Zebra Espanhola   Cuidado com o espanhol José Luis Garci. Diretor de El Abuelo, rival de Central do Brasil na disputa pelo Oscar de melhor filme estrangeiro, Garci levou duas estatuetas para seu país: como cineasta (Volver a Empezar, em 1981) e produtor (Sedução, 1993). Logo após o anúncio da indicação de El Abuelo, ele contou que recebeu propostas de três empresas americanas — Sony Classics (a mesma de Central), Miramax (de A Vida É Bela) e MGM — dispostas a lançar o filme nos Estados Unidos.

Militante   Ativista famoso na Grã-Bretanha, Ian McKellen acha que sua indicação ao Oscar de melhor ator representa a rendição de Hollywood ao homossexualismo. Em Gods and Monsters, ele interpreta John Whale, diretor de filmes de terror, renegado na indústria cinematográfica dos anos 50 por ser assumidamente gay. ‘‘Acho que o mundo está amadurecendo’’, apontou McKellen, que disputa a estatueta com Tom Hanks, Roberto Benigni, Nick Nolte e Edward Norton.

Veterano   Temporada de Caça rendeu ao veterano James Coburn a primeira indicação ao Oscar, depois de mais de 40 anos de profissão. O papel do pai alcóolatra de Wade (Nick Nolte, também indicado ao Oscar) no filme de Paul Schrader colocou o astro de Sete Homens e Um Destino na lista dos concorrentes à estatueta de melhor ator coadjuvante em 1999. ‘‘Diga a eles — os produtores de Hollywood — que ainda estou disponível’’, brincou Coburn, em entrevista à agência Reuters, afastando a idéia de aposentadoria.

De volta    Na disputa pelo Oscar de melhor atriz coadjuvante, Lynn Redgrave não era lembrada pela Academia de Hollywood desde 1967, quando concorreu por Georgy Girl. Ao longo destes 32 anos, Redgrave teve três filhos, perdeu dinheiro e permaneceu muito tempo sem conseguir trabalho. A recuperação aconteceu com Gods and Monsters, onde interpreta uma bizarra imigrante húngara recém-chegada aos Estados Unidos, em plena década de 50.

Babenco O primeiro e único cineasta latino-americano a ser indicado para o Oscar de melhor direção foi Hector Babenco, por O Beijo da Mulher Aranha, em 1985. Já o primeiro filme latino-americano que concorreu à estatueta foi a produção mexicana Macario, dirigida por Roberto Gavaldón em 1960.

Um prêmio para o talento A atriz Shirley MacLaine é homenageada no Festival de Berlim         Premiada como a melhor atriz do Festival Internacional de Cinema de Berlim de 1959, por sua interpretação em Elas Querem É Casar – comédia de Charles Walters que, por coincidência, passa hoje no canal de tevê a cabo TNT –, a atriz Shirley MacLaine receberá esta noite, no palco do cinema Zoo Palast, um Urso de Ouro em reconhecimento pela sua carreira cinematográfica. Em 1972, MacLaine recebeu em Berlim outro Urso de Prata de melhor atriz por Desperate Characters, de Frank D.Gilroy, filme que não foi distribuído comercialmente no Brasil. Ela já ganhou prêmios de interpretação nos festivais de Veneza – Se Meu Apartamento Falasse (1960) – e San Sebastian – Madame Souzatska (1988) – além do Oscar de melhor atriz por Laços de Ternura (1983).         

O Festival de Berlim segue dominado pelos filmes norte-americanos. eXistenZ, o novo filme do canadense David Cronenberg, estrelado por Jennifer Jason Leigh, e a produção espanhola La Niña de Tus Ojos, de Fernando Trueba, foram os mais comentados do festival até agora. O filme de Cronenberg segue no clima dark do realizador de Crash. A produção espanhola, rodada em Praga (República Checa), busca inspiração nos anos 30, quando espanhóis foram para Berlim realizar co-produções com os alemães, em plena Guerra Civil Espanhola e ascensão do nazismo. Penélope Cruz, Goya de melhor atriz, e António Resines são os protagonistas do filme que conquistou o Goya de melhor do ano. O Festival de Berlim termina no próximo dia 21, quando serão entregues os prêmios aos melhores do evento.

