Movies squeezed under Oscar wire

Here’s a synopsis of five films coming out before year’s end.

By DANIEL BUBBEO

NEWSDAY

Coming soon to a theater, though perhaps not a theater near you — “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” And “Rails and Ties” and Woody Allen’s latest, and so on.

As fall gives way to the next season — not winter but awards season — a number of films getting Oscar buzz will scramble to hit the screen before year’s end. Literally it may be only one local movie screen.

Ever since the Oscars were moved up by a month a few years ago, producers have had a tighter window to get their films screened in time for Academy Award consideration. So sometimes, opening a film in limited release is the ticket to meeting that Oscar-qualifying deadline. (Think “Dreamgirls,” which opened in a few theaters last Christmas, then had its wide release in January.)

In case you can’t wait for next year’s possible best-picture winner to work its way to your local multiplex early next year, here are some dates for the limited releases of five films garnering Oscar buzz:

“Margot at the Wedding” (Nov. 16) — Nicole Kidman is already being talked about as a best-actress contender for her performance as Margot, a neurotic writer who heads to Paris with her 11-year-old son for her sister’s wedding. The nuptials take a turn toward bride and gloom when Margot meets her sister’s intended.

“The Savages” (Nov. 30) — Don’t let the title fool you, this is not about a street gang, but about a family named Savage — a brother and sister who find their lives turned asunder when they have to care for their ailing dad. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney are the siblings, and Philip Bosco plays their dad.

“Rail and Ties” (Dec. 21) — Alison Eastwood hopes to follow in Dad Clint’s Oscar-winning footsteps with her directorial debut about the strange bond between a train engineer responsible for a deadly wreck and a young survivor of the tragedy.

“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (Dec. 21) — Johnny Depp plays the barber who gets a little too close to his customers with a razor, and Helena Bonham Carter is his pie-making partner in crime in director Tim Burton’s big-budget screen version of the dark Stephen Sondheim musical.

“Cassandra’s Dream” (Dec. 28) — Crime doesn’t pay for financially strapped siblings Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell in Woody Allen’s latest effort. In a recent interview, Farrell claims he “did as many takes for this whole film as I did for one scene in ‘Miami Vice.’”