September:
- heard terrific things about The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby
- A Walk Among The Tombstones may not be awards material, but Scott Frank is a strong writer and the trailer is eerie as shit
- The Boxtrolls. All hail Laika!
- as one of the few here who loved Cosmopolis, I'm insanely excited about Cronenberg's next, Maps to the Stars

October:
- Fincher, duh
- Birdman, duh
- heard terrific things about Whiplash
- The Judge will probably be all sorts of sappy, but fuck it, that cast will have me there Day 1
- Men, Women, and Children has a terrific trailer and cast, so I'll wash Labor Day out of my memory and hope Reitman hit a homer
- Dear White People was the most talked about flick at Sundance, I'm excited to finally see this
- Listen Up Phillip and Force Majeure-- both unlikely to make an awards splash, but both getting great notices from critics I trust
- St. Vincent, can't rule out Bill Murray

November:
- Nolan, duh
- Fury, duh
- Foxcatcher, duh
- The Imitation Game, because I LOVED Tyldum's last flick, and early notices are insanely strong
- The Homesman, because I love TLJ and Westerns
- Big Hero 6, the first Marvel/Disney animation collab, love the trailer

December:
- new PTA, duh
- I'll see anything Mike Leigh does, so I'm in for Mr. Turner
- Ava DuVernay is an exceptional artist, so Selma is near the top of my anticipated list for the year
- as a musical guy, I'm praying for Into the Woods and holding out hope
- not super excited for Unbroken, but I'm fascinated to see what early notices are like-- Jolie as a director intrigues me

Yeah, even if I knocked off half of these, there's still plenty to excite me about the upcoming season.