Variety has the story.  The 15 films eligible for January's bake-off are:

"Beowulf"
"The Bourne Ultimatum"
"Evan Almighty"
"The Golden Compass"
"Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix"
"I Am Legend"
"Live Free Or Die Hard"
"National Treasure: Book Of Secrets"
"Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End"
"Ratatouille"
"Spider-Man 3"
"Sunshine"
"300"
"Transformers" 
"The Water Horse"

I have to say, I'm somewhat surprised that "Sweeney Todd" didn't at least make this initial list of 15.

Anyway, I've been getting a weird feeling lately that "The Water Horse" could pop up and surprise as the third nominee in this category.  Everyone pretty much concedes that "Transformers" is in (and likely the eventual winner), while some think sequel fatigue could hurt "Pirates" or "Spider-Man 3."  But surely one of those will get in, right?

I'm thinking the third might come down to "The Golden Compass," "Live free or Die Hard" or "The Water Horse," judging from the branch's typicalities.  Though "300" slipping in certainly wouldn't surprise.

Hey, maybe those seven will be next week's bake-off finalists.

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"

The Annie nominations landed today.  Variety has the story.

"Ratatouille," of course, leads the pack with 13 nominations.  Can anything stop it from winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film?

The nominees for Best Animated Film were "Bee Movie," "Persepolis," Ratatouille," "The Simpsons Movie" and "Surf's Up."  Take away "Bee Movie" and "Surf's Up," and I think you're looking at Oscar's final three.

"Beowulf," which a number of people were hoping would land a berth with the Academy, landed a single nomination with the Annies: Best Production Design.  I guess they weren't too keen on "performance capture" as a brand of animation.

Personally, I was stoked to see, further down the list, that "Ren & Stimpy" creator John Kricfaulski was singled out as a Winsor McCay Award winner for career contribution.  Joy!

•  David Poland reports Cate Blanchett's lead actress push for "I'm Not There." [The Hot Blog]

•  Jeffrey Wells thinks the idea stinks. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Tom O'Neil reports that Miramax studio executives are trying "to get to the bottom of the rumor." [Gold Derby]

•  Nathaniel Rogers writes up the effect Golden Globe placement has on actor/actress campaigns. [The Film Experience]

•  Anne Thompson, meanwhile, offers perspective on the typical jockeying for position. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Back to Wells, he's got a chat with "4 months, 3 weeks & 2 Days" director Christian Mungiu... [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  ...offers some not-so-kind thoughts on Amy Adams and here Best Actress-aiming performcnace in "Enchanted"... [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  ...and ponders 2007 as 1999-ish in its broad swoop of quality cinema -- all in a slew of updates over the weekend.  Sleep, Jeffrey.  Sleep. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Brian Kinsley caught Peter Jackson snoozing in "Beowulf." [In Contention]

•  Susan King talks to Janusz Kaminski about his innovative lensing of "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." [The Envelope]

•  Lou Lumenick loved "Starting Out in the Evening" and commends the Best Actor push for Frank Langella. [New York Post]

•  Peter Knegt responds to Variety's story re: quality, but genre-handicapped performances. [indieWIRE]

•  Sasha Stone gets to "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," talks up Roger Deakins. [Awards Daily]

I thought I'd waste a few brain cells this morning and dig through all these prognosticative charts to see what the consensus is amongst those of us crazy enough to go on the record with predictions months out from the Oscar ceremony.

For those unaware, there is the Buzzmeter at The Envelope, a group comprised of 21 critics, columnists and awards analysts; the Gurus o' Gold at Movie City News, a smaller group of 14 similar types (with some Buzzmeter overlap); Gurus 2.0, also at Movie City News, a collective of 15 self-starting webmasters and contributors from some other sanctioned outlets not typically considered for their Oscar coverage; and newly formed, the Sultans of Bling at Awards Daily, a unique group comprised of 22 "civilians," if you will, individuals without outlets or platforms beyond comments sections in this site or that (save AW contributors Ryan C. Adams and Sasha Stone).

If you're not tongue-tied yet, I'll continue.

