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The race for the visual effects Oscar just got a little tighter.

The Academy's visual effects branch announced on Wednesday that the shortlist of 15 movies, released in mid-December, has been whittled down to seven films.

"Avatar" heads the alphabetic list, followed by "District 9," "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "Star Trek," "Terminator Salvation," "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and "2012."

No longer in contention are: "Angels & Demons," "Coraline," "Disney's A Christmas Carol," "G-Force," "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," "Sherlock Holmes," "Watchmen" and "Where the Wild Things Are."

The branch's members will further narrow the list to three films, which will be announced along with all the other Oscar nominees on February 2. The awards ceremony will be held March 7.

2012

Star Trek