I just got out of the first screening of "Sweeney Todd."

The movie is good, but not great. Tim Burton adapts the Sondheim musical into a bloodbath--at one point, the person seated next to me compared it to "Eastern Promises"--though it's all in good fun. Burton's direction is solid, especially in the middle hour. He nicely marries his gruesome touch with the Broadway showstoppers ("Pirelli's Miracle Elixir," "Johanna," "By the Sea," etc), and there are times when you feel like you're watching a classic Hollywood musical. The problem is, you want the movie to have more heart--and we all know how important heart is for Oscar voters. You don't leave the theater with the sense of mourning you should for the characters.

Update: Tom O'Neil loved the movie, of course, though he's been calling "Sweeney Todd" the movie of the year before he even saw it. He's free to gush like one of Sweeney's victims, but there's some bad journalism here. O'Neil writes that at the end, people were so mesmerized they couldn't leave their seats. That's not true. The final cut is so abrupt, you're almost unsure that the movie is really over. Once the credits started rolling, people picked up their stuff and left at a regular pace. If there's further debate, I'm calling the Carpetbagger as a witness.

The 17th annual Gotham Awards -- independent filmmakers celebrating independent cinema, but not to be mistaken with the Independent Spirit Awards -- were held last night ... in Brooklyn. Seriously? No wonder Meryl Streep didn't make it. (She was a presenter who canceled at the last minute.) But that's OK. There were plenty of other stars to be spotted.

Here's a GoldDigger recap:

"Charlie Wilson's War" is one of the most hyped Oscar movies of the year. It stars Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts! It was written by Aaron Sorkin!!! It was directed by Mike Nichols!!!!!!

I went to the first public screening last night, and I can now put the exclamation key on my keyboard to rest. "Charlie Wilson's War" is the perfect example of why you can't handicap the Oscars race based on a film no one has seen.

I love Mike Nichols. I thought "Closer" was the best movie of 2004, though it wasn't nominated for best picture because the Academy found it too dark. "Charlie Wilson's War" is definitely more upbeat, more heartwarming and mushy and gooey and--it's still not going to get nominated for best picture. The truth is, this true story about a congressman from Texas who saves Afghanistan from a Soviet invasion just isn't that good. You've got a four-star cast trapped in the body of a two-star script.

Sorkin paces the whole thing like a long episode of "The West Wing" dipped in "Studio 60 on the Afghanistan Strip." The scenes in Washington are kind of quippy and fun, but when the movie goes overseas, it loses its momentum. It doesn't help that the people of Afghanistan are treated like extras from Borat.

As Charlie Wilson, Hanks mostly succeeds, but not so much that he will get nominated for best actor. Julia Roberts has big eyelashes, big hair and a big Texas accent, but she never wears any of it comfortably. She's also such a huge star, that--I'm sorry, Julia--she can't be contained in a supporting role. You need an entire movie to wrap around her. She's out of the running, too.  

The audience at the screening I attended loved Philip Seymour Hoffman. He's had the Best. Year. Ever. But I think he'll probably get nominated for his supporting role in "The Savages." Amy Adams, as Hanks's assistant, is the only member of the cast who resembles a real human being. 

Update: Philip Seymour Hoffman is actually lead for "The Savages," as well as "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead." Oh no. He's going to split his vote.

The best actress race is a real cat fight this year, and the claws came out yesterday. David Poland of Movie City News reported that Cate Blanchett was actually being campaigned for best actress, not supporting, for "I'm Not There." By the end of the day, she was back in the supporting category (wise move, studio). But that doesn't help us much.

There are always a flood of actors competing. But this year, there are also a record number of women who could slip into the top five. Let's take a look:

We've got the neurotic writers. Nicole Kidman in "Margot at the Wedding" and Laura Linney, who gives the most brilliant performance of her career in "The Savages."

We've got the struggling artist, Marion Cotillard in "La Vie En Rose."

The princess (Amy Adams in "Enchanted") and the queen (Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth II").

The wise-cracking teen, a female version of Holden Caufield, played by Ellen Page in "Juno."

The veteran, Julie Christie for her performance in "Away From Her."

Keira Knightley should be swept in with "Atonement," don't you think?

And the most famous face of all, Angelina Jolie, who was unfairly ignored by audiences for her best performance yet in "A Mighty Heart."

Nine names, four will fall out. If I was predicting today, here's who I think would make the cut, in no particular order: (1) Laura Linney, (2) Julie Christie, (3) Keira Knightley, (4) Marion Cotillard, (5) Amy Adams 

"I'm not There," the Todd Haynes film inspired by Bob Dylan, has been called the movie of the year by Sasha Stone (our old-new bff) at AwardsDaily.com. It's also possibly the worst movie of the year, according to Rex Reed of the New York Observer. Is the movie really that divisive?

