•  Tom O'Neil has a little inside scoop from yesterday's National Society of Film Critics awards voting. [Gold Derby]

•  Sasha Stone, meanwhile, perhaps jumps the gun by insisting "There Will Be Blood" is the Best Picture frontrunner (with nothing to go on but critical awards and one nomination in the guild arena thus far). [Awards Daily]

•  Speaking of which, Ed Pilkington sits down with "Blood" helmer Paul Thomas Anderson. [Guardian]

•  Jeffrey Wells talks "Sweeney Todd" with the "affable" Tim Burton. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  The Oscar season gets a hard look from the Gray Lady's critics, starting with a love letter to "Zodiac" from Manohla Dargis. [New York Times]
    
     Dargis' original review of the film dated Mar. 2, 2007. [New York Times]

•  A.O. Scott, meanwhile, digs back into Alexander Supertramp and "Into the Wild." [New York Times]
    
     Scott's original review of the film, dated Sept. 27, 2007. [New York Times]

•  And Stephen Holden goes "Across the Universe" one more time for good measure (thinking a little more outside the Oscar box than his colleagues). [New York Times]
    
     Holden's original review, dated Sept. 14, 2007. [New York Times]

•  David Carr, meanwhile, takes a look at the WGA strike's implications on Oscar. [New York Times]

•  And finally, Caryn James digs into the career of Best Actor hopeful George Clooney. [New York Times]

•  Some photos from thee Palm Springs International Film Festival, well underway. [The Envelope]

•  First looks at Demian Bichir in next year's Oscar hopefuls "The Argentine" and "Guerilla" (both from Steven Soderbergh). [Ain't It Cool News]

•  "There Will Be Blood" and "Zodiac" top a critics poll of the year's best. [indieWIRE]

•  Gerard Kennedy surveys the top contenders for Best Original Song. [In Contention]

•  Award Central begins its Golden Globes countdown in the Features department. [Variety]

•  Pete Hammond weighs in on SAG and the blows felt by "Atonement" and "Sweeney Todd" yesterday. [The Envelope]

•  But Tom O'Neil makes sure it's clear that the winner of Best Cast doesn't always forecast the winner of Best Picture. [Gold Derby]

•  And David Poland is bored with the announcement, as usual. [The Hot Blog]

•  Sasha Stone has a comparison chart for contending performances this Oscar season across three awards-giving bodies. [Awards Daily]

•  Gurus 2.0 go on the record again, pre-SAG, having hastily knocked "Into the Wild" down far too many pegs in response to the HFPA near shut-out. [Movie City News]

•  Nathaniel Rogers can't get "Sweeney" tunes out of his head. [The Film Experience]

•  Hank Rosenfeld draws out the similarities between Nicole Kidman's evil Ms. Coulter ("The Golden Compass") and conservative nut-job Ann Coulter. [Los Angeles Times]

•  Scott Bowles gets in some quality time with Daniel Day-Lewis. [USA Today]

•  And a final list of awards designations before the holiday, courtesy of yours truly. [In Contention]

•  Ah, the great interview ops -- Scott Bowles corners Morgan Freeman on a schooner off of Marina Del Rey. [USA Today]

•  A bit of a stretch, but we come up with nine "scandals" this Oscar season nonetheless. [The Envelope]

•  James McAvoy talks to "Atonement" star James McAvoy. [The Envelope]

•  Creative Screenwriting's Jeff Goldsmith gets some quality time with "Lars and the Real Girl" scribe Nancy Oliver. [The Envelope]

•  Amy Adams, Jennifer Garner and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" make some serious leaps at the Buzzmeter. [The Envelope]

•  Speaking of Adams, David Poland makes mention of the current media "crush" on the actress. [The Hot Blog]

•  Tom O'Neil thinks the Alliance of Film Journalists' decision to go with the macho-heavy "No Country for Old Men" is unexpected to say the least. [Gold Derby]

•  Jeffrey Wells takes in a Denzel Washington event at Harvard. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Nathaniel Rogers sits down with "Margot at the Wedding" star Jennifer Jason Leigh. [The Film Experience]

•  New York Magazine closes up the year by giving Judd Apatow more publicity. [Vulture]

•  T.L. Stanley responds to Patrick Goldstein's latest blind swing at the "evil" Oscar bloggers -- more on that later. [Gold Rush]

•  Michael Wood talks to Golden Globe nominee John C. Reilly about "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story." [Los Angeles Times]

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists (yes, the Alliance of Women Film Journalists) tapped "No Country for Old Men" as their Best Picture today as part of an awards slate that includes designations such as "Best Depiction of Nudity or Sexuality" and "Most Egregious Age Difference Between Leading Man and Love Interest."  Here's the rundown.