Three of the groups use a ranking system of 10 for their panelists.  A #1 choice gets a score of 10, a #2 a score of 9, etc.  The only group that uses a five-list system is the Buzzmeter, which obviously gives that collective less opportunity to add other titles to the ring beyond their respective top fives.  One might expect, therefore, a lesser amount of films to be represented by the Buzzmeter.  They list 16, but the Gurus o' Gold list a total of 17 films, with each panelist having the opportunity to list up to ten films.  But to be fair, the Buzzmeter also has seven extra members, so it's kind of a give and take.

I tallied up the scores from each of the films predicted for Best Picture today and came to some interesting findings.  First and foremost, "Into the Wild" gets a huge boost (landing in the #6 spot) by being a clear favorite for two groups, Gurus 2.0 and the Sultans.  The main Gurus and the Buzzmeter, however, have the film listed at #12 and #10 respectively.

Many films, of course, are listed across all four groups, but the Sultans, for instance, are the only group to include "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," "Beowulf," "Control," "The Golden Compass," "I'm Not There," "Lars and the Real Girl," "Ratatouille," "Rescue Dawn" and "We Own the Night."  Of those nine, I don't think it is out of bounds to say at least six have no shot at Best Picture contention, but the unique flavor is certainly welcome.

The Sultans, also, join Gurus 2.0 as the only groups to include "Zodiac" in their lists, while the latter is the only collective to feature "In the Valley of Elah" and "Things We Lost in the Fire."  The main Gurus group, meanwhile, is the only group to list "The Savages."

31 films are represented in total, while the Buzzmeter's 16 are the only ones shared across the board.

Now, let's get to the consensus chart.  Here's the full, ranked list of 31 films predicted for Best Picture by the four prognosticative groups out there on the Oscarweb:

01. "Atonement" (482)
02. "No Country for Old Men" (472)
03. "There Will Be Blood" (248)
04. "American Gangster "(231)
05. "The Kite Runner" (223)
06. "Into the Wild" (188)
07. "Charlie Wilson’s War" (173)
08. "Sweeney Todd" (170)
09. "Michael Clayton" (167)
10. "Juno" (144)
11. "Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead" (114)
12. "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (84)
13. "3:10 to Yuma"(56)
14. "Once" (47)
15. "Zodiac" (34)
16. "Eastern Promises" (16)
17. "Hairspray" (13)
18. "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (12)
19. "In the Valley of Elah" (12)
20. "I’m Not There" (11)
21. "Ratatouille" (7)
22. "Rescue Dawn" (7)
23. "The Savages" (7)
24. "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (6)
25. "Gone Baby Gone" (3)
26. "Control" (3)
27. "Things We Lost in the Fire" (2)
28. "The Golden Compass" (2)
29. "Lars and the Real Girl" (2)
30. "We Own the Night" (1)
31. "Beowulf" (1)

Obviously -- and as if this wasn't clear to begin with -- "Atonement" is the frontrunner for a nomination in this year's Best Picture race, if we're to go by what these collectives have to say.  This seems to have been the case ever since the Venice bow of the film back in September.

Meanwhile, "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" follow right behind, two films that, interestingly enough, are beginning to split some inside and outside of these groups regarding Oscar potential.

Universal's "American Gangster" has seemingly become the prognosticators' film of choice from that studio, while murmurs of "Charlie Wilson's War" being considered a comedy continue to cycle through, amongst other concerns.

"The Kite Runner," clearly an Oscar-bait contender, rounds it out in a list that I truly think will change substantially over the next couple of months.  We'll keep an eye out, but one thing is for sure -- we aren't short on Oscar predictions and opinions this season.

•  Anne Thompson on the recent Variety screening of "The Savages" with Laura Linney and Tamara Jenkins Q&A. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Brian Kinsley points us to a couple of below-the-radar contenders.  I like the "Persepolis" mention for Best Adapted Screenplay. [In Contention]

•  Todd Martens gets into the tracks of "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story." [Extended Play]

•  The Envelope has officially gone off the deep end with its awards season content: I give you, a gallery of the top 9 dinner scenes of the year? [The Envelope]

•  Tom O'Neil talks to "Into the Wild" star Emile Hirsch. [Gold Derby]

•  Jeffrey Wells responds to an item from yours truly, stirs the waters of his comments section in the process. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  While at Jeffrey's site, I came across this interesting piece regarding potential inspirations for Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men." [Anti-Dis-Arts-And-Entertainmentalism]

•  David Poland has taken to iPosting, and his wheels are spinning about the box office of "Beowulf." [The Hot Blog]

•  Nathaniel Rogers, in the fifth of a superlative on-going Oscar column, sizes up musicals at the Oscars. [The Film Experience]

•  Checking names off his interview wish lists, Scott Feinberg gets ahold of veteran Max von Sydow to discuss "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." [And the Winner Is...]

