Signs of the Apocalypse From the 2011-12 Awards Season

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Woody Allen

Some food for thought about the 2011-12 awards season to go along with your Thanksgiving leftovers ...

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• A best actress Oscar nomination might well be rewarded to ... an Olsen sister.

• An Oscar nomination might be awarded to Steve McQueen for the first time since 1966 ... only now he's British and black.

• Woody Allen wrote and directed a movie that has made over $133 million worldwide ... yes, in this century.

• Francis Ford Coppola, Werner Herzog, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Wim Wenders -- all of whom are in their sixties or seventies -- directed 3D films, while Michel Hazanavicius, a 44-year-old Frenchman, wrote and directed a black-and-white silent film.

• Glenn Close may finally win an Oscar for dressing up as a man, and Leonardo DiCaprio may finally win an Oscar for dressing up as a woman.

• Albert Brooks may score his first Oscar nom in 24 years... for playing a Jewish mobster ... in a drama.

• Jonah Hill may score an Oscar nod ... period.

• Carey Mulligan gets nude in a movie ... while Kate Winslet does not.

• Clint Eastwood, the 81-year-old who is best known for his work on-screen as a gun-toting tough guy and off-screen as a conservative mayor of Carmel, California, just directed his latest film using a script by -- and working in close collaboration with -- Dustin Lance Black, a 37-year-old gay screenwriter.

• Angelina Jolie has directed a movie, while Werner Herzog is now acting in one.

• The famously reclusive Terrence Malick has not only been seen in public, but has even had off-the-record conversations with journalists.

• Woody Harrelson, one of the most notorious potheads and anti-authority figures of his time, may score his first best actor Oscar nod in 15 years ... for playing a cop.

• Michelle Yeoh, who is Asia's most famous female action star and a former Bond girl, may score her first Oscar nod for playing Aung San Suu Kyi, Asia's most famously demure and soft-spoken leader.

• Documentary filmmaker Steve James was screwed by the Academy's documentary branch ... again.

• The Academy, which is supposedly so liberal, has fallen head-over-heels for a film about Margaret Thatcher, but not for a film about George Harrison.

• A Harry Potter film has a shot -- a long shot, but a shot -- at scoring a best picture Oscar nod.

• Jessica Chastain has given a half-dozen memorable supporting performances this year -- any one of which is arguably Oscar-worthy -- but consequently may wind up without a nomination for even one of them.

• The Academy is allowing studios to ply journalists with food, alcohol, and parties before nominations are announced ... but has essentially banned them from breathing during phase two.

• Ricky Gervais insulted the famously sensitive HFPA to their faces on national television less than a year ago ... and was asked to host the Golden Globes again.

• Billy Crystal, who virtually nobody under the age of 25 has even heard of (he himself basically acknowledged as much), was asked to host the Oscars again.

Am I forgetting others? Feel free to add to the list in the comments section below!