Sometimes the Coen brothers outdo even themselves, as with last year’s No Country For Old Men, a taut, violent thriller that earned the directors a sack of Oscars, including one for Best Picture. Like their best films (Blood Simple, Fargo), No Country is essentially a traditional film noir set in an unlikely locale, in this . . .

Marion Cotillard was �speechless,� she insisted, while hugging her Best Actress Oscar (La Vie en Rose) and giving thank you after thank you. I was even more speechless. The French star of a subtitled film about Edith Piaf (�I didn�t even know who Edith Piaf was,� one dumb-as-dirt radio commentator announced this morning) wins for Best Actress in a country that only four years ago was eating free...

This year the uncertainty surrounding the Oscars is greater than the usual guesswork over which film will win Best Picture or who will be crowned Best Actor or Actress. It�s not entirely clear how the Oscars will play out on Feb. 24, given the lingering writers strike and the aversion of other Hollywood union members to cross the picket line. Looking at the Best Picture nominations, one t...