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I'm happy to see the various groups thinking outside the box and spreading the wealth. Whether any of this has any effect on the Oscar race is, frankly, of no concern to me. But I'm a bit disappointed that The Prisoner, or How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair -- arguably the only one of this year's Iraq War movies, drama or documentary, to offer anything like a glimmer of hope for the future over there -- isn't being recognized. Please don't misunderstand: I think No End in Sight is a great film, and deserves all the accolades it has received. Still...

Amy Ryan's performance is the most overrated this year.

For me, Joe, the tragedy is that Tony Kaye's Lake Of Fire is not getting the love it deserves. I am a big fan of Tucker & Epperlein and feel their Iraq films have led the way. But Lake of Fire is a FOREVER film... Shoah, Grey Gardens, Thin Blue Line, and the highest Herzog and Ken Burns level stuff.

How the hell did DARJEELING win best screenplay?

I've seen home movies that were better realized than TDL.

For The Prisoner to get any love from critics, they would have had to actually see the film and for the most part they didn't. Thus most of the critics awards will go - as always - to the doc that most critics have seen, which this year will be Sicko (just as last year it was Inconvenient Truth). Thankfully, the Spirit Awards committee nominated The Prisoner, as well as Lake of Fire. I don't think Lake of Fire is a great film - beautifully shot certainly but strangely dated - but it has a more than decent shot at an Oscar nomination.

I think the screenplay is perfectly realized, Ben, when you consider that it takes the short story concept and applies it to the film, using little short stories that add up to a satisfying whole. You can definitely see the influence of Salinger's Glass Family and it incorporates a lot about identity, Indian society, religion, spirituality, etc. I can see how some people might be turned off by it, but I think if you're really tuned into the aesthetic of the film and what it's trying to do, then it can be a really magical experience.

Unfortunately, David, Lake of Fire hasn't played Houston yet. It was supposed to play here in November, but it got yanked. Make of that what you will.

There Will Be Blood and Amy Ryan are obviously the big stories of the day. But what about Frank Langella winning Boston and coming in runner-up in LA? It seems like those plus his Spirit Award nod are putting him into serious contention. Am I crazy here?

Would be nice to see Langella at the big show, very talented actor that hasn't gotten as much recognition as he deserves.

But best actor is filled with so many big names. I'd be more inclined to think he's not nominated this year but next year gets a nod for Frost/Nixon as a big residual lovefest. Or something to that effect.

The question about Amy Ryan is this: Is she a Rachel Weisz of a Peter Sarsgaard? He won tonnes of awards and even got a GG nomination but lost the last spot on the Oscar list to Djimon Hounsou who played a baity AIDS victim role. She, on the other hand, started out well and then steamrolled through the whole season. It's still nice to see people awarding her and not the pre-ordained Cate Blanchett.

I'll be surprised if Julian Schnabel doesn't take out the NY best director prize. He's a god in the NY art scene, right?

joe-- most voters have had a screener of 'lake of fire' for a couple of weeks....it's lack of theatrical play shouldn't be keeping it from critical recognition....

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