For the second year, the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts — which hands out their own local industry awards on their home turf — held a separate ceremony in LA to honor their top international choices. And it turns out the Aussies like “Silver Linings Playbook.” A lot.

The romantic dramedy, which led the AACTA nominee list with five mentions, won Best Picture, Director and Actress for Jennifer Lawrence, while the Board of Governors handed it two extra awards for the supporting performances of Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver. (You might detect some national favoritism in the award for Weaver, as well as in a couple of nominations — notably Ben Lewin for Best Director.) “Lincoln” and “Django Unchained” were the only two other films to get a look-in at last Friday’s ceremony, which was hosted by Russell Crowe. Full list of nominees and winners after the jump, and at The Circuit.

Best Film
“Argo”
“Life of Pi”
“Lincoln”
“Les Misérables”
“Silver Linings Playbook” (WINNER)
“Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Director
Ben Affleck, “Argo”
Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”
Steven Spielberg, “Lincoln”
Ben Lewin, “The Sessions”
David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook” (WINNER)
Kathryn Bigelow, “Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Screenplay
“Argo”
“Django Unchained” (WINNER)
“Lincoln”
“The Master”
“Silver Linings Playbook”
“Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Actor
Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln” (WINNER)
John Hawkes, “The Sessions”
Hugh Jackman, “Les Misérables”
Joaquin Phoenix, “The Master”
Denzel Washington, “Flight”

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”
Marion Cotillard, “Rust and Bone”
Nicole Kidman, “The Paperboy”
Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook” (WINNER)
Emmanuelle Riva, “Amour”
Naomi Watts, “The Impossible”

Best Supporting Actor (determined by Board of Governors)
Robert De Niro, “Silver Linings Playbook”

Best Supporting Actress (determined by Board of Governors)
Jacki Weaver, “Silver Linings Playbook”

Amid the Sundance rush, it slipped my mind to list the nominations for the International Cinephile Society’s awards — for which I had a hand in voting. The ICS is a diverse group of over 80 film journalists, academics and the like, so their picks tend to veer a little off the beaten track. Here, for example, you’ll find no mention of “Argo,” “Les Mis” (no, not even for Anne Hathaway), “Life of Pi” or “Silver Linings Playbook,” but plenty for foreign standouts like “Tabu” and “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia.” “The Master” leads with 10 bids; “Holy Motors” follows with nine. Winners will be announced on February 9; check out the full list of nominees after the jump, and at The Circuit.

Best Picture
“Amour”
“Cloud Atlas”
“Django Unchained”
“Holy Motors”
“Lincoln”
“The Master”
“Moonrise Kingdom”
“Once Upon a Time in Anatolia”
“Tabu”
“Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Director
Leos Carax, “Holy Motors”
Paul Thomas Anderson, “The Master”
Nuri Bilge Ceyland, “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia”
Miguel Gomes, “Tabu”
Kathryn Bigelow, “Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln”
Denis Levant, “Holy Motors”
Anders Danielsen Lie, “Oslo, August 31st”
Joaquin Phoenix, “The Master”
Matthias Schoenaerts, “Bullhead”
Jean-Louis Trintignant, “Amour”

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”
Marion Cotillard, “Rust and Bone”
Greta Gerwig, “Damsels in Distress”
Nina Hoss, “Barbara”
Emmanuelle Riva, “Amour”
Rachel Weisz, “The Deep Blue Sea”

Best Supporting Actor
Dwight Henry, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Master”
Matthew McConaughey, “Killer Joe”
Christoph Waltz, “Django Unchained”
Jun-Sang Yu, “In Another Country”

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, “The Master”
Rosemarie Dewitt, “Your Sister’s Sister”
Gina Gershon, “Killer Joe”
Nicole Kidman, “The Paperboy”
Edith Scob, “Holy Motors”

Best Original Screenplay
“Amour”
“Holy Motors”
“The Master”
“Moonrise Kingdom”
“Tabu”
“Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Adapted Screenplay
“Cosmopolis”
“The Deep Blue Sea”
“Lincoln”
“Oslo, August 31st”
“Rust and Bone”

Best Foreign Language Film
“Alps”
“Amour”
“Holy Motors”
“The Kid With a Bike”
“Once Upon a Time in Anatolia”
“Oslo, August 31st”
“Rust and Bone”
“Tabu”
“This Is Not a Film”
“The Turin Horse”

“Frankenweenie”
“ParaNorman”
“The Secret World of Arrietty”
“Tatsumi”
“Wreck-It Ralph”

Best Documentary
“How to Survive a Plague”
“The Imposter”
“Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present”
“The Queen of Versailes”
“This Is Not a Film”

Best Ensemble
“Holy Motors”
“Lincoln”
“Moonrise Kingdom”
“Once Upon a Time in Anatolia”
“Tabu”

Best Cinematography
“The Master”
“Once Upon a Time in Anatolia”
“Skyfall”
“Tabu”
“The Turin Horse”

Best Film Editing
“Cloud Atlas”
“Holy Motors”
“The Master”
“Moonrise Kingdom”
“Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Production Design
“Anna Karenina”
“Holy Motors”
“The Master”
“Moonrise Kingdom”
“Prometheus”

Best Original Score
“Anna Karenina”
“Beasts of the Southern Wild”
“Cloud Atlas”
“The Master”
“Moonrise Kingdom”

Best Film Not Released in 2012
“The Angels’ Share”
“The Atomic Age”
“Berberian Sound Studio”
“Beyond the Hill”
“Beyond the Hills”
“Blancanieves”
“Caesar Must Die”
“differently, Molussia”
“Faust”
“Frances Ha”
“The Hunt”
“In the House”
“Klip”
“Laurence Anyways”
“Leviathan”
“Lore”
“No”
“Our Children”
“Stories We Tell”
“Student”

Guild favorite “Argo” may be closing in on “Lincoln” in the Best Adapted Screenplay race, but even if it continues its sweep, the WGA has ensured Tony Kushner won’t go home empty-handed on February 17. The “Lincoln” scribe will be presented with the group’s Paul Selvin Award for the script that “best embodies the spirit of the constitutional and civil rights and liberties, which are indispensable to the survival of free writers everywhere.” If that award sounds pretty much tailor-made for “Lincoln” (hey, it wasn’t going to go to “Django Unchained”) it isn’t: last year’s winner was Tate Taylor for “The Help.” [Deadline] 

