As Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” makes its way into limited release today, more reviews are hitting the wire, reflecting a movie that, while not an out-and-out critical knock-out like “Inside Llewyn Davis,” “12 Years a Slave” or “Before Midnight,” certainly has its champions. Naturally, star Bruce Dern is getting great notices, but co-star Will Forte is getting his fair share of solid ink, too, leading me to wonder if Paramount could have a serious Best Supporting Actor shot with the former “Saturday Night Live” cast member.

Multiple critics are praising the subtlety of the performance. At The Wall Street Journal, Joe Morgenstern writes that Forte inhabits the role of David Grant with “soulful delicacy,” while at the LA Weekly, Amy Nicholson compared the actor’s work to Buster Keaton, observing that he “plays it simple, waiting for the audience to warm to him when we’re ready.”

HitFix’s Drew McWeeny proposed in his review Wednesday that the film could be a game-changer for perception of Forte in the industry. “He never oversells it,” McWeeny wrote. “[And] there’s something about his innate sweetness that seems to me to be a perfect reaction to a life lived constantly worried about a father’s anger.”

You’ll recall back during Cannes, the trades had similarly high marks to offer. At Variety, Scott Foundas also praised Forte’s nuance, writing that his scenes with Dern resonate “with the major and minor grievances that lie unresolved between parents and children.” At The Hollywood Reporter, Todd McCarthy found that the actor “nicely underplays an incipient sad sack who would dearly like to enrich an uneventful life by learning more about his father but can only do so indirectly.”

Of course, like with all things, approval isn’t blanket. In his Cannes review, our own Guy Lodge didn’t seem to think Forte was up to the challenge. But by and large, the actor is getting the kind of hat tips that can change the direction of a career. (Not that we all don’t want to see another “MacGruber.”)

And that has to be the bee’s knees to Forte, who remarked to me at the AFI Fest after-party for the film’s premiere Monday night that he was very nervous to be exposed in this way. Often times, he said, being able to hide behind the broad comedic strokes of a character can be a bit of a safety net. Here he was on a limb in a role that many would not have expected him to play, so to say the least, anxiety crept in, mingling with the genuine surprise that he landed the part in the first place.

While Dern’s campaign is in full swing with Great Whites like Jack Nicholson diving deep behind the scenes to help the actor find that elusive leading man success on the circuit, and June Squibb seems to be finding more and more support, the potential for a Forte supporting actor bid is really percolating now. The fact is that category is a little bit up in the air for the moment and it’s a great opportunity to strike.

Sunday afternoon, Jason Sudeikis will be moderating a post-screening Q&A with his former “SNL” co-star on the Paramount lot for a SAG, and that’s just the latest. Forte has been an incredible steward for the film from the word “go,” putting in a lot of face time with press and voting organizations, eager to sell (for lack of a better word) a film he’s super proud of.

And, by the way, he’s legitimately one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. That kind of thing goes a long way this time of year.

“Nebraska” is now playing in limited release.

The American Society of Cinematographers has named the three cameramen who will be receiving honorary recognition at next year’s ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards on February 1. So, if Emmanuel Lubezki is as safe a bet as most seem to think in the feature film category, you can start composing the winners lineup already. Dean Cundey, Eduardo Serra and Richard Rawlings, Jr. will all be celebrated for their careers’ work.

Cundey is the recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award, it’s a nice acknowledgement for a figure who’s been sielined of late. In a career spanning five decades, the 67-year-old California native has brought a distinctive visual pop and sheen to effects-driven mainstream cinema, cutting his teeth on B-horror before breaking through with John Carpenter’s tightly shot “Halloween.” Since then, he’s collaborated with such blockbuster merchants as Steven Spielberg (“Jurassic Park”), Robert Zemeckis (“Back to the Future”) and Ron Howard (“Apollo 13”).

Cundey has twice been nominated for the ASC Award, for “Apollo 13” and Spielberg’s “Hook,” missing out on an Oscar nod on both occasions — somewhat surprisingly, in case of the former film. His lone Oscar nod to date came for the technical tour de force of Zemeckis’ “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”; he lost to “Mississippi Burning.” Lately, however, his gifts have been rather ill-applied: recent credits include “Jack and Jill” and “Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster,” with “Alvin and the Chipmunks 4” in the pipeline. How did it come to that?

“Dean has continually raised the bar with his magnificent imagery, and I”m certain he will continue to do so for many years to come,” said ASC awards chairman Lowell Peterson — it’s hard to apply that statement with complete conviction to his recent filmography, but it’d be great to see a big-league director set him a challenge again.

The ASC’s International Achievement Award, meanwhile, will be presented to 70-year-old Eduardo Serra — one of the deftest light-painters currently in the business.  The Portuguese-born cinematographer came to prominence in the French film industry, forming a particularly strong partnership with the director Patrice Leconte, and now maintains a successful career on both sides of the Atlantic.

Multiplex-goers will be most familiar with his work on the last two films in the “Harry Potter” franchise, while he’s recently collaborated with Claude Chabrol and Edward Zwick. But for my money, his two greatest achievements — and it’s not often one can say this — are the two for which he received Oscar nominations: his marbling of skin and Venetian canals in “The Wings of the Dove” (1997) and his extraordinary evocation of Vermeer’s aesthetic in “The Girl With a Pearl Earring” (2003). He lost the awards to “Titanic” and “Master and Commander,” respectively; I’d have given him the win on both occasions.

Somewhat shockingly, Serra has never been nominated by the ASC. (Seriously, how did they pass on “Earring?”) So they kind of owe him one.   

The ASC’s third honorary award recipient, Richard Rawlings, Jr., is being recognized for his small-screen work, on such series of “Desperate Housewives,” “L.A. Law,” “Chicago Hope” and “Gilmore Girls.” A four-time Emmy nominee, he received a 1989 ASC win for the series “Paradise.”

