Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Dallas Buyers Club" (2013)

Scene from Dallas Buyers Club

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

Review: "Demolition" is a Great, Endearing Depiction of Grief

Scene from Demolition

Over the past three years, director Jean-Marc Vallee has pretty much made a career out of being presumable "Oscar bait." This is most prevalent in his problematic debut Dallas Buyers Club, which earned Matthew McConaughey a Best Actor award as well as a Best Picture nomination. While he hasn't quite hit that high since, his work definitely continues to veer off into far more interesting directions. His mixture of humanity and familiar yet earnest themes may not make for the most captivating dramas, but what he does so well is make dramas full of personality and life that compensate for their familiarity. While not his best, Demolition feels like the perfect embodiment of what he does so well, thanks in part to a great lead performance by the reliable Jake Gyllenhaal.

The First "Demolition" Trailer Shows Gyllenhaal Breaking New Ground and Houses

Jake Gyllenhaal

It must be odd to be Jake Gyllenhaal at the current moment. At least, if you're in his fan base and have the idea that he should have kept receiving Oscar nominations for his last few roles. There was last year's Nightcrawler, which many consider to have been snubbed at awards season. Then came this summer's boxing drama Southpaw: a film that was so hyped that it's almost embarrassing to mention its lack of traction. Up next is another turn, and one that may be more promising considering the talent involved. Today marks the release of the trailer for director Jean-Marc Vallee's Demolition, which shows the actor having a great time destroying houses and getting his life back together... or something like that.

Review: "Dallas Buyers Club" is an Engrossing Portrait of the AIDS Epidemic and the Power of One Man

Matthew McConaughey

One of the biggest surprises in the Oscar race this year is just how successful a threat that director Jean-Marc Vallee's Dallas Buyers Club has become. In a year where conversation has been heavy around 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle, it is exciting to see a film that had limited appeal sweeping up wins from groups such as the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild (S.A.G.) and ending up with a Best Picture nod as well as five others. Then again, one of the biggest underdogs of this year's ceremony had an uphill battle and managed to turn in an impressively audacious look at AIDS and the vaccinations in 1980's America. It may not be the best nominee, but it does make itself worthy of mention.

Will the "Dallas Buyers Club" Trailer Combine Weight Loss with an Oscar Nomination?

Matthew McConaughey

If one person deserves a most improved trophy over the past few years, it is Matthew McConaughey. Where he had become a leading man in romantic comedies through the early 00's, he has finally become someone that I respect. In fact, I have argued twice before with Magic Mike and Mud for Oscar consideration. Of course, I have held out faint hope that of every potential movie that he has made during his recent reincarnation, the one that I have placed the most money on is director Jean-Marc Vallee's Dallas Buyers Club, which if nothing else has the distinct honor of being the film that the actor sacrificed his chiseled looks for a skinny, lanky HIV victim. If the trailer is any speculation on his chances, I feel like we may be looking at one of the first serious contenders.