The story of the weekend, as you may have heard by now, is that Spike Jonze’s “Her” went down a storm at the NYFF this weekend. Critics (including HitFix’s Drew McWeeny) are nuts for the oddball techno-romance. Can all that critical love translate into Academy attention, as it did with Jonze’s first two features? Steve Pond belives so, declaring the film a likely bet for Best Picture and Best Original SCreenplay nominations, though he thinks acting nominations will require some adventurousness from the actors’ branch — particularly if Scarlett Johansson is to be the first actor ever nominated for a voice-only performance. [The Wrap]
Jonze and Takashi Miike are among the directors in Competition at next month’s Rome Film Festival. [Variety]
The Weinstein Company has mistakenly categorized “Fruitvale Station” stars Octavia Spencer and Melonie Diaz as lead actresses on the film’s Academy screeners. [The Race]
Danny Boyle is the latest A-list filmmaker to turn his hand to television. [The Guardian]
Veteran British director Richard Lester will receive a lifetime achievement award from the LA Film Critics. “A Hard Days’ Night” is the title everyone connects with him first, but go seek out “Petulia.” [LA Times]
With a heavy majority of Best Actress winners this century having played real-life figures, Susan Wloszczyna discusses women and biopics in the Oscar race. [Women and Hollywood]
Steve McQueen, Chiwetel Ejiofor and others discuss the “essentially American narrative” of “12 Years a Slave.” [New York Times]
Fellow genre geeks Quentin Tarantino and Bong Joon-ho shoot the breeze at the Busan Film Festival. [Screen Daily]
Disney chairman Bob Iger will receive the Milestone Award at the Producers’ Guild Awards in January. [Deadline]
Breathe easy, everyone: Abdellatif Kechiche believes “Blue is the Warmest Color” should be released after all. [The Playlist]
R. Kurt Osenlund on why, early in the season as it is, “Gravity” already has two Oscars — at least — locked down. [House Next Door]