•  Lou Lumenick gets around to "There Will Be Blood," is dazzled by Daniel Day-Lewis' performance. [New York Post]

•  Susan Wloszczyna talks to Josh Brolin about that silly "overnight success" story business.  Anyone seen "The Goonies???" [USA Today]

•  Michael Fleming, Tim Gray get into the specifics of the strike's effect on Awards shows. [Variety]

•  Gerard Kennedy talks to the muti-nominated, yet winless, cinematographer Roger Deakins about his trio of projects this season. [In Contention]

•  Elizabeth Snead talks the fashion of Cate Blanchett. [The Envelope]

•  Speaking of fashion, the Gray Lady spotlights "Control" star Sam Riley in the Style section. [New York Times]

•  Randy Kennedy sits down with Best Director hopeful Julian Schnabel. [New York Times]

•  Dave Kehr digs into the technology behind "Beowulf." [New York Times]

•  Jeffrey Wells talks with Keri Russell about "Waitress," landing on DVD later this month and still an awards push for Fox Searchlight. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Nathaniel Rogers expresses more interest in Russell Crowe's Richie Roberts than Denzel Washington's Frank Lucas. [The Film Experience]

•  Martin Grove makes a case for Frank Langella and "Starting Out in the Evening." [The Hollywood Reporter]

•  Anne Thompson chimes in with some things she learned froma  second look at "There Will Be Blood" Monday night. [Thompson on Hollywood] 

•  Sasha Stone senses a John Cusack surge on the horizon. [Awards Daily]

•  Lisa Rosen spotlights baddies at the Oscars, though it's becoming apparent that The Envelope is churning out TOO MUCH awards content.  Slow down! [The Envelope]

•  Susan King talks to Phil Bosco. [The Envelope]

•  David Poland was ALSO at the "Sweeney Tease" in NYC. [The Hot Blog]

•  Jeffrey Wells comments on Tom O'Neil's reaction to the 17 minutes of footage. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Lou Lumenick agrees with the select few who think "Beowulf" won't land in the animated final three. [New York Post]

•  Peter Knegt takes a stab at predicting the top nine categories. [indieWIRE]

•  Steven Spielberg is set to receive the HFPA's Cecil B. DeMille award. [Variety]

•  Tom O'Neil sees 17 minutes of "Sweeney Todd" in NYC. [Gold Derby]

•  And he talks to Tim Burton about the film. [Gold Derby]

•  Sasha Stone responds. [Awards Daily]

•  The Gurus 2.0 stick with "Into the Wild" and welcome The Gold Digger. [Movie City News]

•  Steve Pond thinks the Golden Globes will go light in a year of dark. [The Envelope]

•  Sandy Cohen talks to Oscar telecast scribe Bruce Vilanch about a ceremony sans script. [The Envelope]

•  Pete Hammond talks indie hopefuls. [The Envelope]

•  Ramin Setoodeh goes ga-ga for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"... [The Gold Digger]

•  ...and Keri Russell. [The Gold Digger]

•  Nathaniel Rogers expresses some surprises over "Beowulf." [The Film Experience]

•  The Hollywood Reporter is giving the Oscar blog game a go with "Gold Rush."  Welcome.  Good luck. [The Hollywood Reporter]

•  Yours truly on "Beowulf" and "Youth Without Youth." [In Contention]

•  David Poland on the former. [The Hot Blog]

•  Mark Olsen surveys double-dipping contenders this year. [The Envelope]

•  Tom O'Neil takes us back to 1995. [Gold Derby]

•  The Gurus o' Gold move "No Country for Old Men" into the pole position. [Movie City News]

