Another twelve months are gone in a blink. I’ve just noticed and I’ve realised that it’s our annual pre-Oscar speculation time. Sad, sad moment, everybody. We’re all a year older again. Some of us have more grey hair (me), others have less hair, if any (Gabriel). And that’s just on the outside! Sigh!

Nevertheless, without further ado, please look carefully into your crystal balls and let us know what you see. More precisely, let us know your guess for winners of our ten most popular categories. If you have something else to add, of course, feel free to honour us with your lavish thoughts.

Here’s my shot (so you can laugh while you read):

Best Picture: No Country for Old Men
Best Direction: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)
Best Actor: Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises)
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose (La môme))
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett (I’m Not There)
Best Animated Movie: Ratatouille
Best Foreign Language Movie: Die Fälscher (The Counterfeiters, Austria)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Ronald Harwood (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
Best Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody (Juno)

Stop laughing, will you?

Here and there I snatch a moment to watch a movie. I tend to compile a list of films I saw with basic remarks, so the list remembers them instead of me. To a degree, it’s a good way to get away with forgetfulness, though it doesn’t help much when intoxicated, discussing cinema in a dodgy saloon at half past three in the morning. Well, just in case something like that happens and I have access to the net — here’s my January list:

1. Under Suspicion (2000) (USA)
A thriller that is more acting quality check of Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman rather than anything else. As a thriller, it’s somewhat slow-paced and at times predictable. A decent work, anyway.

2. Peculiarities of the National Fishing (1998) (Russia)
A comedy about a bunch of friends who go fishing the Russian way. It other words, they go on a drinking spree. Reasonably funny, though nothing one would miss. I guess it’s too hard to understand a Russian soul without actually being Russian.

3. La dolce vita (1960) (Italy)
Fellini’s classic about love, sex, religion, aristocracy, media and one man’s quest for peace with himself. Marcello’s struggle and failure to answer the ultimate question. A drama still slightly decadent and no less fascinating than almost 50 years ago.

4. I Am Legend (2007) (USA)
I like post-apocalyptic flicks — just for seeing how it may look like when we blow things up. New York looks alright in this one, worth visiting if you survive. The movie itself is alright, too. Average, yet entertaining.

5. He Was a Quiet Man (2007) (USA)
Ignored, bullied, trapped inside an office cubicle, with Hula Girl broken and holding his only real conversations with goldfish. Cookoo, right? Christian Slater’s character is about to snap — but somebody else does a moment earlier. It opens up a great story. Highly recommended.

6. Anything Else (2003) (USA)
This is not exactly classic, however it is still Woody Allen. He’s kind of funny, he’s neurotic, intellectual and Jewish. Nothing has changed over the years and I enjoy watching his wit over and over again. Even in flops.

And that is it, folks. There may be more next month.