If you thought Hugh Bonneville has a hard time as Robert, Earl of Grantham in “Downton Abbey,” just wait: he’s hilarious as the eccentric Mr. Brown, head of the Brown family, in the wonderful new movie called “Paddington.” Yes, it’s based on the Paddington Bear books, and the movie is already a hit in the UK. It opens here on January 16th. I’m not sure why it didn’t get an Oscar qualifying run.

The movie is so funny, smart, and perfectly toned for kids as well as adults– it may well be the box office sleeper of the winter. It could easily have stolen audiences over Christmas as “Paddington” is about four hundred percent better than “Annie,” the only other movie suitable for kids recently. Bonneville and Sally Hawkins are simply charming and blissfully ignorant as they welcome the Bear into their home.

You’ve probably seen the trailer in which Paddington tries to teach Mr. Brown how to say his name in Bear language. It’s priceless, and consistent with all the other loony stuff involved. The whole point of “Paddington” is that no one ever stops and declares  that being a bear makes him different or less than humans. There are no judgments.

There are plenty of extended cameos, however. including Nicole Kidman’s scene stealing work as a mad scientist who wants to stuff Paddington. She’s just great, sort of channeling her character from “To Die For.” If only “Bewitched” hadn’t been such a mess of a movie– Kidman is funny.

Ben Whishaw is the voice of Paddington; he famously replaced Colin Firth, who was said to sound too old. Whishaw is a big star in the UK, known primarily here from “Skyfall.” But hold on, because this will cement him with kids. For adults, Hawkins, Bonneville, Kidman, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters, Imelda Staunton and Peter Capaldi will do the trick. And what  fun for the very talented Bonneville to break out of “Abbey” for a change.

Oscar voting for nominees ends on Thursday January 8th at 5pm Pacific Time. I know, you’re still sifting through your stack of DVDs, thinking about it, getting ready to push the final button.

My ten Best Picture nominees, if that helps: Boyhood, Selma, Imitation Game, Foxcatcher, American Sniper, Into the Woods, Birdman, Whiplash, Budapest Hotel, Unbroken.

Best Actor— this is tough, tough, tough because Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne are in. David Oyelowo has to be third. Then what? I go for Bradley Cooper and Steve Carell. This locks out Michael Keaton from my list. He’s my sixth. So be it.

Best Actress— Still Alice- Julianne Moore, it’s her year. Marion Cotillard for Three Days, and Two Nights. I also say Emily Blunt for Into the Woods. Felicity Jones for Theory. I also put Patricia Arquette in here. But since she will win Supporting, you can choose between Rosamund Pike and Jennifer Aniston. I am a huge fan of Gugu Mbatha Raw from “Belle.”

Best Supporting Actor— JK Simmons for Whiplash, Ethan Hawke for Boyhood, Mark Ruffalo for Foxcatcher, James Corden in Into the Woods, Edward Norton for Birdman. Again, very tough.

Best Supporting Actress— Arquette wins for Boyhood. She has to. Keira Knightley for Imitation Game. Carmen Ejogo is so good as Coretta Scott King in “Selma.” Meryl Streep for Into the Woods, Laura Dern in Wild.

Best Director— Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher; Morten Tyldum, Imitation Game; Richard Linklater, Boyhood; Alejandro Innaritu, Birdman; Ava Duvernay, Selma.

My heartbreaks— wanted more for Bill Murray and St. Vincent. I want a lot for Foxcatcher, a great film that suffered from timing. Ditto American Sniper.

Also, attention screenwriters: this year Sniper, Selma, Imitation Game each lacked showy Supporting male characters. That was a real disappointment. Luke Grimes (Sniper) , Matthew Goode and Charles Dance (Imitation Game), and Henry Sanders (Cager Lee in Selma) and Wendell Pierce (Rev Hosea Williams in Selma) were soooo close.

Special mention to Jessica Chastain, who did everything right in three or four movies, but the movies didn’t have the heft. And special mention to Sienna Miller, who was great in both Foxcatcher and American Sniper.