It's been barely 24 hours since this year's Oscar nominations were revealed, but contenders Edward Norton and Fernanda Montenegro are already looking like certain losers. Well, at least according to London-based oddsmaker Ladbrokes, which has handicapped this year's race. Taking the early lead: Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture, Tom Hanks for Best Actor, and Shakespeare in Love's Gwyneth Paltrow for Best Actress. Hanks and Paltrow have been handed 10 to 11 odds, putting them several lengths ahead of the rest of the field. Gods and Monsters star Ian McKellen is Hanks' closest competition with 6 to 4 odds, while Elizabeth's Cate Blanchett is on Paltrow's heels with 11 to 8 odds. Bringing up the rear are American History X star Norton and Central Station's Montenegro, "Hail Mary" long shots with 33 to 1 odds. (The easiest way to calculate is to look at the number on the right. If you bet that amount, your profit will be the number at the left.) The complete field breaks down like this:

BEST PICTURE Saving Private Ryan: 1 to 5 Shakespeare in Love: 4 to 1 Elizabeth: 14 to 1 The Thin Red Line: 14 to 1 Life Is Beautiful: 20 to 1

BEST ACTOR Tom Hanks, Saving Private Ryan: 10 to 11 Ian McKellen, Gods and Monsters: 6 to 4 Nick Nolte, Affliction: 5 to 1 Roberto Benigni, Life Is Beautiful: 10 to 1 Edward Norton, American History X: 33 to 1

BEST ACTRESS Gwyneth Paltrow, Shakespeare in Love: 10 to 11 Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: 11 to 8 Meryl Streep, One True Thing: 5 to 1 Emily Watson, Hilary and Jackie: 14 to 1 Fernanda Montenegro, Central Station: 33 to 1

