And in the category of Best Depressing Film, the Oscar goes to...

"The Lives of Others," recently out on DVD.  Set in East Germany before the fall of the Wall, about a Stasi captain's surveillance of a playwright and suspected dissident.  I know it sounds like tough going and to some extent it is, but it's well worth it.  After you've watched it, listen to this Fresh Air interview with Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the director.  His stories of researching the Stasi and their methods with former Stasi agents are fascinating, as is the technique he used to recreate the look of East Germany.  And you learn some startling details about the life of Ulrich Muehe, who played the Stasi captain.

Highly recommended.