In addition to the three screeners I’ll be discussing below, I received a package of soundtracks for nearly the entire slate of Warner Bros. contenders this year: (Harry Potter, Hereafter, Inception, Legend of the Guardians and The Town). Tonight, though, I received another package from Fox Searchlight with their less visible contenders: Conviction, Cyrus and Never Let Me Go.

CONVICTION

Genre: Legal Drama
Stars: Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, Juliette Lewis
Director: Tony Goldwyn
Premise: A working mother puts herself through law school in an effort to represent her brother, who has been wrongfully convicted of murder and has exhausted his chances to appeal his conviction through public defenders.
Oscar Chances: Limited: Sam Rockwell is the only actor in the film that has emerged as any kind of contender, but the film underperformed and critics haven’t gotten behind it, so he may be behind the curve.
Campaign-Proposed Categories:

• Best Picture
• Best Director
• Best Original Screenplay
• Best Actress – Hilary Swank
• Best Supporting Actor – Sam Rockwell
• Best Supporting Actress – Juliette Lewis, Melissa Leo, Minnie Driver
• Best Original Score
• Best Film Editing
• Best Cinematography
• Best Art Direction
• Best Costume Design
• Best Sound Mixing
• Best Sound Editing
• Best Makeup

Rotten Tomatoes:
66% (127 critics; as of 11/30/10)
Metacritic:
60 3out of 100 (34 critics; as of 11/30/10)

CYRUS

Genre: Comedy
Stars: John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener
Director: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
Premise: A recently divorced guy meets the woman of his dreams. Then he meets her son.
Oscar Chances: None: The film came and went at the box office and critics, though extremely positive, never seemed to really latch onto the film and push it for better consideration.
Campaign-Proposed Categories:

• Best Picture
• Best Director
• Best Original Screenplay
• Best Actor – John C. Reilly
• Best Actress – Marisa Tomei
• Best Supporting Actor – Jonah Hill
• Best Supporting Actress – Catherine Keener
• Best Original Score
• Best Film Editing
• Best Cinematography

Rotten Tomatoes:
81% (138 critics; as of 11/30/10)
Metacritic:
74 out of 100 (38 critics; as of 11/30/10)

NEVER LET ME GO

Genre: Sci-Fi Drama
Stars: Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley, Charlotte Rampling, Sally Hawkins
Director: Mark Romanek
Premise: As children, Ruth, Kathy and Tommy, spend their childhood at a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. As they grow into young adults, they find that they have to come to terms with the strength of the love they feel for each other, while preparing themselves for the haunting reality that awaits them.
Oscar Chances: Fading: This was once thought to be a potential major contender, but a slew of inattentive critics and mediocre box office performance have sent it back into the also-ran field.
Campaign-Proposed Categories:

• Best Picture
• Best Director
• Best Adapted Screenplay
• Best Actress – Carey Mulligan
• Best Supporting Actor – Andrew Garfield
• Best Supporting Actress – Keira Knightley, Charlotte Rampling, Sally Hawkins
• Best Original Score
• Best Film Editing
• Best Cinematography
• Best Art Direction
• Best Costume Design
• Best Sound Mixing
• Best Sound Editing
• Best Makeup

Rotten Tomatoes:
67% (114 critics; as of 11/30/10)
Metacritic:
68 out of 100 (35 critics; as of 11/30/10)