In an effort to catch up on things from the last two months I want to mention this film, which anyone who has talked to me in the last month is probably tired of hearing me talk about.

'Once' is an Irish film from 2006 that just got its play in the US late last year. It stars to relative unknowns, here at least. Glen Hansard is the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Frames and was in the 1991 film The Committments by Alan Parker. Marketa Irglova had not been in any film before this. It was directed by a former Frames drummer John Carney.

Shot in a realistic manner with a pair of handycams with a very small budget it is a wonderful film about two people in Dublin with enough in common to be more than friends.

The director claims that 60% of the film is music. And music is what the film is about. So much so that the Academy gave 'Falling Slowly' the Best Song Oscar last month. Never have I experienced a song that was so integral to the plot, advanced the plot, and set up the rest of the film than this one. Any other song winning the Oscar would have been a bigger upset than when Saving Private Ryan losing to Shakespeare in Love. And the song was almost disqualified from contention since the Academy had trouble dating the song, saying it was released before the film came out.

Rent, buy, or borrow 'Once'. Then buy the soundtrack. You won't be disappointed. And if you are, give it to someone else, they'll probably like it.