7 Major 2016 Oscar Contenders That You May Not Be Aware Of Yet

It's that time of year again - when the films that have been touted as 'Oscar contenders' all year long (some ever before they started shooting) finally go before the public and start to vie for Academy Award gold. You know the score by now: Steve Jobs, The Revenant, The Danish Girl, and Spotlight will sweep just about everything up, and then it's left to the stragglers to pick at the crumbs of what's left in the remaining categories. It's those lesser-known movies that still have a chance of bagging one or two awards that we're interested in today, however. The movies that haven't had the overwhelming publicity of Steve Jobs and the like to advertise the fact that they're contenders capable of causing an upset, of emerging as big winners on the night. There are movies yet to come this year from the likes of Charlie Kaufman, Angelina Jolie, and Ron Howard - all contenders in the past - that have barely even begun to register on the Oscar radar yet. Nonetheless, the talent involved means - though some are as-yet unknown entities - that these movies could still feature heavily at the 2016 Oscars. 7) Anomalisa Potential nominations: Best Animated Feature, Best Adapted Screenplay Released just before the year's end on December 30th, the producers behind Anomalisa are clearly positioning Charlie Kaufman's return to filmmaking as a prospective awards contender. A micro-budget Kickstarter project and offbeat animation, the film wowed on the festival circuit and is due to be the one true challenger to Pixar at the 2016 Oscars. As it's Kaufman, Oscar-nominated and once a winner for Best Original Screenplay for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, there's no counting out that Anomalisa's script won't come in for an Academy nod, too. Critics are already calling the film, about an author struggling to connect with the people around him, an animated classic. So, let the battle between the mighty Inside Out and Charlie Kaufman's stop-motion underdog begin. 6) The Secret In Their Eyes Potential nominations: Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actress If you've heard of The Secret in Their Eyes, you probably think it's won an Oscar already. This one's actually an American remake of the Argentine thriller that won Best Film in a Foreign Language in 2010. Oddly, considering it's a thriller starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman, and Julia Roberts, the film's had limited publicity so far. All the same, the film's being unleashed at the end of November, which means STX Entertainment (an up-and-coming new studio behind quality pictures) are confident the film has some awards potential. The wrenching material - regarding an FBI man investigating the murder of his old partner's daughter - suggests acting noms are most likely for this one, but an Adapted Screenplay nod could be a possibility too, considering it's Captain Phillips' Billy Ray with the pen. 5) By The Sea Potential nominations: Best Actor, Best Actress, Art Direction, Cinematography Considering it's the first screen pairing of two of Hollywood's biggest stars (and its most famous couple) in a decade, there have curiously only been mumblings so far about the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie-starring By the Sea. Whether Jolie - who also writes and directs - has grown as a filmmaker since the tepid Unbroken will be decisive in the film's Best Picture and Best Director chances. Actor and Actress are both good bets though - the Academy just loves to nominate its biggest, most beautiful stars when they're being all emotionally raw. Judging by the trailer, meanwhile, the film is gorgeously lensed and luxuriously designed (it's a period piece, about a married couple falling out of love by the ocean - plenty of opportunities for attention-grabbingly pretty shots). That bodes well for the film's Art Direction and Cinematography chances. 4) In The Heart Of The Sea Potential nominations: Best Picture, Cinematography The Academy loves Ron Howard. He's uncontroversial, reliable, and he makes solid, respectable (and sometimes a little boring) films. He's been nominated for four Oscars and won two already. This means that there's still a good chance his seafaring epic In the Heart of the Sea, despite the lack of buzz so far, will feature heavily in the 2016 Oscar race. If the film's any good, Best Picture is a good shout, and maybe Director, too. If it's just OK, Cinematography is still a strong possibility: the film was shot by the great, Oscar-winning Anthony Dod Mantle, and the trailer for the film shows off some wonderfully weird and vibrant visuals. Visual Effects has potential too (much of the film will involve a CGI'd whale and naturally problematic ocean scenes). If nothing else, In the Heart of the Sea is a period piece, so Hair & Makeup and Costume Design should be a virtual lock, unless the film turns out to be utter tripe. 3) Miles Ahead Potential nominations: Best Actor Did you know Don Cheadle had made a Miles Davis biopic? It's even played at festivals already, but got drowned out by higher-profile biopic contenders like Steve Jobs and The Danish Girl. Still, there's no ruling the film out of Oscar 2016 - as a biopic about a troubled yet brilliant artist, it ticks just about every Oscar box. If it's too small to get a Best Picture or Director nom, it could still very easily play in the Best Actor category. Cheadle plays Davis himself in what is reportedly an above-average bio. The actor's been here before, but never won; now there's a good chance the Academy will nominate Cheadle again, for a few reasons, namely being: playing Davis will probably be a career high-point for Cheadle, the actor at age 50 may not get a chance in this category again, and he's one of the more well-liked people in Tinseltown. Hollywood likes to reward nice guys. 2) The Big Short Potential nominations: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, Best Hair & Makeup The director of Anchorman and Step Brothers as one of the main contenders in the 2016 Oscar race? You better believe it's happening, as Adam McKay has made the incredibly topical The Big Short, an ensemble drama about the 2007-2010 financial crisis. The movie's being released in December - prime Oscar consideration time - so, if it's any good, The Big Short could make Best Picture, but if the script's handled well it will more likely find itself up for Best Adapted Screenplay, considering the complex subject matter. This one, though, is more likely all about two things: the actors and the wigs. Specifically, The Big Short appears to be going down the American Hustle route by giving every one of its leads ostentatious hair dos then letting them off the leash to do their acting-with-a-capital-A thing. The trailer for The Big Short hints that it will be very much an actors' movie, and with Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, and the newly Oscar-nominated Steve Carell in the ensemble, you could be looking at up to four contenders for that Best Supporting Actor category. 1) Son Of Saul Potential nominations: Best Film in a Foreign Language It's always difficult to predict which films will make the cut for Foreign Language Film - each year, dozens of countries from around the world submit as many movies, and the five that make it through are rarely ever just the ones that are the best-known. One that would appear to be a good bet for 2016, however, is Laszlo Nemes' Son of Saul, an apparently harrowing concentration camp drama from Hungary that's already won festival prizes (including the Grand Prix at Cannes). Yet to be released in the US (it gets a prestigious December release date), Son of Saul is already one of the best-reviewed foreign language films of the year. The subject matter, combined with the reportedly masterful filmmaking and acting, should ensure that it at least makes the Foreign Language cut. Once there, it could also branch out into other categories like Costume and Art Direction, owing to its historical setting.