So, Paramount took a risk and dropped an incomplete “Hugo” On the NYFF audience last night. Linked in today’s round-up is my colleague Greg Ellwood’s aggregation of responses. Even though press attendees were asked not to review the film, naturally, thoughts and comments trickled out throughout the night. And I have to say, I caught a big whiff of politeness from most. The general takeaway seems to be that the film starts out rather stiff and uninspired and eventually becomes an interesting if messy ode to film preservation.

Those of us who didn’t attend the fest will have to wait another three weeks or so before Paramount has a complete print to screen. But for now, the film has its 15 minutes. Was it worth it? Probably. After all, no one talking about your film is worse than a few talking about it for a fleeting moment. But the line of the film seems to be set. Not to take too much away from the smallest of reactions, but I’m not sensing a strong Best Picture contender in there. Anyway, let’s see what’s going on in the Oscarweb today…

Greg Ellwood aggregates reactions to last night’s secret screening of “Hugo” at NYFF. [Awards Campaign]

Steven Zeitchik wonders whether Hollywood should cut back on Hollywood dramas. [24 Frames]

Woman sues FilmDistrict because “Drive” isn’t “The Fast and the Furious” with Ryan Gosling. [Click on Detroit]

David Poland will be mad if I don’t note that that story began with his casually conveying an emailed image that landed in his inbox. [The Hot Blog]

Check out an exclusive deleted scene from “Beautiful Boy.” [Awards Daily]

Yet another viral website that threatens to drown “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” in “cool.” [Comes Forth in the Thaw]

The Academy tackles the state of nonfiction. [Oscars.org]

Spare us another conventional take on Dickens. [The Independent]

Alexandra Cheney reports from a NYFF screening of “A Dangerous Method” with Q&A. [Speakeasy]

Tom O’Neil explains how his new user-interfaced Gold Derby works (video in bottom right). [Gold Derby]