Warren Beatty is fighting back against claims that his Oscar-nominated screenplay for Bulworth is not as original as previously believed. In a new book by Variety editor Peter Bart titled The Gross: The Hits, The Flops — The Summer That Ate Hollywood, he says Beatty came up with the idea for the screenplay from stories by Somerset Maugham and Jules Verne. Bart also maintains that in addition to credited co-writer Jeremy Pisker, Beatty, who also directed and starred in the film, had two other uncredited scribes working on the script: James Toback (Two Girls and a Guy) and Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The American President). Beatty isn't taking Bart's comments lightly, and is hinting that he might be considering legal action. "Peter Bart can be a nasty guy sometimes," the star tells the New York Post. "He was wildly inaccurate in his account of what took place on the picture, but because he's the editor of Variety, no one ever calls him to task for his sloppy research. I guess it's hard to sell books, but they could be in deep s--t. Boy, did they not vet this book. They f---ed up." Bart writes that "the murkiness surrounding the origins of Bulworth was sustained throughout the writing process." Toback told Bart that Beatty hired him in 1991 to work on a film based on a story by Maugham that later became Bulworth, which centers on a suicidal politician who takes out a hit on himself. That was the same year Roger Birnbaum, onetime head of production for 20th Century Fox, says he told Beatty about the Verne story, which he believes inspired the film. Beatty insists to Bart that he had already written a detailed treatment on which the screenplay was based before he hired Toback to work for "several hours" to polish the script. Toback claims he worked for three weeks and wrote the majority of the first draft, adding, "When I saw the final shooting script, there was a lot of my stuff in there." Sorkin also took a stab at the screenplay, and Bart says that "sources who worked on Bulworth say they found many signs of Sorkin's witty, sophisticated dialogue in the final version, for which he received no screen credit." Sorkin filed suit against Beatty and Fox in 1997 over another project he was working on for them, Oceans of Storms, claiming he was not fully paid for his work on the film. The writer alleged he was fired and his fee was cut from $700,000 to $225,000 because Fox claimed he delivered the Oceans rewrite late. Sorkin said he missed the due date because the studio, on Beatty's behalf, had asked him to work on Bulworth. According to the suit, the entire episode was the result of "Beatty's irrational, incomprehensible, and unwarranted personal animus, and hostile feelings toward" him. Beatty, whose film was met with critical acclaim but box office indifference, tells the Post that Toback's and Sorkin's scripts "didn't work out," adding, "I don't think Jimmy or Aaron would say they want credit, and in any case it's not in their hands. The Writers Guild gives credit where it's due." "I have nothing against Warren," Bart tells the paper. "But I was bemused when he got the nomination." And Beatty isn't the only one defending his Oscar-nominated original script. Shakespeare in Love co-writer Marc Norman is upset over a piece in Sunday's New York Times that characterized the film as a completion of co-writer Tom Stoppard's oeuvre. "The movie was Mr. Norman's idea. Other than that, the division of labor between the two screenwriters is not specified. But the dialogue has the linguistic limberness of Mr. Stoppard at his wittiest," Mel Gussow writes in the article. That got Norman's blood boiling, and he tells the Hollywood Reporter, "Stoppard did what we would call a dialogue polish. He added some important ideas; he added the Marlowe character [played by Rupert Everett] and the wager and some of the jokes, which I was frankly afraid of but he, in his theatrical wisdom, knew would work." Norman says he called the paper to let the writer know he was upset about the article. "I took exception and… responded to the editors the way somebody should." Gussow says he never heard from Norman, but did get an earful from several of his irate friends. He believes the entire affair is much ado about nothing. "I was very clear in my piece that one could not determine exactly who contributed what to the screenplay," Gussow said. The Writers Guild gave credit to both Stoppard and Norman, with Norman's name listed first. Of course, controversy over authorship has been dogging the screenplay for several weeks, after a letter to the editor of London's Daily Telegraph pointed out the similarities between Shakespeare in Love and the 1941 British novel No Bed for Bacon by Caryl Brahms and S.J. Simon. Both works feature a young Bard battling writer's block who finds inspiration in the beautiful Viola, who pretends to be a man to perform onstage. Norman and Stoppard have vigorously denied that they were in any way inspired by the book.

