As notices for “August: Osage County” continue to cool, Meryl Streep’s beginning to look the most vulnerable of the presumed Best Actress frontrunners — but she’s still Meryl Streep, so awards will keep coming her way regardless. The latest comes from the Palm Springs Film Festival, which will present her with the Icon Award at the awards gala on December 4. The prize, first given to Michael Douglas, is effectively a career achievement award, though festival chairman Howard Metzner’s statement focuses specifically on her “Oscar-worthy” work in “August.” Incidentally, Streep’s co-star Julia Roberts will receive the Spotlight Award. [PSIFF]

Clio Barnard, Anthony Chen and Ben Falcone (husband of Melissa McCarthy) are among Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch. [Variety]

Tim Grierson on “Her” and the Manic Pixie Dream Girl’s male counterpart, the Sad-Sack Sensitive Guy. [Playboy]

“12 Years a Slave” was a runaway favorite in the Indiewire critics’ poll, coming in first for Best Film, Director, Lead Performance, Supporting Performance and Ensemble. [Indiewire]

The Village Voice poll, however, is more about “Inside Llewyn Davis.” [Village Voice]

“Dallas Buyers Club,” which surprised us last week with a Best Ensemble SAG nod, is the first film this year to send out post-nom screeners to the entire membership. [LA Times]

Someone’s going to strangely elaborate lengths to sabotage Lana del Rey’s Best Original Song campaign. [Deadline]

The Rock is the highest-grossing actor of 2013, says Forbes. Where is his Oscar buzz? [Forbes]

From Emma Watson in “The Bling Ring” to Matthew Goode in “Stoker,” Joe Reid picks the best performances of 2013 that won’t receive any awards recognition. [The Wire]

Best Director: Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave”

Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”

Best Actress: Emma Thompson, “Saving Mr. Banks”

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave”

Best Screenplay: Spike Jonze, “Her”

Best Foreign Film: “Blue is the Warmest Color”

Best Documentary: “Blackfish”

Best Animated Film: “Frozen”

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, “Gravity”

Best Film Editing: Alfonso Cuaron & Mark Sanger, “Gravity”

Best Art Direction: Andy Nicholson, “Gravity”

Best Costume Design: Patricia Norris, “12 Years a Slave”

Best Score: Hans Zimmer, “12 Years a Slave”

Best Song: “Please Mr. Kennedy,” “Inside Llewyn Davis”

Best Visual Effects: “Gravity”

Best Family Film: “Saving Mr. Banks”

Best Horror/Sci-Fi Film: “Pacific Rim”

Best Comedy Film: “This is the End”

Best Action Film: “Lone Survivor”

Youth in Film: Tye Sheridan, “Mud”

Breakout Filmmaker of the Year: Ryan Coogler, “Fruitvale Station”

Best DVD: “Breaking Bad – The Complete Series” 

William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award: John Goodman

LVFCS Top 10 Films of 2013
1. “12 Years a Slave” 
2. “Dallas Buyers Club” 
3. “Gravity” 
4. “The Wolf of Wall Street” 
5. “American Hustle” 
6. “Inside Llewyn Davis” 
7. “Saving Mr. Banks” 
8. “Nebraska” 
9. “Her” 
10. “Lone Survivor”

Things have been kind of quiet in the land of Zach Braff of late. Unless you count his appearance as a bellhop monkey in “Oz the Great and Powerful.” Or the critically savaged play he wrote a couple of years ago, the title of which escapes me. (I saw it; the critics were not entirely wrong.) On the directorial front, meanwhile, he hasn’t made a feature film since his 2004 debut, “Garden State” — which earned him enough first-film accolades, including Independent Spirit and National Board of Review wins, plus a WGA nod, that you’d have expected a follow-up sooner rather than later.

Anyway, here it is: Braff’s “Wish I Was Here” — yep, the one he controversially took to Kickstarter to finance — will be unveiled in the Premieres section of the Sundance Film Festival next month, precisely 10 years after “Garden State” premiered in Park City. It’ll join the 17 Premiere titles announced last week, including new films from Anton Corbijn, Lynn Shelton and Gregg Araki. 

The film, which he also co-wrote with his brother Adam, stars Braff as a thirtysomething actor and family man, “trying to find purpose in his life.” (So far, so “Garden State.”) The death of his father forces him to unite with his family and “turn the page onto the next chapter” and so on and so forth. It all sounds very Braff, which will either delight or dismay you; his co-stars include Kate Hudson (continuing her indie streak after “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”), Mandy Patinkin and Josh Gad.

