Oscar 2014 Predictions: How the Gotham Independent Awards Affect Oscars?

With "Inside Llewyn Davis" winning the Gotham Awards, the Coen brothers' film has come one step closer to snagging Oscar nominations.

Out of the past five Gotham winners, three have gone on to get nominated for the Best Picture award and one has won it: "The Hurt Locker," "The Tree of Life" and "Winter's Bone." However, last year's winner, "Moonrise Kingdom," failed to get shortlisted for Best Picture and instead was only nominated for Best Screenplay. "Beginners," which tied "The Tree of Life" in 2011, was also not shortlisted for Best Picture at the Oscars.

While this seems like bad news for "12 Years A Slave," the presumed Oscar front-runner that lost to "Llewyn Davis," a Gotham loss does not hurt its Oscar chances. Back in 2006 "Half Nelson" beat "The Departed" for Best Feature; "The Departed" went on to win Best Picture while "Half Nelson" was not even nominated.

2005 saw a similar case with "Capote" defeating "Brokeback Mountain" for Best Feature. While neither won the Best Picture, "Brokeback Mountain" had a stronger awards presence. 

The Best Actor and Best Actress categories are new to the organization and as a result have no affect on the Oscar race at the moment. However, Matthew McConaughey's win for "Dallas Buyers Club" only helped solidify his front-runner status in the race. As for Brie Larson's surprising win for Best Actress, the award boosted her Oscar campaign. The more wins the young actress gets will help her gain traction and attention from the Academy.

While "Fruitvale Station" won two awards for Breakthrough Actor and Director, it is unlikely these awards will translate into Oscar nominations. The film will need more than breakthrough awards for the Academy to consider it a heavy weight for the Best Picture category.