Yes.

I saw it about a month ago, and to me, "I'm Not There" felt like watching a subtitled movie without the subtitles. It's so strange, with long stretches that will have Academy voters pushing the eject button on their DVD players, I don't see how it can get nominated in any category, other than best supporting actress for Cate Blanchett.

Remember when the GoldDigger launched this blog, with the crazy prediction that Amy Adams will get a best actress nomination for "Enchanted." Well, the first major review is up, and it's a rave. Here's what Peter Travers of Rolling Stone says:

"You might want to remember the name Amy Adams. It's star-is-born time for the Colorado Mormon, who won a supporting-actress Oscar nomination for 2005's Junebug, which few saw (dumb move). Enchanted has the makings of a supersize sugarcoated hit, and Adams is just the spicy princess you want to take home and PG-love. Not since Julie Andrews rode an umbrella to glory in Mary Poppins has Disney given us such a real-life doll.

"... Adams is the wish your heart makes when you want a storybook princess for the ages. She's wicked good."

She's going to need all the help she can get to sneak into the best actress category this year. The frontrunners are Keira Knightley for "Atonement," Julie Christie for "Away From Her" and Marion Cotillard for "La Vie En Rose." Ellen Page will likely also make the cut for "Juno." As will Laura Linney for "The Savages." Oops. That's five already. But maybe some fairy-tale magic will intervene and knock one of the other leading ladies out.

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is the best movie I've seen (so far) this year. I just came back from the premiere at New York's Ziegfeld theater, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. It's the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the Elle editor who was left paralyzed after a stroke, and yet he devises a system to communicate by blinking his one good eye. Although it sounds grim, it's also uplifting--in a way that the Academy won't be able to resist, even if it's in French (and not eligible for best foreign film, because France submitted "Persepolis" instead). Actually, I think "Diving Bell" will be this year's "Letters From Iwo Jima," the movie that took everyone by surprise last year, only with more nominations.

Let me count the ways. Best picture, for sure. Best actor, probably, for Mathieu Amalric. Best supporting actor, maybe, for Max von Sydow. Best screenplay, definitely, for Ronald Harwood who adapts an unadaptable book. And best director, hopefully, for Julian Schnabel. Throw in a cinematography nomination, and that's six categories. I'm right about this, I promise.

Keri Russell is getting buzz for "Waitress," and even though she probably won't be nominated for an Oscar this year, she deserves an award for being so normal. "I'm sorry it's so loud," she said on the cell phone last week. "The train is going over my head, and I'm walking in Brooklyn." Wait, Keri Russell walks in Brooklyn?! "I walk everywhere!" I was interviewing Russell about being a mom to five-month-old son River, but I managed to sneak in a JJ Abrams question. Like, are they going to work together again? "Of course I would. I was just with JJ on Thursday night--he's one of my favorite people. I don't know if it's going to be in this current project, but we're trying to work something out." You have to admit that Felicity would make an awesome "Star Trek" babe. But if that doesn't happen, maybe she could just go back to being Felicity again. "A 'Felicity' reunion? Hmm. Sure," Russell said. Really!?! "If JJ and Matt [Reeves] were writing it. But I have a feeling that's been put to rest." What do you think? It's time for a GoldDigger vote. Would you see a "Felicity" movie? Email "Yes" or "No" to RSetoo@newsweek.com

Alicia Keys's new album, "As I Am," hits stores today. Keys sounds a little different--deeper, more melodic. Or as she puts it: "Vocally, a lot of people say I sound like I drank a lot of whisky." Here are 7 things you don't know about Keys.

1. Her mom helped her pick her name. (She was born Alicia Augello-Cook). "I got so desperate I went through the dictionary for something that catches my eye," she says. "I get to the W's and I pick Wild. 'Alicia Wild, how does that sound, Ma?' She said, 'It sounds like you're a stripper.' But I liked Keys. It's like the piano keys. And it can open so many doors."

2. Although Bob Dylan references Keys in one of his songs, she's never said a word to him. But she once passed him at an event. "It was a magical moment. He was in his zone and I was feeling that." 

3. Now that she's already a songwriter and a poet, she wants to take a crack at a novel, too. "I want to write a book of fiction that might be a series," Keys says. "It would probably be for young adults." Like the Hardy Boys? "A little bit in that vein. But a little bit more as I experience life." What does she mean? "I don't know! I have to write it first."

4. Here's how Keys protects her voice: "I wear a lot of scarves, a lot of turtlenecks, drink a lot of tea. With time and experience and life, you voice changes because the emotions behind it change."

5. After touring the world, she thinks Spain the best country to visit. "It's so romantic with great red wine. And Flamenco dancing."

6. She loves swimming so much, she compares herself to a mermaid. "I was born in the water. I love it. I get lost and I never want to go back ... preferably in very warm climates in the Caribbean."