Mark Harris notes, as many have before him, that the Academy’s Best Screenplay categorizations are a bit confusing. Why should films like “Before Midnight” and “Toy Story 3” compete as adaptations when they’re not adapted from anything, simply because they use pre-existing characters? And on the original side of things, are factual or biographical screenplays really that comparable to fiction crafted entirely from the writer’s imagination? Harris argues that the only solution is to divide the writing Oscars into three categories: Best Original Screenplay, Best Screenplay Based On Factual Material and Best Adaptation. Even then, though, a part-factual, part-fabricated film like “The Butler” could blur the lines. What do you think? [Grantland]

Tim Gray considers the mixed response to “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” and deems its awards outlook unclear. [Variety]

The director of Canadian Oscar submission — and estimable contender — “Gabrielle” discusses the rewards and challenges of working with mentally disabled actors. [The Wrap]

Alfonso Cuaron regrets making “Great Expectations.” He shouldn’t, because it’s wonderful. [Atlantic Wire]

That’s a tidbit, by the way, from this Hollywood Reporter, directors’ roundtable, which also includes Steve McQueen, Paul Greengrass, Ben Stiller, Lee Daniels and David O. Russell. [THR]

Scott Tobias proposes a mini-festival of the eight films — several of them excellent — that have received a Cinemascore rating of F. [The Dissolve]

Composer and sound designer Mike Zarin wants it known that it was he, not Hans Zimmer, who created the “Inception” “BRAAAAM.” [The Playlist]

Oprah Winfrey talks about being asked to play a serial killer for Lee Daniels, and Daniels on his chances of winning an Oscar. Also, he gets genuinely flummoxed by a good question. [The Guardian]

Kyle Buchanan on how Oscar Isaac can get that Best Actor nomination: he might have to sing for his supper. [Vulture]

There are a handful of filmmakers looking for rare air this year. If “American Hustle,” “Inside Llewyn Davis” and “Nebraska” end up with Oscar nominations for Best Picture in January, then that means David O. Russell, the Coen brothers and Alexander Payne will enter the exclusive company of 11 other filmmakers who have directed three Best Picture nominees in a row. And next year, Bennett Miller will be looking to do the same with “Foxcatcher,” which was recently rescheduled for a 2014 release.

Of course, stats like these are rather pointless given the nature of the category, which has moved back and forth from 10 to five nominees over the years. Certainly any number of filmmakers who have worked through the five-nominee paradigm might be on the list if some of their years allowed for 10. But with that having been said, just how rare is it for someone to direct three Best Picture nominees in a row? Well, not even directors as prolific as Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood have accomplished the feat (though Eastwood came mighty close — if only “Letters from Iwo Jima” had come before “Flags of Our Fathers”).

Who are the filmmakers in this unique little pantheon? Click through the gallery story below to find out. (And hopefully we didn’t miss any!)

In terms of media coverage, the AFI Fest in Los Angeles is generally portrayed as yet another launchpad for big-name Oscar contenders in this crowded season — headlines were dominated by the US premiere of “Saving Mr. Banks,” the surprise package of “Lone Survivor” and so on. All that Hollywood-focused talk, however, tends to obscure what a fine selection of world and art house cinema the festival also showcases — and it’s this lower-profile part of the programme that comes to the fore when it’s time for the jury and audience awards to be handed out.

Often, the AFI winners are under-the-radar films that have escaped my notice elsewhere on the festival circuit. This year, however, I can heartily endorse at least a couple of the selections, beginning with the Audience Award in the New Auteurs section for Clio Barnard’s “The Selfish Giant,” one of the year’s standout British films — and a very strong candidate for my own year-end Top 10. (I reviewed it for Variety back at Cannes.)

It’s been a good week for this starkly powerful coming-of-age tale, which has launched Barnard (who debuted two years ago with the much-lauded hybrid doc “The Arbor”) into the ranks of Andrea Arnold and Shane Meadows: on Monday, the film received seven nominations for the British Independent Film Awards, and is widely tipped to win top honors there. Clearly, American viewers are feeling it too.

That wasn’t the only award taken by the “The Selfish Giant”: Barnard also won a special award for direction from the critics’ jury. But the jury’s top prize in the same section — the New Auteurs Critics’ Award — went to German drama “Nothing Bad Can Happen,” the story of a fervently Christian teenager whose principles are tested when he’s taken in by an abusive adoptive family. I have yet to see the film, which drew a divided response when it premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes earlier this year.

The jury also gave another special award — this one for Personal Storytelling — to “In Bloom,” Georgia’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. I’ve heard terrific things about this study of two teenage girls facing both the usual adolescent crises and more violent tensions in the immediate aftermath of the USSR’s disintegration; it’s already taken awards at a host of international festivals, including Berlin, Hong Kong, Montreal and Sarajevo.

“In Bloom” wasn’t the only foreign Oscar hopeful to take a prize. Returning the the public’s choices, Australia’s entry “The Rocket” won the Audience Award in the World Cinema section — beating such notable selection as “Child’s Pose,” “Borgman,” “Gloria,” “The Great Beauty,” “Like Father, Like Son,” “The Lunchbox” and “The Wind Rises.” I’m not surprised to see “The Rocket” beat such stiff competition, however: as I wrote in my review from the London Film Festival, this sentimental but effective tale of a resourceful young Laotian boy taking charge of his displaced family is a natural crowdpleaser. It won the Best First Film award at Berlin, and took both the jury and audience awards at Tribeca; an Oscar nomination would not surprise me at all.

Meanwhile, I’m pleased to see the Audience Award in the Breakthrough strand go to Nigerian director Chika Anadu’s quietly powerful debut “B for Boy”; their choice in the American Independents section was Texas-set thriller “We Gotta Get Out of This Place.” Winning shorts included French-Tibetan live-action effort “Butter Lamp” (a nominee at the European Film Awards) and American animation “The Places Where We Lived” — their AFI wins now qualify them for Oscar consideration.

The full list of winners:

New Auteurs Critics’ Award: Katrin Gebbe, “Nothing Bad Can Happen” 
New Auteurs Special Award for Direction: Clio Barnard, “The Selfish Giant”
New Auteurs Special Award for Personal Storytelling: Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross, “In Bloom”

Audience Award (World Cinema): Kim Mordaunt, “The Rocket”
Audience Award (New Auteurs): Clio Barnard, “The Selfish Giant”
Audience Award (American Independents): Zeke and Simon Hawkins, “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”
Audience Award (Breakthrough): Chika Anadu, “B for Boy”

Grand Jury Award (Live Action Shorts): Hu Wei, “Butter Lamp”
Grand Jury Award (Animated Shorts): Bernardo Britto, “The Places Where We Lived”
Special Jury Award: Lendita Zeqiraj, “Balcony”
Special Jury Award for Direction: Patrik Eklund, “Syndromeda”
Special Jury Mention for Best Datamosh: Yung Jake, “Datamosh”

If you were an Academy or guild member Wednesday night, you may have had a tough time determining your social schedule. There were at least four major events you could have attended tied to this year’s awards season. Yes, the circuit is in full effect and it’s just the second week of November.

