'Tree of Life' makes Academy's VFX list

'The Green Lantern'The Academy's visual effects branch has narrowed the list of contenders to 15 films, and their decision has at least one surprise. Terence Malick's art house release "The Tree of Life" is still in the running, but Warner's Martin Campbell-helmed summer tentpole "Green Lantern" is out of contention."The Tree of Life" has a few meticulously rendered scenes of ancient life, including dinosuars, and the branch had expressed hope that expansion of the vfx bakeoff . Meanwhile, Warner was not pushing hard for "Green Lantern," whichThe 15 pics still in the running are: "Captain America: The First Avenger," "Cowboys & Aliens," "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," "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," "Sucker Punch," "Super 8," "Thor," "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "The Tree of Life" and "X-Men: First Class."The list is determined by the executive committee of the Acad's vfx branch. All members of the committee are required to see all of those pics before they meet again to narrow the list to the 10 pics that will compete in the visual effects bakeoff. Selection shows the Acad branch warming to vfx that are highly art directed, such as "Hugo," "Sherlock Holmes," "Thor" and "X-Men." Among studios, Paramount dominated with seven of the 15, Warner has three, Fox has three (including Searchlight's "Tree of Life) and Disney has two. Excellence in visual effects is strongly correlated with big theatrical grosses, so Par's strength in the category is a sign of the studio's big year. The absence of U and Sony from the competish is a poor sign for both studios. The 10 picks that will compete in the bakeoff will be announced Jan 4. The visual effects bakeoff will be held on Jan. 19 in the Goldwyn Theater at the Acad's BevHills HQ. Acad vfx branch members in attendance will vote that night to choose the five vfx Oscar nominees. Nominations are announced Jan. 24. Contact David S. Cohen at david.cohen@variety.com