"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is the best movie I've seen (so far) this year. I just came back from the premiere at New York's Ziegfeld theater, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. It's the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the Elle editor who was left paralyzed after a stroke, and yet he devises a system to communicate by blinking his one good eye. Although it sounds grim, it's also uplifting--in a way that the Academy won't be able to resist, even if it's in French (and not eligible for best foreign film, because France submitted "Persepolis" instead). Actually, I think "Diving Bell" will be this year's "Letters From Iwo Jima," the movie that took everyone by surprise last year, only with more nominations.

Let me count the ways. Best picture, for sure. Best actor, probably, for Mathieu Amalric. Best supporting actor, maybe, for Max von Sydow. Best screenplay, definitely, for Ronald Harwood who adapts an unadaptable book. And best director, hopefully, for Julian Schnabel. Throw in a cinematography nomination, and that's six categories. I'm right about this, I promise.

Do not adjust your screens. That's the food plate from last night's New York premiere of "No Country For Old Men." This blog is becoming so schizophrenic (sorry), I thought I'd try to become the Zagat (eew) of the awards-going crowd, too. But that was until I had to photograph my dish in a crowded room of Hollywood's best, and it took nine flashes from my blackberry to produce the Ansel Adams before you. Hmm. Maybe this will be a one-time shtick. The food is (from top right corner, counterclockwise): salty red meat, yellow vegetable, one shrimp, more yellow food, chicken and a bread roll. It gets a C+. 

What about the movie? Didn't you hear? It's terrific. Javier Bardem steals the picture. I can't help but wonder, though, why he's not being campaigned in the lead acting category. "He's going to win best supporting actor," a movie insider explained. Right. But he'd probably win best actor, too. Javier was there at the screening, with a bit of scruff that made him look more like Clive Owen than a sociopathic killer. Stars who go ugly always look extra primped on the red carpet--and why shouldn't they? It's a lesson from the America Ferrera School of Dude, I'm Not Really Ugly Like Ugly Betty! I also saw Josh Brolin and Frances McDormand in front of the popcorn stand. No, she's not in the movie. She's just a Coen groupie, like the rest of us.