Golden O

PEAKING

I AM OPTIMISTIC: Can Warner Bros. capitalize on the glowing reviews and box office of “I Am Legend” to attract academy love? A last-minute push with screeners will be the test.

CLIMBING

ROUND TWO: If Julie Christie wins best actress for “Away From Her,” she’ll set a record for the most years between acting Oscar victories. She won for 1965’s “Darling.”

TALK IT OVER: Talk show host Oprah Winfrey is a producer on “The Great Debaters.” Talk show host Johnny Carson’s company produced “The Big Chill,” a 1983 best picture Oscar nominee.

AT BASE CAMP

IN THE FOOTSTEPS: Picturehouse is releasing Juan Antonio Bayona’s eerie “The Orphanage” on the same weekend it opened Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-winning “Pan’s Labyrinth.” Is there a strategy at work?

WHAT PICTURES? Paul Haggis loosely based “In the Valley of Elah” on a Playboy story (he gets it for the articles!). The WGA ruled it an original screenplay, but the academy says it’s adapted. Will voters be confused?

A NEW SHOT: We died a little inside when Peter O’Toole didn’t win best actor for “Venus,” so how about a nod for his animated Anton Ego in “Ratatouille”?

LOOKING FOR A SHERPA

WHAT ARE THE ODDS? While sports books like BetUS.com post the odds on Golden Globe noms (“Across the Universe” hit 20-1 for best film musical), we’re starting a pool on whether the award show will even go on.

SCREEN TEST: “Juno” on TV: Jennifer Garner (“Alias”), Allison Janney (“The West Wing”), J.K. Simmons (“The Closer”), Jason Bateman and Michael Cera (“Arrested Development”).

BAD TIMING: Who’s got time for awards when the movies are so long -- “The Assassination of Jesse James” (2 hours, 40 minutes), “There Will Be Blood” (2:39) and “Into the Wild” (2:28).