In other Sundance news, Kevin Smith’s landmark indie “Clerks,” for which the filmmaker won the Filmmaker’s Trophy at Sundance in 1994, is marking its 20th anniversary with a Midnight Screening at next year’s festival. The scrappy black-and-white comedy, about two slacker convenience-store clerks going about their chaotic day, was a sensation when it first appeared, improbably launching Smith onto the scene — for my money, he’s never improved on it. It seemed very fresh then, but I haven’t seen it since the 90s — I wonder how it holds up.

The 2014 Sundance Film Festival takes place from January 6-16.

The Florida Film Critics Circle wasn’t looking to flip the script today as members of the group handed Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” the prize for Best Picture of 2013. The film’s star, Lupita Nyong’o, picked up two honors, for Best Supporting Actress and the year’s Breakout Award. Check out the full list of winners below, and as always, keep track at The Circuit.

Best Picture: “12 Years a Slave” (Runner-up: “American Hustle”)

Best Director: Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave” (Runner-up: Alfonso Cuarón, “Gravity”)

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slace” (Runner-up: Joaquin Phoenix, “Her”)

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine” (Runner-up: Judi Dench, “Philomena”)

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club” (Runner-up: Michael Fassbender, “12 Years a Slave”)

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave” (Runner-up: Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle”

Best Adapted Screenplay: “12 Years a Slave” (Runner-up: “The Wolf of Wall Street”)

Best Original Screenplay: “Her” (Runner-up: “American Hustle”)

Best Art Direction/Production Design: “The Great Gatsby” (Runner-up: “American Hustle”)

Best Cinematography: “Gravity” (Runner-up: “Inside Llewyn Davis”)

Best Visual Effects: “Gravity” (Runner-up: “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”)

Best Animated Feature: “Frozen” (Runner-up: “The Wind Rises”)

Best Foreign Language Film: “Blue is the Warmest Color” (Runner-up: “The Hunt”)

Pauline Kael Breakout Award: Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave” (Runner-up: Michael B. Jordan, “Fruitvale Station”)

Golden Orange: Dana Keith, Miami Beach Cinematheque
For his tireless championing of foreign, independent and alternative film in South Florida for more than 20 years.

The César may be the most Oscar-equivalent honor on the French awards circuit, but arguably the most prestigious is the Louis Delluc Prize, established in 1937 and awarded annually by a jury of critics and industry figures to the film they deem the best French production of the year.

You need only look at the list of past winners to gauge the award's status. The very first winner was Jean Renoir, and it has since been presented to a veritable who's who of French auteurism: Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais, Eric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol, Jean Cocteau, Louis Malle, Robert Bresson, Agnes Varda, Leos Carax, Jacques Audiard, Jacques Tati… and on and on.

Abdellatif Kechiche was already a member of the winners' club, having taken the award for “The Secret of the Grain” (aka “Couscous”) in 2007. And now he's taken a second, as Palme d'Or champ “Blue is the Warmest Color” beat a heavyweight field including Asghar Farhadi's “The Past,” Alain Guiraudie's “Stranger by the Lake” and Bruno Dumont's “Camille Claudel 1915” to this year's Delluc.

That makes Kechiche only the fifth two-time winner in the award's history, joining Resnais (the only three-time winner to date), Malle, Claude Sautet and Michel Deville. He was widely favored to triumph, though this is an award that frequently surprises — last year, Benoit Jacquot's costume drama “Farewell My Queen” trumped “Amour,” among others.

The Best First Film prize, meanwhile, went to Helier Cisterne's graffiti-culture coming-of-age tale “Vandal.”

When you think of contemporary filmmakers who are particularly keyed into the art of costume design, you might name Baz Luhrmann, Tarsem Singh or Xavier Dolan — but Judd Apatow probably wouldn’t be among the first names to come to mind.

Still, take a closer look at his work as a director and producer, and you’ll find several films in which contemporary or casual costumes add much to the storytelling: think those class-defining bridal designs in the Apatow-produced “Bridesmaids,” or Steve Carell’s neatly fitted but utterly hopeless wardrobe in “The 40 Year-Old Virgin.”