Elle creative director Joe Zee gives a fashion editor’s survey of Jacqueline Durran’s “Anna Karenina” costumes? [ABC News]

Peter Debruge and Justin Chang discuss and debate their highlights on Sundance 2013. A good read. [Variety]

Scott Feinberg examines how “Argo” has swiftly narrowed what many had thought was a wide-open Best Picture race. [Hollywood Reporter]

I had missed this earlier: Michael Moore’s unedited defence of “Zero Dark Thirty.” [Facebook]

Phil Hoad on the tricky relationship between musical theater and the movies, and why only global brands can make the transition. [The Guardian]

Evangeline Morphos on the “national narrative” set by Best Picture nominees “Lincoln,” “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Argo.” [Reuters]

Scott Essman spotlight the Best Makeup & Hairstyling category, and profiles the three films in the running. [Below the Line]

Dr. Ruth has some suggestions for how you can make Oscar night more interesting. (And all of a sudden, I’m backing “Lincoln.”) [Vulture]

Moving far away from the Oscar race (one presumes), Kevin Fallon looks into the curious case of “Movie 43,” the starriest Hollywood bomb in memory. [Daily Beast]

I confess it’s news to me that the costume designers of the Academy didn’t already have their own separate voting branch — instead, they’ve always been lumped into a single Designers’ Branch with the production designers, art directors and set decorators. Yet nominees in the Best Costume Design category are often so distinctive — several of them scoring in no other Oscar field, even Best Art Direction — that I’d assumed they were the result of a smaller branch of peers voting.

Costume design has always lagged behind other disciplines at the Oscars: for starters, awards for it were only introduced at the 21st Academy Awards in 1948. And now, 64 years after that, costume designers are getting their own separate voting branch within the Academy.

The new branch will be headed by Academy Governor Jeffrey Kurland, himself a former nominee in the category for Woody Allen’s “Bullets Over Broadway.” Naturally, Kurland’s one moment of Academy recognition came for an uncharacteristic period piece. To my eye, he’s one of the outstanding contemporary costume designers in the business, deserving of notice for such artfully dressed modern-day works as “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Inception” and “Erin Brockovich” (which won him a Guild award). Kurland will be joined by two further Governor from the branch, who have yet to be named.

Kurland stated: “History was made at the Board of Governors meeting on Wednesday night with the formation of a Costume Designers Branch. Costume designers have waited a long time for recognition with branch status. As a governor representing these designers, I’m thrilled and grateful for the Academy’s support.”

It’ll be interesting to see if the creation of an individual branch has any visible effect on the voting in the category in future years. Can we expect more outlier nominees in the vein of “Mirror Mirror,” “Across the Universe” and “Bright Star?” And will the Art Direction and Costume Design nominees wind up overlapping less than they tend to do.

Also getting a profile boost from the Academy is the Makeup Artists & Hairstylists Branch, founded in 2006, which will also now be represented by three Academy Governors. Current branch representative Leonardo Engelman (an Emmy-nominated makeup artist whose big-screen credits include “Batman Forever” and “Burlesque”) will be joined by two others in due course.

Academy president Hawk Koch responded as follows to the twin announcements: “Congratulations to our members from these essential craft areas. Movies are a visual medium and costume designers, makeup artists, and hairstylists help to create images that tell stories. This recognition is richly deserved.”

And in one case, I’d add, significantly overdue.

I have to say, it was nice to spend a week or so away from the Oscar fray, and for its part, the Oscar fray seemed to be very content with putting things on hold while the Sundance Film Festival did its thing in the mountains of Utah. I guess maybe that’s one good thing about this season’s scheduling change: room to breathe in January.

But the festival is over and now it’s back to our regularly scheduled programming, with the deep dive happening this weekend as the guild awards got going. And the question rises once again: What’s going to win Best Picture? Though that would seem to have been answered by the events of the last two days, it’s still a question for some.

But I’ll leave that for now. Lately I’ve been curious about the Best Director race. With an “Argo” win would obviously come a split director decision (unless that write-in stuff finds traction). My instinct has been Steven Spielberg, because “Lincoln” is a hell of an accomplishment and even if I’m betting “Argo” will reap the benefits of the preferential ballot system (born out by its victory Saturday), it still makes sense for Spielberg to get some love.

But what about Ang Lee? “Life of Pi” is clearly strong throughout, and I started wondering about its potential to win Best Picture and a whole lot more besides right after the nominations. (That’s the fun of this season, by the way — I don’t think I’ve gone back and forth so much in an Oscar race.) But each and every time Lee has been in the race, it’s been a tight and interesting year for Best Director.

It started in 1995, when he was snubbed by the directors branch for Best Picture nominee “Sense and Sensibility” after netting a DGA nod. Interestingly enough, that was the same year Ron Howard won the DGA after also getting snubbed by the directors branch, which is an instance many are pointing to to back up the notion that Affleck could pull off the same feat next weekend. Lee and Howard were replaced by Chris Noonan (“Babe”) and Tim Robbins (“Dead Man Walking”) by the Academy’s directors branch.

Five years later came probably the tightest Oscar race we’d see until this year. In 2000, “Gladiator” was our Best Picture winner, yet Ridley Scott never seemed like a safe bet for Best Director. That’s probably because, after Lee won the DGA for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” his film was suddenly a potential winner of the big prize. Then on Oscar night, Steven Soderbergh shocked them both by winning Best Director for “Traffic.” That’s how you get a split: a tight race.

Five MORE years later, we got one of the great (overblown) scandals in recent Oscar history. Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain” dominated the precursor circuit and appeared to be the chosen one. On Oscar night, nothing seemed amiss as the film won Best Adapted Screenplay as expected and Lee picked up his first Oscar ever for Best Director. Then Jack Nicholson opened the envelope and out came “Crash” (and a lot of bitching).

And now, seven years removed from that night, Lee is in another interesting position. He’s likely battling it out with Spielberg for the trophy this year. Michael Haneke, David O. Russell and Benh Zeitlin all feel like longshots. And if Affleck or Bigelow were in the mix, they’d be predicted by many, I’m sure. Does the Academy let awards for (maybe) screenplay and actor suffice for “Lincoln” and go with Lee? Do they let crafts category wins suffice for “Life of Pi” and go with Spielberg? Who knows?

