With this, we reach then end of 2017. While some of these films opened on December 25, I counted them as full-weekend releases for the 53rd and final weekend of 2016. This is posting in place of the Precursor Winners & Losers article that is going up on Mondays through the end of Oscar season because there were no precursors or nominees handed out within the last week that will impact the upcoming Oscar race.

This also means that this normal weekly round-up Oscar Preview article will be going on hiatus through the end of Oscar season when we’ll recap the first two months of 2017 and their Oscar chances. Until then, here are the five films that released between December 25 and December 30 that have Oscar potential

20th Century Women

Director Mike Mills is no stranger to the Oscars. Six years ago, he broke through with his film Beginners, which earned Christopher Plummer his long overdue competitive Oscar. Can lightning strike twice? Annette Bening sure hopes so.

Starring Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig, and Billy Crudup, three women explore love and freedom in 1970s California. Bening has been chasing Oscar for several years now and has found herself frequently against juggernauts. This year may be no exception. Natalie Portman seems like she’s on a streak through Oscar season, but the road bump would more likely be Emma Stone rather than Bening.

Bening is also not guaranteed a nomination. Although she’s appeared in several contests, including with the Screen Actors Guild, the Academy only has five slots and SAG refused to nominate Isabelle Huppert, who seems like a major force in the race and Bening could be ejected for her, though Meryl Streep is more likely to be the one who bumps her out. Gerwig has also received some attention for her performance, but she’s an indie darling who doesn’t do enough with Hollywood to merit their consideration.

The film could also be a screenwriting nominee, but that’s about as far as the film is likely to go at this juncture.

Hidden Figures

A certain crowd pleaser, Hidden Figures was originally slated for an early 2017 release, but was given a qualifying run for the Oscars. It has shown surprising strength in the precursors so far, securing several nominations for supporting actress Octavia Spencer and becoming a challenger for a Best Picture nomination.

The story of three black women working for NASA is the kind of glossy Hollywood treatise on race that the Academy and audiences have generally embraced. It’s charming, daring, and visually strong. The one factor that has so far gotten in its way is the failure to rate a Golden Globe nomination. The SAG ensemble nomination is a good sign, but without a stronger push through awards season, its chances at a Best Picture nomination are weak.

Similarly, stars Taraji P. Henson and Janelle Monae are struggling to enter the awards race. Henson has the least opportunity with a jam-packed leading competition, but Monae could earn a double nomination alongside likely nominee Spencer. The film should also easily net a screenwriting nomination and could compete in Original Score and, especially, Original Song. The film may struggle a bit with Production Design and Costume Design categories since it’s a near-past effort and those races are filled to the brim with competition.

Live by Night

After years of ridicule for his performances in films like Pearl Harbor, Armageddon, and the disastrous Gigli, Ben Affleck had hit rock bottom. He continued to act, but it wasn’t until his performance as George Reeves in 2006’s Hollywoodland that people began to take him seriously. The next year, he went behind the camera to direct his debut feature, Gone Baby Gone, which was a smash hit with critics. They praised Affleck’s surprising maturity as a director and the film went on to earn Amy Ryan a Supporting Actress nomination.

His directorial career took off. He followed that up three years later with heist thriller The Town, which came close to a Best Picture nomination, but ultimately crashed on Oscar morning earning only a single nomination for Supporting Actor Jeremy Renner. He would not be deterred and two years after, he made Argo. The film was a success with audiences and critics. Not only did it secure seven Oscar nominations, it took home three of them including Best Picture. What eluded him was a Best Director nomination, which he received from the DGA, but not the Academy. He became only the fourth director to win Best Picture without a corresponding Best Director nomination.

It has been four years and he’s finally back behind the lens with Live by Night, a period gangster drama. Although initial audience reception for the film has been positive, critics have been unkind, giving the film a dismal 35% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes (the 5.9 average rating suggests that it is mediocre at best) and 51 at MetaCritic. The film seems to have been dumped and it appears that Affleck will not immediately be returning to the Oscars. Still, there’s a chance that the film could merit consideration in Production Design and Costume Design, but that’s the extent, a weak extent, to which the film is competing at the Oscars.

Paterson

In spite of a handful of prizes for star Adam Driver, Paterson seems to be following not unfamiliar to director Jim Jarmusch.

A prominent fixture on the indie scene since his debut feature in 1980’s Permanent Vacation, the director has been well appreciated by cineastes and critics alike. The problem is that he’s as far from mainstream as one can get and no manner of precursor attention will get the Academy to consider his films.

Three years ago, his Only Lovers Left Alive snagged 32 nominations and 15 wins from various groups and star Tilda Swinton was a dark horse contender for Best Actress. Ultimately, the film never showed up on Oscar voters’ radars and it was roundly ignored. While this drama may sound a bit more accessible and star Driver has gained prominence thanks to his appearance in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it’s unlikely that it goes beyond the small number of recognitions it has so far received this year.

Toni Erdmann

One of the unquestioned critical hits of the year, director Maren Ade’s foreign language film Toni Erdmann has won 34 prizes so far this season, an impressive number. It also managed to make the final shortlist for the Academy’s Foreign Language Film Oscar.

A hard working woman’s father tries to become more involved in his daughter’s life by posing as her life coach. The comedy has a strong 91% Fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes and an even more impressive 96 score from Meta Critic. It’s clear the film is well liked and a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination is expected.

The question is: can it win? The competition ranges from a crowd pleasing seriocomedy (A Man Called Ove) to a relationship drama from the director of ab Oscar-winning foreign language film (The Salesman). It’s becoming increasingly likely that the more wistful Ove may become the frontrunner, but the critical acclaim might bolster its chances. What hinders it is that The Handmaiden, a non-submission, has been walking away with the lion’s share of precursor awards (12 so far) while Erdmann has only four, tied with Elle, which would have been the leader had it made the shortlist.