Wednesday Oscar Watch with Abe

Welcome to the first 2014 edition of this returning feature here at Movies with Abe, Wednesday Oscar Watch with Abe. It’s a bit early to be able to accurately predict the eventual Oscar nominees, but around this time, plenty of likely contenders are being released. I’ll be looking every Wednesday at the awards chances for all of the films released the previous week. Additionally, to make up for lost time, I’ll also be taking a look at the films released earlier in the year, one month at a time. Chime in with your thoughts on the Oscar chances for these films in the comments section. Also, if I’ve missed any films from the previous months, please say so!

Films released October 24th, 2014

Citizenfour
This documentary, which premiered a few weeks ago at the New York Film Festival, has a buzzy subject going for it: Edward Snowden. Its chances are looking pretty good right now. The official list of eligible films for the Best Documentary Oscar race hasn’t come out yet, and even if this film appears on the narrowed-down list of fifteen later on, there’s no guarantee of it making the cut since even frontrunner status doesn’t mean much these days.

Films released May 2014

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (March 2)
It looks like I didn’t even include the first film in this reboot series in my Wednesday Oscar Watch back in 2012, but nothing panned out for that film. The first two installments of the Tobey Maguire-led franchise did earn sound and visual effects bids. It’s not a particularly week year for those races, so I doubt this one will get enough votes to show up in any of those categories.

Ida (May 2)
This film, which was reviewed very favorably, is Poland’s official entry for Best Foreign Film. The country has received nine nominations over the years, most recently in 2011 for “In Darkness.” Given that this film was well-received and it’s already out on DVD for plenty of people to see, I’d say its chances are pretty strong.

Godzilla (May 16)
Keep this one in mind for the technical categories since its reviews were decent and this is the original monster movie remade, which could land it on some ballots.

X-Men Days of Future Past (May 23)
None of the X-Men movies to date have received any Oscar nominations, but it’s also worth noting a big superhero picture like this which could easily make an appearance in any of the expected categories: Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, and Best Sound Editing.

Maleficent (May 30)
This fantasy film has a better shot than many at Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction, and Best Makeup/Hairstyling, though I doubt it would pop up in all three. Best Visual Effects is also a possibility.