In Hollywood, AFI Fest held a screening of “Her” with a Q&A featuring director Spike Jonze and hosted the Los Angeles premiere of Ben Stiller’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” The latter found Stiller joined by co-stars Kristen Wiig, Sean Penn, Adam Scott and Kathryn Hahn, among other notable guests. “Mitty” is clearly not the awards season player Fox or many in the media hoped it might be, but it’s not for lack of trying.

Across town, Beverly Hills featured a special screening of “Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom” at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The premiere was only a few days ago, but this awards season-focused event featured special guests Sidney Poitier and Zindzi Mandela, daughter of both Nelson and Winnie.

Most impressive, however, was the special “Inside Llewyn Davis” private concert in Santa Monica. HitFix’s Kris Tapley has nicely recapped the night. Any competing consultant thinking “Davis” isn’t in line for a Best Picture nomination might change their minds after counting the over 200 Academy members in attendance. And hey, it’s not every day Barbra Streisand shows up at one of these shindigs, y’know?

It’s been a whirlwind few weeks with every night featuring one event after another and a multitude of nominating committees all over town. On Saturday, things will get more intriguing at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Ball. The evening’s most famous honoree is Angelina Jolie, but every studio with a contender is trying to make sure their top talent has a good seat to mingle with all those voters. Ironically, there may be more big stars at the Governors Awards than the Oscars this May.

Obviously, this is nothing new. The Academy’s recent rule change allowing for more AMPAS Q&As has made things a tad busier, but with so many films still in the mix it’s added a heightened sense of urgency to the season. And judging by this week’s almost all over the place Gurus of Gold results*, it’s clear a lot is at stake if you’re not “Gravity,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Captain Phillips” or “Saving Mr. Banks.” If there are going to be 10 nominees (and my gut still says nine), there is a lot at stake financially in locking down those other six slots

*Note: I did not intend to vote for “Before Midnight” in my Gurus selections. That is supposed to be “Blue Jasmine,” as noted below.

With all that in mind, take a look over this week’s Best Picture players.

Nov. 14, 2013

1. “Gravity”
It’s a marathon. You’ll see.

2. “12 Years A Slave”
Box office so far should make Searchlight, McQueen and financiers very happy.

3. “Captain Phillips”
Always knew it would be a hit, but $100 million US? That’s amazing.

4. “Saving Mr. Banks”
Feel-good player, but won’t win.

5. “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”
Y’all know there are a lot of Academy members in this one who have a ton of Academy friends, right?

6. “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Never doubt the appeal of the Coens and the power of producer Scott Rudin during the season.

7. “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Scorsese is a power player. Heard the five hour cut was ridiculously good. Can an under three-hour version be just as compelling?

8. “Nebraska”
Not sure they thought it was a player before Cannes, but Paramount has run this campaign beautifully since then. Now? Needs box office.

9. “Blue Jasmine”
Is it the movie or Blanchett’s performance that Oscar will love? Sony Classics still believes it’s both.

10. “Dallas Buyers Club”
It’s a classy, indie tearjerker. Focus still believes (as they should).

What do you think about the current state of the Best Picture race? Share your thoughts below.

In recent years, the awards media has caught on to the relationship between the categories of Best Film Editing and Best Picture. Even films like “Argo” and “Crash,” which did not win the Best Director Oscar, picked up the trophy for Best Film Editing. Every year, the vast majority of nominees in this category (sometimes even five out of five) are also cited in the top category.

The didn’t used to be the case. Long gone, it seems, are the days when films like “Speed” or “Se7en” or “Air Force One” could consistently make an appearance, though we do get a “Blood Diamond” or “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” surprise every now and then these days. With that in mind, it tends to be a fairly predictable “type of film” that manages to score here in the absence of a Best Picture nomination. Most obviously, films that have a significant amount of action and suspense tend to do quite well. “The Bourne Ultimatum” and the aforementioned “Dragon Tattoo” are two of only three films to win this category in the past eight years without winning Best Picture – and they were not even nominated for Best Picture. Musicals and films with atypical narrative styles (“Memento,” “United 93,” “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”) also tend to do well.

So who should we expect to see in the running this year?

I think it”s fair to say that “Gravity” is way out ahead here. Alfonso Cuarón already joined the likes of fellow directors David Lean, the Coen brothers and James Cameron with his nomination in this category for “Children of Men.” With the suspenseful “Gravity,” which is likely to be a leading contender in the Best Picture race, he could well join Cameron in the exclusive club of filmmakers who won an Oscar for editing their own film. Mark Sanger, Cuarón”s co-editor, would be a first-time nominee.

Christopher Rouse”s win in this category for “The Bourne Ultimatum” proved that the Academy clearly appreciated the visceral feel he creates on Paul Greengrass films. In my opinion, he should have won when nominated the year prior for Greengrass”s “United 93.” This year, he is once again collaborating with the director, on “Captain Phillips.” The duo”s skill in working together is key to the success of their films and I would be surprised if Rouse does not find himself among the final five, especially as this film is likely to score more nominations than “United 93” or “The Bourne Ultimatum.”

Joe Walker”s cutting of Steve McQueen”s “12 Years a Slave” may not have been as energized as that of Rouse on “Captain Phillips,” but I fully expect this film to score nominations across the board on the way to a possible Best Picture victory. His work in the film carries the momentum of Solomon Northup’s nightmarish story forward but is just as patient when it needs to be.

Daniel P. Hanley and Mike Hill have worked with Ron Howard since 1982″s “Night Shift.” Their fellow editors clearly like their work, nominating them for “A Beautiful Mind,” “Cinderella Man” and “Frost/Nixon.” They also won for “Apollo 13.” The “Cinderella Man” nomination was particularly surprising considering it came without a guild nod and for a film that earned only two other Oscar nominations. Boxing and space movies naturally seem this branch”s cup of tea and car racing is exactly the same. So I think they have a fantastic chance of being recognized for “Rush.” True, the film did not light up the box office the way the filmmakers and financiers were hoping, but it had very respectable reviews and overall reception.

Crispin Struthers managed to be this category”s sole first-time nominee last year with his bid shared with Jay Cassidy (also previously nominated for “Into the Wild”) for “Silver Linings Playbook.” The nod was somewhat surprising, indicating the pair are clearly respected by their peers. They are once again working with David O. Russell this year on “American Hustle.” One of few truly unknown commodities in this race, it could catch on big and, if it does, watch out for it here.

