The big moment for Hollywood draws near

10.30 am

LOS ANGELES - The limos have been rented, the champagne put on ice - Hollywood is ready for its big Oscar night and all it needs now are the envelopes, please, to find out who won some of the closest contests in years.

Almost every major prize, from best picture to best adapted screenplay, is up for grabs at the glittering ceremony at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium, hosted by comedian Steve Martin, which begins at 1 pm (NZ time) and is watched around the world.

The advance word is that Martin plans to be tasteful - but how tasteful can a man who likes to wear an arrow through his head be?

Only one major prize is considered locked up in advance and that is best actress. Julia Roberts, who jumped to stardom over a decade ago in "Pretty Woman," is expected by both pundits and industry professionals to sweep to victory for what was essentially a career-defining performance - that of a feisty legal assistant partial to low-cut blouses in "Erin Brockovich."

Normally, a big box office Roberts role has her playing a woman falling in and out of love as in "Notting Hill" - but Brockovich, based on a true story, has her taking on and beating a powerful, polluting corporation in the Oscar approved style of working-woman-wins-out as set down in "Norma Rae" and countless other uplifting films.

If Roberts fails to win, it will go down as one of the biggest upsets in the 73-year-history of Hollywood's biggest prize.

Another film in the true Hollywood tradition is Ridley Scott's "Gladiator," a Roman Empire epic in which a good guy slave hopes to best bad guy emperor in gladiatorial combat - it's the sort of recipe that has served Hollywood well through the years in films like "Ben Hur" and "Spartacus." Its plot also echoes the Oscar-winning "Braveheart."

The formula might work again today. "Gladiator," which earned $US187 million at the box office, is up against "Brockovich," "Chocolat," "Traffic" and the year's surprise hit, the Chinese-language "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" for best picture.

"Brockovich" and "Traffic," an anti-drug drama that has won a lot of praise, are both directed by Steven Soderbergh. His chances for a win could be diminished by a split vote from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences's 5,700 members.

This leaves "Crouching Tiger" as "Gladiator's" toughest competition, although a non-English language film has never won a best picture Oscar.

But "Crouching Tiger" director, the Taiwan-born Ang Lee has certainly had a nice 24 hours before the Oscars.

He added three more pre-Oscar prizes yesterday as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" won the awards for best feature, best director and best supporting actress (Zhang Ziyi) at the Independent Spirit Awards, which showcases independent films.

"I think the audience is getting cynical today (and longing for) old fashioned film-making, that innocence," Lee told Reuters. "I think maybe Hollywood has failed to do that. ... They don't always provide the most fresh and exciting and unpredictable movies that give people a thrill."

"Crouching Tiger," up for 10 awards, is favored to win at least the foreign language Oscar. Ang Lee was given a boost in the best director category earlier this month when he won the Directors' Guild award for "outstanding directorial achievement in feature film."

Besides Lee, some other Oscar nominees got to practice their acceptance speeches a day early at the Spirit Awards. Spanish actor Javier Bardem ("Before Night Falls"), American veterans Willem Dafoe ("Shadow of the Vampire") and Ellen Burstyn ("Requiem for a Dream") and screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan ("You Can Count on Me") also took home Spirit trophies.

Traditionally, there is little crossover between the Academy Awards, which tend to honor blockbuster movies, and the Spirits, which laud provocative, low-budget films financed mainly outside the studio system. Last year, Hilary Swank was the only double-winner, for her lead role in "Boys Don't Cry."

The sibling melodrama "You Can Count on Me," won best first feature and best screenplay Spirit awards. Lonergan, who wrote and directed the film, is competing for an original screenplay Oscar.

The disturbing drama "Requiem for a Dream" won best female lead for Burstyn, who was a popular choice although prognosticators have all but given the Oscar to Roberts.

"I don't know that anything is preordained except taxes and death," Burstyn told reporters backstage at the Spirits. "As they say, it's not over 'til the fat lady sings - or takes pills.'"

Burstyn was alluding to her "Requiem" role as a retiree who gets hooked on diet pills with disastrous consequences. She won an Oscar in 1975 for "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore."

Bardem, cited for his lead role as exiled Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas in "Before Night Falls," was more philosophical about his Oscar chances. Pointing to his Spirit trophy, he said, "It's a prediction of tomorrow I'm not going to win."

Asked whether he expected to win the Oscar for best director, a more optimistic Lee said, "Why not?"

- REUTERS