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).

Things remain busy in the precursor world, but this week will likely be the last busy one until the new year as Christmas is the following week and there aren’t many who will announce in that window.

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

Week 3 (Tue. – Mon.)

Tuesday, Dec. 14 – Dallas Area Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Tuesday, Dec. 14 – Indiana Journalists (Nominations) (Unconfirmed)
Tuesday, Dec. 14 – North Texas Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Tuesday, Dec. 14 – San Francisco Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Tuesday, Dec. 14 – Vancouver Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Tuesday, Dec. 14 – Spirit Awards (Nominations) (Official)
Wednesday, Dec. 15 – London Critics (Nominations) (Unconfirmed)
Wednesday, Dec. 15 – Preliminary Voting Ends (Official)
Friday, Dec. 17 – Florida Critics (Nominations) (Unconfirmed)
Friday, Dec. 17 – Nevada Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Friday, Dec. 17 – Black Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Friday, Dec. 17 – Online Female Critics (Awards) (Official)
Saturday, Dec. 18 – Los Angeles Critics (Awards) (Official)
Saturday, Dec. 18 – Women Journalists (Nominations) (Unconfirmed)
Monday, Dec. 20 – Indiana Journalists (Awards) (Unconfirmed)
Monday, Dec. 20 – Utah Critics (Awards) (Unconfirmed)

Big Winners

The Power of the Dog has been racking up the nominations and wins more so than any other film in the last week. It may have been a late entry into the race, but it’s turned into one of the “power” players.
West Side Story was a little slow out of the gate, but the last week has seen it taking off in significant ways with plenty of top-tier citations, including for stars Ariana DeBose and Rita Moreno.
Licorice Pizza continues to thrive with critics groups, though its trajectory feels more like Boogie Nights than The Mater. Still, there isn’t nearly as much competition as there was in 1997, so it could still do pretty well.

Big Losers

Nightmare Alley continues to struggle for its place in the Oscar race. It was once thought to be Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar follow up to Best Picture winner The Shape of Water, but critics haven’t fallen all over it, which makes its performance instructive.
Belfast may have come out of the gate strong, but last week didn’t seem to have a lot of positive news for the film as it kept losing to other films. Yet, this week is already starting to look up for the film.
Disney/Pixar has yet to pick up a Best Animated Feature award in spite of three contenders this year. Raya and the Last Dragon from early in the year, Luca from the summer, and Encanto in the waning days of the year. Compared to last year when Soul was dominant, this feels like a huge step down for the studio.