It could be a mystery all the way up until the envelope is opened. The BAFTA Awards are two weeks from today. Perhaps they’ll help shed some light on a couple of races, like Best Actress, where there is still some question about Emmanuelle Riva. Will “Life of Pi” come on strong there? It certainly could. And maybe the Best Director field will suddenly be illuminated, and Ang Lee will pull off his second Academy win, in yet another bizarre Oscar race.

He’s used to them by now.

Check out my updated predictions HERE and, as always, see how Guy Lodge, Greg Ellwood and I collectively think the season will turn out at THE CONTENDERS.

With the exhausting thrill of Sundance still in my bones, I’m not quite ready yet to think about diving into the Berlin Film Festival — but there it is, less than two weeks away. The programme has been revealed in drips and drabs, and today we learned who’ll serve alongside present Wong Kar-wai on the competition jury. As usual, it’s an interesting group, and one that includes two Oscar winners: Tim Robbins and Danish writer-director Susanne Bier. Meanwhile, the addition presence of the superb cinematographer Ellen Kuras (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”). Iranian video artist turned filmmaker Shirin Neshat and Greek New Wave talent Athina Rachel Tsangrai (director of “Attenberg,” but also a producer on Richard Linklater’s “Before Midnight”) makes for a mostly female jury this year. [Berlinale]  

A wonderful, if rather saddening, interview with Steven Soderbergh, in which he elaborates on his “retirement,” and explains why movies don’t matter as much as they used to. [Vulture]

“Argo” may be sitting pretty in the Best Picture race following its SAG and PGA wins, but Jon Weisman warns that it’s still in a vulnerable spot. [The Vote]

Jodie Foster, who knows a thing or two about child acting, on why Quvenzhane Wallis’s performance in “Beasts of the Southern Wild” is no lightning-in-a-bottle fluke, but “comes from a completely instinctual place.” [New York Times]

Speaking of Foster, two weeks on from her headline-grabbing Globes speech, R. Kurt Osenlund considers the still complicated politics of coming out in Hollywood. [The House Next Door]

Three-time Oscar winner Robert Richardson goes into detail on his cinematography for “Django Unchained,” which has earned him yet another nomination. [American Cinematographer]

Nathaniel Rogers on why he’s rooting for “Les Mis,” a contender unusually low on prosthetics and creature effects, to take the Best Makeup & Hairstyling Oscar. [The Film Experience]

“Evetybody Needs a Best Friend” from “Ted,” sung by Norah Jones, is the second Best Original Song nominee to have its Oscarcast performance officially confirmed by the producers. [Entertainment Weekly]

A political correspondent in Pakistan has more than a few issues with the alleged inaccuracies of “Zero Dark Thirty.” [The Guardian]

Cherien Dabis and Oscar nominee Naomi Foner were among those participating in a female filmmakers’ workshop at Sundance. Here’s the full transcript. [LA Times]

I’ve been out most of the evening but some quick thoughts on tonight’s SAG outcome…

“Argo” is the story of the weekend, clearly. After coming out victorious at the PGA Awards it picked up the ensemble prize that everyone had either chalked up to “Lincoln” or “Silver Linings Playbook,” with some outliers thinking “Les Misérables” had a shot at it. Surprise!

The obvious thing to point to for those who don’t want to believe is “Apollo 13.” PGA, DGA, SAG ensemble. If Ben Affleck gets lucky next weekend, his film will have the same trifecta. The first place “Braveheart” showed some lingering potential was at the WGA, though it beat out some easy competition in the Best Original Screenplay category. And it would nevertheless fall to “The Ususal Suspects” at the Oscars, while “Sense and Sensibility” would double up after its WGA win over “Apollo 13” by taking the gold at the Academy Awards, too.

I’ll get into 1995 some more tomorrow, but for now, do we really think there’s a “Braveheart” this year? Do we really think it’s “Lincoln?” I’m asking honestly. I believe it’s absolutely possible it could be, but I’m not going to ignore love for “Argo” first witnessed via conversation then born out in guild wins.

I’ve been over the idea that the film can certainly pick up wins elsewhere, which is the other “drawback” to some. Why can’t it win Best Adapted Screenplay? Why can’t it win Best Film Editing? After Tommy Lee Jones mean-mugged the Golden Globes and then failed to show up tonight, why can’t it win Best Supporting Actor?

I think it’s time to take it just a little more serious.

Elsewhere, Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor, the aforementioned Jones won Best Supporting Actor, Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress and Anne Hathaway won Best Supporting Actress. The only film not represented was “Zero Dark Thirty,” and honestly, given the tone the season has taken within the industry, that makes sense. And the love was spread out well tonight. Though I do think we can’t sleep on the fact that Jennifer Lawrence didn’t have to deal with Emmanuelle Riva tonight.

Ballots still don’t go out until February 8, so frankly, all that’s happening now could yet shade the season more. Maybe there are those in the Academy who think “Argo” is getting a bit big for its britches. They could put on the brakes next month. All of this is happening separately and things aren’t really going down in the same atmosphere. There are more shades yet to be revealed.

But for now, “Argo” is looking good, folks. It’s looking real good. And you know you have a potential Best Picture in play when the backlash gets ugly. Just take a gander at Twitter (and likely, this comments section in due time).

The film winners of this year’s SAG Awards below. Greg Ellwood will be back later tonight with the best and worst of the show.

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
“Argo”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Tommy Lee Jones, “Lincoln”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Anne Hathaway, “Les Misérables”

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
“Skyfall”

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) has crowned Ben Affleck’s “Argo” with this year’s Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures. Affleck received the award along with co-producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov.

This marks the third in a string of big victories for the film, beginning with the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Picture and then the Golden Globe for Best Picture – Drama. It’s a significant victory in the fray of the season, too, because the PGA is the only other group that decides its winner via the preferential balloting system. Declare the group largely different from the Academy all you want, but the process is meant to get at consensus and the last three years (plus two more outside the new balloting system) have seen the PGA winner go on to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

Something has been in the air ever since Affleck was passed over for a Best Director nomination at the Academy. Some call it a sense of sticking up for the film in the wake of that unfortunate surprise, but I think it’s just in keeping with where the trajectory of the season started aiming toward the end of 2012. As a number of other films showed up and seemed to elbow “Argo” out of the way, it held on as a thoroughly enjoyed film throughout the Academy and one that could ultimately take the top prize as a result of being a consensus pick.