The Costume Designers’ Guild clearly feels that way, as they’ve announced that Apatow will receive their Distinguished Collaborator Award at their annual ceremony on February 22. The Guild cites his “support of costume design across his many remarkable projects,” and singles out his collaborations with designers Leesa Evans (a Guild nominee for “Bridesmaids”), Jennifer Rogien (a Guild nominee for the Apatow-produced “Girls”) and Susan Matheson (the woman responsible for styling Ron Burgundy himself in “Anchorman 2”).

Meanwhile, veteran costume designer April Ferry will receive the Guild’s Career Achievement Award at the ceremony. The 81-year-old’s career in film and television spans four decades, with credits ranging contemporary work in 1980s favorites “The Big Chill” to “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” to, more recently, the British period piece “The Edge of Love” and the oddball oeuvre of Richard Kelly, “Donnie Darko” included. She’s still hard at work too: this year, she designed Neill Blomkamp’s “Elysium” (for which she could find Guild recognition in their Fantasy category) and has “RoboCop” and “Jurassic World” to come.

She has twice been reward by the Guild for her work on TV’s “Rome,” for which she also won an Emmy. Her lone Oscar nomination, meanwhile, came in the 1994 race for the nattily dressed Mel Gibson western romp “Maverick.” (That was an unusually fun year for the category: other nominees included “Bullets Over Broadway,” “Queen Margot” and “Little Women,” while they all lost to “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.”)

Costume Designers’ Guild nominees will be announced on January 9.

Given the Academy’s bent for in-the-moment sentiment in that department, the list of Best Documentary Feature Oscar winners that have since become consensus classics is a relatively short one. (In a number of cases, the winners don’t even seem a particularly good idea at the time.) But one noble exception is Barbara Kopple’s 1976 film “Harlan County, USA,” a stark, penetrating portrait of the 1972 Brookside coal miners’ strike that still stands as the signature work of one of America’s foremost documentarians. It’s the rare film that has broken out of the non-fiction ghetto and into the Criterion-approved cinematic canon.

Now its place in history has been further underlined by the Cinema Eye Honors, which has declared “Harlan County, USA” the winner of their annual Legacy Award for “classic films that inspire a new generation of filmmakers.” The award will be presented to Kopple on January 8 at the 7th annual Cinema Eye Honors ceremony in New York, where “The Act of Killing” and “Cutie and the Boxer” lead the nominees. 

Earlier this year, the film joined the likes of “Hoop Dreams,” “Shoah” and “Bowling for Columbine” on a Cinema Eye list of the 25 most influential documentaries of all time, intended as a preamble to the Legacy Award. Previous recipients of the award include “Grey Gardens,” “The War Room,” “Titicut Follies” and “Sherman’s March.”   

Kopple responded to the news with the following statement: “It’s such an honor and thrill to be recognized with a Legacy Award from Cinema Eye and Hot Docs. Cinema Eye is an invaluable event for the documentary community, a chance for us to come together and celebrate the important, entertaining and inspiring work of the past year, and our achievements.  ‘Harlan County, USA’ taught me about life and death and what it means to stand up for what you believe in. Thank you for recognizing this film’s strength and ongoing relevancy today. Having the opportunity to make documentary films, to work with such incredible people, and to tell the stories I believe in, is a reward in itself.”

Kopple’s other films include “Wild Man Blues,” “Shut Up and Sing” and “American Dream,” a “Harlan County, USA” companion piece for which she won a second Oscar in 1990. Her latest film, the Mariel Hemingway portrait “Running for Crazy,” premiered at Sundance this year.

From “Saving Mr. Banks” to “The Hobbit” to “The Wolf of Wall Street,” the fortnight between December 12 and Christmas Day finds a dozen films going into wide release in the US. Ben Fritz wonders if the holiday box office is being overloaded: “With several days off of work or school, if not a full week, many people are free to see multiple movies at any time of the day … Nonetheless people’s movie time isn’t infinite, and a surfeit of new titles could overtax even the most avid moviegoers.” Unlike the summer tentpole glut, he notes, it’s many adult-oriented fare that is filling theaters. Will there be any casualties? [Wall Street Journal]

Laura MIller on how, in “Saving Mr. Banks,” Disney has once more given P.L. Travers the short end of the stick. [Salon]

From Adele Exarchopoulos to June Squibb, The Dissolve team offers their pick of 2013’s best female performances. [The Dissolve]

The English-language voice cast of “The Wind Rises” includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt and Werner Herzog. [Variety]

Amir Soltani wants to see some awards recognition for “Her” cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema. Co-sign. [The Film Experience]

“American Hustle” costume designer Michael Wilkinson goes into detail on the film’s bra-less sartorial universe. [Huffington Post]

The Giffoni festival for children’s film is paying tribute to Marvel superheroes and honoring Meryl Streep. Not as a Marvel superhero, but wouldn’t that be something? [Hollywood Reporter]

Apropos of nothing, really, but I couldn’t resist: Colin Farrell talks about his “unconsummated romantic relationship” with the late LIz Taylor. [The Guardian]

The Library of Congress announced the 25 films selected for the 2013 National Film Registry and they feature some Academy Award winners, a groundbreaking documentary, genre classics and family favorites.

