Academy Names Ten Contenders On Short List For Best Visual Effects Oscar

Guardians Of The Galaxy, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies and Interstellar are among the ten films named to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ shortlist of movies eligible to nominated for the Best Visual Effects Oscar at the upcoming 87th Academy Awards. The complete list of potential nominees is below.

Having seen all of the films on the shortlist with the exception of Night At The Museum, I would dare say that from a technical standpoint that there isn’t really a clunker title in the group. Interestingly, though, is the fact that neither Biblical epic released this year – Darren Aronofsky’s Noah nor Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods And Kings – made the cut.

If one were inclined to wager on such things, the safe bet as to who could win this category is actually tied to the list of nominees for Best Picture. Over the past six years, the winners of the Best Visual Effects Oscar were also Best Picture nominees. Looking at this list, I would say that Interstellar is probably the closest to a lock for a Best Picture nomination, that is if Academy members can get past the film’s length, middling reviews and the controversy over the film’s sound mix. If Academy voters were looking for a populist film to fill a spot on the nominee list then Guardians Of The Galaxy could very well be a contender. However, if none of the pictures here wind up also garnering a Best Picture nomination, then my money would be on Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes.

Here is the complete list films on the shortlist –

• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
• Godzilla
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
• Interstellar
• Maleficent
• Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
• Transformers: Age of Extinction
• X-Men: Days of Future Past