Clint Eastwood's imperfect world
In 1993, coming off "Unforgiven's" Oscar win, Clint Eastwood made a little movie called "A Perfect World" in which he played a lawman who dreams of apprehending a kidnapper without firing a single shot.
But that perfect world, Eastwood would probably be the first to tell you, simply doesn't exist. Where Eastwood lives, laws have their limits, rules are seldom adequate and justice tends to be subjective. But the notion that forgiveness, for the first time in his career, wasn't entirely out of the question marked a significant change for Eastwood.

Scribes earn their shot at Oscar gold
Almost every year, the contenders for Oscar's original-screenplay kudo include one or more newcomers making a splash with their first produced script. At the same time, the adapted-screenplay category is typically a race among veteran scribes, who often have plenty of award pedigree.

• Vets cast dubious eye on rewriting
• Original screenplays in the mix
• Adapted screenplays in the mix

Young reviewers put passion over profit
Now is probably not the right time to enter the world of film criticism, but don't tell that to aspiring pundits. Even as the professional ranks implode, young writers are expressing their passion by any means necessary.

• Vet critics adapt to challenging times

Dystopian designs dominate comic films
Production designers for 2008's two biggest comicbook adaptations ranged far afield from the comics to gain inspiration for their differing visions of the battle against evil.
Nathan Crowley ("The Dark Knight") and J. Michael Riva ("Iron Man") studied different cinematic models and real-life architectural styles in an effort to tie their films' looks to their billionaire heroes: Bruce Wayne the tortured outsider and Tony Stark the determined outsider.

• Murakami continues Bummy's legacy

In f/x, practical aids digital
As astonishing as digital effects have become, directors and vfx artists are always fighting to avoid the "CG look."
So pervasive is that struggle that a wag imagined vfx legend and "Wall-E" consultant Dennis Muren complaining about the film in a Pixar screening room, "It looks too CG!"

• Action sound goes lean and mean
• Profile: Lora Hirschberg
• Time-jumping movies challenge editors

Newbies battle for lead actress love
As professional institutions go, the Oscar Best Actress Club is a bit like the U.S. Senate. There aren't any official dues (although plenty get paid), the idea of new members makes old members nervous, and the incumbents always seem to have the inside track.
From era to era the lineup may change, but on a year-by-year basis it's been pretty static. Meryl Streep. Cate Blanchett. Kate Winslet. Angelina Jolie. Nicole Kidman. Helen Mirren. If they're in a movie, they're in contention.

Cartooning on a shoestring
Lightwave, Maya and Flash were supposed to liberate animators from the horrific expense of traditional computer animation, and while intrepid souls have ventured into the animated feature film world powered by their over-the-counter tools before, this is the first year so many have entered the Oscar race.
• Innovations pave way for future films
• Academy makes way for 3-D

Pondering power at a distance
Outrage over power and its limits has been a big part of the public debate over the last several years. "Lions for Lambs," "Redacted," "Rendition," "W." and other films have tackled current political issues head-on, but failed to catch fire with audiences or critics.
Yet the movies that come at these issues indirectly seem to be getting a warmer reception.
• Ordinary people, big dramas
• 'Slumdog' scribe champions underdog
• 'Milk' issues still current, says scribe

Superheroes soar in awards season
Superheroes have grown accustomed to striking gold at the box office. Yet now, in a shift that has the entire genre being taken more seriously, they're being discussed in the award season races as well.
"The Dark Knight's" Heath Ledger is near the top of many lists when cinephiles are debating best supporting performances, while Christian Bale and Gary Oldman have also been chatted up for their turns in the film. And what would "Iron Man" have been without Robert Downey Jr.'s take on the man of metal?

Newcomers stumble into spotlight
For many international helmers, the foreign-language film Oscar remains the holy grail of all awards. The prize brings with it the promise of worldwide exposure, the lure of meetings with Hollywood's most powerful agents and the prospect of cherry-picking pics with budgets that more often than not dwarf that of the award-winning title that got them there in the first place.

• Eastern European industry gets leg up
• China's self-defeating Oscar battle
• Academy has new plan of inclusion
• Foreign film awards tally
• Foreign talent on the rise

Acad's actor voters notice nuance
If it seems preposterous that performers in lower-profile films (such as Jenkins, Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler," Kristin Scott Thomas in "I Loved You So Long" or Sally Hawkins in "Happy-Go-Lucky") could snag Oscar kudos, consider that when it comes to the actual voting, the only audience that matters is the one most likely to appreciate understated brilliance.

• Oscar vets welcome alternative roles
• A look back at Oscar vote-split survivors

No easy way to sell the truth
The playbook for documentary theatrical distribution is under review. Successful doc distribution these days requires a multiplatform approach backed by innovative marketing initiatives.
"Getting a documentary out is harder than making it," says Peter Broderick, prexy of Paradigm Consulting. Distribution strategies must include the right distrib partners; filmmakers need to understand who their core audience is and the necessity of reaching that aud directly.

Three filmmakers widen their canvas
Their films, styles and storylines couldn't be more different, but directors Christopher Nolan, Baz Luhrmann and David Fincher share a common conviction: that mega-budget spectacles aren't just for the kids.
With their biggest budgets ever -- burning through a collective sum of roughly $500 million -- and commanding brigades of production crew and effects personnel, they maintained a steadfast commitment to making, as Luhrmann calls them, "large-scale adult cinematic works."

New indies make splash with less cash
Overture, IFC, Samuel Goldwyn, Yari Releasing, Oscilloscope, Summit and Bleiberg Entertainment have a cluster of pics aiming to compete in major categories. Win or lose, they are bringing a sense of freshness to a process that had become machinelike in its predictability.

• New indie faces in the awards races
Chart: Indies in the Oscar mix

Oscar vets remember how it used to be
Oscar night, 1955: Associated Press reporter Bob Thomas remembers a glam couple. Marlon Brando won for "On the Waterfront" and Grace Kelly for "The Country Girl."
"I recall going backstage with the two of them after they had won. They were such an odd couple," Thomas says. "They were facing these dozens of photographers, and one shouted out, 'Why don't you kiss him?' And Kelly, who was very prim, said, 'I think he should kiss me.' So, Brando kissed her."

Thomas Newman delivers film trifecta
With almost 80 film and TV credits dating back to the late '70s, it's no longer a surprise when Thomas Newman -- 53 and still boyish in appearance -- is credited with three scores in the span of a year. But it's the quality of the projects that continues to astound.

• Stage-to-screen scores pose challenges
• Composers cautious with Holocaust films
• Composers convey ethnic accents
• Musicians embrace collective on films

Filmmakers fight to make music biopics
Music biopics are such heavily trod turf these days, one could almost be excused for thinking Dewey Cox, the fictional main character played by John C. Reilly in Jake Kasdan's "Walk Hard," was some dredged-up cult legend known only to music geeks.

• Competing films tell Chess Records story
• Grammys double pleasure
• Movie tunes move away from marketing
• Websites showcase new performers
• 'Life on Mars' mines vintage '70s tracks
• Composers bask in Ghent glow
• Fox creates new scores for silent films
• MusicBox leads hybrid-license charge
• Labels bank on stars during hard times

Web Exclusive: 'Dark' score disqualified

Chart: Music talent on upcoming films

Studios enter multiple toons in Oscar race
In 2001, when the Academy added its animated feature category, the org included a clause by which it would withdraw the award in years when fewer than eight toons were eligible to receive it. Little did the Acad suspect that the sector would soon be generating 20 pics a year.

• Directors use animation in docus
Chart: Cartoon Contenders