If we”re merely talking about Best Picture contenders, Mark Livolski will have to be considered for John Lee Hancock”s “Saving Mr. Banks.” An homage to Old Hollywood while simultaneously shifting between 1960s Los Angeles and early-20th Century Australia, I expect several nominations for this film. I’m not sure this is the most likely place, though; the work may prove too subtle. But if it becomes a nominations sweeper…

I feel oddly confident that “Lee Daniels” The Butler” will find itself among the Best Picture nominees. This is not to say I”m confident about how many nominations it will receive overall. However, Joe Klotz”s editing did take us through many decades. His fellow editors, who nominated him for “Precious,” may find that a feat worth recognizing.

For more than 90 minutes, the crafts artists on “All is Lost” have to keep an audience engaged. And film editor Pete Boudreau’s work as part of that team can’t go understated. I am not convinced the film is headed for an across-the-board sweep, but in the event that I am proven wrong, the editing would have to be considered a serious contender.

Denis Villeneuve”s “Prisoners” kept audiences engaged in a tough-to-watch suspenseful tale. Such a respected thriler could well score here. Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach are long-time collaborators of Clint Eastwood. Cox won this category for “Unforgiven” and was nominated for “Million Dollar Baby.” Roach is waiting for his first nomination. This could be a sleeper.

Adding action to suspense is Peter Berg”s “Lone Survivor.” I”m not convinced this will light the circuit on fire, but it does, however, have a prestigious story, a ton of (sustained) action and a prime end-of-year release. So I wouldn”t cross Colby Parker, Jr. off your list yet.

“Roderick Jaynes” is one of very few people who have earned multiple Oscar nominations despite…not existing. Under this pseudonym, Joel and Ethan Coen have managed to land nominations for both “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men.” “Inside Llewyn Davis” may be on its way to being one of the year”s most critically acclaimed films. Whether it becomes as big with the public and the Academy is another matter. It is, however, a musical (of sorts), so that cannot hurt its chances here. There was also a lot of difficulty here, cutting to the live performances rather than using audio dubs for the songs.

Finally, Michael Kahn earned his eighth career nomination last year (for “Lincoln”), breaking his tie with the great Thelma Schoonmaker for most nominated working film editor. This year, Schoonmaker has a chance to level the record with “The Wolf of Wall Street.” It remains to be seen how Martin Scorsese”s tale, which will approach three hours in length, will be received. But if it finds itself a player in the Best Picture race, it would be surprising indeed if his editor of choice did not earn another Oscar nomination.

So there are the top dozen contenders as I see them. Who do you see making the cut? And do you think I missed a genuine contender?

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4912017348001

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – After premiering at Cannes and bringing the film (and a jam session) to Telluride, not to mention a big concert event in New York ahead of a NYFF bow, it was time to bring the “Inside Llewyn Davis” party to Los Angeles Wednesday night as CBS Films, producer Scott Rudin and music maestro T Bone Burnett turned out quite the crowd at The Buffalo Club in Santa Monica. A number of talented young acts hit the stage to offer up a pair of folk music sets for the largely industry crowd, and they even had a celebrity surprise up their sleeve.

The evening was billed “A Special Musical Evening Honoring T Bone Burnett and Joel and Ethan Coen.” Barbra Streisand and James Brolin watched in admiration just off stage. Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen mingled with Joel and Ethan Coen. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ed Helms, Patricia Arquette, Moby, Marisa Tomei, Stephen Gaghan, Thora Birch and Josh Gad were sighted as well.

RELATED: Oscar Isaac and the Punch Brothers perform ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ music at Telluride

The aforementioned surprise came when Steve Martin, who is set to receive an Honorary Oscar at the Academy’s Governors Awards Sunday night, hit the stage with his trusty banjo in hand for a performance alongside Punch Brothers. “I’m so honored to be receiving this award tonight,” the comedian quipped., Indeed, it feels like a prize is being dished out every other day this time of year. Other acts included Willie Watson, The Milk Carton Kids, Sean and Sara Watkins and the amazing Rhiannon Giddens. (Check out the set list on the next page for a full account of the evening).

The event included two packed sets, the first of which kicked off with a Punch Brothers rendition of “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” (which should sound familiar to fans of the Coens’ 1998 comedy “The Big Lebowski”). Both sets closed with “Davis” star Oscar Isaac at the mic for two separate renditions of “Fare Thee Well (Dink’s Song),” which is featured prominently in the film.

[You can watch video of the first rendition embedded at top of this post, as well as Punch Brothers’ take on “The Auld Triangle,” also featured in the film, in the related content to the right.]

It was a big success for Burnett, who was having a blast and was even signing acts to his new Electromagnetic Recordings record label in between sets. It was also significant that Rudin, who often stays away from his own movie premieres, stayed the entire night. He was grinning from ear to ear in the crowd with the big awards season successes of “Captain Phillips” and, indeed, “Inside Llewyn Davis” to show for himself this year.

And the crowd naturally ate it all up with a spoon as this is just the kind of event (soundtrack CDs were handed out upon departure) that can have a pretty decent impact on the race in the wake of AMPAS’ loosening of its phase one campaign rules in recent years. “I’m in the Academy so I think they want me to vote for the movie,” one writers branch member could be heard saying. Bingo!

Check out the full set list from last night on the next page and click through the gallery below for a glimpse at the various acts who performed.

The Los Angeles premiere of “Inside Llewyn Davis” wraps up AFI Fest tonight as the Closing Night Gala. It opens in limited release on Dec. 6.

