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).

Apart from a few stragglers, critics have now had their say. We have a week off to cover the space between Christmas and the preparation for the New Year, but then we begin a new phase the following week.

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

Week 5

Nothing

Big Winners

Jennifer Aniston had a great two weeks. After nominations from both the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the Screen Actors Guild, she followed up with some recognition from critics, including the Broadcast Film Critics Society. She could be well on her way to a nomination that no one really saw coming prior to precursor season. She won’t likely be able to win, but a nomination in a fairly wide-open field wouldn’t be surprising.
Birdman continued its dominance of the nominating prizes this week, topping nearly every list there was and picking up a few Best Picture prizes along the way. The film is a most certain nominee at this point, but whether it can win or not remains to be seen.
Boyhood is the little indie that could. Richard Linklater’s coming of age story has earned a lot of respect from critics, earning more prizes on average than Birdman and even picking up the president’s seal of approval. That will go a long way to giving the film a chance at Oscar glory.

Big Losers

Steve Carell Had a good day at SAG, but then started fading again failing to even pick up a nomination in a six-wide field from the Broadcast Film Critics. That could spell trouble for the comedian who faces an uphill battle that Steve Martin and Jim Carrey can both tell him is fraught with peril.
Interstellar earned seven nominations from the Broadcast critics, but didn’t get a Best Picture nomination. Many thought that it would be the populist film that turned its $100-million-plus bounty into an Oscar nomination. However, it’s looking more and more likely that it will be relegated to the creative and technical categories only.
Unbroken didn’t have a bad week, Angelina Jolie got a nod from the Broadcast Critics. However, reviews are trickling out and it’s not looking promising. The Academy’s weighted balloting system could help it get a nomination (especially if it’s Christmas box office is good), but her inclusion in any of the major categories remains in serious doubt at this juncture.