7. Her new album has the same name as Kristin Chenoweth's "As I Am." "Who's that?!" Keys asks of the "Wicked" Broadway star. She then concedes, "We can both be as we are, because we're both different." 

The GoldDigger is taking a moment to reflect. I spent Sunday watching three films--"Zodiac," "American Gangster" and "Year of the Dog." Two of them were entertaining enough. The third features Molly Shannon talking to dogs. (But to be fair, it's a Mike White movie and an odd meditation on loneliness, sort of a bookend to "Lars and the Real Girl.") All this got me thinking about best picture, a race in which everyone is throwing their hands up in the air about this year.

Except, not really.

There are two locks so far. "Atonement" and "No Country for Old Men," which opened to an impressive $42,928 per screen average ($1.2 million) this weekend. If nothing else remarkable comes along, it could be a rematch of 1999 when "Shakespeare in Love" fought off "Saving Private Ryan." This year, I think the edge is in the Coen brother's corner. "No Country" is violent, yes, but not in a way that will alienate female voters. It's as adrenaline packed as last year's winner, "The Departed," with a more literary back story.

Do not adjust your screens. That's the food plate from last night's New York premiere of "No Country For Old Men." This blog is becoming so schizophrenic (sorry), I thought I'd try to become the Zagat (eew) of the awards-going crowd, too. But that was until I had to photograph my dish in a crowded room of Hollywood's best, and it took nine flashes from my blackberry to produce the Ansel Adams before you. Hmm. Maybe this will be a one-time shtick. The food is (from top right corner, counterclockwise): salty red meat, yellow vegetable, one shrimp, more yellow food, chicken and a bread roll. It gets a C+. 

What about the movie? Didn't you hear? It's terrific. Javier Bardem steals the picture. I can't help but wonder, though, why he's not being campaigned in the lead acting category. "He's going to win best supporting actor," a movie insider explained. Right. But he'd probably win best actor, too. Javier was there at the screening, with a bit of scruff that made him look more like Clive Owen than a sociopathic killer. Stars who go ugly always look extra primped on the red carpet--and why shouldn't they? It's a lesson from the America Ferrera School of Dude, I'm Not Really Ugly Like Ugly Betty! I also saw Josh Brolin and Frances McDormand in front of the popcorn stand. No, she's not in the movie. She's just a Coen groupie, like the rest of us.

I saw "Margot at the Wedding" last night. Oh, gosh. It's a smart, fierce little movie, with an emphasis on little. Nicole Kidman gives a very good performance--her best is "Moulin Rouge," followed by "To Die For," followed by "The Hours," and this fits somewhere around "The Portrait of a Lady" and "Eyes Wide Shut." Jennifer Jason Leigh should have a shot in the supporting actress category, if enough Academy members watch their screeners. Jack Black might have a shot at the Razzie.

Entertainment Weekly has a photo gallery of Oscar frontrunners. The magazine's Oscar pundit Dave Karger thinks "American Gangster" and "Charlie Wilson's War" (which no one has seen) are both good bets for best picture. I still don't know about "Gangster." I went to "Lars and the Real Girl" this weekend instead. (I loved it.) In the best actress category, he thinks Cate Blanchett will be crowned with a nomination for "Elizabeth: The Golden Age." I'm not so sure. The movie tanked at the box office and one Blanchett nod (in the supporting category for "I'm Not There") should be enough.

Celine Dion's comeback album, "Taking Chances," hits stores next week. But you don't need to wait any longer to hear one of her best songs. Newsweek has the world debut of "My Love," track No. 4, written by Linda Perry. Listen to it here:

What do you think?!

I've heard the whole album already and it's good. Celine sounds a little different--more rock, more blues, more restrained--but she benefits from the change. My favorite song is "That's Just the Woman in Me," which is like Janis Joplin meets Kelly Clarkson.

Celine's got a big year ahead of her. She closes her Las Vegas show in December. Then she goes on an international tour in February. Click here to read 7 Things You Don't Know About Celine Dion.

Celine Dion has been in Vegas for a long time--five years--but she's finally ready to take her show on the road. She's beginning a world tour in February and she has a new album out, "Taking Chances." Her are 7 things you don't know about Celine Dion. 

(1) She's very superstitious. "I knock on wood a lot," Celine says. "I have a little bell backstage. It's like a Christmas ding ding ding ding. I stand in the same place in the elevator. I touch people's thumbs for energy."

(2) Her stage in Vegas slopes down 6 degrees, so her audience can see her better, but it's hard for Celine to sing and dance (in heels) on it. "Nobody knew it was going to be that hard," she says. "It's very difficult for the spine. Your hips change, the neck shifts forward. It put pressure on the vocal chords. I lost my voice. I had to go to Los Angeles [to a doctor]. They thought it was paralysis of the vocal chords. But it was just tension. I don't want that to become so dramatic. It was worth it, because everybody could see very well."