“A Special Musical Evening Honoring T Bone Burnett and Joel and Ethan Coen”
The Buffalo Club
Santa Monica, CA
Nov. 13, 2013

SET 1

T Bone Burnett
Welcome

Punch Brothers
“Tumbling Tumbleweeds”
“Rye Whiskey”

Willie Watson
“On the Road Again” (with Punch Brothers)
“Hills of Mexico”

Sean and Sara Watkins (with Paul Kowert on bass)
“You’re the One I Love”
“You and Me”

Chris Thile, Sara Watkins, and Sean Watkins
“Scotch and Chocolate”
“Tomorrow Is A Long Time”

The Milk Carton Kids
“Hope of A Lifetime”
“Snake Eyes”

Rhiannon Giddens (with Hubby Jenkins on Guitar, Paul Kowert on bass and Jay Bellerose on drums)
“Waterboy”
“Mouth Music” (with above plus Chris Thile on Mandolin, Chris Eldridge on guitar, Gabe Witcher on fiddle and Hubby Jenkins on bones)

Punch Brothers
“The Auld Triangle”
“The Crow” (featuring Steve Martin)

Oscar Isaac
“Green Green Rocky Road”
“Fare Thee Well (Dink’s Song)” (with Punch Brothers)

SET 2

Chris Thile, Sara Watkins, and Sean Watkins
“Cuckoo”
“23rd of May”

The Milk Carton Kids
“New York”
“Michigan”

Oscar Isaac and Punch Brothers
“Hang Me, Oh Hang Me”
“Oscar Isaac and The Milk Carton Kids”
“Switchable City”

Rhiannon Giddens with Hubby Jenkins, Gabe Witcher and Paul Kowert
“No Man’s Mama”

Rhiannon Giddens & Lalenjah Harrington
(gospel song – title unknown)

Willie Watson
“Keep It Clean”

Punch Brothers
“Brakeman’s Blues”
“The Darkest Hour” (with Sean and Sara Watkins)
“Hop High” (with Sean and Sara Watkins)

Willie & Ensemble
“Midnight Special”

ENCORE

Oscar Isaac
“Fare Thee Well (Dink’s Song)” (solo)
“You Ain’t Going Nowhere” (with full ensemble)

HOLLYWOOD – Unfortunately for Spike Jonze, the pivotal role of “Samantha” in his new sci-fi tinged romantic drama “Her” had to be recast after the film was already in the can. Luckily for Spike Jonze, “Samantha” is actually a computer operating system – i.e. she’s never actually seen on-screen.

“When we shot, we initially had cast Samantha Morton [in the role],” Jonze said at a Q&A following Wednesday night’s AFI Fest screening of the film. “So Samantha was really involved in giving Joaquin [Phoenix] a lot…to work from. And then when we got into editing, we realized that what Samantha and I had done together wasn’t working for what the character needed, and so we ended up having to recast at that point in time.”

Stepping in for Morton during the post-production process was Scarlett Johansson, who was initially daunted by the challenge of creating a character that begins the film as a neurosis-free computer-generated voice — initiated to be a companion for Phoenix’s lonely soon-to-be-divorcee Theodore Twombly — who gradually comes to feel the weight of real human emotions.

“When [Scarlett and I] first started working on it together — I was in New York and she came over and we read a bunch of the scenes — one of the things I was saying to her was that when Samantha’s created, she doesn’t have any fears or doubts or insecurities or baggage,” Jonze said. “Like we are…we learn those, we learn self-doubts and we learn those things. And I think it was at that point she was like, ‘Oh, OK, this is gonna be hard. This is gonna be harder than I thought it was gonna be.'”

“Her” may sound like something of a downer on paper, but the film succeeds partially on the strength of its lighter moments, including the incorporation of a hilariously foul-mouthed video-game character dubbed the “alien child” (designed by Irish animator David O’Reilly) that becomes a recurring presence in the film.

“That’s actually Spike’s voice,” said producer Megan Ellison after being dragged onto the stage by her director during the Q&A (the credits list the voice actor behind the character as Adam Spiegel, Jonze’s birth name).

“I would love to make video games,” said Jonze after being asked whether he harbored any future ambitions in the gaming industry. “So that was a way of getting to be a fantasy video game maker. The alien child was really fun to write.”

In addition to the film’s voiceover performances, “Her” also benefits aurally from a score by Grammy-winning Canadian rock band Arcade Fire, fronted by lead vocalist and songwriter Win Butler.

“The [band] was working on [their latest album ‘Reflektor’] as they were working on this,” said Jonze of collaborating with the group on the film’s soundtrack. “Win and I started talking about the score about two years ago, and then it kinda seemed like the record sort of informed the soundtrack and the soundtrack informed the record a little bit, and there’s like a song on [‘Reflektor’] — the last one, “Supersymmetry” — that he wrote for the movie, but then it sort of became something else. It’s actually the last song in the end credits.”

True to the film’s mixture of near-future sci-fi (the Los Angeles depicted here feels like a natural extension of the technology-crazed present we inhabit now, sometimes nauseatingly so) with very real human emotions, the score’s pulsating rhythms feel like the creation of some artificial intelligence just now evolving into a more sentient, feeling being, i.e., one not unlike Samantha herself.

“What Win and I started talking about in the beginning was just that we wanted the soundtrack to have this electricity to it, a current to it,” Jonze said, “but not to be electronic and not to…use synthesizers at all. For it not to feel synthetic, but to feel like hand-made, but still have an electricity to it, and also just to sort of play this sort of romance and love story and longing of Theodore.”

“Her” hits limited theaters on December 18 and moves into wider release in January.

The best vaguely Oscar-related feature online today is Variety’s “Directors on Directors” gallery, in which notable filmmakers comment on other directors’ work that most stood out to them this year. Obviously, it’s one big back-patting session, but it’s the occasionally surprising combinations that make it interesting. It’s not hard to see why Peter Bogdanovich would be so keen on Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska,” or Michael Mann on “Captain Phillips,” but I wouldn’t necessarily have expected Ben Affleck to single out Nicole Holofcener’s “Enough Said.” “Her direction is void of spectacle, distraction or maudlin sentiment,” he says. “She directs with the humanist, realist sensibility of Renoir.” Also cool: Ryan Fleck on Derek Cianfrance’s “The Place Beyond the Pines,” and plenty more. [Variety]

More director-on-director love: at the Rome Film Festival, Wes Anderson gushes over “Gravity” and says he would make a 3D film. [Screen Daily]

The New York Film Critics’ Circle has set their voting date for Tuesday, December 3. [Deadline]

Tim Grierson on how Alexander Payne has cornered the market in male weepies. [Deadspin]

“The Butler” is a fictionalized take on a true story, but just how much so? Very, says historian Alex von Tunzelmann. [The Guardian]

Matthew McConaughey explains how he turned his career around. (I don’t think I’m ready for “McConaissance” to become a word. [LA Times]

Steven Hyden on the “Inside Llewyn Davis” soundtrack, and why it’s a tall order to match that of “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” [Grantland]

Teenagers across America are rejoicing, for they can now see “Philomena” unaccompanied. [HitFix]

A strangely defeatist take by Robert Koehler on why festivals are overly concerned with world premieres. So, only six film festivals get good premieres? (And Venice isn’t one of them?) [Indiewire]

Good piece by Scott Foundas on the potential impact of rules changes in the foreign-language Oscar race, and the puzzling possibility of “Blue is the Warmest Color” entering next year. [Variety]

I’m pretty sure it wasn’t his intention, but in coining that catchy little aphorism, Cassis effectively described the quandary that the average Academy voter faces every year: the warring impulses to vote for the nice film versus the important one, and the holy grail of the Oscar-bait film that combines both qualities.

