The 10 awards season movies I can't wait to see

After a so-so summer season for movies, award season seems to be kicking in early this year with the critical and commercial success of Gone Girl. I am hoping to catch Dear White People and Birdman this weekend and we're not even out of October yet.

Of course, every year there's some film that comes out of nowhere and surprises everyone (I am kind of thinking this could be A Most Violent Year). There is also, inevitably, that movie which arrives with a great awards pedigree, and yet, for whatever reason, it's a total dud.

Still, as of right now, these are 10 films I'm most psyched to see in the next few months.

Intersellar - For the last six years or so, Christopher Nolan has become the most interesting mainstream commercial filmmaker in Hollywood, with perhaps J.J. Abrams and Brad Bird being a distant second and third. I have come to expect a certain level of expert craftsmanship and creativity from his productions, and if the early trailers for this sci-fi epic are any indication, he has another blockbuster mind-bender on his hands.

Birdman - My Michael Keaton obsession is well documented. For any fan of his, this movie is the one we've been waiting for -- a project that was up to his unique set of skills. The Oscar buzz has already begun for this visually inventive character study, which features Keaton in a very meta role as aging actor who's been pigeonholed by a legendary superhero role. It looks funny and unpredictable, not unlike the great Keaton himself.

Foxcatcher - This creepy looking thriller features an almost unrecognizable Steve Carrell playing against type to chilling effect as the real life murderer John du Pont. This film looks like one of the most haunting dramas of the year and I'm excited to see Channing Tatum, an actor I've really warmed up to recently, play a role that asks him to flex some real dramatic acting muscles. So far, director Bennett Miller has yet to make a bad feature film in my opinion.

Steve Carrell and Channing Tatum in Foxcatcher

Selma - Martin Luther King has rarely, if ever, been personified on the big screen. Unfortunately his estate has torpedoed past attempts by directors Oliver Stone and Lee Daniels to bring more nuanced (or in other words, flawed) portrayals of the legendary civil rights leader to the big screen. I have high hopes for Ava DuVernary's film though, which will hopefully be more interesting than The Butler was.

Inherent Vice - One of my favorite directors working today, Paul Thomas Anderson, is back with what looks like a return to the more comic style of Boogie Nights and Punch-Drunk Love. He has assembled a dream cast of eclectic actors, including Joaquin Phoenix in the lead, to adapt Thomas Pynchon's mercurial detective story set in 1970. I hear this one gets better with repeat viewings, and I believe it -- but I still can't wait to experience it for the first time. I just need to read the book first.

American Sniper - Clint Eastwood hasn't exactly been on a roll lately. I didn't bother to see Jersey Boys and some of his more recent films, like J. Edgar, were really wasted opportunities. Still, the trailer for this one was a grabber and the early buzz seems to suggest a return to Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby form. The movie's star, Bradley Cooper, is rapidly maturing into a sensational actor and if the reviews are strong I'd be there.

A Most Violent Year - I admired J.C. Chandor's debut film Margin Call, although I thought it was slightly overrated. But I definitely fell hard for his Robert Redford tour-de-force All Is Lost. Now, for his third major film he's assembled a terrific cast (Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, and one of my favorite performers, Albert Brooks) for this period piece set in 1980s New York during its most crime ridden period. I have seen no trailer and heard little buzz, but I'm still intrigued.

The Imitation Game - This film is already behind heavily hyped as the frontrunner in this year's Oscar race, which means it will probably lose. That said, I love a good World War II movie and this looks like a fairly original one. Benedict Cumberbatch plays an expert codebreaker whose personal life and secrets threaten a top secret operation. The trailers have smartly kept enough withheld to make me feel like I haven't seen the entire story already.

The Skeleton Twins - Despite good reviews, this little indie hasn't done much business but I'm still excited to see it because I think Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig are two of the most talented performers Saturday Night Live has ever produced and I'm impressed that this early in their film careers they've shown a willingness to play "against-type" roles in a movie that isn't just an overblown situation comedy.

Top Five - Speaking of Saturday Night Live alums, this project, which is written by, directed by and starring comedian Chris Rock, also has my hopes up. Rock has long been one of my favorite comic minds, but his brilliant stand-up has rarely translated to good films. After years of slumming in awful Adam Sandler movies, I'm pleased to see this semi-autobiographical film about a comic actor trying to be taken more seriously is getting very strong early reviews.