Following Awards Daily linking to In Contention's story of a Variety article that I briefly was going to include in an earlier "Today's News" article on the blog (I ended up not doing so, thinking that hand clapping is a poor barometer, but that's why Sasha Stone and Kris Tapley run their sites and I do not), but now figured it's better to put it forward to all of you. Supposedly the Academy screening of District 9 went over really well, including hearty applause. My question to you is: can we now consider District 9 a legitimate Oscar hopeful?

I know that now since we've got ten nominees, any contender seems possible, but I'm really not feeling this one. At most, I can see this maybe becoming a contender for the screenplay, but a film like this has to have overwhelming support to an insane degree in order to get mentioned. There's a lot of love for District 9, but I don't get the vibe that it's on the same as The Dark Knight or WALL-E.

I don't get the vibe either, but anything is possible...

District 9 is a good movie, but i doubt it will make the cut for the 10....

it's good thats all, not great...

i'm lucky enough to see an advance showing of basterds tonight...i'll let you know how it goes.

I'll be seeing it very soon as well, along with an early look at Avatar in IMAX on Friday