The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today narrowed the field of films that are being considered for a visual-effects Oscar this year from 15 to 10. The biggest surprise this time around probably isn’t that The Tree of Life made it into the top 10, but that Super 8, with its nerve-racking train-wreck set piece, was eliminated.
The Academy’s entire Visual Effects branch will be invited to the presentation of short excerpts from each of the films on January 19, after which the members will vote on the five final nominees, which will be announced the morning of Tuesday, January 24. The Oscars themselves are being handed out on Sunday, February 26. Here’s the list of contenders:

  • Captain America: The First Avenger
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
  • Hugo
  • Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
  • Real Steel
  • Rise of the Planet of the Apes
  • Transformers: Dark of the Moon
  • The Tree of Life
  • X-Men: First Class

And, for reference, the five runners-up:

  • Cowboys & Aliens
  • Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
  • Sucker Punch
  • Super 8
  • Thor