10 Films That Could Be 2014 Oscar Nominees

12 Years A Slave

RELEASE DATE: September 6, 2013 [Brazil] CAST: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Quvenzhane Wallis WHY IT'S OSCAR-WORTHY: If Django Unchained and Lincoln weren’t enough to convince you that slaves are the latest Hollywood trend, the critically acclaimed Black English director Steve McQueen (Shame) brings a drama that’s sure to test your convictions. 12 Years a Slave, written and directed by McQueen, stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as a New York free man who’s tricked by slave traders, kidnapped and sold into slavery. There he’s made to work on a Louisiana plantation for 12 years, desperately trying to find a way to get back to his family. Based on the actual events of Solomon Northup and his novel (Twelve Years a Slave), his daily life experiences mirror that of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs or William Wells Brown.

Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For —

RELEASE DATE: October 4, 2013 CAST: Clive Owen, Jamie Chung, Jessica Alba, Michael Madsen, Rosario Dawson WHY IT'S OSCAR-WORTHY: Robert Rodriguez is aiming to have his years of patience pay off in 2013 as Sin City 2 assembles a cast of new and familiar faces. With Mickey Rourke back as Marv, can we expect the Academy to award the faithful translation from comic book classic to big screen blockbuster?

Rush

RELEASE DATE: September 20, 2013 CAST: Daniel Brühl, Chris Hemsworth, Olivia Wilde WHY IT'S OSCAR-WORTHY: Ron Howard is no stranger to the Academy. His last effort Frost/Nixon was nominated for Best Picture. While biopics are a favorite of the Oscars, Rush should stir particular emotions as the film will chronicle the life of Formula 1 champion driver Niki Lauda (Hemsworth) and the 1976 crash that almost claimed his life.

The Counselor —

RELEASE DATE: November 15, 2013 CAST: Brad Pitt, Goran Visnjic, Michael Fassbender WHY IT'S OSCAR-WORTHY: Ridley Scott, already three-time Oscar nominee, directs this screenplay by Cormac McCarthy (novelist, No Country For Old Men). That film's Best Supporting Actor winner Javier Bardem is in on this one, but will that star power be enough to carry shoulda-been nominee Michael Fassbender into the winner's circle? We'll have to wait until 2014 to see.

The Fifth Estate —

RELEASE DATE: November 15, 2013 CAST: Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Brühl WHY IT'S OSCAR-WORTHY: Julian Assange. The Oscars love a great biopic, and director Bill Condon has the enormous task of tackling the life and times of the Wikileaks founder. Benedict Cumberbatch's (The Hobbit, Star Trek Into Darkness) resemblance is pretty convincing. But will it hold enough sway to be awarded a golden statuette in 2014?

After Earth

RELEASE DATE: June 7, 2013 CAST: Will Smith, Jaden Smith WHY IT'S OSCAR-WORTHY: After Earth finds humanity forced to escape from the only planet they’ve ever known after cataclysmic events threaten their existence. Father and son Smith join forces again in this sci-fi movie directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The helmer hasn't had the best luck with his pictures (Don't See: The Last Airbender) but Will Smith is a box office dynamo. Can his son push them into the Academy's good graces?

The Monuments Men —

RELEASE DATE: December 18, 2013 CAST: Bill Murray, George Clooney, Matt Damon WHY IT'S OSCAR-WORTHY: The only way this one wouldn't be nominated (or win) is if it just plainly, flat-off sucked. But with George Clooney fresh off of an Oscar win for producing Argo, it seems like he's in the groove. Clooney's cast for this adaptation of Robert M. Edsei's non-fiction book includes previous winners Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin, Matt Damon. The film is about a crew of art historians and museum curators who unite to recover renown works of art stolen by Nazis before Hitler destroys them.