It's been more than a decade since Kristin Scott Thomas was nominated for an Oscar ("The English Patient," 1996), but now she's got new buzz for a French-speaking role in "I've Loved You So Long" (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime). Thomas portrays a woman who moves in with her sister after serving a 15-year jail term.

This is another Oscar-friendly release from Sony Pictures Classics, which has lots of hefty ponies in the derby this year. The indie studio has "Frozen River" star Melissa Leo in the best-actress race and Cannes darling "Waltz With Bashir" (this year's "Persepolis" — a hand-crafted critics' darling) up for best animated feature. Also, "Synecdoche, New York," the directorial debut of Charlie Kaufman, who won an Oscar for "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and was nommed for penning "Adaptation" and "Being John Malkovich."

In recent years SPC was in the Oscar game with "Volver," "Capote" and "Junebug."