13. The Fifth Estate
Grade: B-My Take: The Fifth Estate is about as topical and zeitgeist-y as it gets, but unlike its contemporary tech-pioneer peer that many compared it to pre-release, The Social Network, The Fifth Estate won't make an indelible mark on the history of cinema. Covering the story of the creation and rise of Wikileaks and its citizen journalist founder, the controversial hactivist Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch), the film simply tries too hard to be cyber-punk edgy and breaking-news relevant. Metaphorically, its equivalent to whenever the middle-aged demographic finally catches up to the newest technological trend and can't stop patting itself on the back for finally being up-to date on what's cool and what's happening. Despite these flaws, I seemed to be a bit more forgiving than some critics, if only because the actual story and issues at hand are pretty interesting, even as the film annoyingly flails its arms incessantly to get your attention.
Oscar Prospects: Done and done. Every year there is some heavily anticipated prestige pic the shrivels upon the cruel rays of sunlight when it is finally unveiled, and this year's bust appears to be The Fifth Estate (not that others might not join it down the line). On paper it had a lot going for it. A topical and politically-oriented subject matter, a writer from a respected contemporary television show (The West Wing), and two up-and-coming actors (Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Bruhl) who also have awards season presence on other potential Oscar players. Of course, the one thing that made prognosticators reticent to rank the film too high sight unseen was the film's incredibly inconsistent director Bill Condon (coming off directing the awards juggernaut Twilight series), and in retrospect, they had a damn good reason to be wary.