There are several major announcements this week to cover, from Honorary Oscars to new Oscar contenders.

Oscar News

• Two awaited films are getting December releases from Roadside that could push them into Oscar consideration. I Love You Phillip Morris, starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor as a gay couple, got good buzz at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and will be released on December 3. Bitiful, which got great reviews at Cannes for leading man Javier Bardem, will be released sometime in December also.
• The Academy announced the four recipients of the 2010 Honorary Oscars. The Irving Thalberg Award will go to five-time Oscar Winner Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, The Godfather Part II). Honorary Oscars will go to historian and film restorer Kevin Brownlow, French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard and actor Eli Wallach. Interestingly enough, none of those three recipients have ever been nominated for an Oscar. If you are interested in discovering how the decision was made, read this article from The Wrap.
• Predicting the animated film category may get a little tougher this year, after Disney announced they are removing themselves from participation in the Annie Awards. Apparently, they are unhappy with the membership process for the awarding body. The Variety article can be found here.
• The Directors Guild of America announced its dates for the 2010 awards. Ballots go out on November 30, with nominations announced on January 10. Ballots will be due on January 28, 2011.
• It’s never too early to start looking at the 2011 awards, and the first major contender may have been announced this week. Stephen Daldry (who has never directed a film that wasn’t Best Picture nominated) will direct the adaptation of Jonathan Safram Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. The Post-9/11 novel will be adapted by Oscar winner Eric Roth (Forrest Gump), and may star Oscar winners Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump, Philadelphia) and Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side).

Review Round-Up

For the second week in a row, there are no serious Oscar contenders being released.

Oscar Box Office

• Toy Story 3 became the seventh film, and only animated film, to ever cross the world-wide $1 Billion mark.
• Robert Duvall’s Get Low was the top draw for limited releases this week. It has now brought in $1.7 million.
• Winter’s Bone has crossed the $5 million mark, losing only 2% business from last week.

New Trailers

• 127 Hours: The follow-up film to any Best Director winner has to be a consideration, and this film by Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) looks like a possible major contender.
• Inside Job: Charles Ferguson has been nominated for Best Documentary before (No End in Sight), and the timeliness of this documentary could put him in the running this year.
• Tamara Drewe: Director Stephen Frears has come up with several major contenders over the years, but this looks a little too light-weight for him.