The highlights include Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” (1994), Disney’s “Mary Poppins” (1964), “Forbidden Planet” (1956), “The Magnificent Seven” (1960), “Judgment at Nuremberg” (1961), “The Quiet Man” (1952), Michael Moore’s “Roger & Me” (1989) and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?” (1966).

At the time of their release it would have been hard to imagine Tarantino’s breakout, Moore’s anti-car industry doc or a B-movie such as “Forbidden” ever being recognized by Congress. Time brings a unique perspective. “Poppins” selection is certainly deserved, but no doubt timed to the release of “Saving Mr. Banks” later this week.

Out of all the selections, the most intriguing may be “Martha Graham Early Dance Film” (1931-44).  As a historical document, preserving the work of one of modern dance’s greatest choreographers is priceless. According to a release from the Library, “This quartet of films, all silent and all starring Graham herself, document four of the artist”s most important early works.  They are ‘Heretic,’ with Graham as an outcast denounced by Puritans; ‘Frontier,’ a solo piece celebrating western expansion and the American spirit; ‘Lamentation,’ a solo piece about death and mourning; and ‘Appalachian Spring,’ a multi-character dance drama, the lyrical beauty of which is retained even without the aid of Aaron Copland”s famous and beloved music.”

Other important selections include “Cicero March” which chronicles a confrontation between blacks and whites during the Civil Rights era in Illinois; Lee Dick”s 1940 documentary “Men and Dust” about harsh health conditions for minters in the Midwest and Oklahoma; and the 1920 silent film “Daughter of Dawn” starring an all-Native-American cast of Comanche and Kiowa tribe members.

The new additions brings the total number of films in the Library of Congress’ Film Registry to 625. Overall, the Library has over 1.2 million moving image items in is collection.

The complete list of inductees is as follows:

Bless Their Little Hearts (1984)
Brandy in the Wilderness (1969)
Cicero March (1966)
Daughter of Dawn (1920)
Decasia (2002)
Ella Cinders (1926)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Gilda (1946)
The Hole (1962)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
King of Jazz (1930)
The Lunch Date (1989)
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Martha Graham Early Dance film (1931-44)
Mary Poppins (1964)
Men & Dust (1940)   
Midnight (1939)
Notes on the Port of St. Francis (1951)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
The Quiet Man (1952)
The Right Stuff (1983)
Roger & Me (1989)
A Virtuous Vamp (1919)
Who”s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
Wild Boys of the Road (1933)

For the first time in its history, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has created a visual identity for the organization with a logo.

“The new logo spotlights the Oscar from above – creative a triangular shape and uniting the ‘A’ of the Academy with our iconic statuette,” reads a statement at a new wing of the official AMPAS website. “This design gives the Academy a presence in its own logo for the first time and underscores our efforts to support creative arts and sciences year-round.”

It’s all part of an image plan that has been in the works for a couple of years and will be a driving force leading up to the much-anticipated unveiling of the Academy Museum in 2017.

“I think that it is a tremendous view of our Academy, its history, told through a very contemporary way,” AMPAS president Cheryl Boone Isaacs says in one of a few videos featured at the website.

Check out the new Academy logo below and tell us what you think.

After a some taste-testing elsewhere by some more regional critics, it’s back to the grind with another Best Picture win for “12 Years a Slave,” this time from the Phoenix Film Critics Society. The film won three awards, as did Disney’s “Frozen,” but Alfonso Cuarón’s “Gravity” was a more dominant figure winning four, including Best Director. Refresh yourself on the nominees here and check out the full list of winners below. Remember to keep score throughout the season via The Circuit.

