Pro: “Amour” may be the subtitled film generating the most buzz in the top categories, but make no mistake: this vastly popular odd-couple comedy – the year's highest-grossing foreign-language title – already has a number of fans in the Academy, having been released back in the spring and accumulated steady word of mouth ever since. (The Weinsteins smartly got the screeners out early.) In addition to foreign films, the writers' branch can be kinder than others to outright comedies.

Con: Audiences may love the film, but critics haven't been entirely won over, and the writers' branch – arguably the Academy's most discerning – tends to side with the latter. If voters decide they only have room for one French feature on their ballots, the more prestigious (and far better-written) “Amour” is going to win out.

- Guy Lodge