I don’t think that’s changed, Best Director snub or not. And I think today’s win with the PGA is some evidence of that. We’ll see how it does at the DGA Awards next weekend, where Affleck could absolutely win like Academy snubbees Ron Howard (“Apollo 13”) and Steven Spielberg (“The Color Purple”) before him. Not only that, I believe the film could even be a surprise winner of the ensemble award at tomorrow night’s SAG Awards.

Peripheral to the theatrical motion picture prize, The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures went to Clark Spencer for Rich Moore’s “Wreck-It Ralph”, while The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures went to Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn for Bendjelloul’s “Searching for Sugar Man.”

Previously announced, the guild presented humanitarian Russell Simmons with its Visionary Award and Harvey and Bob Weinstein with the Milestone Award. Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner received the guild’s highest honor, the David O. Selznick Award (honoring body of work), while the Weinstein-distributed documentary “Bully” received the 2013 Stanley Kramer Award.

Full list of winners, including television categories, below.

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures
“Argo” (Warner Bros.)
Producers: Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Grant Heslov

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
“Wreck-It Ralph” (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Producer: Clark Spencer

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures
“Searching For Sugar Man” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Producers: Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn

The David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television
“Game Change” (HBO)
Producers: Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks, Jay Roach, Amy Sayres, Steven Shareshian, Danny Strong

The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama
“Homeland” (Showtime)
Producers: Henry Bromell, Alexander Cary, Michael Cuesta, Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, Chip Johannessen, Michael Klick, Meredith Stiehm

The Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy
“Modern Family” (ABC)
Producers: Cindy Chupack, Paul Corrigan, Abraham Higginbotham, Ben Karlin, Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Morton, Dan O”Shannon, Jeffrey Richman, Chris Smirnoff, Brad Walsh, Bill Wrubel, Danny Zuker

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television
“American Masters” (PBS)
Producers: Prudence Glass, Susan Lacy, Julie Sacks

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television
“The Colbert Report” (Comedy Central)
Producers: Meredith Bennett, Stephen Colbert, Richard Dahm, Paul Dinello, Barry Julien, Matt Lappin, Emily Lazar, Tanya Michnevich Bracco, Tom Purcell, Jon Stewart

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Competition Television
“The Amazing Race” (CBS)
Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Elise Doganieri, Jonathan Littman, Bertram van Munster, Mark Vertullo

The Award for Outstanding Sports Program
“Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” (HBO)

The Award for Outstanding Children”s Program
“Sesame Street” (PBS)

The Award for Outstanding Digital Series
“30 Rock: The Webisodes” (www.nbc.com)

SANTA BARBARA – As “Argo” star and director Ben Affleck took the stage of the Arlington Theatre last night to begin a two-hour Modern Master Award fete at the 28th annual Santa Barbara Film Festival, he settled into that on-going self-effacing tone immediately. “Ben Affleck, career retrospective,” he said. “That could go one of two ways.”

Indeed, the usual reminder reel of accomplishments that kicked off the evening was set to the Foo Fighters’ “Walk,” with lyrics ringing a note of redemption: “I think I lost my way,” “getting good at starting over,” “learning to walk again,” “I believe I’ve waited long enough, where do I begin.”

And maybe that angle is slightly played out to some at this point. How much can you really feel for a millionaire who cashed in early on and wants to be taken seriously as a craftsman now? That’s a point of view for the cynical, though.

Affleck, who talked with moderator Leonard Maltin about getting the acting bug early and relishing the responsibility and commitment of the job, said he was pulled aside once and given a speech of encouragement by an acting mentor that has stuck with him and gave him a leg up into the early stages of his career. Lately, as he’s looked to transition from tabloid beefcake to respected filmmaker, another vote of confidence wouldn’t be misplaced. And that’s what he’s been getting every step of the way this season — well, from everyone save the Academy’s directors branch.

Clips were shown in pairs throughout the evening, and the first tandem included Richard Linklater’s “Dazed and Confused” and Kevin Smith’s “Chasing Amy.” Affleck noted the striking difference in the two filmmakers’ approaches, how Linklater is open and fluid with improvisation and putting yourself into the role, yet Smith is so passionate about the words on the page and their power if delivered properly.

Quickly the discussion transitioned to Affleck’s breakout, “Good Will Hunting,” and how it came to Gus Van Sant via Robin Williams. Affleck and childhood friend Matt Damon wrote the script and were considering directing it themselves at a very low budget. Williams was working on an early incarnation of “Milk” with Van Sant called “The Mayor of Castro Street” and there’s the connection. Like he would all evening, Affleck noted lessons learned from filmmakers that he would take to his own career in the director’s chair.

“In retrospect, it’s been clear to me that Gus brought a lot of maturity to that movie,” Affleck said. “It could have been really adolescent if he hadn’t pulled back on some things.”

The “Good Will Hunting” clip was paired with a clip of “Armageddon,” which Affleck said was a role he took because, point blank, he wanted nothing more to be in a “real Hollywood movie,” the kind that he and his friends might have watched back at the Somerville Theatre in Boston while they were growing up. “A movie people would actually see, in essence,” he said. And that, of course, launched his time in the blockbuster trenches. He marveled at how you could make 400 “Chasing Amys” for one “Armageddon” and that the money being spent on these projects was just “madness.”

Films like “Pearl Harbor” and “Daredevil” would follow, but always sprinkled in throughout would be work in things like “Boiler Room” and “Changing Lanes” and “Shakespeare in Love.” He wanted desperately to be a part of the latter because Tom Stoppard’s script was the best he had ever read, but his career nevertheless bogged down in things like “Gigli” and “Survivng Christmas” (neither of which was uttered during the evening).

Then came the transitional point in the middle of the last decade. “Hollywoodland” was a project Affleck took very seriously. “It meant a lot to me,” he said. “I worked really hard on it and felt intensely responsible to get it right for the George Reeves.” The actor would listen to old “Superman” broadcasts on his iPod while working on Allen Coulter’s film, marinating in the role, desperate for a change in his life. And that desperation would soon give way to a stab at directing.