In most years, at least one key race comes down to some version of this essential choice. The Weinsteins cleverly spun it in their 2010 campaign for “The King’s Speech,” their ads for the gentle triumph-over-adversity drama baldly stating that while some movies make you think (none-too-subtly alluding to David Fincher’s chilly contemporary culture snapshot “The Social Network”), “this one makes you feel.” It was a strategy that had the (one presumes inadvertent) effect of making the royalty biopic seem a little simple by comparison, but the underlying message was clear enough: socially significant movies are well and good, but what’s the use if they don’t make you feel good? To the consternation of many a film critic, the Academy agreed.

Cynical awards-watchers will use the “King’s Speech” example – or indeed, many others, from the oft-derided “Driving Miss Daisy” victory to Jennifer Lawrence’s Best Actress triumph over Emmanuelle Riva this year – to argue that, at the Oscars, soft always trumps hard, upbeat is always preferable to down, that niceness always comes before importance. But that wouldn’t be true. You could hardly ask for a more nihilistic Best Picture winner than “The Silence of the Lambs,” or “No Country for Old Men”: the “importance” of both these bleak, seamy thrillers may be in the eye of the beholder, but the last thing you’d call either film is “nice.”

Just as often, meanwhile, Academy voters prize apparent “importance” above all other qualities, which largely explains their enduring biopic fascination – that’s how a “Gandhi” beats an “E.T.,” or how “A Beautiful Mind” beats “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” Real-life figures doing noble deeds over fantastical ones performing movie magic? No-brainer, right? Works for actors, too: faced with two good actors giving good performances, one as a lofty historical figure and one as a fictional Joe Bloggs, voters will all too often side with the former. (Sure, other factors come into play, but the weight of capital-I Importance surely helped Sean Penn’s Harvey Milk versus Mickey Rourke’s good-for-nothing wrestler, or Meryl Streep’s Margaret Thatcher versus Viola Davis’ modest servant.)

The Academy’s ideal compromise, of course, is to find a film that is a likeable as it is laudable. While its campaign stressed its emotional appeal, “The King’s Speech” also won because it was about powerful people in high places, with a worthy disability angle to boot. “Argo” hit the jackpot because it tackled tricky Middle Eastern politics, but in the guise of an uplifting genre romp with an underdog hero and a helping hand from Hollywood. Indeed, for two years in a row, we’ve seen the Academy give their top prize to a film that, to some degree, celebrates their own industry: by providing mass entertainment to the world, industry folk get to see themselves as both powerful and benevolent. Sometimes it’s nicest of all to be self-important.

Does such a compromise exist for Academy members this year? The “important” option is pretty clear-cut, as it has been since Toronto: Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” is a formidable document on historical iniquities that can and should never be forgotten, but also vital, vivid cinema that is neither dusty nor hectoring in its rhetoric. (Surely even some Academy types must find “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” squarely dated by comparison.) But concerns have already been raised in the Oscar-focused media about its niceness, or lack thereof: even with its redemptive story arc, is it too violent, too confrontational, too comfort-free for some voters? I’m not sure how much of this talk is actually originating from Academy voters, and how much of it is fabricated simply by jaded pundits who expect little of them; my hunch, for now, is that McQueen’s film may prove too substantial to ignore.

If the Best Picture race comes down to “12 Years a Slave” and “Gravity,” as many currently expect it will, it’d be forcing the narrative a bit to cast Alfonso Cuaron’s space spectacular as the “nice” half of the equation. “Gravity” may be more overtly entertaining than the slavery drama, but it’s still a profoundly unnerving film: distressing in the short term, disquieting in the long term, its condensed, claustrophobic survival tale is as physically and psychologically taxing in its own way as “Slave,” even if its payoff is more exhilarating.

I’ve been frustrated by colleagues who like to dismiss Cuaron’s film as little more than a flashy, all-systems-go entertainment – “Movie: The Ride” as Sam Adams somewhat snidely described it – with nothing on its mind, mainly because I was so deeply moved by its human drive and spiritual questioning, on-the-nose as it sometimes is. No two people see quite the same movie that everyone watches, but I thought “Gravity” was about some very big things indeed, even they’re so vast and eternal as to seem vague or vaporous; if it’s deemed less “important” than Steve McQueen’s supposed frontrunner, that’s because its human trials are less specific to a time and place.

Is it left to “Saving Mr. Banks” to play Mr. Nice Guy, then? The theory keeps being floated that it’s the upbeat, agreeable insider film that could come up through the middle, and seem (if only for a brief, well-timed while) more appealing to voters than the tougher tests of the more-hyped frontrunners. It’s about Hollywood, after all. And almost everyone who’s alive inside loves “Mary Poppins” – and Emma Thompson, for that matter. The film is certainly bright, and the campaign is sure to play up its themes of creative compromise and self-identification via art to beef up its importance quotient.

Still, I wonder if its essential arc – grumpy writer learns to become slightly less grumpy, and only under corporate duress – will be quite comforting or cathartic enough even for easily-swayed voters. (One might argue that even the performer’s insecurity tapped into by “The Artist” was a more resonant theme.) It’s one contender that won’t have to work too hard to play up its niceness over the next few months, but like all its rivals, heavy and light, it’ll practise the earnestness of being important. To quote another cute-kitten poster from the classrooms of my youth: Hang in there, everyone.

Check out my updated predictions here.

For the past month, “Captain Phillips” has riveted filmgoers and critics with its uber-realistic take on piracy and hostage-taking. One might expect a film with such a harrowing story and epic scope would have a similarly dramatic score. But the work of composer Henry Jackman, though extremely complementary to what was seen on screen, ended up being far from the theme-heavy bombastic music that is frequently on display in such epics.

Jackman found his principal challenge was making the music objective but also interesting from a story-telling perspective. “In a movie like ‘Captain Phillips” there is musical constraint, having a profound respect for what it is that”s on screen,” he says.

This, of course, was largely due to the involvement of director Paul Greengrass. “He”s a journalist and if you think about the background of directors in general, you get guys coming from editing or effects or TV,” Jackman says. “Paul”s avid interest in global politics and his background as a journalist affects his work…he is therefore enormously scrupulous.”

