The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the 10 films that will advance in the race for the Best Visual Effects Oscar for the upcoming 87th Academy Awards.  Standard franchise fare like Transformers: Age of Extinction and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies make the cut, as do two Marvel movies—Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier—as well as Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi epic Interstellar.  The only noticeable absence here is Darren Aronofsky’s Biblical epic Noah, which didn’t make the cut, nor did Ridley Scott’s own Biblical adaptation Exodus: Gods and Kings.  No surprise, though, that Dawn of the Planet of the Apes appears to be the standout.

Check out the full Best Visual Effects Oscar shortlist after the jump, along with a bit of analysis.

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Image via Paramount Pictures

The easy handicap for the VFX category at the Oscars is to look for the Best Picture nominee.  If there’s a Best Picture nominee also nominated for Best Visual Effects, it almost always wins.  In fact, the past six winners of the Best Visual Effects Oscar were also Best Picture nominees.  However, it looks like this year might prove to be a bit different.  Interstellar has a chance at making the Best Picture cut, but mixed reviews and controversy regarding the sound mix may keep it out of the top category.  In that case, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the deserving folks behind the spectacular effects for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes take home the Best Visual Effects trophy, deeming it our early frontrunner.  Consider it payback for Rise of the Planet of the Apes losing to Hugo.

Anyway, here’s the full shortlist of the 10 films that will now battle it out for a nomination.  Which one do you think deserves to win?  Any major exclusion that you think deserved recognition?

  • 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

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Image via 20th Century Fox