Does Annette Bening Want to Be Alone?
Tom O'Neil, Pete Hammond and I explore why Annette Bening is not madly campaigning against Natalie Portman -- is she being "coached by Warren Beatty"? Does she fear journos will bring up the transgender child issue? I think she realizes that whereas Sandra Bullock had to campaign last year because her Oscar was unthinkable, Annette's problem is she's all too thinkable, so it's smart to lie a bit low. Pete thinks she's been available enough, and shouldn't have to say yes to everybody.
I say Nicole Kidman, in town to court press at last, "could charm the skin off a snake, and here we are." Plus, reasons why Jennifer Lawrence, Tilda Swinton, Halle Berry and Michelle Williams might be upset contenders, probably in that order. But not unless the critics groups are kind starting this weekend.
Covering The Race
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Scott Feinberg
Lead Awards Blogger & Analyst
Scott, whose THR coverage appears both in print and online, is one of the film industry's most experienced and trusted awards analysts, and possesses one of the strongest track records at forecasting the Oscars. His best showings came in 2006 (when he called 21 of 24 winners) and 2004 (when he called 20 of 24 winners); he was also the only pundit to project long-shot best picture nominations for The Reader (2008), The Blind Side (2009) and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011). An alumnus of Brandeis University, he previously ran "The Feinberg Files" blog for the Los Angeles Times. He is now a voting member of both the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association, and is writing a book about film history for young people for which he has interviewed more than 350 high-profile Hollywood figures.
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Gregg Kilday
Film Editor
Gregg contributes awards news, features online, and "The Race" column in print.
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Tim Appelo
Film Reporter
Tim contributes awards news and features, both in print and online.