“I got really overexposed and sick of the paparazzi scene,” Affleck said of the years leading up to “Gone Baby Gone,” his directorial debut. “I was getting disillusioned. The only thing I knew how to do was withdraw myself from this circus. And I was thinking about this movie. I didn’t want to be in it, to spare myself the ugly exposure. And we just went off and made it.”

He was terrified, he admitted. And he fretted over how to gain the confidence to tackle the job of directing a film. He reached out to some actor/director friends and acquaintances like Kevin Costner and George Clooney, but he got the best piece of advice from Warren Beatty. “He said, ‘Look, look, look,'” Affleck recalled. “Have you ever been on a movie, looked over at the director and thought, ‘If this fucking guy can do it…'” Say no more, Affleck thought.

He began developing his style and process. For instance, he’s fond of doing a lot of takes, not because he’s obsessive about coverage but because he likes to create a sense of relaxation on the set so that “eventually it’s not about the slate and ‘action,’ it’s about it feeling the same when the camera’s rolling and when it’s not.” But he also learned about how to deal with other, more experienced personalities who might not share his philosophies, like Morgan Freeman, who’s so thorough and precise that he doesn’t need a lot of shots at nailing a take — and he knows it.

With “The Town,” things changed a bit because Affleck was directing himself for the first time. He reached out again to his actor/director friends for guidance and was told across the board, “Shoot more coverage of yourself than you think you need. Don’t be gallant.”

And now “Argo,” which Maltin noted had received this year’s “Golden Tomato” award for most critically approved film of 2012 from Rotten Tomatoes, and has also gone on to win more Best Picture prizes from critics groups than any other film this year. Talk turned a bit more serious as Affleck noted, “This is the kind of film where I haven’t run out of wanting to talk about it.” He believes its a crucial conversation, what our relationship with Iran will be going forward and what the role of diplomats really is in this day and age, and he was excited to tackle those ideas as a filmmaker.

At the same time, Affleck is a father now, and he said that has a huge sway over his choices as an artist now. He wants his children to pick up a paper and not read tabloid nonsense about their father, but perhaps read something that makes them proud.

“This last seven years is something new and also incredibly rewarding,” he said. “The central challenge of one’s lifetime is trying to make good people and having kids makes it profoundly important to me to do work that I’m proud of.”

With that, the stage was set for Matt Damon to present this year’s Modern Master Award to his friend and collaborator. In a wonderful speech, Damon noted that all those years ago, watching movies at Somerville, he and Affleck and their friends (which included ‘Gone Baby Gone’ and ‘The Town’ screenwriter Aaron Stockard) would huddle up after a movie and have a little notes session in the parking lot. It was always immature and not all that enlightening.

“And then we’d get to Ben,” Damon said, “who would have been quiet up until that point, uncharacteristically. He would say, ‘Well, it didn’t quite work for me. But had they done this and this and this at the beginning, what you could have done in the middle was have a scene where you did this, and then you could have had a great scene at the end where you could have done that.'”

It’s just a skill that Affleck had, Damon said. Whether he was born with it or not, he had it when he was 14 and they started going to see movies together. “He could lift up the hood and take a look at the engine and get in there and take it apart and put it back together and the whole thing would run smoother,” he said. “It’s what made him such a great writing partner. He could problem solve. And so much of filmmaking is just that. He’s made three fantastic movies, one better than the next. And one thing I’ve learned is you cannot make a great movie by accident. Anybody who makes a great movie is a great director. Period. He is undeniably two things: my very old friend and a very young master.”

It was one of the better tributes I’ve seen at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, owed largely to the affable Affleck’s storytelling panache (impressions of John Frankenheimer, Morgan Freeman and Warren Beatty were littered throughout a number of humorous anecdotes). And it was a positive stop on the circuit. For a few hours, the fact that he was unceremoniously passed over by his fellow directors didn’t seem to matter. And at an intimate after-party following the tribute, Affleck seemed as positive as ever that his film has a chance to beat the odds and win Best Picture at the Oscars.

The first potential step on that road comes tonight at the PGA Awards. Whether he pulls it off or not, though, it’s clear he’s more grateful than anything to have made a tough transition in his career and found his way as an artist behind the camera.

The nominations for the César Awards — the French film industry’s answer to the Oscars — were announced this morning, and most of the top contenders were easily seen coming: Oscar hopeful “Amour” received nine nominations, as did historical drama “Farewell My Queen,” while “Rust and Bone” and “Holy Motors” scored eight apiece. The field leader, however, may come as a surprise to non-French observers: actress-director Noemie Lvovsky’s time-travel comedy “Camille Rewinds,” still little seen outside its home country, racked up a massive 13 nods.

Hard-working character actress Lvovsky is a popular figure locally — could she upset the bigger names to take the top prize? It could happen: the Césars have never been that swayed by international buzz, as when “Seraphine” pushed past Palme d’Or winner “The Class” and crossover hit “I’ve Loved You So Long” in 2008.   

I’m particularly delighted to see some love here for Francois Ozon’s ingenious comedy of manners “In the House” — #3 in my Top 10 of 2012 — after the film was largely written out of the lesser French precursors. It nabbed seven nominations, including Best Film, Actor and New Actor for sly young star Ernst Unhauer. That category, incidentally, is uncharacteristically rich: Matthias Schoenaerts features for “Rust and Bone,” as does Kacey Mottet Klein for “Sister.”

Finally, for those looking for an Oscar-related angle, it’s worth noting that “Argo” didn’t just score a nomination in the Best Foreign Film category — it was the only American film to do so. Take that as a sign, if you will, of the broad crossover appeal of Ben Affleck’s thriller, which — bar that one odd Oscar omission — can’t seem to miss a beat this season. It’s an incidental detail, but not an uninteresting one.

Full list of nominees below, and at The Circuit.