Best Picture: “12 Years a Slave”

Top 10 Films of 2013 (alphabetical)
“American Hustle”
“Captain Phillips”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“Gravity”
“Mud”
“Nebraska”
“Philomena”
“Saving Mr. Banks”
“Short Term 12”
“12 Years a Slave”

Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, “Gravity”

Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave”

Best Adapted Screenplay: “12 Years a Slave”

Best Original Screenplay: “Nebraska”

Best Original Score: “Frozen”

Best Original Song: “Let it Go” from “Frozen”

Best Cinematography: “Gravity”

Best Costume Design: “The Great Gatsby”

Best Film Editing: “Gravity”

Best Production Design: “Gravity”

Best Animated Film: “Frozen”

Best Foreign Language Film: “Blue is the Warmest Color”

Best Documentary: “20 Feet from Stardom”

Best Stunts: “Fast & Furious 6”

Best Live Action Family Film (Rated G or PG): “Oz the Great and Powerful”

The Overlooked Film of the Year: (tie) “The Kings of Summer” and “The Spectacular Now”

Breakthrough Performance on Camera: Oscar Isaac, “Inside Llewyn Davis”

Breakthrough Performance Behind the Camera: Lake Bell, “In a World…”

Best Performance by a Youth – Male: Tye Sheridan, “Mud”

Best Performance by a Youth – Female: Sophie Nélisse, “The Book Thief”

You’d expect the perennially hip cinephile crowd of Austin to veer slightly left of center when choosing their year-end winners, and the Austin Film Critics Association duly resisted the recent “12 Years a Slave” avalanche — just. Steve McQueen’s film is their #2 of the year, and picked up wins for Actor, Supporting Actress and Adapted Screenplay, but was pipped to Best Picture by Spike Jonze’s “Her,” which also took Original Screenplay and a special award for Scarlett Johansson’s voice work. Meanwhile, Brie Larson landed another two wins for Best Actress and Breakthrough — at this rate, she could well be the spoiler in the Oscar race. Full list of winners after the jump; everything else at The Circuit. 

Best Film: “Her”

Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, “Gravity”

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”

Best Actress: Brie Larson, “Short Term 12”

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave”

Best Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze, “Her”

Best Adapted Screenplay: John Ridley, “12 Years a Slave”

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, “Gravity”

Best Score: Arcade Fire, “Her”

Best Foreign Language Film: “Blue is the Warmest Color”

Best Documentary: “The Act of Killing”

Best Animated Film: “Frozen”

Best First Film: “Fruitvale Station”

Breakthrough Artist: Brie Larson, “Short Term 12”

Best Austin Film: “Before Midnight”

Special Honorary Award: Scarlett Johansson, for her outstanding voice performance in “Her”

AFCA 2013 Top Ten Films

1. “Her”
2. “12 Years a Slave”
3. “Gravity”
4. “The Wolf of Wall Street”
5. “Inside Llewyn Davis”
6. “Short Term 12”
7. “Mud”
8. “Before Midnight”
9. “Dallas Buyers Club”
10. “Captain Phillips”

It only just occurred to me that in two months’ time, the 2014 Berlin Film Festival will already be over. Before that, of course, comes the bustle and frenzy of Sundance; throughout all that, of course, Oscar season will press on unabated. Just thinking about the next few weeks makes me feel slightly ill, even as I look forward to it all.

Largely unattended by US press, the Berlinale has become one of my favorite stops on the year-round festival trail. It doesn’t attract the Hollywood wattage of Sundance (though it frequently borrows from the January fest’s programme), nor, for the most part, the Euro-auteur elite of Cannes or Venice — but that, in a way, has become it’s strength. Many a future critical darling or Oscar winner from a previously under-estimated director has been hatched in the ice-bound vicinity of Potsdamer Platz: recently, “A Separation,” “The Grandmaster,” “Tabu,” “La Vie en Rose” and “The Illusionist” all had their world premieres there.  

This year, Berlin has secured at least one A-list premiere that any festival would kill for: it was announced a few weeks ago that Wes Anderson’s typically all-star comedy “The Grand Budapest Hotel” will open the festival on February 6. Today it was confirmed that the film will indeed be in Competition for the Golden Bear — unlike George Clooney’s “The Monuments Men,” which will have its European premiere in one of those confusing Competition-But-Out-Of-Competition slots.

Also announced today were the first five films that will be competing alongside Anderson for the Bear, and it’s a typically diverse, unexpected lot. I had no idea, for example, that Jennifer Connelly had made a film with Peruvian director Claudia Llosa, who won the Golden Bear (and received a surprise Oscar nomination) four years ago for her glum feminist allegory “The Milk of Sorrow.” The new film, a Spanish-French-Canadian co-production called “Aloft,” also stars Cillian Murphy and Melanie Laurent in an era-hopping tale of a mother and son separated by an accident.

