firth is looking at a jeff bridges style lock on best actor. like you said, he was great last year in a single man and amazingly even better here. the empathy he evokes is immediate. rush will grab a nomination in the supporting category. the screenplay is sharp and funny, the direction is spot on. the interplay between rush and firth is just brilliant.

*minor spoiler* the finale when firth is about to give his speech, most tense moment in the film, and he's like, "how can i ever thank you?" rush's response brought the theater down. just two masters at work. at the risk of raising expectations, right now it's easily in my top three films of the year, and i'm not even into these british royalty films like that. you're absolutely right, it's a dark horse for best picture.

"i smack clowns with nouns, punch herbs with verbs..."