12 Anticipated 2015 Movies That Have Already Lost The Oscar Race

8. The Program

The Hype: Touted as from the producers of last year's Best Picture nominee The Theory of Everything and directed by Stephen Frears, who has been twice nominated for Best Director (The Grifters, The Queen), not to mention boasting a clearly game Ben Foster playing an iconic and highly controversial public figure, there was plenty of hope this would be a warts-and-all probe deep into Armstrong's devastating fall from stardom. Why It's Lost The Oscar Race: Sadly, Fears continues to prove how maddeningly inconsistent he is as a filmmaker here, with early reviews out of TIFF leaving it at a mild 50%. Though Foster's performance was widely praised, critics were less convinced about the lifeless script and Frears' direction, which has apparently resulted in a middling, overly rushed 103-minute drama. In short, Foster's Oscar hopes have been destroyed, and though the film was only ever an outside Best Picture contender, that's also in the dust. Technical awards are still possible (namely Best Film Editing), but unlikely if the rest of the film is shut out as violently as expected.