Mt. Oscar

Mt. Oscar: To grab the brass ring -- or in this case the Golden O -- wrap yourself in raves and pack lots of buzz. This week’s altitude readings are by Times staff writers John Horn, Susan King, Chris Lee and Robert Welkos.

PEAKING

NEW HEIGHTS: Coming off strong performances in “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” and “The Savages,” Philip Seymour Hoffman is all the buzz after early screenings of “Charlie Wilson’s War.”

CLIMBING

SORRY ABOUT THAT: After “There Will Be Blood” wrapped, lead actor Daniel Day-Lewis sent out letters to the crew apologizing for his attitude while filming. Apparently, the actor likes to stay in character during a shoot and his oil man, Daniel Plainview, was no charmer.

HOLLYWOOD, TEXAS STYLE: “No Country for Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood” were at least partially filmed in Marfa, Texas, where James Dean’s “Giant” was famously shot.

AT BASE CAMP

GANGSTERS, TAKE 2: Since “The Departed” won best picture last year, where does that leave “American Gangster”? Sure they have different settings -- Boston vs. Harlem -- but will the academy really want to honor hoodlums again?

SOMETHING’S FUNNY: Parts of “Charlie Wilson’s War,” with its strafing of Afghan villagers, teeming refugee camps and children missing limbs, are hard to watch. But it’s all fun and games to the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., which considers the film a comedy.

LOOKING FOR A SHERPA

TOO GOOD: While most “Margot at the Wedding” audiences know in their heads that Nicole Kidman’s performance as the icy older sister is an acting achievement, might they be so put off by the character they come away hating the actress?

THE HARD SELL: New Line marketers are pushing the weakly received family flick “The Last Mimzy” as a For Your Consideration candidate. Odd choice, you say? Did we mention it was directed by studio chief Bob Shaye?

THE SKINNY: Gaining weight for a role is attention-grabbing -- think award-winning Robert De Niro in “Raging Bull” and Charlize Theron in “Monster” -- but is the reverse true? Emile Hirsch and Christian Bale got tragically thin for their respective roles in “Into the Wild” and “Rescue Dawn.”