Uggie at the 2011 Golden Globe Awards in January.

Credit: AP Photo/Matt Sayles

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Whether you've been delighted or irritated by the publicity machine surrounding him, you'd have to agree that few stars this season have been run quite as ragged in their promotional duties as Uggie: in his position as official mascot for "The Artist," the adorable 10 year-old Jack Russell has been carted around from one red carpet do to another, performed tricks on demand, conducted interviews, with nothing but an unnamed shaking disease for his pains. Well, after months of helping his cohorts win awards, he received one of his own on the weekend: inevitably, Uggie took the Best Dog in a Theatrical Film prize at the Golden Collar Awards, beating, among others, his own performance in "Water for Elephants." Well deserved, boy. Now, go play. [The Odds]

With "The Artist" poised to break the trend, Tom O'Neil wonders why movies about the movies haven't previously done better with the Academy. [Gold Derby]

"The Guard" has taken The Guardian's annual First Film Award, ahead of such shortlisted contenders as "Tyrannosaur" and "Sleeping Beauty." [The Guardian]

ZOMG Bradley Cooper is presenting at the Oscars! Oh, come on, feign excitement. (Anyone else betting he gets to do Best Foreign Language Film? In French?) [Deadline]

Lowen Liu's idea for fixing the Oscars: hold a re-vote on categories from a decade ago, then hold a ceremony officially reallocating the awards as necessary. [Slate]

Erik Childress predicts next year's Oscar contenders. Given that "The Artist" wasn't on anyone's list a year ago, wouldn't it be more fun to predict the high-profile failures? [Movies.com]

With the film long gone from the conversation -- if, indeed, it was ever there -- Darrin Franich wonders how "Contagion" never got any Oscar traction. [EW] 

Sophia Savage talks to Philippe Falardeau, director of "Monsieur Lazhar" -- which should not be underestimated in the foreign-language Oscar race. [Thompson on Hollywood]

Opening up a painful avenue of what-if thinking: what are the best Oscar speeches that never got to be delivered? I still regret not hearing Mickey Rourke's. [The Film Experience]

Guy Lodge
Critic

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Guy Lodge is a South African-born critic and sometime screenwriter. In addition to his work at In Contention, he is a freelance contributor to Variety, Time Out, Empire and The Guardian. He lives well beyond his means in London.