Best Film
“Farewell My Queen”
“Amour”
“Camille Rewinds”
“In the House”
“Rust and Bone”
“Holy Motors”
“What’s in a Name”   

Best Foreign Film 
“Argo”
“Bullhead”
“Laurence Anyways”
“Oslo, August 31st”
“The Angels Share”
“A Royal Affair”
“Our Children”

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, “Rust and Bone”
Catherine Frot, “Les Saveurs du Palais”
Noemie Lvovsky, “Camille Rewinds”
Corinne Masiero, “Louise Wimmer”
Emamanuelle Riva, “Amour”
Lea Seydoux, “Farewell My Queen”
Helene Vincent, “A Few Hours of Spring”                                                                                

Best Actor
Jean-Pierre Bacri, “Cherchez Hortense”
Patrick Bruel, “What’s in a Name”
Denis Lavant, “Holy Motors”
Vincent Lindon, “A Few Hours of Spring”
Fabrice Luchini, “In the House”
Jeremie Renier, “Cloclo”
Jean-Louis Trintignant, “Amour”  

Best Supporting Actress 
Valerie Benguigui, “What’s in a Name” 
Judith Chemla, “Camille Rewinds” 
Isabelle Huppert, “Amour” 
Yolande Moreau, “Camille Rewinds”
Edith Scob, “Holy Motors”  

Best Supporting Actor
Guillaume de Tonquedec, “The First Name”
Samir Guesmi, “Camille Rewinds”
Benoit Magimel, “Cloclo”
Claude Rich, “Cherchez Hortense”
Michel Vuillermox, “Camille Rewinds”  

Best Original Screenplay
“Adieu Berthe ou l”Enterrement de Meme”
“Amour”
“Camille Rewinds”
“Holy Motors”
“A Few Hours of Spring”  

Best Adapted Screenplay
“38 Witnesses”
“Farewell My Queen”
“In the House”
“Rust and Bone”
“The First Name”  

Best Cinematography 
“Farewell My Queen”
“Amour”
“Rust and Bone” 
“Holy Motors”
“Populaire”  

Best Costume Design
“Farewell My Queen”
“Augustine”
“Camille Rewinds”
“Cloclo”
“Populaire”  

Best Production Design
“Farewell My Queen”
“Amour”
“Cloclo”
“Holy Motors”
“Populaire”

Best Editing 
“Farewell My Queen”
“Amour”
“Camille Rewinds”
“Rust and Bone”
“Holy Motors”  

Best Original Music
“Farewell My Queen”
“Camille Rewinds”
“In the House”
“Rust and Bone”
“Populaire”  

Best Animated Film
“Edmond Etait un Ane”
“Ernest et Celestine”
“Kirikou et les Hommes et les Femmes”
“Oh Willy”
“Zarafa”

Best First Film
“Augustine”
“Commes des Freres”
“Louise Wimmer”
“Populaire”
“Rengaine”

Best New Actress
Alice de Lencquesaing, “Au Galop”
Lola Dewaere, “Mince Alors!”
Julia Faure, “Camille Rewinds”
India Hair, “Camille Rewinds”
Izia Higelin, “Mauvaise Fille”  

Best New Actor
Felix Moati, “Tele Gaucho”
Kacey Mottet Klein, “Sister”
Pierre Niney, “Commes de Freres”
Matthias Schoenarts, “Rust and Bone”
Ernst Umhauer, “In the House”

Welcome to Oscar Talk.

In case you’re new to the site and/or the podcast, Oscar Talk is a weekly kudocast, your one-stop awards chat shop between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood. The podcast is weekly, every Friday throughout the season, charting the ups and downs of contenders along the way. Plenty of things change en route to Oscar’s stage and we’re here to address it all as it unfolds.

We took another two weeks off due to the Sundance Film Festival (and a refreshing lack of awards season news). But we’re back now with some reflections on what went down in Park City and which films that played there could pop up in the circuit next year.

Tomorrow night the PGA Awards happen and, in my mind, will reflect the ultimate Best Picture winner. Anne disagrees with that notion, but nevertheless, we’re both separately picking the two films we’re predicting for the Oscar: “Argo” and “Lincoln.”

And then Sunday night we’ll see the SAG Awards and perhaps a boost of momentum for “Silver Linings Playbook.” We discuss those as well and the potential implications.

Have a listen to the new podcast below. If the file cuts off for you at any time, try the back-up download link at the bottom of this post. You to subscribe to Oscar Talk via iTunes here. And as always, if you have a question you’d like us to address on a future podcast, send it to OscarTalk@HitFix.com.

“Here I Come” courtesy of Stuart Park.

Academy Awards telecast producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have already announced plans, in the 50th year of James Bond, to offer 007 a tribute at this year’s show. It dovetails nicely with the release of “Skyfall,” and I imagine the two were giddy that Adele was nominated for her theme song. Indeed, they were quick to announce that she’ll be on the show to perform the tune.

Today it’s been announced that the Oscarcast will feature a tribute to three movie musicals of the last decade. That would be Broadway hits-turned Oscar nominees “Chicago,” “Dreamgirls” and “Les Misérables.” It’s a shame they felt a need to limit it to a decade, though. Why not an expansion of considerations for the musical in the modern era? Then you could include films like “Moulin Rouge!,” “Dancer in the Dark,” “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” etc.

And why be so vanilla as to limit it to these three even within that span? The producers are quoted jointly in the press release as saying that “the musical as a motion picture genre has had a remarkable renaissance in the last decade,” but that isn’t limited to the big, glitzy films. And even if it were, the exclusion of “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” and “Nine” (each of them Oscar nominees) is a bit odd.

Again, it’s just a bit limiting to be a celebration of a “renaissance” without touching on the evolution of the form itself. Something like “Pitch Perfect” deserves to be included in this, you know?

Anyway. I guess it was a nice thought.

The odds-on favorite to win the Best Cinematography Oscar this year seems to be Claudio Miranda for Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi.” Why? The Academy tends toward aesthetically pleasing films in the category. “Beautiful pictures,” you might say, and sometimes at the expense of perhaps more technically proficient work that may not be as postcard pretty.

But while that may be true, it’s been leveled at “Life of Pi” as a criticism in some quarters. This is, after all, a film with a visual scope that is as much a result of visual effects as it is practical photography. But Miranda has a few things to say about that, if you think his work was somehow not as important in the greater scheme than that of the effects artists at the Rhythm & Hues and MPC effects houses.

“I’m lighting the talent,” he says. “There’s always a real, tangible actor in the shot. And that actor is in a specific environment that I’m shaping with light. If the sun’s dead on top pouring down, everything has to reflect the time of day. If it’s a low golden light sun, I add warmth to it and the extension becomes that golden magical light that you see when the sun comes up.”

Not only that, but, by way of the Digital Intermediate process, Miranda was also responsible for “lighting” all the effects work done by the myriad of vendors working on the film above and beyond the great work done by the team at Rythm & Hues. 