Greengrass wanted to approach the story both objectively and skeptically. The director is “very wary of some of the devices of traditional scoring that you would expect to find in a classic, narrative blockbuster,” Jackman says. “Information-based music with heroic themes or music telling you that ‘this is a bad guy” is an absolute no-go for Paul. It would be very easy for ‘Captain Phillips” to feel like ‘American in distress” and Somalis as ‘clear bad guys.” There is a little bit of that, and if you want to read it as a patriotic saving of an American in distress, you”ve got that. But the music shouldn”t tell you that.”

How did this affect his approach to the film as a whole? According to Jackman, he ended up developing a musical style which very deliberately is not lyrical or melodic or theme-driven. “It took a while to get there,” he says. “I write a lot of different music and if you do an animated score, you need to do that and here we needed to put all of that to one side and with the smallest amount of musical information.”

Citing an example, Jackman speaks about when the USS Bainbridge shows up for the first time. “You think, ‘Thank God…something”s happening!”” Greengrass, however, was enormously concerned that that critical part of the film did not get affected by a “heroic” theme. “To him, the navy showing up was an inevitable part of story,” Jackman says. “His unique way of filmmaking informed the score. In a funny way, I had to take a backseat to the acting…You mustn”t overstate yourself in a way that you”d be expected to in a film like ‘Harry Potter.'”

Jackman found this approach to filmmaking to be uniquely challenging, but goes out of his way to say that Greengrass would never be dictatorial. The director would invite invite his composer to be as skeptical as possible. Jackman accepts this was to a large extent a necessary process because the film is an unbearably tense thriller, with one long arc from when pirates breach the Alabama until the climax.

But nevertheless, it was particularly tempting for Jackman to foreshadow what was to come when the Alabama first set sail. “We all know everything isn”t going to be cool,” he says. “This is the only time when everything is under control. The first version I wrote I thought was pretty neutral but it still had some element of ‘this is a big movie – it”s not a TV show.” Paul said ‘it just feels a little unobjective…I feel I”m being told a bit too much.” He just picked up on it.”

Jackman saw the realism that Greengrass had attempted to create in the finished product. Like virtually everyone else, he praises the film”s finale. “In a less realistic movie, the sense of ‘being rescued” would be more simplistic, with relief, and a ‘yay” feeling. This was unbelievably realistic. When the concept of the film is that credible and performance that strong, it”s appropriate for music not to take such a large scale.”

This is not to say the music was not tremendously important. “There”s story-telling in there but you have to find more subtle ways,” Jackman explains. “You work harder with individual sounds and textures where you can find sound that uniquely feels dark or tense. There isn”t as many expected elements as you”d find in a more traditional score. You spend longer in production.”

How did this work in practice? “We could spend ages morphing sounds and treating them,” Jackman says. “We made sounds from a cello that are the last thing you”d expect from a cello – gnarly, squirrelly, unsettling sounds.”

He also avoided a favorite of many composers – “ethnic music.” Nothing would offend Greengrass more than the use of ethnic Somali music in the film, Jackman says. “Captain Phillips and Muse are both captains,” he continues. “Muse is not a ‘devilish” character. These are two captains and if Phillips had been born in Somalia and Muse in America, it would just be the other way around. It was important not to smother Somalis in ethnic music.”

In the result, Jackman thinks he “gained an appreciation of the nth degree of minimalism. It was much more about tone and texture and color and delivering feelings of uncomfortableness. When Paul objected and said ‘it has too much information in it”, I”d find another level of deconstruction. I was fascinated by his concept of skepticism.”

As for his role in the film coming together, Jackman notes he would never have the “temerity” to suggest to Greengrass what to put on the screen. Though he didn”t see a cut until relatively late in the game, that didn”t affect his approach. “Even if I had known about it years before, I don”t think it would be appropriate,” he says. “I would even argue it was kind of a luxury because when I saw the film, it probably represented 90 percent of what they wanted to achieve. That”s a bonus from ‘it”s a first cut”…already a spectacular realization of what they wanted to do.” (“They” in this context represents Greengrass and film editor Chris Rouse, whose collaboration Jackman describes as “an awesome duo of intellectual and professional capability.”)

All of this light having been shed, to Jackman, the music is absolutely not a secondary element. “But it has a uniquely disciplined role to not affect what”s going to go on where you”re asked to write a theme first,” he says. “I found it extremely inspiring upon the first viewing.”

The Oscar race may be a little under four months away, but the campaign circuit is already in full swing in Hollywood, where any number of industry screenings, Q&A’s, parties, dinners and other glad-handing events are vying for the time and attention of voters. Glenn Whipp considers today’s packed diary, with competing events for “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Her,” “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” and “Inside Llewyn Davis,” and wonders if things have already gone too far. “It’s out of control,” one academy member said of the barrage of events. Says one Academy member, “It’s out of control …people are already burned out. I’m just going to put on my pajamas and wait for the screeners to start arriving.” The heart bleeds, doesn’t it? [LA Times] 

Peter Berg’s “Lone Survivor” landed at AFI Fest last night, and Tim Gray is one of many declaring it one to watch in the Oscar race. [Variety]

“Nebraska” screenwriter Bob Nelson on the nine-year wait for Alexander Payne to make his movie. [Film.com] 

Joe Reid and Richard Lawson go back and forth on the leading acting races, and wonder if anyone can beat Cate Blanchett. [Atlantic Wire]

Reid, solo this time, marks the 20th anniversary of Holly Hunter’s Oscar-winning turn in “The Piano,” and wonders how she fell victim to the post-win curse. [Atlantic Wire]

Judi Dench’s “M” enlists Steve Coogan in the next phase of the “Philomena” R-rating battle. [Riot]

Is Disney looking at an all-time global box office record this year? [Screen Daily]

Sasha Stone puts this year’s Oscar crop to the useful-if-not-infallible Bechdel Test. [Awards Daily]

An old piece, this, but an informative for those confused over who did what in a technical capacity on “Gravity.” [ICG]

Ryland Walker Knight makes the most detailed statement yet in the critical rehabilitation of “The Lone Ranger.” [Mubi]

Last week the Academy announced its list of 19 films submitted for consideration in this year’s Best Animated Feature Film Oscar race. Not all 19 are immediately eligible as there are other criteria they have to pass first, but even if two or three are knocked from the list (and only one really looks to be nixed), there will be at least 16 contenders, meaning the Academy’s animation branch has the option of nominating up to five films.

