Showbiz411

The Oscar race tightened up this weekend with the screenings of “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Les Miserables.” You can now pretty much call it for ten films that should make the cut off plus a few others that could shake things up. Mind you, things will be much different for things like the Golden Globes and even the SAG Awards.

But here’s a list that should get people talking: “Argo,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Les Miserables,” “Lincoln,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “The Master,”"Flight,” “The Life of Pi,” “Amour,” “The Sessions,” plus “The Intouchables,” “To Rome with Love,” and “Anna Karenina.” Still to be seen: “The Hobbit” and “Django Unchained.” For the Globes, I really like “This is 40.” Also, “The Guilt Trip” with Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen is said to be hilarious. Count me in as a fan of “Cloud Atlas,” but I don’t get the sense that Warner Bros.– very busy with “Argo” and “The Hobbit”– is supporting it.

There are also so many documentaries to watch– from “Searching for Sugar Man” to “Central Park Five” — a surfeit of excellent choices. As far as actors go, Academy voters, and everyone else, should keep an eye on  some new names in the mix, from Scott McNairy in “Killing them Softly” to Jennifer Ehle in “Zero Dark Thirty” to John Hawkes in “The Sessions.”

And watch out for Eddie Redmayne in “Les Miserables” as Marius. He’s more likely to make Best Supporting Actor as Marius than Russell Crowe as Javert. Redmayne literally lights up the screen with this performance, and he can sing. Stay tuned…

More this week…

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.