It happens pretty much every year: some adorable animal in one of the year’s major awards titles charms critics enough that its “performance” places in various year-end polls, while others make irony-laced calls for awards recognition. Two years ago it was that craven red-carpet whore Uggie; this year, it’s the cat/s of “Inside Llewyn Davis” that has surfaced in the Indiewire critics’ poll for Best Supporting Performance. Joe Reid, albeit with his own tongue fairly far in cheek, is tired of the joke: “Handing an Academy Award to your cat is something to do when you’re eight years old and holding pretend Academy Awards in your bedroom, because you’re an only gay child who just wants to re-enact the Whoopi Goldberg-hosted 1998 Oscars, and the cat makes a better Gwyneth Paltrow than you do.” The old Billy DeWolfe song “Don’t Dress Your Cat in an Apron” comes to mind. [The Wire]
Richard Corliss offers a lovely appreciation of the career of three-time Oscar nominee Eleanor Parker, who passed away earlier this week. [TIME]
275 feature films have been submitted for BAFTA consideration. Going on past form, about 12 of them will receive nominations. [Screen Daily]
With this year’s Best Actress race unusually heavy on experienced names, Nathaniel Rogers rounds up the 10 most senior lineups in the category’s history. [The Film Experience]
Tim Grierson on why loves the Coen Brothers most when they’re doing character studies. [Deadspin]
Screenwriters from six of this year’s awards hopefuls, including Steve Coogan and Tracy Letts, talk about the process of giving their creations away, among other topics. [Variety]
Britain’s George Mackay and last year’s Cannes Best Actress winner Cosmina Stratan are among the 10 young actors selected for the annual Shooting Stars showcase at the Berlinale. [Cineuropa]
How Disney is using its own history in its awards campaign for “Saving Mr. Banks” and “Frozen.” [Hollywood Reporter]
Keith Phipps looks back at the year in blockbusters, and declares it a brash, noisy one. [The Dissolve]