•  Jeffrey Wells talks to Paul Thomas Anderson. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Peter Kenegt takes a stab at predicting the Golden Globe nominees. [indieWIRE]

•  Anne Thompson has a joygasm over Jeffrey Wells' "There Will Be Blood" review (and with due cause). [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Ryan C. Adams talks Roger Deakins and has an interesting clip of the lenser working in post-production on "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" [Awards Daily]

•  Gerard Kennedy sizes up this year's Best Makeup hopefuls. [In Contention]

•  Todd Martens lays the smack down on "Beowulf" track "A Hero Comes Home."  Good.  It stinks. [Extended Play]

•  Speaking of "Beowulf," Tom O'Neil responds to the film's Oscar eligibility. [Gold Derby]

•  And Jeffrey Wells still can't seem to understand why the film isn't animation. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  David Poland tries to simplify the Oscar year once again...this time it's "The Year of the Man." [Movie City News]

•  Nathaniel Rogers takes the right coast temperature at the New York premiere of "No Country for Old Men." [The Film Experience]

•  "Juno"-phile Scott Feinberg talks to Ellen Page. [And the Winner Is...]

It looks like New Line Cinema will be putting its might behind the "Hairspray" track "Come So Far (Got So Far To Go)" for its Best Original Song push.  Original speculation was on the Zac Efron tune "Ladies' Choice," but the studio sent out a CD this week containing only the former.

"Hairspray," "Into the Wild" and "Once" are looking like the contenders in the category.  Unless five make it, then there are cases to be made for "Enchanted" or even another "Wild" track, but certainly not "A Hero Comes Home" from "Beowulf."  That's a poppy/dreadful tune if I ever heard one (which is strange, given that Alan Silvestri's score is so bloody awesome).

With the announcement today of the Academy's Oscar-qualifying animated films (list below), Variety is on the beat with a number of stories in yesterday's "Eye on the Oscars: Animated Preview" Special Issue.

Some of the stories:

•  David Cohen on "action-cartoon hybrids" forcing the Academy to "define animation." [Variety]

•  Ellen Wolff ponders the valid question of whether animated films are stuck in an "Oscar ghetto." [Variety]

•  And Iain Blair talks to insiders about casting voice talent for popular animated endeavors. [Variety]

•  Oh, and for those who dig pictures over words, we have a photo gallery! [Variety]

Here's the list of Oscar-qualifying films in the category:

"Alvin and the Chipmunks," "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters," "Bee Movie," "Beowulf," "Meet the Robinsons," "Persepolis," "Ratatouille," "Shrek the Third," "The Simpsons Movie," "Surf's Up," "Tekkonkinkreet" and "TMNT."

I think we can expect the nominees to be "Persepolis," "Ratatouille" and "The Simpsons Movie" to be the final three.  The crowd is over "Shrek," though the branch qualified it, I don't think "Beowulf" will make it through just as "The Polar Expressed" missed in 2004.  And this is a great way for a true animation hero, Matt Groening, to get his due.

"Persepolis" deserves the win in spades, however.  We'll see if the Academy agrees.

•  Sasha Stone ponders whether "Beowulf" is being overshadowed by Angie's star. [Awards Daily]

•  Pete Hammond buzzes "longshot" Oscar possibilities, including Will Smith in "I Am Legend," of which he asks, "Is there any prognosticator out there who has even broached the idea of a Smith nomination this year?"  Uh, yeah.  This one, actually. [The Envelope]

•  Tom O'Neil on pregnancy as marketing power for Cate Blanchett and Helena Bonham Carter. [Gold Derby]

•  Jeffrey Wells on Oprah Winfrey (therefore, "The Great Debaters"), not being phased by a lack of TV publicity due to the WGA strike. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Lou Lumenick thinks the Dec. 26 DVD release of "Eastern Promises" could bolster Viggo Mortensen's Best Actor hopes. [New York Post]

The Weinstein Company, which is understandably searching for a big awards contender amongst likely smaller successes in "Control" and "I'm Not There," will be pulling out "The Great Debaters" for a December release aimed at awards contention, as reported last month.  Well, a trailer has finally arrived (as of Monday, in fact -- been meaning to comment on it ever since).

