http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20552998,00.html?hpt=hp_bn12
And the winner is ... Who knows?
The late entry into the race by buzzed-about films Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has made for a wide-open Oscar race for Best Picture this year.
"I can't remember a year like this where there was no clear front-runner," says a longtime awards season veteran. "Nobody knows where this race is going."
Complicating the race is that few critics, much less Academy voters, have seen two of these major Awards season players.
The Social Network director David Fincher's much-anticipated adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and the post 9/11 family drama Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, which features Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks in supporting roles, have only just begun to screen. (The films hit theaters Dec. 21 and 25, respectively.)