Gold Derby nuggets: 'Hunger' for Oscars? | Vulture feasts on contenders | Mickey Rourke ready to take on rivals in best-actor ring | Clint Eastwood says he portrays a 'racist' in 'Gran Torino'

• IFC plans to give "Hunger" a Dec. 5 release date, according to Edward Douglas of Comingsoon.net. Its director-writer Steve McQueen's drama about the last six weeks in the life of IRA member Bobby Sands, who led a hunger strike in 1981.

"What this means is that Michael Fassbender might be taken seriously as a best actor contender," Douglas says. "I think anyone who saw this movie at Telluride/Toronto or NY Film Festival will agree that the movie is all about the amazing punishment and transformation Fassbender ('300') went through to take on the role of Bobby Sands, and it might be hard to ignore, especially in a season with a lot of repeat offenders (Leo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, etc). The questions are whether IFC will be able to get the movie seen by enough awards voters before/after release and whether it might cut into their campaign for Steven Soderbergh's 'Che.'"

• Tina Brown's new site TheDailyBeast.com launched this week featuring Tom Tapp's interview with "The Wrestler" star Mickey Rourke. When asked, "How do you feel about the Oscar talk?" Rourke replies, "Great. Are you kidding me? When you’ve had all the years I’ve had when you’re out of the game, it’s nice to be above ground." Is he ready for the Oscar ride ahead? "Absolutely," he replies. "All the way. You know, I handled ... wrong for 15 years — or longer. If I knew it was going to take this many years to put the pieces back together again, man, lemme tell you, I would have handled things differently." READ MORE

• New York mag's Vulture blog declares that the Oscar hopes for "Milk" are up while they're down for "W." in its first of a weekly series of "Oscars Futures." Its top five picks for best-picture nominations look like smart choices: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Frost/Nixon," "Milk," "Revolutionary Road," "Slumdog Millionaire." In its take on the best-actor race, the star of "W." can take heart. Vulture says Josh Brolin's stock is up. But — oops — is there one goof in its chart? Michael Sheen ("Frost/Nixon") is listed in supporting while Universal has officially declared him in the lead race. But, come to think of it, that may not be a goof at all considering Oscar voters can put contenders wherever they like. Maybe it's prescient?

• Some of the mystery surrounding Clint Eastwood's role in "Gran Torino" was dispelled this week by Anthony Breznican of USA Today, who got Clint to spill the beans: "I'm a weirdo in it. I play a real racist . . . . But it also has redemption. This Hmong family moves in next door, and he has been in the Korean War, in the infantry, and looks down on Asian people and lumps everybody together. But finally they befriend him in his time of need because he has no relationship with his family."

(IFC)