I know, I know, I link to Mark Harris a lot in these roundups. But he’s always a pleasure to read, and rarely more on-point than in his impassioned piece about last weekend’s Governors’ Awards — the separation of which from the Oscar telecast is an issue that still gets his goat, particularly in a year when the speeches of Angelina Jolie, Angela Lansbury and Steve Martin would all have made good television for a relatively mainstream audience. “Of all the ways of nodding to the past, it is grotesque that the only one that has survived on the main telecast is the in memoriam roll call,” he writes. “It’s pious sentiment, and also profound hypocrisy, to bow to Hollywood history by honoring those who are no longer around while shoving its living representatives off to November lest they ruin your TV show.” Do you think he has a point? I do. [Grantland]
Addie Morfoot gets the views of Academy members on the overwhelming glut of candidates in the Best Documentary Feature race this year. [Variety]
Mike D’Angelo revisits a 20-year-old Best Supporting Actress race. Does Anna Paquin’s surprise win hold up? Yep. [The Dissolve]
“Lee Daniels’ The Butler” screenwriter explains to Scott Feinberg why his script qualifies as original, not adapted. [Hollywood Reporter]
Costume and production designer Catherine Martin is tipped to take another Oscar (or two) for “The Great Gatsby,” but feared the film would look like “a flapper-themed 21st.” [Yahoo!]
Kate Erbland rails against the character posters so frequently favoured by studios these days. (Also: “The Railway Man” has character posters?) [Film.com]
Best Supporting Actress contender Lupita Nyong’o is a style icon now, apparently. She has superb dress sense, for sure, but what does “icon” even mean these days? [Vulture]
From “Planet of the Apes” to “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” Guardian critics pick the top 10 literary adaptations in film. [The Guardian]
Finally, “It’s a Wonderful Life” is getting a sequel. Does anyone — even those of us who don’t like Frank Capra’s holiday standard — think this is a good idea? [Variety]