Wednesday, December 5--------And we're off.....the awards season has kicked off in high gear this past week, with the announcement of the Gotham Awards in New York, the nominations for the Film Independent Spirit Awards and now the National Board of Review, the first of the end-of-the-year critics groups to bestow prizes. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, Joel and Ethan Coen's nouveau Western, was named Best Film of the Year. The film also won a Best Adapted Screenplay prize for the Coens, as well as an...

Friday, December 8-----And so we're off....the first major national critics association has announced their Top Ten Titles of the year, as well as honoring individual films and performances. In a very unexpected and in some ways alarming choice, the National Board of Review has chosen as Best Picture the Japanese-language film LETTERS OF IWO JIMA, a companion film to the much bigger budgeted FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, both directed by Clint Eastwood. It is a sign of Eastwood's clout at his home st...