With many grousing that the Academy’s technophobia deprived Andy Serkis of an Oscar nod for “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” Matt Zoller Seitz makes a case for a compromise honor: a new Oscar category for Best Collaborative Performance, for characters created by heavily altered actors in conjunction with motion-capture artists, animators and makeup wizards. Serkis aside, performances Seitz suggests could have won here include Jeff Goldblum in “The Fly” and Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” — though his notion that anti-FX bias cost Pitt the 2008 Best Actor Oscar is an empty one when you consider his competition. Overall, It’s an intelligent suggestion, though it would surely hinder the possibility of such performances cracking the main acting races. [Press Play]
Michael O’Connor, both my prediction and my personal pick for the Costume Design Oscar, talks us through his gorgeous work on “Jane Eyre.” [Entertainment Weekly]
Melinda Newman talks to the great Sergio Mendes about the Oscar-nominated “Real in Rio,” the first song he’s ever written for a film. [The Beat Goes On]
David Poland rails against the idea that any of this year’s nominees (or, indeed, some high-profile non-nominees) set out to make an “Oscar movie.” [Hot Blog]
The Academy is worried that Sasha Baron Cohen will pitch up to the Oscars at “The Dictator.” Because, you know, that would risk amusing people. [Deadline]
Jeff Wells whinges that “nobody of any consequence” loves “The Artist.” Nobody of as much consequence as Jeff Wells, at any rate. [Hollywood Elsewhere]
Predicting the visual tech categories, Mark Harris bets against “Anonymous” in Costume Design because “no movie that terrible” has won the award. I dunno — “Elizabeth 2: The Deadly Art of Illusion?” [Grantland]
Sasha Stone picks her “favorite cinematic moments” from this year’s Oscar contenders. I had no idea she was a fan of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” [Awards Daily]
Phil Hoad bemoans the fact that the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar is essentially designed to exclude international co-productions. [The Guardian]
Should have mentioned this ages ago, but hey, pretty pictures don’t have a sell-by date: BAFTA’s awesome official posters for their Best Film nominees. [The Film Experience]