Oscar Index: Descendants, Artist, Help Set for Ménage à Trophy

The Leading 5:

1. Octavia Spencer, The Help

2. Vanessa Redgrave, Coriolanus

3. Bérénice Bejo, The Artist

4. Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

5. Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

Outsiders: Sandra Bullock, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; Jessica Chastain, The Help; Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter; Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life; Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids; Keira Knightley, A Dangerous Method; Judy Greer, The Descendants; Mia Wasikowska, Albert Nobbs; Emily Watson, War Horse; Marion Cotillard, Midnight in Paris

While Spencer shed tears last Saturday in Hollywood, Redgrave was actually onstage in London, where she helped honor her Driving Miss Daisy co-star James Earl Jones with an honorary Oscar of his own. The next night the Academy was honoring Redgrave herself in London -- led by Streep, no less, who made her film debut in Julia, for which Redgrave won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1978 only to deliver her infamous pro-Palestinian acceptance speech scolding "Zionist hoodlums" in the Middle East:

"Our privilege as actors," Streep said, "is that we get to love each other and get paid for it, like prostitutes. But when Vanessa won the Oscar, and caused a cataclysm with her speech, that was a little lesson in bravery. Fame is not just a commodity, you can use it to make a difference."

So all is forgiven? Either way, not a bad plug. Woodley and Bejo, meanwhile, hit the circuit Stateside and enjoyed the benefits of being in this month's two most formidable awards challengers. Neither, however, had quite the encounters McTeer has had: From Albert Nobbs's own Hollywood coming-out party to the ceaseless cognoscenti chattering of Jeffrey Wells, Anne Thompson and others, the erstwhile Oscar nominee is largely believed to have stolen Nobbs from its awards-craving leading lady/co-writer Close. Until McCarthy or Chastain can find sustained traction like that going into the critics/guild awards stretch, it could be a tough nominee narrative to overcome.

The Leading 5:

1. Christopher Plummer, Beginners

2. Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

3. Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn

4. Albert Brooks, Drive

5. Jonah Hill, Moneyball

Outsiders: Nick Nolte, Warrior; Armie Hammer J. Edgar; Patton Oswalt, Young Adult; Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris; Jim Broadbent, The Iron Lady; Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method; John C. Reilly, Carnage; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Moneyball; Tom Hanks, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Yawn. The Hammer praise slipped and plunged down the same sheer-faced abyss where J. Edgar went to die, but that was fun while it lasted. What more is there? That some rotten Academy precedent officially prohibits celebrated Artist canine Uggie from earning Oscar recognition? Seriously, I've got nothing.

Read all of this year's Oscar Index columns here.

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