On this week's Oscar column. I'll get it up asap, though Gerard's first "Tech Support" entry may hit first.

Slowly but surely.

It's a slow build-up to the Oscar season right now, so not a lot of long-form stuff on the main page lately. I just wanted to point out that The Blog is where it's at for the time being.

“Things We Lost in the Fire” was one of those famous “best unproduced scripts” floating around for quite some time, and it’s easy to see why. Allan Leob’s writing debut (he now has a slew of stuff coming out) is a tight, effective drama, and a potential actors’ showcase of the highest order. It’s awfully confusing that it was ever in development hell. It’s a perfect Oscar contender, reads like a critics’ darling and even though it occasionally does read a little been there, done that, its sincerity and characters manage to help it overcome most of the expected clichés.

If you had asked me at the end of 2006 what the best movie of 2007 would be, I would have guessed P.T. Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood.” Not only has Anderson proven himself, in my opinion, the best of the late-90s crop of emerging filmmakers with the one-two-three of “Boogie Nights,” “Magnolia” and “Punch-Drunk Love,” but he also seemed willing to stretch himself more than the rest of those filmmakers. He followed two solid epics with a little romantic comedy that could be considered a contender for best of the genre this decade. That Anderson’s next film would be a period piece based on Upton Sinclair’s “Oil!,” what more could a filmgoer want?

I was holding this until Monday, but I'd rather have it off my plate.

I've commented on some films I've seen, I'm not permitted to comment on others, but suffice it to say, this year's Oscar season seems afraid of itself, slowly, EVER so slowly approaching the fall months rather than the sprint to the finish we've witnessed in recent years. In some ways that's a godsend, but I somehow expect things to explode any...minute...now.

For the time being, all predictions and charts have been updated. Weekly coverage, columns and charting begins Monday, August 27. (And hi-dee-ho, so do classes...I might pass out this year.)

Main Category Charts
Technical Category Charts
The Contenders (by category)
2007 Films-by-Studio Rundown

2006 Predictions Archive