A basic law of hype: The likelihood of being disappointed by a movie is directly proportional to the volume of that movie’s Oscar buzz. So as critics ululate for Babel, please recall your reaction to 21 Grams and proceed accordingly. Meanwhile, Borat and Barack Obama find themselves at separate points of the Curve but with the same dilemma: We’ve been hearing about you for months; now let’s see what you can do. The Emperor’s Children may not, as it turns out, be the greatest novel of all time; that title now belongs to Dave Eggers’s What Is the What. As for Studio 60, as the vultures descend, even its most jaded foes feel remorse, as its demise will simply open up another hour for 1 vs. 100.

Related:

• Archive: “Movie Features”
• Articles by Adam Sternbergh
• Table of Contents: November 13, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!