“The Visitor” (Groundswell Productions)

1. It’s well thought out, wonderfully written, and fully realized conceptually, so it figures it would get the total shaft from the Golden Globes. When your “best of” list includes “The Reader” and not this movie, the validity of your picks goes completely out the window.

2. After years of being a character actor, Richard Jenkins outshines nearly every performance of any other actor being considered for an award this year. And the man appears to be able to do everything, from dark comedy (“Six Feet Under” and “Burn After Reading”) to slapstick fart humor (“Step Brothers”) to more subtle dramatic works like this. Hopefully the Oscar nominations will acknowledge Jenkins and right the wrong the Golden Globes created.

3. “The Visitor” is writer/director Thomas McCarthy’s second film! As if I weren’t already jealous of his talents, he’s also an actor on “The Wire,” and will be playing Principal Caden in Peter Jackson’s movie adaptation of Alice Sebold’s novel The Lovely Bones. I hate people who are good at more than one thing! Leave something for the rest of us sad bastards!

4. The film pushes Fela Kuti. You should want to see it for that fact alone.

5. If you read this blog regularly you know my clear choice for “Best Picture” of 2008 is “Wall-E.” But that movie aside, “The Visitor” is definitely high on my list. I’d say it’s just as good as “Slumdog Millionaire” and slightly better than “The Wrestler.” It’s out on DVD now, so rent it.

RATING: Countless dialogues on race relations, immigration, and what’s truly important in life

Land of the free, home of the brown,

-Shady