We had one film release this weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations.

Trance

A lot of big name directors whose niche work has frequently left them off of Oscar’s shortlist, find themselves newly favored after they break through for the first time. Recent examples were the likes of David O. Russell, David Fincher, Darren Aronofsky, Paul Thomas Anderson and Kathryn Bigelow. Obviously, these each had mixed success with their subsequent outings, which could make Danny Boyle’s return a bit hard to predict.

Trance isn’t your typical Oscar calibre film, since it’s almost a routine heist flick, but Boyle’s trademark cinematic language is on display in the trailer, which could give Academy members a chance to reward him for the work he should have been recognized for several years before. That being said, the Academy knows they don’t like this kind of genre much, which is why Russell’s many returns have been for softer. Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty and Anderson’s The Master each faced huge hurdles and ended up materializing in other categories, but not Best Director and in Fincher’s case not in Best Picture. Aronofsky is the only director in this bunch who divert his attention to a different type of film when he was nominated for Black Swan and also hasn’t had another project to use as comparison.

In the end, Trance has made a passable run with critics, but probably not enough to divest itself of the early release forgetfulness of the Academy.