'THERE is nothing like a dame," according to the musical South Pacific. As the awards season kicks into overdrive, the race for next spring's best actress Oscar is shaping up as a battle of the Dames. The front-runner remains Dame Helen Mirren for her portrayal of the British monarch in The Queen. But some reliable sources, who have had an early look at Notes on a Scandal, believe that Dame Judi Dench could go the distance.
Scandal, which opens here in February, stars Dench as a lonely teacher who befriends a younger new colleague (Cate Blanchett), but resents her affair with a student (17-year-old Derry actor Andrew Simpson, who made his debut in Song for a Raggy Boy). Directed by Richard Eyre, the movie has been adapted by Closer playwright Patrick Marber from the novel by Zoe Heller.
Packing 'em in at Christmas
After many years when the Christmas period was dominated by big-budget fantasy blockbusters - the first two Harry Potters, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and in 2005, The Chronicles of Narnia and King Kong - it's open season this year. In the US the season is more crowded than ever, with 65 films opening between today and New Year's Eve, up from 58 last year.
The Irish market will be dominated by family-friendly fare: effects-driven yarns (Eragon, Night at the Museum); yet more animation (Flushed Away, Happy Feet); Deck the Halls, with Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito as neighbours feuding over the latter's excessive Christmas lights; the new Jerry Bruckheimer action production Déjà Vu, starring Denzel Washington; and a potentially lucrative romantic comedy, The Holiday, teaming Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black.
That leaves little food for thought beyond Clint Eastwood's revisionist Iwo Jima war movie, Flags of Our Fathers, and the film of Patrick Susskind's novel Prefume: The Story of a Murderer.
Borat in Pole position
The initiative by 20th Century Fox to release Borat in a Polish-subtitled print has paid dividends, with more than 2,000 admissions already registered at the screen showing that print in Vue, Liffey Valley, Co Dublin. The success of the venture is likely to lead to many more movies going on release here with Polish subtitles.
Borat is proving to be the surprise international hit of the year, having taken more than $100 million on its first fortnight in release, and it seems certain to more than double that figure in the weeks ahead. It could well prove the most profitable film of the year, given that it cost $17.5 million to make.
Blood in the Gallery
Jean Cocteau's first film, the 1930 Le Sang d'un Poete (Blood of a Poet) will have a special screening at 6pm next Thursday in the Shaw Room of the National Gallery in Dublin. 3epkano, the Dublin-based seven-piece ensemble, will accompany the screening with a live performance of the original score. Tickets are €12, available from Road Records, Fade Street, Dublin 2.
Puppet master on DVD
Fudge 44, the second feature film from Irish director Graham Jones, has been acquired for DVD distribution in the US. Formed as a mockumentary, it deals with six puppets from a struggling Tokyo theatre.
"I'm gratified that Fudge 44 is doing so well," says Jones. "It's an experimental film and I feared it might end up as a gag that only we found amusing." Jones, who made his debut with How to Cheat in the Leaving Certificate, is now preparing an animated Irish horror movie, Denial, dealing with a paedophile ring.
Too cheeky by far
The ads for the soundtrack of Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, the movie built around actor Jack Black's eponymous band, proclaim that it's nothing less than "the greatest album of all time". No such claims for the movie, but the posters featuring the bared (or faked) bottoms of Black and co-star Kyle Gass certainly qualify as the year's least attractive promotional tool. The film opens here next Friday.
