"The Birdcage" won the SAG ensemble prize for 1996.

Credit: MGM

It's always nice to look back and see the real outside-the-box picks of awards organizations, particularly the Screen Actors Guild. Going back to the first annual ceremony, Jamie Lee Curtis was nominated for "True Lies." That's what I'm talkin' about! A year later, the criminally overlooked Kevin Bacon in "Murder in the First" got a tip of the hat, while in its inaugural year, the Best Ensemble spotlighted films like "Get Shorty" and "Nixon." With that in mind, Nathaniel Rogers flashes back to the 1996 ceremony, which saw a delightfully unique choice for the enemble prize: the cast of Mike Nichols's "The Birdcage." [Film Experience]

"The Artist"'s Bérénice Bejo: Peppy Miller "is my husband’s fantasy." [Telegraph]

The Toronto Star's Peter Howell posits a Cannes bow for Walter Salles's "On the Road." [Twitter]

Cristy Grosz talks film preservation with Martin Scorsese. [Variety]

The Academy will exercise an option to explore other venues for the Oscars. [Hollywood Reporter]

Mekado Murphy sits down with "Hugo" production designer Dante Ferretti. [New York Times]

Jeff Wells is already taking the 2012 predictions plunge. No. Just...no. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

Steve Pond talks "Winnie the Pooh" tunes with Zooey Deschanel. [The Odds]

Will there be a sequel to "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?" [Speakeasy]

Speaking of which, "Now that Mara is a big star, she's comfortable downplaying a role other actresses would have killed for," namely, her part in the remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street." [Bloody Disgusting]

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.