Update: It’s 1:32 pm, and I’ve changed my mind about yanking Josh Brolin. I was weak. Brolin is back in. Original 1:21 pm post: Earlier this week I withdrew Josh Brolin‘s W. performance from the Oscar Balloon, and I feel badly about it. Every press person I’ve spoken to thinks his performance is spot-on and emotionally genuine — they all get the sadness and the lost feeling at the end. But nobody would stand with me and call it Oscar worthy. Nobody did any cartwheels in the lobby about it, as I did.

Probably, I guess, because the film was not a volcano or a motorcycle. It was measured, straight, sharp, and rigorously based on reported and researched facts. Whatever else it is or was, it didn’t start any fires. So I gave up. Does that make me a consensus columnist, unwilling to stand against the tide? To some extent, truth be told, yes. But in other ways, no. I’ve been a stand-aloner all my life, but you have to pick your fights.