Oscar '08: Scandal cheat sheet

Volatile issue: Historical accuracy

“American Gangster” was a seeming awards juggernaut when it was first released, but response to it has cooled somewhat. Richie Roberts, played in the film by Russell Crowe, has been especially vocal about his displeasure with certain aspects of the movie, while other former NYC cops have also spoken out against its valorization of former drug kingpin Frank Lucas, played by Denzel Washington. This is just the sort of talk that sank the awards prospects of Washington’s “The Hurricane.” The same issues dogged Crowe in "A Beautiful Mind."

Hannibal gets his just desserts and Hanks goes back-to-back.