In these final heated days before the Oscar nominations, even the most minor kerfuffle can become a story, and so it’s been with the Academy’s supposedearly announcement a few days ago of one nominee: “Django Unchained” costume designer Sharen Davis. A test page announcing Davis’s third nomination was accidentally published on the Academy’s official site a few days ago. Scott Feinberg was among those pointing out that the “leak” can’t have been legit, given that votes were still being counted, and was indeed nothing more than a randomly chosen example to test the format, but that hasn’t stopped the story from spreading. In any case, Davis’s nod for “Django”‘s dynamic duds already looked a pretty sure thing, with or without the Academy’s “confirmation.” [Vanity Fair]
This year’s Golden Globe awards have an official theme song by “the Bono of Asia,” Japanese rocker Yoshiki. It’s called, inventively enough, “Golden Globe Original Theme.” [LA Times]
The man who sold “The Deer Hunter”‘s Best Picture Oscar on eBay for $25,000 is, as you might imagine, not in the Academy’s good books. [Hollywood Reporter]
Moved to tears by “Les Mis?” There’s still hope for you, says David Denby. (One might say the same for us non-fans, who are apparently dead inside.) [New Yorker]
Three-time Oscar-winning DP Robert Richardson talks about his work on “Django Unchained.” [Below the Line]
Nathaniel Rogers gets his annual Film Bitch Awards under way with a roundup of the year’s best screenplays. [The Film Experience]
Another enjoyable annual feature kicks off: Slate’s year-in-review Movie Club, with Dana Stevens, Stephanie Zacharek, Keith Phipps and Pulitzer Prize winner Wesley Morris. [Slate]
Speaking of Morris, the soon-to-be-former Boston Globe writer is the latest critic defecting to online pastures. [The Wrap]
Katey Rich outlines five reasons she’s feeling pretty optimistic about this year’s Oscar race, regardless of the outcome. [Cinema Blend]
A zoo keeper’s view of “Life of Pi”: seems Ang Lee’s film has real-life tiger behavior more or less down pat. [The Guardian]