And there’s also the considerable nuts and bolts that went into capturing the film, which was mostly shot in a giant tank on a stage. “There were many setups that that tank lighting had to suffice,” Miranda says. “Overcast, moonlight. There was a whole system of rigging and stuff that can shape that lighting, even when there’s like a little light in the distance. I would also open it up for real sun at times.”

Rather than crowbarring a distance between effects and photography, perhaps it would be wiser — and indeed, more in keeping with the consistently shifting and evolving idea of what cinematography is — to consider the collaboration process. Miranda and effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer would frequently look at watercolor influences, discuss various skies and talk about matching lighting. A film like “Life of Pi” — which features a boy on a raft in the middle of the ocean for most of its running time — would become very uninteresting if the transition throughout the day wasn’t visually evident.

Miranda says he was brought onto the movie largely because of his experience with 3D photography on “TRON Legacy.” Ang Lee was interested from day one in using 3D technology to capture the story. “It needed another dimension,” the director said at the film’s premiere at the New York Film Festival.

“Ang said, ‘I really want to shoot this in a new visual language,'” Miranda says. “He really wanted to experiment and felt that people were not doing enough in this medium, that they were just making gags and were not sensitive to the material and that you can actually make a story point of this. So we worked on how to make it a story point. We watched 3D movies, good and bad. And I learned a lot from some of the really bad movies. We figured out what was bothering us and improved that.”

This was all of course before “Avatar” was released into the pop cultural stratosphere. Lee and company were making their way through the process in a bit of a vacuum way out in Taiwan, and the process was arduous.

“I had severe doubts in the very beginning,” Miranda says. “I was a little apprehensive about making this movie because we were in Taichung. Everything had to be shipped in. We broke ground and turned hangers into stages. We were given the means to do it.  I think working with people like that, with Ang, who does so much research and helps me do my research, made that job easy. It just puts the importance on doing your homework, and then the day is just executing.”

Nevertheless, as much as the story of the film is about its visual scope and beauty, Miranda takes a moment to consider its smaller, more unassuming elements.

“Some of the most beautiful shots almost have zero lighting or near no direction,” he says. “The weird dying Richard Parker scene. I just love that lighting because it’s so banal and such a moment of exhaustion. It’s like even the sun is exhausted, I guess, I don’t know. But I think that shot’s equally beautiful to everything else, just in a different way emotionally.”

Kathryn Bigelow is out there hitting the PR circuit for “Zero Dark Thirty” at a bit of an awkward time: she was passed over for a Best Director nomination two weeks ago after being considered one of the best bets in the category for a film that is very much driven by her artistic vision. She was on CBS This Morning recently offering a point of view on that, in fact. “To be honest, it was just a couple of years ago that I was standing on that stage with ‘The Hurt Locker,'” she told host Gayle King, “and so that might have something to do with it as well.”

Meanwhile, she gets a big cover story in Time Magazine this week that serves as part profile, part timeline of the criticism that has been leveled toward “Zero Dark Thirty” for its conflation of circumstances and, some would say, “dangerous” depiction of torture and enhanced interrogation’s role in finding Osama bin Laden.

It’s the profile stuff, though, that’s more interesting and offers something that we haven’t chewed on at multiple outlets for the last two months. Jessica Winter’s story gets into Bigelow’s modern art background and her formative years in New York surrounded by artists and mentors. And one quote, from early mentor Lawrence Weiner, makes an interesting note on what has so many up in arms on the new film: it’s passive distance from a point of view on its depictions:

“Part of Kathryn’s brilliance has always been that she doesn’t let you get involved in trying to know what the person onscreen is thinking. She takes the trouble to show you what they are doing, and then she steps back.”

Winter adds to that notion that, “It’s that space between the action and the stepping back that helps define Bigelow as a filmmaker. It’s that space, perhaps, that has allowed so much controversy into the frame.”

Meanwhile, there are some great thoughts from collaborators over the years, like actor Willem Dafoe and actress Jamie Lee Curtis. Curtis, who starred in Bigelow’s “Blue Steel,” mentions the director’s “quiet strength” and her “machinelike execution,” which of course conjures the image of “Zero Dark Thirty”‘s protagonist, Maya. But Dafoe offers the following profound thought:

“She’s attracted to something instinctively, and then she researches it, and her research becomes an adventure. In the late ’70s there was a lot of interest in rockabilly and appreciation of ’50s outlaw culture, so she would go to clubs to scout people for their look and style, and worry about coaxing a performance out of them later. She was so interested in the slang and the idiom and the ritual of that world, which wasn’t really of her own experience. And she’s still interested in learning the language and rituals of hidden worlds. Just look at her titles–‘Hurt Locker,’ ‘Zero Dark Thirty.’ It’s like coded language and she’s cracking the code.”

It’s a lengthy piece worth the read, so check it out at Time. Also, watch that brief CBS This Morning piece below.

“Zero Dark Thirty” is now playing in a theater near you.

Once an A-list director who scored Oscar nominations for “Midnight Express” and “Mississippi Burning,” Alan Parker’s critical reputation has since slipped, along with his work rate: he hasn’t directed a film since 2003’s widely lambasted “The Life of David Gale.” But he remains a highly regarded figure in the British industry, where he’s served as chairman of both the British Film Institute and the now-defunct UK Film Council. He’s a long-anticipated choice, then, for the BAFTA Fellowship: the British Academy’s highest career honor, and the final presentation at the group’s awards ceremony. Parker has a happy relationship with BAFTA, having previously won competitive awards for “Bugsy Malone,” “Midnight Express” and “The Commitments” — this will be his seventh honor overall from the group. (Side note: His best film, for my money, remains “Shoot the Moon” — for which he naturally received nothing at all.) [BAFTA]    

Tom Shone on why Ang Lee could — and should — sneak past Spielberg to win the Best Director Oscar. [The Guardian]

Dr. Mehmet Oz believes “Silver Linings Playbook” is a valuable study of mental illness, “show[ing] us the humanity and similarities in the lives of those who are challenged with major disorders.” [Huffington Post]

Tim Wu on the legal rights (or wrongs) of one of the biggest talking points at Sundance this year: the Disney-taunting indie “Escape From Tomorrow.” [New Yorker]

Peter Debruge thinks the fuss over this year’s surprising Best Director omissions is leading people to overlook the interesting balance and diversity of the nominees. [Variety] 