Produced by Oprah Winfrey and directed by Denzel Washington (who also stars), the film seems to have that golden hue Oscar voters love so much.

Or, rather...that Oscar voters USED to love so much.

I've been wondering, as of late, whether the Academy of today is no longer the Academy Harvey Weinstein so clearly understood in years past.  Tugging those heartstrings, aiming for the "meat and potatoes" voters, a term Weinstein coined, this was the honcho's MO during his hey-day.  But the Academy that took stands for "Shakespeare in Love" and "Life is Beautiful," among others, seems to be a different group than that which has gone on the record for "The Lord of the Rings," "Brokeback Mountain" and "The Departed" in recent memory.

Weinstein himself felt the sting last year when "Bobby," a seemingly tailor-made Academy film that nailed down major nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the Screen Actors Guild, failed to make it into Oscar's final five.  Granted, the film hit a big critical snag (I'm one of the few who really enjoyed it), but I also think the critical assessment of today is a touch different than it was in the pre-9/11 era.

And that brings about a whole other can of worms.  Much as I hate to bring an Oscar discussion into that realm, it is worth pointing out the somber nature of cinema en masse in recent years and, especially, in the last ten months.  2007 has been a downer year for the ages.

"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," "Gone Baby Gone," "In the Valley of Elah, "Into the Wild," "Margot at the Wedding," "Michael Clayton," "No Country for Old Men," "Reservation Road," "There Will Be Blood," "Things We Lost in the Fire," "Zodiac" -- these are not bastions of uplifting cinema.

Even "Beowulf," an exhilerating spectacle of a film, ends on the ambiguous, almost cynical note of perpetual corruption and moral perversion at the highest levels of leadership.

I don't know what kind of fair weather "The Great Debaters" should hope for in the coming weeks as it continues to screen for a critical community that would rather scowl than feel all gooey inside.  But at least it'll assumably have a unique feel-good quotient going for it this season, alongside films like "Juno," "The Kite Runner" and "Once."  When Academy members sit down to vote, they've shown us time and again that there is something to be said for an alternative to the year's emotional status quo.

We shall see...

•  Anne Thompson has "Beowulf" reactions.  [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Jeffrey Wells finall unleashes his "There Will Be Blood" review, smartly acknowledges that it takes a few moments of gathering oneself before fully appreciating the value of the film.  Calls it "diseased greatness." [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Elizabeth Snead talks to Paul LeBlanc about Bardem's do in "No Country." [The Envelope]

•  The Buzzmeter gets a fresh update. [The Envelope]

•  As do the Gurus, this time taking a stab at the screenplay races.  Good showing for Tony Gilroy. [Movie City News]

•  Noah Forrest makes an awards case for subtle performers. [Movie City News]

•  Scott Feinberg talks to Tabu from "The Namesake," getting an agressive push from Fox Searchlight. [And the Winner Is...]

•  Yet ANOTHER award...this time, Tommy Lee Jones is tapped to win the Santa Barbara Fest's American Riviera Award. [Variety]

There is a lot of talk lately about the eligibility of Robert Zemeckis' upcoming "Beowulf" in the Best Animated Feature category.  There is also a concerted effort to refrain from pitching the film as an animated endeavor for awards attention.  Additionally, the director himself has even said that "to call performance capture animation is a disservice to the great animators."

The fact is that it's very likely the animation branch will not nominate Zemeckis' motion-capture film, just as they snubbed "The Polar Express" in 2004.  The sound departments will certainly be on board (Gerard Kennedy fleshed out some interesting talking points with sound mixer Randy Thom at In Contention yesterday), and perhaps the music branch will follow suit -- again, just as in 2004.  But whether the film is good enough to muster a Best Picture nomination is still to be seen

Regardless of all of this, I think it's worth taking note of Zemeckis' obvious desire to push the industry forward by leaps and bounds.  Maybe he deserves some kind of recognition outside of the Oscar ceremony's typical order of proceedings.

