Oscar Index: Extremely Artist and Incredibly Horse

The Leading 5:

1. Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

2. Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

3. Viola Davis, The Help

4. Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

5. Charlize Theron, Young Adult

Outsiders: Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn; Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene; Keira Knightley, A Dangerous Method; Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo; Emma Stone, The Help; Felicity Jones, Like Crazy; Michelle Yeoh, The Lady

Did anything actually happen in this race this week? There was some talk of the year's Actress crop and blah blah blah Keira Overrated Knightley, but did the trajectory of Meryl Streep -- or anyone else for that matter -- shift appreciably while I wasn't paying attention? Did the trailer for The Lady in fact move Yeoh any closer to legitimate contention? I'm really asking! In any case, I can only presume that this (and perhaps the rest of the Index) will look much different next Wednesday after My Week With Marilyn and Martha Marcy May Marlene finally premiere at the New York Film Festival, either corking or uncorking the word of mouth both Williams and Olsen need to get off the sidelines and into the game.

The Leading 5:

1. George Clooney, The Descendants

2. Brad Pitt, Moneyball

3. Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar

4. Michael Fassbender, Shame

5. Gary Oldman, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Outsiders: Jean Dujardin, The Artist; Tom Hanks, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March; Michael Fassbender, A Dangerous Method; Woody Harrelson, Rampart; Michael Shannon, Take Shelter; Damian Bechir, A Better Life

Hanks saw a bump thanks to the Extremely Loud surge, though even a star of his potency remains hard-pressed at this early stage to crack the Clooney/DiCaprio lock and the highly fortified festival triumvirate of Pitt, Oldman and Dujardin. Fassbender, meanwhile, still can't find any of the people who salivated so many gallons over his Shame performance a month ago at Venice (and soon afterward at Toronto) to step forward for him now -- though it bears noting that Fox Searchlight has the racy film on its calendar for Dec. 2, and this weekend's NYFF debut should help reinvigorate some of the buzz that's worn off in recent weeks.

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