The big guns are coming out Variety's awards season coverage.  Landing online today (and in print on Monday), the Eye on the Oscars Preview issue.

Iain Blair has the lede, a look at the 2007 Oscar race as a more crowded one than usual.  He talks to four studio honchos including Miramax's Daniel Battsek, who talks up "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."

David Mermelstein, meanwhile, gets into the Oscars' ambition at 80 years old.  He chats it up with AMPAS president Sid Ganis and executive director Bruce Davis about the upcoming Academy Museum of Motion Pictures project, which hopes to open in 2012.

Steve Challogan talks to Tony Gilroy, Andrew Dominik and Noah Baumbach about 2007 films as echoes of the 70s era in cinema.  He also includes quotes from Sidney Lumet and journalist Peter Biskind.

And yours truly has a grand ole' time chatting it up with a trio of fellow Oscarologists about violence in movies and the Academy's reaction to it.

There a lot more material at Award Central.  Here's a quick list:

•  Chinese feast on Oscar hype

•  DVD mailers drum up support

•  Brits turn agains the Beatles

•  Retirees talks about their Oscar films

•  Specialty divisions enter Oscar race

•  Unger tackles broad scope of Acad

•  A brief Oscar history photo gallery