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

Annie

When it was announced that young Oscar nominee Quevenzhane Wallis would star in a remake of popular musical Annie, some greeted the news with satisfaction that race roles would be reversed for the productions. Meanwhile, those of us who weren’t as fascinated with her turn in Beasts of the Southern Wild weren’t as jubilant even if we were pleased that color-blind casting wasn’t going to be an issue.

In the end, early reviews have shown that the film is indeed a burgeoning disaster that may please some audiences, but will result in the film not performing nearly to the expectations some had for it when it was green lighted. The film went from a potential major Oscar contender to a film most think will be complete ignored.

That is unless the Golden Globes were on to something when they nominated the film for Best Original Song. After Evita‘s landmark debut resulted in multiple nominations and ultimately won the Best Original Song trophy, it became important for new musicals to add to their largess (even while cutting other songs from the show). While Annie might not perform supremely well at the box office, it could have a single hold-out chance of a nomination for the song “Opportunity.” However, knowing the Academy, anything that’s even remotely popular no longer has a guarantee of a mention alongside more traditional songs.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Peter Jackson’s mammoth return excursion to Middle Earth was capped by a massive battle sequence filled to the rim with special effects, both visual and sound. While the new franchise hasn’t quite met the expectations of many critics or audiences, there’s no question the films have been monumental achievements that the Academy may recognize in the same way they picked up on the final film of his original Lord of the Rings trilogy.

After a fire-drenched opening sequence featuring the dire dragon Smaug, the film settles into nearly two hours of carefully orchestrated battle sequences featuring hordes of orcs, elves and dwarves, plus giant ogres, beautiful stags, mountain goats and all other manner of critters. This alone should give the franchise a sixth straight nomination for Best Visual Effects. Were it not up against the likes of Interstellar, it might have even challenged for the win.

While the first trilogy did supremely well at the Oscars, this second trilogy hasn’t, though it’s gotten enough attention to make it a sure contender. The first film, An Unexpected Journey earned nods for Best Makeup & Hairstyling, Best Production Design and Best Visual Effects. The Desolation of Smaug picked up nominations for the tech trimuvirate, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects.

So, if this film gets at least three nominations, Best Visual Effects will be one of them. The sound categories are also likely repeats as well, considering how much battle is involved. Makeup is out of the question since it didn’t qualify for the shortlist. Production Design could happen, but most of the designs were carried out in the first two films and production designers might not feel enough was original here.

Other possibilities include Best Original Score, though the more traditional Hobbit score isn’t as immediately familiar as The Lord of the Rings and the Academy has shown a desire to break out past the traditional scores in recent years. Best Original Song is probably its best shot. “The Last Goodbye” is a bittersweet melody that caps the franchise with Billy Boyd’s distinctive and captivating voice. It’s a beautiful song that could be more than just a fitting cap to a franchise, but a perfect final recognition of one of the most ambitious literary adaptations in cinema history.

Mr. Turner

Mike Leigh’s cinematic biography of noted painter J.M.W. Turner takes the audience into a world that’s framed by the artist’s visual palette. A painterly drama that has been quietly building steam among U.S. critics after a celebrated launch at Cannes last year where star Timothy Spall won the Best Actor award and Leigh was nominated for the Palme d’Or.

A little mentioned award from Cannes might point to the film’s potential success with the Academy, particularly in the creative department. Cinematographer Dick Pope received a special award for his photography of the film, which captures the mood and splendor of Turner’s work. That achievement alone is sure to appeal to Cinematographers who love traditional forms of lighting and photography. Yet, that’s not the only place the film is likely to show up.

The Production Design and Costume Design categories are also likely thanks to the film’s lush period design details. With the canvas of film being filled with lush colors and settings, these two groups are almost certain to single the film. With that appreciation by artisans, and the support of critics, the film is also a decent contender for Best Picture with Mike Leigh in the hunt for his second nomination for Best Director. I find these two categories among its weakest chances, but anything could happen at this point.

Spall has a better chance at a Best Actor nomination than most, especially if Oscar voters get a chance to see the performance. Recognizing a noted British character actor is definitely within their interests, but the jam-packed category has too little room to maneuver extra contenders in. That alone could help him get in if the votes are evenly split among the many frontrunners. Original Score is possible, but my suspicion is the film picks up its fourth nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The Academy’s writers love Leigh almost as much as they love Woody Allen, so a failure to get a nod from them would definitely be shocking.

Song of the Sea

GKids has two horses in this year’s Oscar race. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya comes from Studio Ghibli, which has been recognized many times over the years thanks to Hayao Miyazaki’s prominence. Most other films from that house don’t do so well with Oscar. Song of the Sea, on the other hand, comes from the director behind surprise Oscar nominee The Secret of Kells.

This adventure follows the life of a young girl who is anything but normal. She is the last of the Selkies, mythical Irish women who can take the form of seals and back again. The story follows the last of them as she tries to reunite with the wild world around her while her human family tries to bring her back to safety not knowing of her nature.

The trailer for the film features some gorgeous visuals which help set the film apart from its competitors. Both this and Kaguya are traditional hand-drawn affairs, which is one of the reason they tend to get so much attention from animators who want to keep some connection to their forebears even while churning out more computer animated adventures than ever before. It’s unlikely both GKids films will get Oscar nominations and Kaguya has been getting most of the press recently. Still, there’s part of me that thinks Song of the Sea might sneak into the final five slot ahead of Kaguya and might even get nominated alongside it.