• The deadline for Best Foreign Language Film entries passed, as Israel and Italy bucked conventional wisdom with their selections.

• Among the better-received contenders, however, were major festival prizewinners from Australia and Greece. A full list of submissions here.

• As the smaller studios beef up their Oscar prospects, this week’s Off the Carpet column wondered if this could be the year of the underdog.

• Speaking of which, Sony Pictures Classics acquired “The Last Station,” a potential awards vehicle for Helen Mirren amongst others.

• Meanwhile, our new Oscar column The Long Shot addressed the identity crisis afflicting the season’s multiple precursor awards.

• Still with Oscar on the mind, we considered both the youthfulness of the Best Actress race and the emptiness of the Best Supporting Actor field.

• This week’s installment of Tech Support took another look at the Best Cinematography frontrunners.

• Surprise hit “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” continued to rule the box office. Is it in line for an Oscar nod?

• “The Hurt Locker” stays on course for Oscar success, scooping honors for Kathryn Bigelow and Jeremy Renner at the upcoming Hollywood Film Festival.

• Off the back of his glowing Toronto notices for 2010 release “Get Low,” this week’s edition of The Lists celebrated the genius of Robert Duvall.

• Joining Duvall on the pile of Best Actor contenders bumped to next year was Ethan Hawke in “Brooklyn’s Finest.”

• Looking far further ahead, the possibility of an “Avatar” sequel has been raised.

• Finally, after a week off, Kris and Anne rounded up all the recent Oscar talk in another episode of, well, Oscar Talk.

Related Posts

• OFF THE CARPET: Looking at the supporting gentlemen
• THE LONG SHOT: The pre-nomination shuffle
• OFF THE CARPET: A spade is a spade
• TECH SUPPORT: Best Sound Editing — Volume II
• OSCAR TALK: Ep. 4 — Foreign submissions, PGA’s 10, ‘A Single Man’ a Best Picture possibility?
• TECH SUPPORT: Best Cinematography — Volume II