You know that the fate of a potential Best Picture contender is in doubt when you’re standing around at a noisy after-party for one of those films (I won’t say which one, or where or when this happened), and you spot a certain high-profile journalist/friendo arriving at the party. And you wave and call his name out and beckon — an obvious indication that you’d like to discuss the film with him. And journo/friendo immediately responds with one of those “oh, no…not now…too risky…we’re too close to the talent…now is not the time or place” gestures. So he doesn’t come over. That in itself, trust me, means Big Trouble for the film in question. I was chatting with another journalist when this happened over the last couple of weeks, and when journo/friendo did the sidestep journalist #2 said, “What was that about?” Me: “He doesn’t want to say anything with the talent standing nearby….playing it safe.” I figured it was so noisy that no one could overhear anything, but for some people you can’t be too careful.