(CNN)The pandemic has upended the calendar in a variety of ways, and the movie awards "season" is no exception. That explains why this year, February is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

It's around Christmas, traditionally, when studios and smaller distributors release their award contenders, hoping to be fresh in the minds of critics groups, guilds and most significantly members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which presents the Oscars, when they start voting.