But even then, that’s just a ceiling, not a requirement. And in a year as seemingly weak as this for the category, it’s entirely possible not enough movies hit high enough marks in the scoring process to even get it to five. Nevertheless, with the list out, it seemed the perfect opportunity for us to wrap up our weekly contender galleries feature. So have a look below to see what we’re thinking and feel free to comment on this year’s Best Animated Feature Film race in the comments section. Also, if you haven’t already, sign up for HitFix Oscar Picks and make your own predictions.

By now we imagine you’re well aware of the upcoming revival screening of “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” set for the Museum of the Moving Image in New York. The event sold out in 24 hours but we have an opportunity for New York-area readers to win a pair of tickets to the screening and Q&A as well as an official one-sheet for the film.

It’s pretty simple to enter. Doing any one of the following actions will gain you an entry into the contest, but you can do all four actions to receive further entries and, therefore, better odds of winning!

1) Like the Jesse James Revival Facebook page and comment on the official contest post with the name of the guest you would bring.

2) Follow @JesseJamesRev on Twitter and retweet the official contest Tweet.

Win a pair of tix to the #JesseJamesRevival screening in NYC. RT & Follow @JesseJamesRev to enter. Earn More Entries http://t.co/UBaC0pW7Lg

– Jesse James Revival (@JesseJamesRev) November 12, 2013

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3) Follow @HitFix on Twitter and retweet the official contest Tweet.

Win a pair of tix to the #JesseJamesRevival screening in NYC. RT & Follow @HitFix to enter. Earn More Entries http://t.co/mkM84dFZKU

– HitFix (@HitFix) November 12, 2013

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4) Like the HitFix Facebook page and comment on the official contest post with the name of the guest you would bring. 

PLEASE NOTE: Unfortunately, we have to limit this contest to residents of the tri-state area: New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. But never fear. The repertory revival aspect of this project is beginning to churn to life, and before long, the revival might just make it to a theater near you.

This contest is only open to those 18 and over. Deadline for entries is WEDNESDAY, Nov. 27, 2013.

HOLLYWOOD – The “Nebraska” tour made a stop at AFI Fest last night as Alexander Payne’s film enjoyed its Los Angeles premiere ahead of opening in limited release this Friday. Tethered to the event was a tribute to acting legend Bruce Dern, who finds himself in the hunt for his first-ever Best Actor Oscar nomination after winning a prize at the Cannes International Film Festival in May.

Quentin Tarantino introduced the opening clip package with the gusto you would expect of the filmmaker, who directed Dern briefly in last year’s “Django Unchained.” He commented on Dern’s work ethic, mostly, noting that “when you look at Bruce Dern’s filmography, that’s a filmography that exemplifies hard work. He worked with the best directors in the business, and he worked with the worst.”

Indeed, Dern’s career path has been one full of scratching and clawing for a place at the table. While his friend Jack Nicholson was starring in classics like “Five Easy Pieces,” Dern was headlining “The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant” and guesting on “Land of the Giants,” this after landing a role in Sidney Pollack’s “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” in 1969. It’s been a back and forth road for Dern, and a long one to “Nebraska,” to be sure.

Dern spoke with moderator Leonard Maltin about the determination Elia Kazan instilled in him in the early days working at the Actors Studio in New York and the warning that it would be an uphill climb for a guy like Dern, who might not have had the movie star appeal of a Paul Newman but had as much grit as the next guy, if not more. So he made a habit of trying to be noticed. He spent a whole career looking for a way to draw the attention of the viewer, the director, whomever, anyone who would sit up and take a gander at the line-less bartender in the scene, or the third cowboy from the right.

Tarantino called them “Dernsies” in the intro, and the clip reel was full of them, from Dern’s shouting breakdown with Jane Fonda in “Coming Home” to comic relief alongside Tom Hanks in “The Burbs.” Dern “is full of raw vitality,” Tarantino said, “grabbing your attention, never letting you go, spontaneous, always looking for a moment, always looking for an opportunity to do something, not content to be palsy-walsy with the other actors; he’s trying to beat them!”

But in the discussion with Maltin, filled with regaling stories from the old days of the 1960s or the new Hollywood explosion of the 1970s, it became clear that Dern didn’t get into the business to give “Dernsies.” He wanted to inhabit a character, to sink into his skin. Yet as a supporting player for most of his career with an interesting lead here and there, he found himself, again, “performing,” trying to make something pop.

So when he landed the role of Woody Grant in Payne’s new film, he found a meaningful partner on the first day of shooting. “He and Phedon [Papamichael], the cameraman, said to me, ‘Bruce, I want you to do something probably no one has ever asked of you,'” Dern recalled. “‘Don’t show us anything. Let us find it.'”

It meant everything to Dern that, after a legacy of “Dernsies,” he could really dig in with the tools of subtlety that he always wanted to use. At least, that was the vibe he was sending off from the stage of the Chinese Theater last night. And it’s been life-changing for him. Regardless of the Cannes prize, and come what may with critics awards or further kudos on the circuit, “I won the minute I got the God damned part,” Dern said.

“Nebraska” opens in limited release Friday Nov. 15.

It almost seems too perfect for the Santa Barbara Film Festival to recognize “Lee Daniels” The Butler” star Oprah Winfrey with the annual Montecito Award this year. Winfrey lives in Montecito and doesn”t offer up too many chances for film awards lately, so festival director Roger Durling and company have struck while the iron is hot.

The multi-hyphenate will be honored with the prize on Feb. 5 at the Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara during the festival”s 29th edition. Previous recipients have included Daniel Day-Lewis, Geoffrey Rush, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Javier Bardem, Naomi Watts and Annette Bening.

“Ms. Winfrey, the actress, inhabits Gloria Gaines with such gusto – she makes you forget Oprah the impresario,” Durling said. “Her performance is career-defining and reason to rejoice.”

Winfrey is in the thick of this year”s Best Supporting Actress Oscar race, aiming for just the second nomination of her career following recognition for her performance in Steven Spielberg”s 1985 drama “The Color Purple.” She was honored with the Academy”s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2011.

This is the second bit of Santa Barbara recognition The Weinstein Company has wrangled for “Lee Daniels” The Butler.” Previously it was announced that Forest Whitaker would receive this year”s Kirk Douglas Award at the festival”s annual fall fundraising dinner.

The 29th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival runs Jan. 30 – Feb. 9, 2014