Pro: Though it's extremely rare, director tandems have been nominated before (the most recent being Joel and Ethan Coen in 2010). And though this is a trio (which would, I believe, mark a first), "Cloud Atlas" is a film built on the vision of its direction. Love it or hate it, it's an immaculately crafted piece of work and directors will recognize the level of difficulty.

Con: The film pretty much bombed out of the gate at the box office, so it's not going to be perceived as a success. Adding insult to that injury is the critics' general disapproval, with more negative and mixed assessments than positive. It's not a dense work but it nevertheless has a mind-bender rep that could make viewers perceive it as impenetrable. It just has a lot stacked up against it at this point.

- Kristopher Tapley