"Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Every year it's worth noting that a number of the original and adapted screenplays in the hunt for Oscar consideration won't get the extra bump of a nomination from the Writers Guild of America (WGA). Reasons for failing to qualify include the writer of the script not being a guild member or not retroactively handling the requisite process, among other things.

After taking a look at the official WGA ballot this season, I count 15 scripts from our screenplay Contenders pages that will not be eligible for consideration. Many of them seem out of the Oscar hunt for the most part and the number of notable exclusions is smaller than normal.

In the original screenplay category, as always, Quentin Tarantino will not be competing for his work on "Django Unchained." He has never been a member of the guild, but of course, that didn't stop his scripts for "Pulp Fiction" and "Inglorious Basterds" to go on to Oscar recognition. (Tarantino was similarly not a member of the DGA until this year, but he received two nominations prior nominations from that group, nevertheless.)

"Men in Black 3"

Credit: Columbia Pictures

The Academy has announced its shortlist of seven Best Makeup and Hairstyling contenders. The films will proceed to the "bake-off" stage, where reels of the work put into the makeup and hairstyling effects will be screened for the branch and three nominees will be chosen, revealed alongside the rest of the Oscar nominations on January 10.

The immediate exclusion of note is "Cloud Atlas," which transformed a number of movie stars across a variety of eras, ages and even races. Some of the work was quite wonderful, but much of it was a bone of contention for some, and clearly, that bore itself out in the narrowing process for the branch.

Also absent is "Holy Motors," which isn't a shock, one supposes. Who knows if the membership even bothered to watch the film. Because you'd think, if they had, they would have seen that it's far and away the best representation of their contribution to the form this year. Alas, it wasn't meant to be, and with "Who Were We?" failing to make the finalist cut for Best Original Song, the film's Oscar hopes in general have likely been dashed.

"Cloud Atlas" had a strong presence throughout.

Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

The Indiana Film Journalists Association has, for the first time this year, elected to publicly acknowledge its full list of nominees for superlatives to be announced on Monday. It's a massive list including, apparently, every film mentioned in each category by the group's respective members. Check out the full list of contending films and individuals below. "The Master" led the way with nine mentions. "Beasts of the Southern Wild" wasn't too far behind with seven. As always, keep track of all this madness throughout the season via The Circuit.

Martin Freeman in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Peter Jackson's franchise-christening "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" arrives under no small amount of pressure: not only does the shadow of the impressively executed "Lord of the Rings" trilogy loom large over it, but the new film faces widespread cynicism over Jackson's decision to stretch J.R.R. Tolkien's slender children's yarn into three gargantuan films.

Sad to say, I'm not the only one to think it buckles rather catastrophically. Unexpected or otherwise, this is one dourly overextended journey, sorely missing the jaunty dramatic propulsion of the source material -- and that's before I factor in my concerns about the deadening, daytime-drama effect of the sleek but texture-draining 48fps technology. Still, the film has some ardent advocates, and not necessarily among the Tolkienite crowd, while our colleague Drew McWeeny deemed it a qualified success. So I'm very curious to know what you make of it -- in any frame rate. Do share your thoughts in the comments.

Looking for something to make you smile today?  Well, Sony Classics released a teaser for Pedro Almodovar's new comedy "I'm So Excited" and thanks to the Pointer Sisters the minor subtitles at the beginning really aren't necessary.

Jafar Panahi & Moitaba Mirtahmasb's "This is Not a Film," a finalist for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar, made the list.

Credit: Palisades Tartan

It really feels petty and pointless in light of this morning's events to forge ahead with stuff like this. Anne Thompson and I dropped our top 10 lists to start the day and, quite clearly, more important things are dominating our hearts and minds at the moment. Nevertheless, diversion and the distraction has always been the identity of the magic of the movies, so Film Comment's announcement of the year's best comes at as appreciated a time as any.

Joaquin Phoenix in "The Master."

Credit: The Weinstein Company

It may have struggled to gain a foothold this week with groups like SAG and the HFPA, but "The Master" remains a pet of the critical community that has championed it since the fall. Right after The Guardian team named it the top film of 2012, Paul Thomas Anderson's thorny character study received further good news today from the Chicago Film Critics' Association, as it led their nominations list with a whopping 10 mentions.

Welcome to Oscar Talk.

In case you're new to the site and/or the podcast, Oscar Talk is a weekly kudocast, your one-stop awards chat shop between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood. The podcast is weekly, every Friday throughout the season, charting the ups and downs of contenders along the way. Plenty of things change en route to Oscar's stage and we're here to address it all as it unfolds.

Jackie Weaver and Robert De Niro in "Silver Linings Playbook"

Credit: The Weinstein Company

After leading the way with nominations recently, David O. Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook" has been crowned Best Picture by the Detroit Film Critics Society. David O. Russell won Best Director and Best Screenplay, Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress and Robert De Niro took Best Supporting Actor. Check out the full list of winners below and as always, keep track of the ups and downs of the season via The Circuit.

Tom Hooper at the "Les Miserables" premiere in New York.

Credit: AP Photo/Evan Agostini

Kris maintained in his Globes analysis yesterday that the somewhat surprising omission of Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper from the Best Director lineup wasn't particularly significant, but it struck me as a slight setback for a film many pundits have pegged as a potentially monolithic frontrunner -- particularly given a musical-friendly streak at the Globes that has brought nominations for Alan Parker ("Evita") and Tim Burton ("Sweeney Todd"). (It may or may not be worth noting that "Dreamgirls" helmer Bill Condon missed this hurdle in 2006, presaging an unexpected Oscar shutout.) Hooper admits to being disappointed, but feels he may have been at a disadvantage given that the category's all-drama lineup: "At least there's some logic to it, and I'm certainly in good company with David O. Russell." [Huffington Post]