Daniel Montgomery talks to editor William Goldenberg, a double nominee this year for “Argo” and “Zero Dark Thirty.” [Gold Derby]

Steve Pond wonders if Seth MacFarlane is the first Oscar host ever to get above-the-title billing on the official Academy Awards poster. [The Wrap]

Three-time Oscar winner Colleen Atwood discusses her darker duds for “Snow White and the Huntsman,” one of two interpretations of the classic fairytale up for Best Costume Design this year. [New York Times]

James Cameron has been forced by a US judge to hand over drafts of his “Avatar” script, as another writer claims he wrote the unacknowledged inspiration for the Oscar-winning blockbuster. [The Telegraph]

David Edelstein on why the Oscars bring us down to earth, and not in a good way. [Vulture]

PARK CITY – The Sundance Film Festival will push on through the weekend but for me it concluded today. It was a longer stretch than last year for me but I still don’t put in half the time some of the other folks do. I mean, 40 films in 10 days just isn’t my cup of tea. The 13 I managed in seven days is more my speed, thanks. And it was a good cross-section of early looks. My first post of capsule thoughts on this and that is here, in addition to the single write-ups I did on personal favorites “Mud,” “Before Midnight,” “Fruitvale” and “Running from Crazy.” And here are some closing considerations on more…

Michael Polish is a filmmaker I’m still quite enamored with. His and his brother’s aesthetic, owing plenty to DP M. David Mullen, is just softly beautiful and singular. And when you’re pointing that camera at central California’s landscape, that makes for a pretty, pretty picture. “Big Sur” — at a swift 72 minutes — is an interesting film, essentially Jack Kerouac’s book in potent form on the screen in a somewhat experimental fashion. Actor Jean-Marc Barr does a great job of encapsulating the Beat Generation’s prophet while Josh Lucas makes for a charismatic Neal Cassidy. I wish I had seen “Kill Your Darlings” for a nice bit of balance but this one is unique and I kind of dug it.

At this point, Alex Gibney is a well-oiled machine, able to construct involving and profound documentaries seemingly at will. “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks” is no exception. The film follows the world Julian Assange has wrought with a thorough focus and finds truly intriguing pay dirt when digging into the personal story of Assange’s most significant source, PFC Bradley Manning. It makes it clear how cleverly Assange conflated his sex crime troubles with the government siege of WikiLeaks and therefore, how truly ignorant his most impassioned followers have become. Mostly it’s just a riveting portrait of one of the most important individuals of the 21st Century.

David Gordon Green’s “Prince Avalanche” was a lovely surprise. A two-hander starring Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch that presents separate but equally clueless understandings of women and relationships, it intriguingly reconciles those two things while also somewhat reconciling Green’s indie and commercial sensibilities. It’s really my favorite thing he’s done in a while and a nice palate-cleanser for the next stage in his career. The score from Explosions in the Sky and David Wingo is also rather amazing and perfectly sets the film’s atmosphere and identity. (My interview with Green here.)

I was happy to at least take in one Slamdance title this year, and that was Nadia Szold’s Euro-inspired New York noir “Joy de. V.” Szold gets a solid turn out of lead actor Evan Louison and the whole enterprise is mounted with handsome cinematography and finely tuned editorial ideas. The story eventually bogs down in confusion, but Szold has a distinct voice. She just needs to hone it. And she will.

Finally, Eliza Hittman’s “It Felt Like Love” is one that many might have missed, but it’s a delicate mood piece that effectively captures the awkward realities of coming of age. It’s rare for it’s young female perspective, and indeed, 14-year-old newcomer Gina Piersanti rounds out her character with realism and the internal confusion and humiliation of someone in her position, yearning for the sexual confidence of her more experienced friends. This has become its own sort of sub-genre, films like “Raising Victor Vargas” and “Fish Tank” filling it out, and Hittman’s film fits right in.

With that, my 2013 Sundance is a goner. Be sure to check out thoughts on potential awards players emerging from the festival here. We’ll have coverage of the jury awards this weekend.

The Lumiere Awards — in French film inustry terms, the Golden Globes to the Cesars’ Oscars — actually took place on Friday, but I missed the news in the Sundance crush. Anyway, better late than never, and you probably could have guessed anyway that Michael Haneke’s “Amour” took the top prize, as well as Best Actor and Actress for Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva. It wasn’t a sweep, however: Haneke was foiled by Jacques Audiard and “Rust and Bone” in both the Best Director and Best Screenplay categories. Meanwhile, I’m pleased to see a newcomer award for Ernst Umhauer, a crafty presence in one my top 10 of 2012, Francois Ozon’s “In the House.” Full list of winners after the jump and at The Circuit.

Best Film: “Amour”

Best French-Language Film (from outside France): “La Pirogue (The Canoe)”

Best Director: Jacques Audiard, “Rust and Bone”

Best Actor: Jean-Louis Trintignant, “Amour”

Best Actress: Emmanuelle Riva, “Amour”

Best Screenplay: Jacques Audiard and Thomas Bidegain, “Rust and Bone”

Best Male Newcomer: Ernst Umhauer, “In the House”

Best Female Newcomer: Judith Chemla, Julia Faure and India Hair, “Camille Rewinds”

Special Jury Prize: Noemie Lvovsky, for directing, writing and starring in “Camille Rewinds”

Sundance has been dominating my attention this week so it’s been rather fortunate that there is a definitive lull in this year’s Oscar proceedings. Perhaps that’s one good thing to come of the Academy’s new schedule. It gives those of us covering the fest some room to breathe before diving back into all that.

So then I missed “Saturday Night Live” this weekend, which featured “Silver Linings Playbook” star Jennifer Lawrence as guest host the very weekend her stiffest competition for the Best Actress Oscar, Jessica Chastain, was ruling the box office roost. And for her opening monologue, the writers set her up with some fun joshing toward her fellow nominees.

My favorite barb had to be the one she threw Quvenzhané Wallis’s way. “The alphabet called. They want their letters back.” It was a cute little segment and everyone — well, except Emmanuelle Riva, oddly — got a nice bit of sincere appreciation from Lawrence throughout. Check out the clip below. We’ll be back on Oscar’s watch soon.

[hulu id=sfyi8jkt7lf8d9u4vzjpnq width=640 height=360]