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).

There weren’t many major announcements last week, but two big groups have announced recently. The Spirit Awards revealed their nominations while the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) delivered their selections. With so little to go off of, there are only a couple of minor trends that might have started with these two groups.

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

Week 2 (TUE-MON)

Tuesday, Dec. 6 – Southeastern Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Tuesday, Dec. 6 – Women Critics (Nominations) (Unconfirmed)
Tuesday, Dec. 6 – Women Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Tuesday, Dec. 6 – People’s Choice Awards (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Wednesday, Dec. 7 – Australian Academy of Cinema and Televisions Arts (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Wednesday, Dec. 7 – American Film Institute (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Thursday, Dec. 8 – National Board of Review (Awards) (Official)
Thursday, Dec. 8 – Phoenix Circle (Nominations) (Unconfirmed)
Thursday, Dec. 8 – African American Critics (Nominations) (Official)
Friday, Dec. 9 – Producers Guild (Documentary) (Nominations) (Unconfirmed)
Saturday, Dec. 10 – Boston Online Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Saturday, Dec. 10 – Las Vegas Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Saturday, Dec. 10 – European Film Awards (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Sunday, Dec. 11 – Boston Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Sunday, Dec. 11 – New Mexico Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Sunday, Dec. 11 – North Texas Critics (Nominations) (Unconfirmed)
Sunday, Dec. 11 – Philadelphia Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Monday, Dec. 12 – Chicago Critics (Nominations) (Unconfirmed)
Monday, Dec. 12 – Critics Choice – Super (Nominations) (Unconfirmed)
Monday, Dec. 12 – Kansas City Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Monday, Dec. 12 – Oklahoma Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Monday, Dec. 12 – Phoenix Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Monday, Dec. 12 – Golden Globes (Nominations) (Official)
Monday, Dec. 12 – Preliminary Voting Begins (Official)

Big Winners

Everything Everywhere All at Once was a major nominee at the Spirit Awards, earning a leading 8 nominations. Three of those were in acting and all of whom could be Oscar nominees next year if the precursors keep giving the film awards attention.
Tár. While it’s long been assumed that Cate Blanchett was a lock for a nomination for the film, it’s first-place victory at NYFCC suggests it may be a larger player than anticipated. The film also did quite well in the Spirit Awards nominations, so it seems to be one of the stronger competitors.
RRR won the NYFCC award for Best Directing, which could be a sign that the extremely popular film is destined to overcome the Bollywood curse and pick up several nominations. Slumdog Millionaire it’s not, so I wouldn’t expect too much and unless other critic groups follow this lead, it may be quickly buried.
The Banshees of Inisherin is Martin McDonagh’s latest film to compete from Oscar’s favor and star Colin Farrell’s win at NYFCC and the film’s screenplay win for McDonagh there also suggest strong support from critics, which will bolster its chances with the Academy.
Aftersun has quietly amassed a stellar reputation. The 5 Spirit Awards nominations are telling, but so too is the film’s Best First Film win at NYFCC. It could be a spoiler, but it may also be just small enough to slip through the cracks.

Big Losers

Without more information to go off of, it’s hard to tell who the losers are right now. Maybe next week.