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.

We’re in the dog days of late October, those pre-November moments when the lull is palpable and we’re waiting for the next films and moments to step out into the spotlight for us to chew on and devour. So it was kinda/sorta tough to come up with a rundown worth discussing this week, but we tried. So, let’s see what’s on the docket today…

The “news” of the week, though it really wasn’t news, given that we were expecting it, was the NC-17 rated extended to Steve McQueen’s “Shame.” We discuss the MPAA, whether it was warranted rating and what it means for Oscar. (NOTE: I said “distributors” but I meant “exhibitors.”)

There was a lot of documentary talk this week, with the International Documentary Association and Cinema Eye Honors handing out their list of nominees. We use it as a springboard into what we do know about the documentary feature category so far.

Then there are the films releasing this weekend. The limited players include “Anonymous” and “Like Crazy” while the wider releases include “The Rum Diary” and “In Time.” We discuss.

And finally, reader questions. This week we address queries about the likelihood of actors receiving multiple Oscars to one actor, the very tight top tier of the lead actress category and what films are likely to become the critical darlings along the circuit this year.

Have a listen to the new podcast below with the trailer for “The Rum Diary” leading the way. 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.

“The Rum Diary” trailer courtesy of FilmDistrict.
“It’s a Shame” courtesy of The Spinners and V.I.P. Records.