As the precursor awards continue unabated until Oscar night, I’m going to be providing a weekly update highlighting the films that have won and lost momentum through the precursor awards (and in some cases other outside influences).

After last week’s lull in precursors with only a smattering of events, this week is a much bigger and significantly more important batch with the Directors Guild of America and the British Academy Awards both giving out their prizes. It should be quite something.

But, before we get into this week’s winners and losers, let’s take a look at what’s coming up this week:

Week 11

Monday, Feb. 2 – Nominees Lunch Awards (Official)
Wednesday, Feb. 4 – Visual Effects Society Awards (Official)
Friday, Feb. 6 – Academy Awards Voting Begins Awards (Official)
Saturday, Feb. 7 – Directors Guild Awards (Official)
Saturday, Feb. 7 – Sci-Tech Awards Awards (Official)
Sunday, Feb. 8 – British Academy Awards (Official)
Sunday, Feb. 8 – Grammy Awards Awards (Official)
Sunday, Feb. 8 – Online Film & TV Association Awards (Official)

Big Winners

How to Train Your Dragon 2. After The Lego Movie failed to earn a nomination at the Oscars for Best Animated Feature, no one could decide which film would ultimately take the prize. Although the Golden Globes might have given a hint, the Annie Awards confirmed that giving their top prize to How to Train Your Dragon 2. It’s entirely possible that these victories are flukes and that the Academy will find an even more traditional selection to give the big prize, but two high profile prizes are sure to give fence-sitting voters decent option.
Boyhood took the award for Best Editing in a Dramatic film from the American Cinema Editors. While the film seems to be on something of a roll with critics, it hadn’t gotten much representation from the guilds so far with this being its first major victory. And what a victory it is. A film this traditionally edited winning the Best Editing prize over more obviously-edited pieces shows the film still has strong support from the guilds, which could give it just enough of a boost to push it into the winner’s circle.
The Grand Budapest Hotel may not have won anything major, having lost both Screen Actors Guild and Producers Guild awards, but with a win from the Art Directors Guild, there’s at least one category we know will undoubtedly go its way at the Oscars.
The Imitation Game picked up a crucial, though unfortunately lower profile, win from the USC Scripter Awards, being named as Bet Adapted Screenplay. This may not seem like much of a victory to many, but the Scripters are the only prize that doesn’t restrict potential nominees the way the Writers Guild of America does. While Gone Girl should have been in the competition for the Oscar, that Imitation Game still managed to win out over it at the Scripters shows that it at least has strong support from writers and literary experts. That might give it just enough boost to win further down the pipe.

Big Losers

Birdman could have used another win under its belt. While the PGA and SAG selections are fine and dandy, a win from the American Cinema Editors would have been a blessing and could have given it an added boost. Sure it won the Best Contemporary Art Direction award from the ADG, but that’s not a group or a specific award that means much of anything in the grand scheme of Oscar voting.
Into the Woods, unlike Birdman, could have been helped by the ADG. The Stephen Sondheim adaptation has very few nominations at the Oscars and for it to be a competitor in some of those races, it needs below-the-line support. Instead, the ADG said the film wasn’t as good as Guardians of the Galaxy, which suggests that it has an uphill battle to the Production Design Oscar (though, really, nothing has much of a chance with Budapest in the race).
Big Hero 6 has been the black sheep of Precursor season. After high profile wins and losses at the Oscars, Disney seemed to be on a revitalized path with them, but with nary a preliminary award in its favor, its chances of winning the Oscar continue to diminish. The Annie Awards could have given it a boost, but a minor technical award is all that Disney’s animated Marvel movie could muster, which isn’t going to be enough to help it out.
The Lego Movie was already a big loser when it failed to earn a coveted Best Animated Feature nomination at the Oscars. To add insult to injury, it’s low nomination count at the Annie Awards was followed by an unimpressive single win for its writing. Animators didn’t seem nearly as impressed with the film as a lot of audiences and critics were, which may help to account for why it lost out at the Oscars.