Anthony Hopkins in "Hitchcock."

Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures

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It's been 15 years since Anthony Hopkins was last in the Oscar hunt, and even with Best Actor buzz brewing around his performance in "Hitchcock," he's in no hurry to get back on the campaign trail. Though he's not as impolite as Joaquin Phoenix recently was about the institution itself, he doesn't mince words when speaking about the "disgusting" process of industry glad-handing in pursuit of a nomination: "Kissing the backside of the authorities that can make or break it... It makes me want to throw up, it really does. It's sick-making. I've seen it so many times. I saw it fairly recently, last year. Some great producer-mogul and everyone kisses this guy's backside. I think, 'What are they doing? Don't they have any self respect?' I wanted to say, 'Fuck off.'" [Huffington Post]   

Steve Pond on why many Academy members aren't happy with the Academy's decision to move the nominations forward. Among other things, they need more time to see the movies. [The Wrap] 

The Hollywood Reporter offers its annual Actress Roundtable -- nice to see Rachel Weisz in the group alongside Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway, et al. Does her work in "The Deep Blue Sea" have a prayer? [THR]

The Cesar longlist for Most Promising Actor features two of the year's best performances: Matthias Schoenaerts for "Rust and Bone" and Kacey Mottet Klein for "Sister." (Ernst Umhauer ain't half bad in "In the House," either.) [Premiere]

Sasha Stone digs into five documentaries she believes are worthy of Oscar consideration, including "Samsara" and "The Central Park Five." [Awards Daily]

Among the people not excited about the upcoming premiere of "The Hobbit": PETA, who plan to picket the red carpet over allegations the 27 animals died during the film's shooting. [The Telegraph]

Check out "Dull Tool," the Best Original Song hopeful written by Fiona Apple for Judd Apatow's "This is 40." Having her at the Oscars would make my year. [Slate]

Diane Garrett on the number of damaged souls -- the characters, that is, not the actors -- in the running for awards glory this year. [Variety]

Spotlighting the unflashy but effective period work by production designer Sharon Seymour on "Argo." If the film's frontrunner status really takes off, could it find its way into the design fields?  [Below the Line]

And finally, just in case you haven't seen this yet: Terrence Malick's got moves, y'all. [Vulture]

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.