Hoffmann of the Month: September

The "Hoffmann of the Month" for September is Academy Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman--joining Dustin as the only men with the tough dilemma of deciding whether their HotM trophy or their Oscar gets the preeminent spot on the mantel.

(Just kidding...you may be surprised to know there is no trophy presented to Hoffmann of the Month winners. Actually, you're probably not surprised. But if there was a trophy, it would be at least as prestigious as the Oscar. And it would probably have chocolate inside.)

The reason for P. Seymour's selection? Later this month, The Master hits theaters. The above trailer, along with the others that have been released, paints a picture of a creepy, intensely awesome movie about a cult (Hoffman plays the leader) that the director swears isn't based on Scientology but probably is.

Although the movie looks great, and it features Amy Adams (who I always like), I probably won't see it, at least not for a while, because I never see movies in theaters. In fact, I've seen very little of Mr. Hoffman's work--just Almost Famous, Mission: Impossible III, and Moneyball. But that's enough of a sample that I can tell he's a good actor, a real actor, one of the few who actually seems to be acting rather than just playing  themselves in every movie. Actually, the people I consider good actors would make a good evolutionary chart, with Paul Giamatti on the left, Hoffman in the middle, and Russell Crowe on the far right. I should come up with a few more guys to fill in the gaps.

Also, he was just cast in a major role for the Hunger Games sequel (only mentioning that to make my post come up more often in Web searches).

Congratulations, Philip Seymour Hoffman. You're a master actor, a master "Hoffmann," and I'm excited to eventually see The Master. Nobody post spoilers in the comments.