Amy Ryan at the Oscars lunch

I finally saw "Gone, Baby, Gone" the other day, and very much hope that the Amy Ryan -- who, as previously notes in "Curtains" -- appeared in "Rabbit Hole" at the Geffen a year or so ago -- will take the best supporting actress Oscar next Sunday. Industry favorite Cate Blanchett ("I'm not There") appears to be the front runner, and career longevity like Ruby Dee's could make Dee a dark horse victor. But let's not count our Ryan just yet.

Enjoyed an anecdote she shared at the Oscar nominees lunch last week. So somebody asked her who she had crushes on or admired, and she said Jimmy Stewart. "I like the men who make me laugh."

She also confessed a bit of teen heat for Richard Gere, which took the form of a fan letter requesting an autographed picture.

"It took me doing a play with Laura Linney years later to get him to send me that picture I asked for when I was 13," Ryan said. "I'm patient. I'm very patient."

Just to connect the dots a bit here. Linney and Gere twice appeared together in the films "Primal Fear" and "The Mothman Prophecies." The play Ryan references has got to be the 2000 Broadway revival of "Uncle Vanya."

As for patience, we'll know Sunday whether Amy Ryan -- of, for that matter fellow nominee Laura Linney -- has to extend her wait for an Oscar.