The lineup also boasts one certified legend in 91-year-old French master Alain Resnais, who has been more of a Cannes favorite of late. His last film, “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” had the sense of a farewell, its titles notwithstanding, but he’s not done: “Life of Riley” is, like “Smoking/No Smoking,” an adaptation of a comedy by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn, and stars his usual assortment of seasoned French pros (Sabine Azema, Andre Dussolier, and so on). Resnais won the Venice Golden Lion 52 years ago for “Last Year in Marienbad,” but has never taken the top prize at Cannes or Berlin. Might this be his year?

The Competition thus far also includes: British director Yann Demange’s “’71,” a thriller set against the backdrop of Ireland’s Troubles and starring the rapidly rising Jack O’Connell; German director Dominik Graf’s “Die geliebten Schwestern”; and Greek director Yannis Economides’ “Stratos.” All Competition films announced thus far will be world premieres.

Also making its debut, in the non-competitive Special section, is “A Long Way Down,” a British adaptation of Nick Hornby’s black-comic bestseller from French directorPascal Chaumeil (“Heartbreaker”). It stars Toni Collette, Pierce Brosnan, Aaron Paul and Imogen Poots.

It’ll be joined in that section by the international premiere of an intriguing Australian anthology film, “The Turning,” based on a collection of short stories (woven around a single protagonist) by Tim Winton. 18 artists, including actress Mia Wasikowska, Justin Kurzel (“Snowtown”) and Warwick Thornton (“Samson & Delilah”), have directed segments, while Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne and Hugo Weaving are among the stars. Consider me very, very interested.

Blanchett is triple-dipping at Berlin, actually: not only will be appearing on screen in “The Monuments Men” and “The Turning,” but she also contributes narration (along with Diane Kruger, Josh Radnor and others) the documentary “The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden,” which premiered at TElluride a few months ago and will have its European premiere in Berlin.

The Berlin Film Festival runs from February 6-16, 2014. I’ll once more be covering. 

One suspects Redford isn’t all that bothered either way. He hasn’t been actively campaigning, and at this stage in his career, perhaps an Oscar nomination doesn’t seem entirely worth the effort. (It’s not as if the former Best Director winner has never tasted gold in his life.) Still, should he secure the nomination, his profile is set to rise considerably in the next phase of voting: not only will he be in evidence (as always) at his beloved Sundance Film Festival, but he will receive a tribute at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival — always a valued publicity stop for stars on the campaign trail.

The SBIFF announced today that Redford will be honored on February 7 with the American Riviera Award, presented annually to an individual “who has had a strong influence on American cinema.” Past recipients include (in reverse chronological order) Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Annette Bening, Sandra Bullock, Mickey Rourke, Tommy Lee Jones, Forrest Whitaker, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kevin Bacon and Diane Lane. All but the last two were in the Oscar race at the time.

The “strong influence” criteria seems more apt in Redford’s case than most. He is, of course, one of Hollywood’s signature movie stars of the last half-century, not to mention an accomplished filmmaker. But it’s no exaggeration to say that his work in establishing and shepherding Sundance helped change the face of American independent cinema; few US stars occupy quite such senior status in such opposing spheres.

SBIFF director Roger Durling states: “To honor Robert Redford with the American Riviera Award is an immense privilege for SBIFF. His fifty-year career – filled with significant achievements both on and off camera – is reason enough for celebration, but his role in ‘All is Lost’ – one of the best performances of the year – proves that he’s an artist that continues to evolve and inspire us.”

Other stars being honored in Santa Barbara include Cate Blanchett, Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Emma Thompson, Daniel Bruhl, Adele Exarchopoulos, June Squibb, Oscar Isaac, Michael B. Jordan, Jared Leto and Brie Larson.

We’re currently swimming in critics’ group awards and nominations, but if these mean a little more to me than the rest — well, that’d be because I voted in them. The London Film Critics’ Circle nominations have been announced, and Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” comfortably leads the field with nine nominations. Gary Oldman, meanwhile, has been named the recipient of the Circle’s annual Dilys Powell Award for Contribution to Cinema.

Recent recipients of the career honor include Helena Bonham Carter, Nicolas Roeg and Kristin Scott Thomas. Oldman, who won the Circle’s Best Actor award in 1987 for “Prick Up Your Ears,” will accept the award at our awards ceremony on February 2, 2014. He offered this statement of thanks: “I am truly honoured, and humbled to be named for this prestigious award, especially when one considers both who is doing the awarding and also the inspirational list of past recipients. I can”t wait to be there.” 

