and inspiring phrases like "best film of 2019." That doesn't necessarily mean it'll be up for the big prizes come awards season, to be sure -- but it does mark the film as one worth paying attention to, even if only for your own enjoyment. Directed by Céline Sciamma (Girlhood), it follows a young artist (Noémie Merlant) who begins to fall in love with the woman (Adèle Haenel) she's been tasked with painting in secret.
... and you're a musical theater nerd: Cats (Dec. 20)
Cats looks exactly as bananas as you'd expect from a movie that employs cutting-edge digital fur technology to turn human beings into singing, dancing, two-legged felines. And yet, its awards-friendly pedigree is impossible to deny: It's directed by Tom Hooper (of The King's Speech and Les Misérables), is based on a Broadway smash hit, and stars a bevy of A-listers like Idris Elba, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, Judi Dench, and Ian McKellen.
... and you can handle revisiting recent history: Bombshell (Dec. 20)
How much you're looking forward to Bombshell probably depends on how much of a stomach you have for rehashing recent history, as the film revolves around the sexual harassment allegations against former Fox News head Roger Ailes. But there's no denying that it's topical, in a way that might get awards voters buzzing, or that it's got some serious talent on board. Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron play Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly, respectively, while Oscar nominee Margot Robbie rounds out the lead cast as a fictional producer.
... and you were Team Dunkirk in 2017: 1917 (Dec. 25)
1917's combination of a dramatic wartime setting, young leads played by relative unknowns (George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman), a star-studded supporting cast (including Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch), and a race-against-time premise bring to mind Dunkirk, and the marketing team has clearly noticed the similarities as well -- the first 1917 trailer feels very reminiscent of the ones for that 2018 Best Picture nominee. Hey, it could work.
Come back to learn what to watch if...
Monday: ... you want to be creeped out Tuesday: ... you just wanna have fun Wednesday: ... you're with the family Thursday: ... you're all about awards season Friday: ... you've only got time for 6 movies
