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

Battle of the Sexes

The story of the legendary tennis match between loutish Bobby Riggs (here played by Steve Carell) and superstar Billie Jean King (Emma Stone), has been translated to the big screen by the directing team behind Little Miss Sunshine, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. Having played the Toronto and Telluride film festivals, the film has been seen and the reviews are strong with an 86% at Rotten Tomatoes (7.1/10 average rating) and a 73 at MetaCritic.

The film now must face audiences where its subpar opening weekend threatens to keep the film from bridging the gap between critical acclaim and box office success, both factors in determining whether Oscar will take notice. For the most part, there are a few factors that could help net the film sufficient attention even in the face of disappointing box office. Apart from the critical support, Stone is coming off her Oscar win for La La Land. Nominated previously, Stone seems like the kind of actor who will continue to earn the respect of the Academy for years to come.

She will have a lot of competition for Best Actress, though, but just the desire to catch her in a strongly feminist and very personal role could bolster the film’s chances of being seen and thus accepted. Little Miss Sunshine was better reviewed, but this is a timely story set in the recent past, something Academy voters like to recognize. Carell is the other ace-in-the-hole. With two prominent roles this year (this and Last Flag Flying), the Academy may once again choose to recognize an actor who is every bit the chameleon. His prior Oscar nomination can’t hurt.

Whether the film ultimately becomes a major contender or a targeted one will be box office success. If they film never ignites and becomes a bit of a dud, it will take critics supporting the film with year-end awards to get it farther into the Oscar race. However, that might be a tall order as I doubt they will be chomping at the bit to give this film much recognition at all.

The Lego Ninjago Movie

When The Lego Movie came out three years ago, it was a box office hit and critical adored it. The film was, up until nominations morning, thought to not only be a slam-dunk for a nomination, but also the likely winner. However, the Academy’s animation voters didn’t seem to like it and ignored the film altogether. It picked up a single nomination for Best Original Song and that was it.

This year, we have not one, but two Lego pictures in the offing and both may benefit from anger over that prior film’s Oscar failure. That said, The Lego Batman Movie, which released earlier this year, significantly underperformed the 2014 film. More than $80 million light, the result was a bit surprising. Critics were also less impressed with that film, which sets it up for less attention for year-end awards.

Enter the third film, The Lego Ninjago Movie, based on an existing Lego product line. Critics didn’t care much for the film and it dismal opening weekend numbers suggest a sub-$100 million closing tally, which makes this a costly flop for Warner Bros. Animation. Those two factors alone mean that Ninjago isn’t likely to be in the hunt for a Best Animated Feature nomination and there are no eligible songs in the film that particularly stand out as Oscar recognition.

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