London voters may share their US colleagues enthusiasm for the likes of “12 Years a Slave” and “Gravity,”but elsewhere, we’ve done things a bit differently. Two foreign-language titles — Cannes hits “Blue is the Warmest Color” and “The Great Beauty” — made the cut for Film of the Year. So did two low-key American contenders from earlier in the year, “Frances Ha” and “Blue Jasmine” — with Greta Gerwig joining Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Sandra Bullock and Adèle Exarchopoulos in the Actress of the Year race.

Different distribution avenues allowed us a unique nominee in the Actor of the Year race: Emmy winner Michael Douglas makes the grade for “Behind the Candelabra,” which was a theatrical release in the UK. He’s nominated alongside Bruce Dern, Leonardo DiCaprio, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tom Hanks — who also managed a supporting nod for “Saving Mr. Banks.”

Speaking of double nominees, Dench and Ejiofor both also placed in the British Actress and British Actor fields, with Supporting Actor nominee Michael Fassbender also joining his co-star in the latter category. (Yes, we say this every year: Irish actors are also eligible for these categories, so they can be a bit of a misnomer, but the industries and talent pools are closely tied.) Two Supporting Actress nominees also placed in the British Actress of the Year field: Sally Hawkins for “Blue Jasmine” and, in a pleasant surprise, Naomie Harris for her fiery turn as Winnie Mandela in “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.” (Her co-star and compatriot Idris Elba, however, was passed over.)

The British acting categories, incidentally, can represent either an individual performance or a body of work over a given year — so “Beautiful Creatures” gets its first (and probably only) awards mention of the season for Emma Thompson’s riotous supporting performance, and I couldn’t be more pleased. (Of course, I put Alden Ehrenreich on my Best Actor ballot, but you can’t have everything.)   

Another point of interest: Paul Greengrass made the Director of the Year lineup despite “Captain Phillips” failing to place in the critics’ collective Top 10. And I’m rather proud of our unusual Technical Achievement of the Year lineup, determined by the Circle’s smaller awards committee (of which I’m a member): it’s the only category on the circuit where you’ll see the cinematography of “Frances Ha,” the costumes of “Stoker” and the visual effects of “Gravity” competing side-by-side. 

Winners will be announced at the Circle’s awards ceremony in London on February 2, 2014. Full list of nominees on the next page. Catch up with all season’s awards so far at The Circuit.

Film of the Year
“Blue is the Warmest Color”
“Blue Jasmine”
“Frances Ha”
“Gravity”
“Her”
“The Great Beauty”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Nebraska”
“12 Years a Slave”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”

Director of the Year
Alfonso Cuaròn, “Gravity”
Paul Greengrass, “Captain Phillips”
Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave”
Martin Scorsese, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Paolo Sorrentino, “The Great Beauty”

Actor of the Year
Bruce Dern, “Nebraska”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Michael Douglas, “Behind the Candelabra”
Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”
Tom Hanks, “Captain Phillips”

Actress of the Year
Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”
Sandra Bullock, “Gravity”
Judi Dench, “Philomena”
Adèle Exarchopoulos, “Blue is the Warmest Color”
Greta Gerwig, “Frances Ha”

Supporting Actor of the Year
Barkhad Abdi, “Captain Phillips”
Michael Fassbender, “12 Years a Slave”
James Gandolfini, “Enough Said”
Tom Hanks, “Saving Mr. Banks”
Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”

Supporting Actress of the Year
Naomie Harris, “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”
Sally Hawkins, “Blue Jasmine”
Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle”
Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave”
June Squibb, “Nebraska”

Screenwriter of the Year
Spike Jonze, “Her”
Joel and Ethan Coen, “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, “Philomena”
John Ridley, “12 Years a Slave”
Terence Winter, “The Wolf of Wall Street”

Foreign Language Film of the Year
“Blue is the Warmest Color”
“Caesar Must Die”
“Gloria”
“The Great Beauty”
“A Hijacking”

Documentary of the Year
“The Act of Killing”
“Beware of Mr. Baker”
“Leviathan”
“Stories We Tell”
“We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks”

British Film of the Year
“A Field in England”
“Filth”
“Philomena”
“Rush”
“The Selfish Giant”

