Each week, NewsWhistle contributor Norah Lawlor compiles a list of trendsetting and newsworthy items from around the globe.
This week, Norah picks five Oscar contenders that unspooled at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
***
1. The Theory of Everything (Focus Features)
Eddie Redmayne, who sang his heart out in Les Misérables, plays a young Dr. Stephen Hawking, fighting his fatal diagnosis of an illness he is diagnosed with during his years as a cosmology student at Cambridge in the 1960s. This biographical drama directed by James Marsh is likely to pack a powerful emotional punch as it portrays Hawking’s loyal love for fellow student, Jane Wilde, played by Felicity Jones.
General release: November 2014.
***
2. The Imitation Game (The Weinstein Company)
Benedict Cumberbatch delves into the life of troubled genius Alan Turing, the British mathematician who helped hasten the end of World War II by cracking Germany’s codes, but who was later prosecuted for homosexuality, then illegal in the U.K. Cumberbatch stars alongside Keira Knightley, playing Joan Clarke: one of Turning’s co-workers after WWII who eventually becomes his fiancée.
General release: November 2014.
***
3. St. Vincent (The Weinstein Company)
Comedic jedi Bill Murray looks to be at his best playing a grizzled alcoholic retiree strikes up an unlikely friendship with a 12-year-old boy next door – and clashes with the kid’s single mom, Melissa McCarthy – in this debut feature film from director Theodore Melfi.
General release: October 2014.
***
4. Boychoir (Warner Bros. Pictures)
With a stellar cast headed by Dustin Hoffman, Debra Winger and Kathy Bates, direction from Quebec master Francois Girard and an against-all-odds story about a troubled Texas boy who lands at a prestigious choir school, this film has plenty of crowd-pleasing potential.
Trailer coming soon; General release: January 2015.
***
5. Foxcatcher (Sony Pictures Classic)
This star-studded true-life character study arrives at TIFF after being cemented as an Oscar contender at its Cannes coronation, where it was nominated for the prestigious Palme d’Or and earned Bennett Miller the Best Director prize. Starring an against-type Steve Carrell as a schizophrenic millionaire, John du Pont, who takes a toxic interest in the life of troubled Olympic wrestler, Mark Schultz, portrayed by box-office champ Channing Tatum.
General release: November 2014.
***
Norah Lawlor is a New York based global trend and travel observer in addition to being the founder and owner of Public Relations strategy firm Lawlor Media Group.
***
Foxcatcher Poster Courtesy of Impawards.com and Sony Pictures Classic; Design by Cardinal Communications