Shailene Woodley, George Clooney and Amara Miller in "The Descendants"

Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures

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The New York Film Critics Circle will be voting for its annual superlatives on Tuesday. It won't exactly be definitive, though, seeing as the group was so anxious to be heard first that it won't even see all of the films in play this year (bravo, Warner Bros., for doing the right thing). So I guess it's time to start asking for predictions on who'll take it. I really couldn't care less at this point, but I do ultimately see "The Descendants" pulling it out. Maybe "The Tree of Life" could surprise, but I don't think that kind of film can survive in their voting paradigm, so chalk me up for Alexander Payne's film. Another possibility is "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," which will be the last film they see. But I think "The Descendants" sets itself up as the critics darling with a win there. Tom O'Neil recently polled pundits (including Guy) for predictions. [Gold Derby]

Jordan Raup lists 10 classic films you must watch before seeing Martin Scorsese's "Hugo." [Film Stage]

Meredith Woerner, meanwhile, notes what Scorsese's film taught us about the grandfather of science fiction cinema. [io9]

Scorsese, by the way, gave homework to his cast. [Entertainment Weekly]

Michael Phillips is actually right, I think, to consider "Raiders of the Lost Ark" incredibly overrated, but obviously wrong to stretch that to "Indiana Jones — let’s be honest — never was a memorable movie character." [Hero Complex]

Terrence Rafferty on "A Dangerous Method" and mental illness in movies. [New York Times]

Kenneth Branagh on dealing with divas, Shakespearean conspiracy theories... oh, and "My Week with Marilyn." [Vulture]

Walter the Muppet talks "The Muppets," doing his own stunts and his hero Kermit the Frog. [Film School Rejects]

Sasha Stone calls it a wide open Best Picture landscape. Maybe it feels that way because "War Horse" and "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" -- the likely heavies -- haven't screened widely... yet. [Awards Daily]

Anne Thompson talks "J. Edgar" with screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. [Thompson on Hollywood]

And one more thing, for those on these shores: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

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.