British Actor of the Year (for body of work)
Christian Bale, “American Hustle” and “Out of the Furnace”
Steve Coogan, “Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa,” “The Look of Love,” “Philomena” and “What Maisie Knew”
Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”
Michael Fassbender, “The Counselor” and “12 Years a Slave”
James McAvoy, “Filth,” “Trance” and “Welcome to the Punch”

British Actress of the Year (for body of work)
Judi Dench, “Philomena”
Lindsay Duncan, “About Time,” “Last Passenger” and “Le Week-end”
Naomie Harris, “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”
Sally Hawkins, “Blue Jasmine”
Emma Thompson, “Beautiful Creatures” and “Saving Mr. Banks”

Young British Performer of the Year (for body of work)
Conner Chapman, “The Selfish Giant”
Eloise Laurence, “Broken”
George Mackay, “Breakfast with Jonny Wilkinson,” “For Those in Peril,” “How I Live Now” and “Sunshine on Leith”
Saoirse Ronan, “Byzantium,” “The Host” and “How I Live Now”
Shaun Thomas, “The Selfish Giant”

Breakthrough British Director of the Year
Jon S. Baird, “Filth”
Scott Graham, “Shell”
Marcus Markou, “Papadopoulos & Sons”
Rufus Norris, “Broken”
Paul Wright, “For Those in Peril”

Technical Achievement of the Year
Judy Becker (production design), “American Hustle”
Howard Cummings (production design), “Behind the Candelabra”
Mark Eckersley (editing), “Filth”
Sam Levy (cinematography), “Frances Ha”
Tim Webber (visual effects), “Gravity”
Trish Summerville (costume design), “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”
T-Bone Burnett (music), “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Kurt Swanson and Bart Mueller (costume design), “Stoker”
Sean Bobbitt (cinematography), “12 Years a Slave”
Johnny Marshall (sound design), “Upstream Color”

Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film
Gary Oldman

The annual list of films eligible for general-category Oscar consideration is always a bit of a dispiriting one. Every viable contender is on the list, as well as plenty of non-viable ones, but many of the year’s best films from the foreign and independent spheres aren’t. That’s not the Academy’s fault — a film has to be submitted to be considered — but it does reveal how the expense and effort of an Oscar campaign is all too often beyond the means of the little guys. So it is that this year’s list of 289 eligible titles includes “Grown Ups 2,” but “Upstream Color,” “Mother of George” and “A Hijacking,” for example, are all officially out of contention. [AMPAS] 

David O. Russell is ambivalent about the classification of “American Hustle” as a comedy at the Golden Globes. [New York Times]

With the dust settled on Jennifer Lawrence’s win for an “enormously fun” turn in Russell’s last film, Mike D’Angelo looks back on the 2012 Best Actress race. [The Dissolve] 

Sally Hawkins on “Blue Jasmine,” the similarities between Woody Allen and Mike Leigh, and being a “Star Wars” extra. [Variety]

Julie Andrews lends a hand to the “Saving Mr. Banks” campaign. I suppose she would. [Hollywood Reporter]

R. Kurt Osenlund rounds up the worst movie posters of 2013. [Slant] 

Glenn Whipp reports from an Academy screening of “American Hustle” over the weekend. Turns out they love Jennifer Lawrence. Who knew? [LA Times]

Evangeline Lilly’s Best Actress Oscar campaign gets a major boost from the BFCA! Or, you know, not. [The Wire]

A lovely appreciation of the late Joan Fontaine by Farran Nehme. [Self-Styled Siren]

Malcolm McDowell, meanwhile, writes a colorful tribute to his “Caligula” co-star Peter O’Toole, chicken gizzards and all. [The Guardian]

This is me doing a little happy dance and giving the Toronto Film Critics Association an epic high five for splitting off course and not only awarding something different with its Best Picture prize, but handing the Coen brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis” its first such honor of the critics circuit and its first major win since the Gotham Awards. Not only that, but Oscar Isaac for Best Actor? Makes the usual usual of the rest go down nicely. “12 Years a Slave,” in fact, was completely passed over. Check out the full list of winners below and remember to keep track of it all via The Circuit.

Best Picture: “Inside Llewyn Davis”

Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, “Gravity”

Best Actor: Oscar Isaac, “Inside Llewyn Davis”

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle”

Best Screenplay: “Her”

Best Animated Feature: “The Wind Rises”

Best Foreign Language Film: “A Touch of Sin”

Best First Feature: “Neighboring Sounds”

Best Canadian Film: “The Dirties,” “Gabrielle” and “Watermark”