Early Oscar Bait

“The Tree of Life”
Terrence Malick isn’t the most prolific director in the world. In almost 40 years, he has only made five films. However, two or three of those are classics, and the rest near-misses. Very little is known about “Tree of Life.” Brad Pitt plays the father of a 1950s family, and Sean Penn plays one of his sons in a more modern time period. The film is supposed to involve elements of sci-fi, a first for Malick. Based on his past films (“Days of Heaven,” “The Thin Red Line”), “Tree of Life” will be very cerebral and astoundingly beautiful.

“Hesher”
This film’s cast has been generating quite a bit of buzz. A gruff-looking Rainn Wilson, a rough-and-tumble Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman in ’80s nerd glasses are great ways to get people talking. “Hesher” follows a young T.J. (Devin Brochu) and his widowed father (Wilson), who move in with the boy’s grandmother. The title character (Gordon-Levitt) arrives to teach some good old-fashioned life lessons (including how to get girls and how to jump off a flaming diving board into a pool). Portman plays T.J.’s hard-to-attain love interest.

“The Beaver”
Everyone’s favorite anti-Semite is back, and this time he’s crazier than ever. Mel Gibson plays a former executive of a toy company in this film directed by Jodie Foster. In order to get out of some midlife depression, Gibson starts talking only through a beaver puppet. Unfortunately, the beaver develops a mind of its own. (It also has a British accent, which is awesome.) Foster and Jennifer Lawrence also star in the film. The film’s success will depend on whether or not audiences can overlook Gibson’s repugnant personality.

“One Day”
Directed by Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig, “One Day” plots the progress of two seemingly disparate characters during the course of 20 years. Anne Hathaway plays Emma, an idealist who graduates from college in 1988. On that day she meets Dexter, played by Jim Sturgess (“21” and “Across the Universe”), her polar opposite. The film returns to the couple every July 15 for 20 years. Already known to fans of foreign films, Scherfig is on a roll after 2009’s Oscar-nominated “An Education.” “One Day” may be the film to catapult her into the mainstream.