We had three films release this past weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations.

Before Midnight

One of the few franchises of the indie cinema world, Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke have collectively created one of the most celebrated trilogies in history. Most likely, if you’re a fan of The Avengers, you’ve never heard of it. In 1995, the trio came together for Before Sunrise, a romantic drama following a young American (Hawke) and a young Frechwoman (Delpy) who meet on a train and fall in love on the streets of Vienna. Nine years later, the trio reunited for Before Sunset, following the two lovers who meet once again, this time on the streets of Paris. The film was nominated for the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Now, another nine years have passed and the couple are now married with two children living in Paris. Their relationship gets a bit rocky as the parents and children vacation in Greece. Like the previous features, the film has received universally positive notices and is one of the most acclaimed films of 2013. With that celebration comes another chance for an Academy Award nomination. This time, however, Before Midnight has an added opportunity. While I fully expect another Best Adapted Screenplay nomination, the Best Picture slot expansion has provided a number of small films a better opportunity to get into the top race. I think Midnight could very well be one of those nominees. I doubt that it will win, but a nomination would not be at all surprising. Of course, if this doesn’t work, I’m sure they’ll have another opportunity in 2022 if they choose to continue making new features every nine years.

Epic

If it’s animated, it must be an Academy Award contender. Right? Nope. Blue Sky Studios is a semi-prolific animation studio. Since their big success with Ice Age in 2002, they’ve produced 8 films, four in the Ice Age franchise, Robots, Horton Hears a Who, Rio and now Epic. The mediocre performance with critics for each of these films has largely kept them from breaking into the Oscar contest for Best Animated Feature with the original Ice Age being the lone exception. In additional to three nominations and one Oscar in the Animated Short Film category, the studio has only received one other Oscar nomination and that was for Rio, which nabbed a Best Original Song nomination.

This does not bode well for Epic. Critics have been largely dismissive, citing it as a standard, kid-friendly film and the Academy doesn’t seem to care if kids like their nominees or not. That being said, a weak year of animated features, which this has started off being, could result in a surprise nomination for the film, but a lot is riding on the reception of the year’s remaining animated offerings, which have much stronger potential of carrying over in spite of weak reviews.

We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks

Alex Gibney is one of the most important documentary filmmakers working today. Having made films since 1980, Gibney rose to significant prominence in 2005 when his film Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room rode waves of support form critics to his first Best Documentary Feature nomination at the Academy Awards. Two years later, his film Taxi to the Dark Side resulted in his second Oscar nomination and, surprising most observers, managed to take home the award for his controversial film. Since then, his continued efforts have been met with praise from critics, but have fallen short at the Academy Awards. Client 9, Casino Jack and Mea Maxima Culpa. This latter film was considered his strongest chance at a nomination since Taxi to the Dark Side. Ultimately, he has yet to make it back to the Oscars.

That could change this year with his new documentary We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks. Exploring the formation and controversy surrounding Julian Assange and his notorious website that leaked sensitive military documents and grabbed headlines for exposing torture, malfeasance and other treacheries. While it might seem a bit controversial for the Academy, Taxi to the Dark Side was equally dangerous at the time and they still gave him the Oscar. The problem is that Gibney, Michael Moore, Kirby Dick and Errol Morris are among the noted modern documentary filmmakers that have helped revitalize the genre, leading to a large influx of quality productions that could become their own competition and may very well be this year.