Independent & Foreign Pictures Provide '99 Surprises by Richard Natale, Times Staff Writer   The independent-film calendar for 1999 is, as always, filled with surprises. It doesn't take a crystal ball to predict the coming blockbuster success of the ``Star Wars'' prequel or other mainstream films that are launched with buzz and hype aplenty. But it would have been virtually impossible to handicap the breakout specialized hits of recent years, such as ``The Full Monty,'' ``Life Is Beautiful'' or, on a more modest level, ``The Opposite of Sex.'' This year should prove to be no exception. The high hopes that the independent-film companies have for certain films will, as usual, be overshadowed by movies that capture the fancy of the critical community and audiences. An independent movie that is picked up at the last minute at a film festival like Sundance or Cannes can break out of the box and become a phenomenon like ``sex, lies, & videotape'' did several years ago. But it's precisely that element of surprise that adds spice to the often too predictable movie year. Here are some possible breakout indie films for '99. Keep in mind that the line between indie films and more mainstream fare is getting smaller and smaller. Something With a British (or Irish) Accent: American movie audiences are, let's face it, suckers for English accents or a little bit of Irish whimsy -- for example ``The Full Monty,'' ``Shakespeare in Love,'' ``Waking Ned Devine.'' There are more than a handful of independent movies to satisfy the Anglophile (or Celtophile) in us all, including: ``A Midsummer Night's Dream.'' (Fox Searchlight) -- Another chance to brush up your Bard, a full-dress adaptation of Shakespeare's most popular comedy, with Kevin Kline, Calista Flockhart and Michelle Pfeiffer, speaking in couplets in the Tuscan countryside at the turn of the century (the last one). ``The Winslow Boy.'' (Sony Classics) -- David Mamet has adapted the classic Terrence Ratigan drama starring the newly knighted Sir Nigel Hawthorne. ``Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.'' (Gramercy) -- In the tradition of ``Trainspotting.'' This comically twisted tale of a group of hapless would-be hoods was a sensation in its native England last year. ``This Is My Father.'' (Sony Classics) -- The history of the Quinn family, directed by Paul Quinn, photographed by Declan Quinn and starring their brother Aidan Quinn. A real Irish clan bake. For the Young and Young at Heart: It's not only the major studios that want to tap the burgeoning youth market: ``Dairy Queens.'' (New Line) -- This blend of ``Heathers'' and ``Smile'' features Christina Ricci, Kirsten Dunst and Kirstie Alley. (Note: This is a working title for the film.) ``White Boys.'' (Fox Searchlight) -- From the creators of ``Slam'' comes this oddball tale of white rappers in Iowa. Thrills and Spills: If you can't make 'em laugh, scare them out of their wits: ``A Stir of Echoes.'' (Artisan) -- A supernatural thriller with echoes of ``Poltergeist'' from David Koepp, the writer of ``Jurassic Park,'' starring Kevin Bacon. ``Untitled Winona Ryder Project.'' (New Line) -- Described as an intense psychological thriller starring Ryder and directed by ``Saving Private Ryan'' cinematographer Janusz Kaminski. ``Killing Mrs. Tingle.'' (Miramax) -- Kevin Williamson makes his directorial debut with a psychological thriller based on his own script about a confrontation between a teen-ager (Katie Holmes) and a high school teacher from hell (metaphorically speaking) played by Helen Mirren. Foreign Fare: For those who like to read their movies, or even hear them in English with a foreign accent: ``Besieged.'' (Fine Line) -- Bernardo Bertolucci's tale of obsessive love (shades of ``Last Tango in Paris'') starring ``Beloved's'' Thandie Newton and British actor David Thewlis (``Naked''). In English. ``Run Lola Run.'' (Sony Classics) -- A German high-tech thriller described as a '90s version of ``Diva,'' the '80s French techno-thriller. ``Black Cat White Cat.'' (October Films) -- The Cannes Film Festival prize-winning raucous comedy from Yugoslav director Emir Kusturica. ``Legend of the Pianist.'' (Fine Line) -- A kid grows up aboard an ocean liner without ever debarking. Starring Tim Roth. From Giuseppe Tornatore, the director of ``Cinema Paradiso.'' In English. ``The Idiots.'' (October Films) -- Danish director Lars von Trier's (``Breaking the Waves'') controversial and sexually explicit drama. Uncategorizable: Independent movies can sometimes delight because their stories often break the mold, defying genre limitations: ``A Walk on the Moon.'' (Miramax) -- The first directorial effort for actor Tony Goldwyn, about a woman in upstate New York whose life is changed by the Summer of Love (that's 1967 for those of you who weren't born yet). The drama stars Diane Lane and Viggo Mortensen. ``Cookie's Fortune.'' (October Films) -- Robert Altman is back with another eccentric multistory ensemble comedy set in the South, featuring Patricia Neal in the title role and Glenn Close, Julianne Moore, Liv Tyler and Chris O'Donnell among others. ``Cookie'' was the opening-night attraction at Sundance this year. ``Outside Providence.'' (Miramax) -- Based on the novel by Peter Farrelly (``There's Something About Mary'') about his experiences growing up near the capital of Rhode Island. Stars Alec Baldwin. ``Being John Malkovich.'' (Gramercy) -- The candidate for the oddest-sounding film of the year is this comedy in which Cameron Diaz and John Cusack literally invade the brain of the famous actor, who obviously plays a significant supporting role.