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

Coco

Every animation studio with the exception of one (Studio Ghibli) longs despeartely to replicate the success and passion audiences have for Disney and Pixar. Disney was the only respected game in town for decades until Pixar emerged as Disney faced a decrease in animated quality in the late 1990s. Since then, with few exceptions, Pixar has been a box office and critical hit-maker for nearly twenty years now. While Disney has re-emerged as a dominant force in the genre on its own, its ownership of the Pixar brand has helped build one of the most impressive animation outlets in human history.

Coco marks Pixar’s 13th original motion picture. It continues Pixar’s tradition of tackling narratives and concepts that were seldom approached by traditional animation studios. Looking towards non-fairy tale concepts that often centered around male protagonists, Coco is only their fourth film with a human character at the center. While Coco takes the protagonist into the Land of the Dead, it still deals with the spirits of humans rather than robots, mice, toys, superheroes, dinosaurs, or cars. This also marks the first time in their history that they’ve given a voice to a non-Caucasian protagonist.

As to the film’s Oscar chances, let’s just say that it’s a sure thing. Since the Animated Feature category was created, only one of their non-sequel originals has failed to get nominated. That film, The Good Dinosaur was also their biggest flop, both financially and critically. And of those originals that have been nominated, only two didn’t win the Oscar (Monsters, Inc. and Cars). That suggests that Coco has a built-in advantage going into the Oscar race. That there’s so little competition is immaterial at this juncture. A win seems certain. The film will also likely earn nominations for Original Song and Original Score.

Call Me By Your Name

Just a decade ago, another critically acclaimed film about two men entangled in a romantic affair, was a box office hit and became a major Oscar contender only to have its ascendancy scuttled by one of the worst Best Picture winners in history. Fast forward to 2016 when the story of two young black men fall in love not only managed to score numerous Oscar nominations, became the first gay-themed film to win Best Picture. It’s amazing what a difference a decade can make. Now, it seems like lightning could potentially strike twice in a row for Call Me By Your Name.

Luca Guadagnino’s festival hit has been a huge hit with critics. Scoring an impressive 95 rating from MetaCritic (it has so far net only a single mixed review and no negatives, and is currently tied with documentary Faces Places on that site for highest rated film of the year), a 98% Fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes (a superb 9.2/10 average rating from 119 critics, only two rotten), and currently rated 8.4/10 on IMDb, Call me By Your Name is an unqualified success. That degree of success can only mean one thing: numerous prizes from critics groups are soon to follow.

With that level of support from critics and a terrific $101,000 per screen average (estimated), there’s no question that Call Me By Your Name, as was expected from its laudatory bow at Sundance this year, is a top contender for the Oscars. It could win Best Picture, though it will have a lot of competition. Nominations will abound, with citations possible or probable in Picture, Director, Actor (Timothée Chalamet), Supporting Actor (Armie Hammer and/or Michael Stuhlbarg), Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, and Cinematography.

Darkest Hour

Seven films. That’s how many films director Joe Wright has made since his feature debut in 2005 with Pride & Prejudice. In a career spanning 12 years, that’s not a lot of output. What’s further interesting is that unlike equally sporadic directors like Spike Jonze, Paul Thomas Anderson, and the late Stanley Kubrick, Wright’s career has been notable uneven.

Pride & Prejudice was well received and pulled out four Oscar nominations. Atonement (2007) was his best reviewed film to date and secured seven nominations and won the Oscar for Original Score. The Soloist (2009) wasn’t terribly well reviewed and received no nominations. Hanna (2011) was a slight improvement, but the genre film was not even remotely in the Academy’s wheelhouse, and was as such ignored. Anna Karenina (2012) was modestly received as well, but still managed to pick up four Oscar nominations and an Oscar for Costume Design. Pan (2015) was an absolute failure that could have been an Oscar nominee in the craft categories, but was ultimately ignored.

Wright’s Darkest Hour is his best reviewed film since Atonement with a 73 rating from MetaCritic and an 86% from Rotten Tomatoes. These are solid numbers. What’s even more solid is the early buzz the film received for star Gary Oldman’s performance, which has been considered the frontrunner since it was announced. At this point, there aren’t many options for ignoring Oldman. He’s a celebrated actor who many feel has been under-rewarded and that he has no Oscar may be something Academy voters will finally rectify.

This is a performance that fits the Academy’s love for real-life characters, physical transformations, and legendary actors. While Oldman seems a certain nominee, the film won’t have as much success in the other above-the-line categories where only Original Screenplay seems like an outside possibility, along with Best Picture. It will do much better in the creative categories where Production Design, Costume Design, Original Score, and Makeup and Hairstyling seem likely nominations for the film. Other than that, I doubt it will see much action and wins seem unlikely.