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

Nebraska

There are few directors working today who are as universally respected as Alexander Payne. Beginning as early as 1996, Payne was flirting with Oscar recognition with Citizen Ruth. The film, starring Laura Dern was warmly received and was on several short lists of anticipated Best Actress nominees that year. Ultimately, Dern wasn’t recognized, but Payne was on his way to becoming a major Oscar figure.

The same closeness of recognition came with his next project, 1999’s Election with a star-making turn by Reese Witherspoon. This time, Payne and frequent collaborator Jim Taylor picked up their first Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay with Witherspoon on quite a few lists as a potential Best Actress nominee. Payne got even more recognition three years later with About Schmidt, which earned two Oscar nominations for Jack Nicholson in Best Actor and Kathy Bates in Best Supporting Actress. Payne and Taylor weren’t nominated for Adapted Screenplay by the Academy but the Writers Guild of America took notice and gave them one.

Then 2004 came around and Sideways became one of the biggest indie hits of the year and carried away five Oscar nominations and bringing Payne and Taylor their first Oscar for writing. The film also marked their first entry into the Bets Picture race and led to Payne’s nomination for Best Director and two more acting nominations came with it. Payne was again recognized with an Oscar in 2011 for The Descendants, which marked his second Best Picture and Best Director entries and pulled in an acting nomination for George Clooney.

Nebraska has been getting strong notices from critics and should result in Payne’s third straight Best Picture vehicle. The problem is that the film isn’t written by him or Taylor and is filmed in black-and-white, which could be a stumbling block for Academy members, even those who recognized The Artist just a couple of years ago. Bruce Dern is being heavily touted as a possible Best Actor nominee and considering Payne’s track record, the film should be his fourth straight to pick up an acting nomination. Even if Dern can’t slide into the hyper-competitive Best Actor race, June Squibb is earning raves and strong talk as a Best Supporting Actress nominee.