(3) Her halls backstage at Caesars Palace are painted orange. "When we first moved there, it was a very hospital color. My team helped me pick the color. Some were superstitious about the green. Some didn't want to go to blue because of emotional stuff. I didn't want to go too much yellow. The orange color, nobody told me, 'No orange.'"

(4) After being in Vegas for so long, she wasn't sure if she could sing again. "I was tired. We took a few days off, and here I was recording the album at this time of the month, who's going to tell me I'm going to be in good shape, no sinus infection? There was no guarantee that I could do it."  

(5) But she's feeling good about her new CD. "I can't believe I have this album. It's grounded, strong, fresh, young. Am I getting younger?! If 40 is about that, listen I'm going to be the first spokesperson for the 40-year-old woman."

(6) Why she sounds different on her new album: "The greatest thing about it is, I was free. I felt free. I didn't feel like I had to put too much pressure on myself singing. I didn't need to prove myself, even though I haven't recorded for so long. I didn't sing from here (points to her throat) I sang from here (points to her heart)."

(7) Celine is her biggest critic--OK, maybe not. But she's still pretty tough on herself. Her husband, Rene Angelil, says: "Sometimes I watch the show and I come back, 'It was a great show!' She's depressed, 'Ugh, that was so bad' The bar for her is very high. People obviously think she's great. It's the only show in Las Vegas to have a closing date while it's sold out. But it's very rare that she thinks she did a great show. It's happened three or four times."

To read more about Celine Dion, click here for Newsweek's story on her. Also, click here to listen to the world debut of "My Love," Track Four from her upcoming album.

I was on a secret mission two weeks ago, remember? Actually, I was flying to Chicago to interview Celine Dion, who has a new CD out next week (and who has performed at the Oscars six times). More posts are coming ...

I haven't seen "American Gangster" yet—the trailer looks kind of bleh. But Lou Lumenick's review in the New York Post is full of big blurbage. He compares "American Gangster" to "The Godfather" and "Scarface." He says Denzel Washington gives his best performance yet. (Yet?! Really???) He ends with big Oscar talk: "... one of the year's best movies—and surely a major Oscar contender."

Hm. Is this is like the time Roger Ebert called "The Cell" one of the best movies of the year? Wait. Maybe not. The rest of the nation's critics mostly love it, too. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone calls it a "major awards contender," though it's "long," "overstuffed" and "limited" (thanks, Peter). Joe Morgenstern of the WSJ is also reminded of "The Godfather." Manohla Dargis of the NYTimes seems mixed in her lead, though the rest of the review sort of collapses into a critique of simple hair-braiding.

What does this all mean?! I guess it's in the running for best picture, and I'm buying a ticket to see it this weekend.

Scary Spice (AKA Melanie Brown) is a star on "Dancing With the Stars," but after the series ends on Nov. 28, she'll spice up her life with the Spice Girls reunion tour. Scary shared 7 secrets with us about returning to Spice World.

(1) All the Spice Girls were shocked at how fast tickets sold out. "You can never judge what the public reaction is going to be like," she says. "When we were told our tickets sold out in something ridiculous like 38 seconds in London, we all held our breaths."

(2) They've wrapped the new Spice Girls music video. "I saw it today, in one of the final edits. It's really beautifully done. It's very classy. It's very elegant. It's all very grown up." 

(3) Her "Dancing" dancing is different than her Spice Girls dancing. "'Dancing With the Stars' is more technical, because it's ballroom. Spice Girls, it's me, so I put my flavor on it ... it's more street dancing ... you build up a sweat in each."

(4) The Spice Girls rehearse for four hours a day. "We have singing coaches, so we can do our harmonizing. I think we're a little bit better. We've matured with age."

(5) Why she moved to LA six years ago: "London is too cold for me," she says.

(6) She and Victoria Spice are still BFFs. "We have play dates with our kids together, quite a lot. Me and my husband go over there for dinner."

(7) But she won't give us any of David Beckham's secrets. "I'm not going to rat my friends out like that! We're all about protecting and supporting each other."

Every Friday from now on, I'm writing up the cut footage from my magazine interviews for the blog. Some of them will have nothing to do with the Oscars—if that's not your thing, sorry about that, just skip to the next post.

The GoldDigger reported last month that Sotheby's is auctioning off Orson Welles's 1942 Oscar for "Citizen Kane" in December. Now comes word that Sotheby's is also auctioning off  the "Kane" working script. It's 156 pages long, with annotations from Welles. Estimated price: $80,000 to $120,000. Get your checkbook. The big day for both the script and the Oscar auction is Dec. 11.