10 Most Oscar Bait Movies From The 2015 Awards Season

1. The Theory Of Everything

What's Oscar Bait About The Idea? Getting to play Stephen Hawking in a high profile production is an actor's wet dream - sign on for the role and your mantlepiece will need reinforcing. It's that sort of thinking that made The Theory Of Everything look like the most unashamed example of Oscar bait since The King's Speech. In fact, with it coming out mere months after The Imitation Game, it looked like Hollywood was playing a prank on itself, doubling down in smart-Brit period pieces. Was It Any Good? But here's the twist - The Theory Of Everything is brilliant. Like, actually brilliant. James Marsh's movie is that rarest of things - a biopic that has a point beyond mythicising the subject matter. While there's plenty of moments to obsess over Eddie Redmayne's performance as the physicist (it'd be easy to call is revelatory if that wasn't such an obnoxious phrase), the film is really a dissection of love, with Hawking's ill-fated relationship with first wife Jane (a heart-breakingly subtle Felicity Jones) leading to a rather brutal conclusion. Refreshing doesn't even come close to covering it. Was There Any Major Campaigning? Originally under the shadow of Turing, Hawking's momentum has only increased with time, with it emerging as the major British force at the Oscars. And when there's the quality to back up all the publicity, that seems pretty fair. Will It Get Anything For Its Efforts? In something that suggests the Oscars are fully onto those trying to simply bait them, The Theory Of Everything is far and above the film on this list with the best chances. Eddie Redmayne is the bookies favourite to win Best Actor (although his laughable turn in Jupiter Ascending could see it swing to Michael Keaton for Birdman), while the film itself a strong contender for some smaller awards. The real victory for The Theory Of Everything, however, would be setting a precedent - Oscar bait movies that have aspirations beyond slapping an awards crest on the DVD. Which other 2015 awards movies are pure-and-simple Oscar bait? Shame any we missed down in the comments.