The Academy lists ten films that are in contention for best visual effects

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Now that 2014 is coming to a close, you'll find a lot of Year's Best lists floating around the internet. Before we get to ours, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is rounding out their choices for the Best Visual Effects category. They've whittled things down to a list of 10, and on Saturday, January 10, they will watch 10-minute excerpts from each film to determine which deserve the nomination. I've included the list for you below.

• 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

While most of those flicks delivered some truly awe-inspiring effects, MALEFICENT and NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB seem like easy dismissals for me. In any event, the Academy Award nominations will be revealed on January 15, 2015. From that point, we'll have a little over a month to debate which films deserve awards, and then the rest of our lives to complain about who actually won. The Academy is not the be-all, end-all in terms of how great a film is, but it's still fascinating to see who's going to walk home with an Oscar. Plan accordingly!

The 87th Academy Awards will air on ABC on February 22, 2015.

Think Andy Serkis will receive an acting nomination?