Every year, thousands of movies will be released into the theaters or on-demand, but only a handful of them will garner the acclaim to be nominated at the Academy Awards. Usually, the Cannes Film Festival is a perfect starting gate for films to make an early push for an Oscar, as evidenced in previous competition films such as The Artist and last year's Nebraska. 

This year the trend looks to continue, as critics have cited multiple films as early Oscar contenders such as Bennett Miller's Foxcatcher and Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner, both of which are backed by strong performances by their leading actors. Even before premiering at Cannes last night, Variety already dubbed Steve Carell -- who gives a career changing performance as Jon du Pont, the multimillionaire who murdered Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz in Miller's Foxcatcher -- as a "lock" for a coveted Best Actor Oscar. Timothy Spall has also gained much praise for his role as J.M.W. Turner in Leigh's Mr. Turner, as the film is among the best reviewed movies in Cannes. 

On the flipside, a Cannes premiere doesn't always necessarily mean a film is destined to be nominated. For example, this year's opening film Grace of Monaco -- starring Nicole Kidman as actress turned princess Grace Kelly -- was considered to be one of the worst movies to premiere at Cannes after much buzz surrounding it. The same can be said for Atom Eyogan's The Captive, which was universally panned by critics after it premiered, despite a pretty good performance from Ryan Reynolds as a father grieving and searching for his kidnapped daughter. 

One of the more interesting nominations could be for Maps to the Stars, David Cronenberg's satirical look at Hollywood in the 21st century. While many critics are praising Julianne Moore's portrayal of an anxious actress trying to score a role, the film wasn't met with the same kind of positive criticism that it's star is receiving. Although Moore gives a fantastic performance, the film might not be enough to secure her a nomination, although many believe it should. 

Other films, such as Tommy Lee Jones' directorial effort The Homesman, could find their names being called when nominatiosn go out. Jones, who both starred and directed the quasi-feminist Western, is rumored to be one of the five directors that could be up for a golden statue next year, along with Leigh and Miller resepctively. French actress Marion Cotillard, always a favorite at Cannes, is already getting buzz for another Best Actress nomination for her role in Two Days, One Night. 

Even films that are not in competition could be frontrunner's in other categories, as is the case with Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon 2, which debuted on the first day of the festival and can be seen all over the Croissette. The film likely won't get a Best Picture nomination, but it seems to be a lock for Best Animated Feature, and possibly the frontruner, after opening to very positive reviews. 

Whatever the case, it is always very interesting to play what-if scenarios and predict next year's nominations. After opening to mixed reviews last year the festival, Alexander Payne's black-and-white roadtrip drama Nebraska was nominated for multiple awards, including Best Actor for Bruce Dern and Best Picture and Director nominations for Payne. If that is any indication, there could be an Oscar sleeper somewhere in the mix that hasn't been discussed, but we will likely have to wait to find out which one it is.