At the premiere of my favourite movie of the year in Tokyo tonight as they make their way around the world, closer and closer to Christmas Day, as we wait impatiently ... At The Barricade!

And then en route to Hollywood & Highland, the Dolby Theatre to fight it out with Argo and Lincoln. Since its screenings last weekend, according to expert “Oscarologist” predictions, Les Miserables has moved ahead of Argo and Lincoln. Please note however that they’ve been bandwaggoning every few weeks or so and this is not so much a slight on the critics but an acknowledgment of what an extraordinarily deep field it is this year. I wish one of these could have taken on The Artist twelve months ago.

While the Best Picture race remains competitive, more and more Anne Hathaway is feeling like the lock among the four acting spots. It usually happens in the supporting categories, doesn’t it? Helen Hunt (The Sessions) is running a very, very distant second and, given Annie’s popularity, and the goodwill she’s built with the Academy, even after what happened with James Franco two years ago, or perhaps because of what happened with James Franco two years ago, and how graciously she handled it (in comparison to him, especially), without wanting to jinx her, it’s really hers to lose. My hair envy is getting unmanageable. If I were advising her, I wouldn’t grow it out yet. Not when she can remind everyone of the weight loss and the hair chop in sacrifice to become Fantine. Also this is a beautiful dress, and it’s a well chosen one in terms of pacing. There will be many more carpets, many photo calls. You need to roll out the fashion strategically, save the best looks for the biggest occasions.

As for Hugh Jackman -- he’s making a charge for Best Actor, and while there’s no way he can take down Daniel Day-Lewis, his momentum may take out Bradley Cooper. Here’s how I was calling it two months ago:

DDL
Denzel Washington
Joaquin Phoenix
John Hawkes
And Bill Murray was my dark horse

I’m not ready to change my list yet, but I will say Murray’s chances aren’t great.

Isn’t this fun? This is SO MUCH FUN. This is my equivalent of Duana’s Name Nerding.

You know what’s coming next...