'Waltz,' 'Man on Wire' lead foreign, docs

Neither the foreign language race nor the documentary category gives us many surprises today. As far as the foreign derby goes, all the hubbub happened long before we got to this point (omissions, omissions, omissions, mostly of the edgiest fare like Italian mob tale "Gomorrah").

Now, all that's left is to hand over the trophy to recent Golden Globe and Critics' Choice winner Ari Folman for his Israeli animated memoir.

Here are the foreign language finalists:

"The Class," France

"The Baader Meinhof Complex," Germany

"Departures," Japan

"Revanche," Austria

"Waltz with Bashir," Israel

In the documentary race, we feel a make-good here for Werner Herzog, who was snubbed in '05 for "Grizzly Man" but makes it in this go-around for his spellbinding Antarctica tale. We're still expecting James Marsh to walk away with this prize, for the mesmerizing Phillippe Petit walk across the then-newly built Twin Towers, no matter how compelling the Katrina tale "Trouble the Water" turned out to be.

The contenders:

"The Betrayal"

"Encounters at the End of the World"

"The Garden"

"Man on Wire"

"Trouble the Water"