The biggest problem I have with the horse race, is it is a truly lousy way to judge art.

If I were to pick a favorite among the best film category (amazingly enough, I saw all of these films this year--a likely first) it would be Good Night and Good Luck, with Crash a close second. Walk the Line was fun for watching Reese & Joaquin, but as a film, it wasn't very good. Same with Capote. It was SO worth seeing Hoffman channel Capote, but again, not a great story. I was underwhelmed by Brokeback too, but then Ang Lee makes pretty pictures, not really great ones. Altman he ain't.