OSCAR TALK: Ep. 52 — Nominees Luncheon, Bening vs. Portman to a photo finish, WGA and Scripter awards, Melissa Leo’s personal campaign, BAFTA preview with Guy Lodge

Summary: Welcome to Oscar Talk. In case you’re new to the site and/or the podcast, Oscar Talk is a weekly kudocast, your one-stop awards chat shop between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood. The podcast is weekly, every Friday throughout the season, charting the ups and downs of contenders along the way. Plenty of things change en route to Oscar’s stage and we’re here to address it all as it unfolds. Anne is calling from New York today, later on in the show we drop in on Guy in London and I’m in Los Angeles as always, so we’ve got quite the international episode for you today. And with plenty happening between last weekend and today, we’ve got tons to cover, so let’s see what’s on the docket today… • Anne was in attendance at Monday’s Academy Nominees Luncheon where the annual class photo was taken and plenty of glad-handing went down. She gives us the scoop. • One of the things of note at the luncheon was the warm response to Annette Bening. She’s right on Natalie Portman’s heels for a variety of reasons and we touch on how she might upset the race. • Last weekend saw the WGA and Scripter awards, the former pretty much irrelevant given the ineligibilities this year that were nevertheless nominated by the Academy. We discuss. • The talk of the week, no doubt, was Melissa Leo’s strong personal campaign that many think could cost her an Oscar. Will it matter? • Coming this weekend, on the heels of yesterday’s London Film Critics Circle vote, is the BAFTA Awards. Is it possible some change in momentum could be hinted at by this or that winner there? We call up our own Guy Lodge to get his perspective on the ground across the pond. • Finally, reader questions. Many sprinkled throughout, a few addressed at the end. Have a listen to the new podcast below. If the file cuts off for you at any time, try the back-up download link at the bottom of this post. And as always, remember to subscribe to Oscar Talk via iTunes here. Back-up download: Oscar Talk Episode 52