The Academy Awards

For the record, now that I have seen all the films nominated for Best Picture, my pick would be The Departed. It is the complete package, acting, writing, photography, editing, all orchestrated by Scorsese to achieve a totally engaging, emotionally satisfying experience. It is the only film I've seen this year that had the audience audibly reacting throughout and applauding at the payoff in the final scene.

It is clearly also Scorsese's year for Best Director. If not now, when?

As for the other nominated films, they are all truly first class efforts. It has been a really solid year for movies. If you have not had a chance to see any of them, they are now beginning to be released on DVD.