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Here’s the final entry in my annual assessment of movies that have a chance to pass the first stage of the Foreign Language Oscar race. We expect the shortlist to come out tomorrow and I’m expecting a number of the films I’ve profiled below, and here and here, will make the grade. I spoke with the directors of the films about their inspirations and expectations and I also checked in with the U.S. distributors about why they bought the movies. Below is a look at the final five titles that have generated serious buzz over the past several weeks of screenings, Q&As and consulate lunches (and there are also a handful of special mentions). The films are in no particular order:

Wild Tales (Argentina), U.S. Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

A runaway success at home in Argentina, Wild Tales is director Damián Szifrón’s third feature.

Out of the Past

Written by Daniel Mainwaring

Directed by Jacques Tourneur

U.S.A., 1947

Sometimes, there is no eluding one’s past, regardless of how hard one tries. The reasons are numerous. Perhaps the emotional and psychological weight of an event in one’s life are too great to shake off. In other instances the shackles exist because an individual is condemned to spend years actively correcting previous errors in judgement in the hopes of earning long sought after redemption. There exists another set of circumstances, the most deceptively simple of the lot, that being when a person merely walks away from an embarrassing, shameful and deeply regrettable episode, but deliberately creating separation from their history is no guarantee that the old ghosts will acquiesce to letting them be. When one least expects it, a new challenge presents itself from…Out of the Past.

Jeff Baily (Robert Mitchum) has...

Sneak Peek actress Alyssa Milano ("Charmed") in the upcoming dramatic mystery series "Mistresses", debuting  summer 2013, following four stateside female friends and their involvement in an array of 'illicit' and complex relationships.

The series was created by K.J. Steinberg based on a 1980's UK series of the same name.

Cast also includes Rochelle Aytes, Yunjin Kim, Jes Macallan, Jason George, Brett Tucker, Cameron Bender, Erik Stocklin, Penelope Ann Miller, Shannyn Sossamon, Mike Dopud and JoBeth Williams.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Mistresses"...

Addison’s Private Practice mom has found a new family.

ABC’s midseason drama Mistresses has tapped JoBeth Williams — aka Addie’s troubled ma Bizzy — to play the mother of Alyssa Milano and Jes Macallan’s characters, TVLine has learned exclusively.

Related | Mistresses Adds Penelope Ann Miller

Based on the British format by the same name, Mistresses follows four women (Milano, newcomer Macallan, Lost‘s Yunjin Kim and Work It‘s Rochelle Aytes) as they balance their turbulent romantic and personal lives. The series also stars Jason George (Grey’s Anatomy) and Aussie Brett Tucker (Castle, Spartacus: Vengeance).

Though originally...