Martin Scorsese has ambushed the Oscar race with Silence, a Masterwork movie about faith and ideas that rocks everything we’ve been dealing with. Andrew Garfield may win the Oscar for best actor. But this is the Big Idea movie Hollywood has lacked for some time.

It’s strange, too, because the word out of Los Angeles on Sunday was that “Silence” was boring or something. I don’t know who those people could be who thought that. “Silence” is a meditation on theology, but it’s also a completely engrossing, absorbing movie in which Big Ideas are made accessible in dialogue and visuals to the point where I often found myself on the edge of my seat.

And that’s pretty interesting since this is faith based movie and I am neither Catholic nor Christian and don’t have a tremendous interest in Jesus. But “Silence” doesn’t require that– it’s a universal message that I think will be embraced by every intelligent moviegoer. Not only, there is some humor, and there is Scorsese violence including one scene where a man literally loses his head.

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But this is Japan in the 1600s, and it’s a savage, brutal place where Christianity is being rebuked. “Silence” is based on the 1966 novel by Shūsaku Endō about two Portugese Jesuit priests (Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver) who are sent to Japan as missionaries. They are following in the footsteps of their mentor, played by Liam Neeson. Scorsese and screenwriter Jay Cocks do something really interesting here, because they are allowing everyone to speak in English but they are not English speakers. At one point it’s explained very elegantly that it’s Japanese and Portugese being spoken and that the priests are being translated by one of the Japanese.

Driver and Leeson are each very, very good but the movie hinges on Garfield. He’s in almost every scene. And what’s fascinating is that Garfield ( who is Jewish in real life by the way) is in the season’s other Christian movie, “Hacksaw Rdige.” But where that movie is hackneyed and dopey with heavy on the nose Catholic imagery, “Silence” is sublime. Garfield’s work in “Silence” is superior because of the writing and directing, and “Silence” is the movie for which he will get his Oscar nomination.

Scorsese says he’s been obsessed with “Silence” for about 40 years, and worked and worked to get it made. In between of course he became famous and celebrated for his gangster movies and remakes, gems like “The Age of Innocence.” I asked him last night, was this subject always on your mind? The answer was “Yes.” Scorsese’s own devout faith just blooms here in a way that casual fans of “Taxi Driver” or “Goodfellas” will not expect. Like one of those films, “Silence” moves– it’s certainly never boring.

I may be wrong. But this is what I think right now. This has been a good season for Oscar films and there are plenty– “La La Land,” “Manchester by the Sea,” “Lion,” “Moonlight,” “20th Century Women,” “Arrival,” “Sully.” But “Silence” is different, it’s the Big Picture. It’s a discussion of who we are and how we got here. In a world where religious persecution is more prevalent than ever, it’s also about who we can be.

One last thing: “Silence” features a Japanese actor named Issei Ogata who will be the Christoph Waltz of this film. He’s a total break out, and should get Best Supporting Actor nods. He doesn’t speak English, but we met him last night and he’s willing. He gets very special mention.

EXCLUSIVE The last time anyone heard about movie producer Daniel Adams he was on his way to prison. In 2012 he became the first producer ever to be convicted for tax credit fraud following the making of a little known project called “The Lightkeeper.” He served time at three different Massachusetts prisons, including Walpole/Cedar Junction, before securing  release.

Now Adams’ name has resurfaced. Last week a new movie he’s producing in Georgia called “In an LA Minute” shut down in a Savannah second, two weeks into production. Adams was not only producing, he was directing too. The large cast included Kiersey Clemons (from the upcoming “The Flash”), Gabriel Byrne, Ned Bellamy, and Bob Balaban, all of whom were seen exiting Savannah with hopes of one day being paid for their work. (Mariel Hemingway was supposed to be in the movie, but a source says “She was too expensive.”)

The Savannah Film Commission office confirmed for me that the movie is shuttered. All queries are being routed to co producer Don Hauer in Los Angeles. If he turns up, I’ll update the story.

A source said, “They just came in while we were shooting and said we couldn’t meet payroll.”

It’s certainly a twist in Adams’ story. In May 2016, he and Nashville music producer Michael Flanders announced in Variety that they had a $50 million fund called Spiderworxx Media. “We are fully financing all of our films and are now actively making offers to actors for ‘An L.A. Minute’  and are looking forward to creating a full slate of films,” Flanders told Variety. No one questioned his statement.

Adams pleaded guilty in 2012 to ten counts of embezzlement- related charges and the tax credit fraud after five years of running what amounted to a Ponzi-type scheme. In 2014, when he was finally out of jail, he still had over $4 million in fines to pay to the state of Massachusetts as well as miscellaneous debts. It doesn’t sound like “In an LA Minute” will be resuming, which means new debts and accusations will be Adams in a New York minute.

UPDATE A source on the film says complaints by two crew members got the production shut down because they were told they wouldn’t be paid until next week. “It will get straightened out and everyone will be back,” the source says.

More to come…

The Weinstein Company has an Oscar surprise for us: “The Founder” is getting an Oscar qualifying run for a week starting tomorrow in Los Angeles.

Michael Keaton stars as Ray Kroc, the man who stole the hamburger company from the McDonald’s brothers and turned it into an empire. Keaton has had such a glowing response from advance screenings and screeners, I guess Harvey W. figured let’s go for it. Keaton is indeed superb playing a dislikeable character whom many may see Trump like qualities in.

In fact, “The Founder” is not to be dismissed as only a Keaton thing for the Oscars. The movie is very entertaining. Considering McDonald’s is such a huge part of public life, it’s really interesting to see how it all started. I know McDonald’s won’t appreciate all the attention, but John Lee Hancock has got a potential hit here.

Keaton is a likely contender for Best Actor. He’s lost once — for “Birdman” and was overlooked for “Spotlight.” If Denzel Washington, Ryan Gosling and Casey Affleck are definites, Keaton could be in the fourth or fifth slot.

If you’re in LA and don’t have a screener, go see this film.

PS Add “Lion” into the mix, already on the way to Oscar nods galore, and TWC may have two contenders in the race this year.