In 1988, Zemeckis' "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" garnered a Special Achievement award for animation director Richard Williams, and it was obviously very deserving considering how innovative the effort was at the time.  It's been a while since the Academy has gone out of its way to offer such a designation, and given that Zemeckis is leading the charge on what very well could be the next major phase in cinema technology, perhaps it's time to dust that award off and toss it his way once again.

After "Beowulf," Zemeckis will be diving right back into the motion-capture fray with the Jim Carrey-starrer "A Christmas Carol," in which Carrey will portray Ebenezer Scrooge and all four of the ghosts from the tale.

•  Anne Thompson runs down the outlets spreading "Sweeney Todd" test screening reactions. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Brian Kinsley starts a dialogue positing Fox Searchlight's "Juno" as a Best Picture winner. [In Contention]

•  Mark Olsen brings the news that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is changing its foreign language film rules, no longer allowing films of U.S. origin to qualify for the category. [The Envelope]

•  The trades pick up the story. [Variety, The Hollywood Reporter]

•  And Ryan C. Adams responds to the news. [Awards Daily]

•  The Gurus 2.0 stick with "There Will Be Blood" in their Best Picture predictions, same as the main group (hmph), give their own thoughts on the ladies' categories.  And for some reason four of them consider Julie Roberts an "expected nominee."  Really? [Movie City News]

•  After a week's worth of coverage in this space, the Best Original Song category gets a look from Todd Martens, with a few unmentioned tracks tossed in to spice things up. [Extended Play]

•  Pete Hammond spins the typical "could one of the year's critically acclaimed animated films get a Best Picture nomination" talk for what it's worth. [The Envelope]

•  Tom O'Neil touts his prediction that "Sweeney Todd" will win Best Picture... [Gold Derby]

•  ...and adds some Hersholt Award thoughts for good measure. [Gold Derby]

•  Jeffrey Wells hears from an unnamed source that an unnamed HFPA member apparently isn't keen on Robert Zemeckis' "Beowulf." [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Scott Feinberg shows yet more Diablo Cody love and apparently thinks "Juno" is the "prohibitive favorite" to win Best Original Screenplay based on......not really sure about that part, actually. [And the Winner Is...]

I neglected to mention the Glen Ballard/Alan Silvestri track "A Hero Comes Home," from the "Beowulf" soundtrack, in Saturday's item.  The duo was nominated in 2004 for "Believe" from "The Polar Express."

Also, it seems the Annie Lennox tune "Lost" from "In the Valley of Elah" isn't getting a push from Warner Independent after all.  Maybe they know that a closing credits track just won't fly anymore.

Finally, Roger Friedman is reporting that "The Golden Compass" will contain songs from Coldplay, but there is no indication as to whether it will be original material or not.

Finally, Todd Martens is tossing about speculation regarding tracks from "Dan in Real Life" at The Envelope.

•  Anne Thompson on a number of pieces regarding "getting ugly for Oscar." [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Meanwhile, The Envelope has a gallery of "Award-winning transformations." [The Envelope]

•  Fashion reporter Elizabeth Snead talks to Marion Cotillard about "becoming "Edith Piaf." [The Envelope]

•  Having seen only a reel of Robert Zemeckis' "Beowulf," Jeffrey Wells declares the film "deserves an industry-wide salute for expanding the definition of "animated" in a truly brilliant and innovative fashion." [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Nathaniel Rogers defends the supposedly empty supporting actress category, claims "there is never a shortage of quality work" but that "there is sometimes a shortage of stock roles that are typically deemed worthy of attention."  I still think the category's empty. [The Film Experience]

•  A.O. Scott on the upcoming (and on-going) onslaught of war films, many of them awards contenders. [New York Times]

•  John Foote speculates, says Jack Nicholson shoul dbe taken seriously in "The Bucket List." [In Contention]

•  Awards Daily is proudly a "Yuma-drunk site."  Got the ads to prove it. [Awards Daily]

•  Oscar nominee (and contender this year for "No Country for Old Men") Javier Bardem to receive Motecito award at Sana Barbara Fest.  Montecito Award?  Really? [Variety]

•  Art Directors Guild to give Ray Harryhausen its Outstanding Contribution to Cinematic Imagery Award. [Variety]

•  Tom O'Neil is too kind, makes yours truly blush. [Gold Derby]