THERE'S A STRONG NEW PRESENCE IN MY LIFE

I can't seem to get away from Mark Strong. Suddenly, he's everywhere. A few weeks ago, I didn't even know who he was. Then I watched The Young Victoria, and one bastard, in particular, grabbed my attention. I wasn't thrilled when he roughed up Emily Blunt, and I didn't want anything to do with him. (What a performance, though!)

But he keeps coming back in my life. There are movie posters all over Buenos Aires for Sherlock Holmes, and on them, there is his name, fourth above the title, after Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Rachel McAdams. Then I just read on Box Office Mojo that he will be starring with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett in the upcoming Robin Hood.

Not bad for a total unknown. Only thing is, he's been around forever -- and he's hardly unknown. In fact, the Brit's filmography is pretty impressive: In 2008, he appeared in no less than six films, last year in three, and this year, according to his Wikipedia page, he has six films, including the Peter Weir-directed The Way Back, with Colin Farrell, Ed Harris and Saoirse Ronan, and The Guard, with Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle.

Why do I feel some Oscar buzz coming on?