Variety's Features department has been super busy this week, with the addition of three new editions as we close in on the end of the year.

First up, as part of the "Crix' Picks" edition, Sasha Stone analyzes the effect of punditry on the Oscar race.  Manohla Dargis, Dave Karger and Pete Howell are quoted.

Meanwhile, Elsa Bertet looks at the European blogosphere and the "uncharted territory" of Web sites dedicated to the kudos season overseas.

David Mermelstein has the lede in the screenplays collective, looking at the writers' race as one chocked full of "fractured families" and "dysfunctional dynsaties."  There is also a boatload of screenwriter profiles to click through.

Finally, Dade Hayes launches the Best Picture edition by making sure you understand that Oscar campaigns ain't what they used to be, while Dave McNary reminds us of the Academy's June decision to change its "rule of three" regarding allowable credited producers on Best Picture nominees.

There are plenty more stories in that issue, including a giant list of prducer profiles per film.

Erik Childress' "Oscar Eye" column has the full list of Chicago Film Critics nominations mixed in with his tally of who's won what.  You have to kind of pick things out, but the full list is there.

"No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" continue to show up, but the group went out of its way to personally champion "Once" in more than a few areas, including Best Picture.

Casey Affleck popped up again for his supporting turn in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," while Viggo Mortensen found some Best Actor love for his work in David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises."  Frank Langella also made another appearance in the lead field for "Starting Out in the Evening."

Another key contender showing up in the nominations is "Zodiac," which managed citations for Best Director (david Fincher) and Best Adapted Screenplay.

"Michael Clayton" led the way with seven nominations.  "Blood" wasn't far behind with six.  Nothing for "The Kite Runner" or "Sweeney Todd."

Best Picture
"Into the Wild"
"Michael Clayton"
"No Country for Old Men"
"Once"
"There Will Be Blood"

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
David Fincher, "Zodiac"
Jason Reitman, "Juno"

Best Actor
George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"
Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
Ryan Gosling, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Frank Langella, "Starting Out in the Evening"
Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises"

Best Actress
Julie Christie, "Away from Her"
Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"
Angelina Jolie, "A Mighty Heart"
Laura Linney, "The Savages"
Ellen Page, "Juno"

Best Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"
Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"
Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton"

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchet, "I'm Not There"
Jennifer Jason Leigh, "Margot at the Wedding"
Leslie Mann, "Knocked Up"
Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"

Best Adapted Screenplay
"Atonement"
"Into the Wild"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"
"Zodiac"

Best Original Screenplay
"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"
"Juno"
"Michael Clayton"
"Ratatouille"
"The Savages"

Best Cinematography
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
"Atonement"
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"

Best Score
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
"Atonement"
"Lust, Caution"
"Once"
"There Will Be Blood"

Best Animated Feature
"Beowulf"
"Meet the Robinsons"
"Persepolis"
"Ratatouille"
"The Simpsons Movie"

Best Foreign Film
"4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days"
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
"La Vie en Rose"
"Lust, Caution"
"The Orphanage"

Best Documentary
"Darfur Now"
"The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters"
"Lake of Fire"
"No End in Sight"
"Sicko"

Promising Director
Ben Affleck, "Gone Baby Gone"
John Carney, "Once"
Craig Gillespie, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
Sarah Polley, "Away from Her"

Promising Performer
Nikki Blonsky, "Hairspray"
Michael Cera, "Juno"/"Superbad"
Glen Hansard, "Once"
Carice van Houten, "Black Book"
Tang Wei, "Lust, Caution"

Tamara Jenkins' "The Savages" opened to raves across the board today, judging from the solid 91% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a 92% Cream of the Crop collective assessment.  This shower of praise keeps the question on the table: Will the film's familial themes appeal to the Academy enough to generate legitimate Best Picture potential?

"The Savages" has been visible for nearly a year since its bow in Sundance back in January.  The film arguably would have been better served as a surprise rather than Fox Searchlight unveiling it so early (they went into the fest with the film in hand, it wasn't a purchased commodity).  Then again, Sundance was the perfect environment for this little ditty and what's done is done.  Moot point.

The studio now finds itself in a situation similar to Paramount Vantage: Which film to highlight?  The Buzzmeter has finally caught up to the potential of "Juno" in the big race, and when that film opens next month, the critical community will likely go as ga-ga as they have for "Savages."  Searchlight has sent screeners of each of their titles to the memberships of various entities.  And while it's foolish to think studios think in the "one film, one campaign" frame of mind, it's also naive to think a decision doesn't need to be made.

Whatever the case, "The Savages" rules the day for now.