Academy Of Motion Pictures And Sciences Interview

One year after Miramax's heavily-backed "Shakespeare In Love" delivered an astounding Best Picture TKO to DreamWorks' heavily-favored "Saving Private Ryan," in the 1998 Academy Awards, these two studios have locked horns again in a rematch so ferocious Oscar de la Hoya might even bow out of a bout this rancorous.

Fortunately for the Oscar in this fight, he isn't a contestant, he's the prize -- an eight-and-a-half pound golden statuette that can only go home with one movie's producers on Sunday, March 26.

In the red corner (red-faced over last year's loss) we have DreamWorks' brilliantly dark and droll portrait of suburban dysfunction, "American Beauty" -- weighing in at eight nominations, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Golden Globes.

In the blue corner (blue being the color of ostentatious chutzpah) we have Miramax's "The Cider House Rules," a luke-warmly reviewed surprise nominee about an orphan finding his way in the world. It's backed by Miramax's powerhouse PR department, which has helped net the studio nine best picture nominations in the last eight years, two of them winners ("Shakespeare" and "The English Patient").

Sure, "The Green Mile," "The Insider," and "The Sixth Sense" are nominated as well, but with this blood feud garnering all the attention (Academy voters are notorious rubber-neckers), these movies will be settling for table scrap awards or going home hungry.

But while the Best Picture battle is raging despite "Beauty's" nearly sure-thing status, the real contests are in other categories. Denzel Washington ("The Hurricane") and Kevin Spacey ("Beauty") are in a Best Actor race too close to call. Hilary Swank's amazingly masculine performance as the gender-bending Brandon Teena in "Boys Don't Cry" seemed like a lock for Best Actress until Annette Bening won the Screen Actors' Guild award on March 12 for her turn as a "Beauty's" miserable minivan mom. And I'll level with you -- I make intrepid predictions below but I don't have a clue who's going to win best supporting actor and actress this year.

When "The Talented Mr. Ripley," one of 1999's front runners, was all but snubbed in the major categories (supporting actor and screenplay were its only high-profile nods), this 72nd Academy Awards became unusually unpredictable.

But because it's my job, here are my reasoned forecasts of who will be cuddling up to little gold men at the traditional post-Oscar Governor's Ball...