15. Dallas Buyer's Club
Another interesting piece in the metamorphosis of Matthew McConaughey's career from romantic comedy lead to legitimate A-list dramatic actor (it was recently announced he will be the lead in Christopher Nolan's next film), Dallas Buyer's Club appears to represent McConaughey's best shot at Oscar glory yet. Based on the life of Ron Woodroof, a homophobic drug-taker who contracted the AIDS virus in the mid-1980's and went on to lead an illegal smuggling operation of alternative drugs in order to extend his life and the lives of others as long as possible, this could go over very well with the Academy. As much as 20 year's ago the Academy proved it was interested in films tackling the subject of the AIDS virus by heaping a pile of kudos on Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia, and even though AIDS might now be as prescient an issue as it was in 1993, a lot of Academy members are likely to be attracted to the film's subject matter. The film is directed by Jean-Marc Vallee, who doesn't exactly have the most impressive resume thus far in his career, but this will be a big opportunity for him to prove himself. At the very least, expect McConaughey to be a major player in the Best Actor race.