"Savages" is back to being a serious contender in the Oscar derby. Fox Searchlight just nixed its original late-December release date in order to roll it out earlier: now starting Nov. 30. Much better. That gives audiences more time to discover the subtle, sensitive performances of Oscar champ Philip Seymour Hoffman and Oscar-overdue Laura Linney as feuding siblings who must come together to put their poppa in a nursing home. Little movies like that one can't open late like they used to, back before the Oscars moved up a month. Blockbusters like "Charlie Wilson's War" starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts and "Sweeney Todd" with Johnny Depp can still trot onto the track at the last sec, but those slow, artsy tortoises like "Savages" need a head start.