Zero Dark Thirty begins in darkness, not the pitch of night or space; rather simply, it starts with the black frame and voices. Instantly, we recognize the voices as those belonging to desperate callers on Sept. 11, 2001.  

Here's an early prediction on the Best Pictures nominees for next year's Academy Awards: There will only be five. The great experiment in "widening the playing field" — expanding the number of nominees to 10 this year — turned out to be a complete dud. Anyone interested in the Oscars knew there were only five legitimate nominees: the Final Five, the ones that had also been nominated for Best Director.