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

Alice Through the Looking Glass

When Tim Burton brought his vision of the classic Lewis Carroll novels to the big screen in 2010 with Alice in Wonderland, a new era was born. This era featured Disney almost annually resurrecting its legendary animated films in stylish live-action versions. The original still remains the most successful in terms of Oscar recognition with three nominations and two victories.

Burton’s films have always been key players in the creative categories, and his films’ wins have also been a fairly common occurrence. That’s why the film won Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. The Visual Effects nomination was always a long shot, so its failure was expected.

After Alice in Wonderland, the studio’s live-action adaptations of Oz the Great and Powerful, Maleficent, Cinderella and The Jungle Book have each been huge successes at the box office and with only Oz and, because it was released this year, Jungle Book not scoring nominations. Jungle Book is sure to earn a Best Visual Effects nomination, possibly others, which leaves the disappointing box office of Alice Through the Looking Glass as a symbol of how its chances at the Oscars are likely to go.

Alice‘s sequel was poorly reviewed and had a weak opening at the box office. This is on top of the absence of the original film’s director. Burton would certainly have given it enough gumption to push towards the Oscars, but at this point, I’d be surprised if it made it that far. The film’s chances are limited to the original film’s three categories with an added potential in the Best Makeup & Hairstyling category. I suspect Visual Effects is out and Production Design might be a challenge, but the other two categories remain distant possibilities.

X-Men: Apocalypse

Fox and Sony don’t have the bulk of Disney/Marvel’s comic book rights, limited to three franchises: X-Men and Fantastic Four at Fox and Spider-Man at Sony. Until recently, Disney’s films were the only ones earning Oscar nominations. That all changed in 2014 when Fox’s X-Men: Days of Future Past managed to secure the franchise’s first Oscar nomination: Best Visual Effects.

This year, the studio has two major efforts on deck for potential Oscar consideration. Deadpool‘s R rating may be a tough sell to some Academy voters, but X-Men: Apocalypse will be the perfect fit for their appreciation of Visual Effects.

For years, heavy effects films, most notably Michael Bay’s Transformers saga, have been Oscar mainstays. It’s what also helped Captain America: The Winter Soldier become the first non-Iron Man Marvel film to earn an Oscar nomination. With such dry spells being broken, we could see several more nominations, but competition this year will be very tight.

Working against Apocalypse are the mediocre reviews. Some have even accused the film of being too effects heavy and that’s certainly a concern, but all-in-all, the film still has solid potential even if it isn’t as promising as it was before the reviews poured in.