Fight For Old D.C.

• What I'm Watching/Listening To/Reading:
• I suppose we're beginning to get into the very beginnings of Oscar season. We went to see Body of Lies today, the new film from Ridley Scott. It's a film about the War on Terror, but it's not quite like most other terror-related films. Whereas Syriana was just a tad confusing (I admit it!), this one hits the U.S. on policy and mindset while keeping a plot that is easy to follow and a bit more standard for Hollywood with the requisite twists. There is some Best Supporting Actor buzz for Mark Strong, who plays the chief of Jordanian Intelligence. He is very good, but he didn't blow me away (granted, not everyone is going to give Javier Bardem's performance from last year) and one would think that Heath Ledger is still the favorite for that. Overall, the movie is very good, well worth seeing, but I'm betting that it will be viewed like Scott's last film, American Gangster. It's better than a summer blockbuster, but once the real Oscar movies come out, we'll realize it's not quite that good.
• As for those real Oscar movies, we had some previews for a few of them. One was Defiance, starring Daniel Craig, dealing with Jewish rebels who fight the Nazis in the woods of Belarus. Another was Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich. Oh yeah, and it's a Clint Eastwood movie, which equals Oscar. Finally, we had the much-buzzed-about Valkyrie, the Tom Cruise about the plot to assasinate Hitler. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it's directed by Bryan Singer (Usual Suspects, X-Men, Superman Returns), who's a personal favorite.
• Oh, and there's a new Vince Vaughn Christmas movie. Can't wait for that one!
• Marcus still has to be, far and away, the favorite to win Survivor: Gabon, with Matty as the dark horse. Nothing has changed from my initial read.
• Random Thoughts/Links:
• I don't think I've posted this yet, but this site allows you to create your own Palin speech. Great entertainment, whether you like her or not.
• Atonement premiered tonight on HBO. If you haven't yet seen it, please do. You won't regret it. It's most definitely not a chick flick.
• Tomorrow (Sunday) is the tenth anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard. One of the great civil rights tragedies of recent history, the murder was best summed up in The Laramie Project, the 2002 HBO adaptation of the play with the same name. On a related note, I'm sure you saw that Connecticut now has equal marriage rights. Three down, forty-seven to go.
• Your List Sucks!: Top 5 Teams in the NFL after Week 5:
• 5. Dallas -- Hard to choose between them and Pittsburgh, because I'm not sold on either.
• 4. Carolina -- The team most likely to keep an NFC East team out of the Super Bowl.
• 3. Tennessee -- They do sort of remind me of the 2000 Ravens. The defense isn't quite as good, but the team has that same sort of feel.
• 2. N.Y. Giants -- Eli's having a heck of a year. Waiting for them to play somebody real (I'm discounting the Washington win, as you'll see below).
• 1. Washington -- Yes, they lost to the Giants, but it was the first week at New York with all of the Super Bowl hoopla. If they met on a neutral field this week, I'll take the Skins.