Phillip Seymour Hoffman won the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of author Truman Capote, in a movie set soon after completion of his celebrated novel Breakfast at Tiffany's'. Truman reads in a New York paper about the senseless murder of the Clutter family and sets out to Kansas to research the story for a possible magazine article. Truman, who seems to fit in in Kansas about as well as Ian Thorpe would fit in at a Cooktown pub, sets about winning over the locals to get the inside story. He then changes his focus to the development of his book 'In Cold Blood' which becomes a five and a half-year research project. Capote depicts the strong relationship he develops with Perry Smith (Collins), one of the two killers.Feeling some compassion for and understanding of Perry, Truman helps the prisoners to some degree. But, he eventually steps back from this relationship as he seeks closure for his book - in the form of the killers' executions.One of the better movies to come out of Hollywood recently, Capote is a must-see for the performances of both Seymour Hoffmann and the supporting cast.

Columbus does a superb job directing this La Boh((egrave))me' revisited rock-opera. A gritty mix of low-life far-too-artsy grunge and soaring pathos, Rent is truly operatic in that its story will move some to tears and others to bewilderment. The film is a year in the life of a group of bohemians. It starts on Christmas Eve, with guitarist Roger (Pascal) and filmmaker Mark (Rapp) attempting to stay in their run-down apartment as their newly-rich friend Benny (Diggs) attempts to toss them out. Mix into the story Maureen (Menzel), Mark's drama-queen former girlfriend and her new girlfriend; heart-of-gold drag queen Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia), professor Tom Collins (Jesse L. Martin) and junkie/exotic dancer Mimi (Dawson). The film then follows the relationships between these characters all shadowed by death, whether from addiction or AIDS.The cast is terrific, most of them reprising their roles from the original Broadway production. This is a tight piece of work that shifts from one showstopper to the next. [Does that mean this show is gonna stop a lot? "Showstopper"? Get it? Oh, never mind...- Ed.] The film has trimmed a fair amount from the Broadway show and replaced some of the interlinking songs with some great dialogue. At times the movie is full-on, both in the aria and heart wrenching stakes, but it certainly is emotionally rich and everything a rock-opera should be.