The biggest winner at this year’s Academy Awards was Martin Scorsese, who finally received the Best Directing Oscar he deserves. I’m totally with them on that one, but I’m a bit disappointed in The Departed as the “Best” Picture of the Year. I’m even more disappointed in my home country, who in celebrating “the most diverse Academy Awards of all times,” announced at the event that the movie was based on a film from Japan. The truth of the matter is that it’s based on a film from Hong Kong, which—as a matter of geography—is thousands of miles away from Japan and—as a matter of culture—the two are about as similar as South Central Los Angeles and Switzerland.

The Hong Kong film that The Departed was based on is Infernal Affairs (2001) staring Hong Kong mega-star Andy Lau (no relation to me) and an ensemble cast, and “based on” should actually be “a remake,” because Scorsese’s version follows nearly the same script. I’d suggest you stop by your local video store, library or Net Flix account and check out Infernal Affairs, because, in my opinion, it is actually better than Scorsese’s version, with a better ending. (with all due respect to Marty). And I would suggest “global” Hollywood, pick up an atlas on the way to the bank. I am not trying to be rude, I’m just trying to remind us all what travel has taught me this far on my trip—we all need to spend a little more time on our geography.