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Brave is the heavy favorite to win Best Animated Feature this year, but three other animated flicks could challenge it, although Best Picture seems out of reach for any of them. Tim Burton's second film this year is an adaptation of a short film he made in the '80s, Frankenweenie. The black and white claymation could be a hit with the animators, and if Brave is not as good as the hype, Burton could win his first Oscar. He will have to contend with ParaNorman, which debuted a very well-received teaser last fall and could be a big hit. It is a kid horror film in the same vein as Monster House, which was also nominated for Best Animated Feature. Meanwhile, Rise of the Guardians is being described as a contemporary fairytale, based on a series of books that sounds like a less clever version of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. But hey, Hugh Jackman plays the Easter Bunny, so it could be fun.

A handful of independent genre films might end up being hits, although their chances with the Academy are slim. Steven Spielberg's Lincoln is one of the early favorites for Best Picture, but could its thunder be stolen by Timur Bekmambatov's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? No, probably not, although fans of the novel might turn the film into a hit. Rian Johnson's first two films, Brick and The Brothers Bloom, never made it onto the Academy's radar, and there isn't much reason to think that Looper will. Apparently he was helped by Primer director Shane Carruth, so fans of both directors (this guy right here) should get excited. Meanwhile, the New Orleans-set fantasy film Beasts of the Southern Wild was one of the big hits of Sundance. Last year's Another Earth was completely ignored, but if Beasts is a hit it has a chance at a Screenplay nomination, perhaps.

Could either of the Snow White movies strike a chord with Oscar? Snow White and the Huntsmen looks like the more epic film, which means it will likely have a better shot in the technical categories, but if Mirror Mirror is a hit a Best Actress nomination for Julia Roberts is not out of the question. The last Bourne film was a surprise success, winning three Oscars. Could a changing of the guard yield similar results? We will have to see if The Bourne Legacy, which replaces Matt Damon with Jeremy Renner, is as well reviewed as Ultimatum before we make a judgment. It is safe to say, though, that the new James Bond film Skyfall should not be holding its breath for any Oscar nominations. It would be the first Bond film to do so in more than 30 years.

And then, of course, there is the wave of fantasy epics, superhero movies, and franchise films that might sneak into the Oscars with Visual Effects or Sound Editing nominations. Both Iron Man films were nominated for their visual effects, and adding a slew of other superheroes might help. Watch out for The Avengers to get a couple of nominations, and maybe more, depending on the popularity of the film. Men in Black won Best Makeup back in the day, but I doubt MIB 3 will find the same success unless it is truly extraordinary. Will rebooting the Spider-Man franchise lead to more Oscar success? Spidey's one and two were both nominated for Visual Effects, so don't count out The Amazing Spider-Man. And then of course there is John Carter, Wrath of the Titans, Battleship, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and, scraping the bottom of the barrel, Total Recall and Dredd. All of them have to be mentioned, if only to fill our thoughts of summer with, well, dread.

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