"Arthur Christmas" could seize the day if doubts and re-considerations plague a few of this year's contenders.

Credit: Columbia Pictures

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Linked in today's round-up is my colleague Greg Ellwood's London interview with "Arthur Christmas" director Sarah Smith and a piece from Steve Pond expanding a bit on the recent news that the feature animation branch is still in the process of determining the eligibility of performance capture productions in that race. I'll write a bit more about the category in due time, but I find myself wondering, if films like "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn" are ultimately deemed eligible in the field, that's really only half the battle.

What if the stigma of the technology keeps branch members from voting for it? Just a curiosity, really. And there are no shortage of contenders, like "Arthur Christmas" (from the well-regarded Aardman animation studio, waiting in the wings to slide into the line-up. Anyway, more later. Let's see what's going on in the Oscarweb today...

Greg Ellwood talks to "Arthur Christmas" director Sarah Smith. [Awards Campaign]

Speaking of animation, Steve Pond digs a little into this thing about the feature animation branch asking motion capture films for explanations of their intent. [The Odds]

Go behind the scenes of George Clooney's "The Ides of March." [Making Of]

Jenelle Riley, meanwhile, discovers the man who broke Ryan Gosling's heart: WWF star The Ultimate Warrior. [Backstage]

Drew McWeeny has an exclusive clip from Lars Von Trier's "Melancholia." [Motion/Captured]

Clint Eastwood went to the FBI to inquire about J. Edgar Hoover's sexuality. [USA Today]

Dave Karger talks "My Week with Marilyn" and "Thor 2" with actor Kenneth Branagh. [Entertainment Weekly]

Sasha Stone points us to video of the cast of "The Help" discussing the film on BBC Breakfast. [Awards Daily]

In memory of Steve Jobs, Steven Zeitchik on Apple's other role: movie star. [24 Frames]

Kristopher Tapley
Editor-at-Large

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Kristopher Tapley has covered the film awards landscape for over a decade. He founded In Contention in 2005. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Times of London and Variety. He begs you not to take any of this too seriously.