Precious Wins TIFF Audience Award; Oscar Next?

As it had last January at Sundance, director Lee Daniels' Precious muscled its way through a crowd of competition en route to the Toronto International Film Festival's prestigious Audience Award. You might recall how things turned out for last film to claim that prize at TIFF -- Slumdog Millionaire -- and a new piece in Time Magazine considers how Oprah Winfrey's imprimatur out of both fests (plus Cannes) might impact this year's awards race.

"Winfrey announced her intention to lead a promotional blitz on behalf of Precious across her various platforms," the report says, "hoping to 'bring in different audiences' by promoting the film on her show, in her magazine and on her satellite-radio channel." And that's not even counting the Tyler Perry Factor, which has yet to be tested at awards time. (But is reliable for at least a 60-percent drop at the box office by week two of wide release, of course.) Anyway, it's as good as nominated for Best Picture at this point, so adjust your Oscar pool accordingly.

· Can Oprah Lead Precious All the Way to Oscar? [Time]