Susanne Bier at the 2010 Academy Awards.

Credit: AP Photo

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With the exhausting thrill of Sundance still in my bones, I'm not quite ready yet to think about diving into the Berlin Film Festival -- but there it is, less than two weeks away. The programme has been revealed in drips and drabs, and today we learned who'll serve alongside present Wong Kar-wai on the competition jury. As usual, it's an interesting group, and one that includes two Oscar winners: Tim Robbins and Danish writer-director Susanne Bier. Meanwhile, the addition presence of the superb cinematographer Ellen Kuras ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"). Iranian video artist turned filmmaker Shirin Neshat and Greek New Wave talent Athina Rachel Tsangrai (director of "Attenberg," but also a producer on Richard Linklater's "Before Midnight") makes for a mostly female jury this year. [Berlinale]  

A wonderful, if rather saddening, interview with Steven Soderbergh, in which he elaborates on his "retirement," and explains why movies don't matter as much as they used to. [Vulture]

"Argo" may be sitting pretty in the Best Picture race following its SAG and PGA wins, but Jon Weisman warns that it's still in a vulnerable spot. [The Vote]

Jodie Foster, who knows a thing or two about child acting, on why Quvenzhane Wallis's performance in "Beasts of the Southern Wild" is no lightning-in-a-bottle fluke, but "comes from a completely instinctual place." [New York Times]

Speaking of Foster, two weeks on from her headline-grabbing Globes speech, R. Kurt Osenlund considers the still complicated politics of coming out in Hollywood. [The House Next Door]

Three-time Oscar winner Robert Richardson goes into detail on his cinematography for "Django Unchained," which has earned him yet another nomination. [American Cinematographer]

Nathaniel Rogers on why he's rooting for "Les Mis," a contender unusually low on prosthetics and creature effects, to take the Best Makeup & Hairstyling Oscar. [The Film Experience]

"Evetybody Needs a Best Friend" from "Ted," sung by Norah Jones, is the second Best Original Song nominee to have its Oscarcast performance officially confirmed by the producers. [Entertainment Weekly]

A political correspondent in Pakistan has more than a few issues with the alleged inaccuracies of "Zero Dark Thirty." [The Guardian]

Cherien Dabis and Oscar nominee Naomi Foner were among those participating in a female filmmakers' workshop at Sundance. Here's the full transcript. [LA Times]

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.