Alfonso Cuaron

FOR the would-be cognoscenti who want to know if the post-Oscar Governors Ball differs from the typical Hollywood premiere -- the answer is yes. The atmosphere on Sunday night lacked that predatory quality, mixed with giddiness that accompanies hits, and the doleful prevarication that accompanies flops. Power players had to check their egos at the door as they shared the rarefied airspace. Time Warner super chief Richard Parsons hobnobbed with L.A.

Disney/Touchstone "Apocalypto" may dispel doom for scandalized Mel Gibson. "The Prestige" shows Christopher Nolan might have the magic touch. Focus Features Phillip Noyce told a rebel's urgent tale as a real thriller in "Catch a Fire." Allen Coulter resurrected Ben Affleck's career while probing the fall of TV's Superman in "Hollywoodland." Fox Searchlight Duos rarely get nominated but Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris could be an exception for "Little Miss Sunshine."

Films about women searching for meaning in their lives dominated the top nominations for the 2003 IFP Independent Spirit Awards announced Wednesday morning. "Lovely and Amazing," "Far From Heaven," and "The Good Girl," each starring female leads in complex, emotional performances, received the most nominations. In addition to those films, best picture nominees were "Secretary" and "Tully."

"Leaving Las Vegas," the downbeat drama about a hopeless alcoholic and the prostitute who loves him, was voted best picture of 1995 on Saturday by the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. The movie by Mike Figgis captured four of the critics' awards. Nicolas Cage won for best actor, and best actress went to Elisabeth Shue. Figgis received honors for best direction. Figgis also was runner-up in the screenplay category.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Daniel Radcliffe, Gary Oldman Warner Home Video, $30 The third and best adaptation of J.K. Rowling's bestsellers chronicling the adventures of a boy wizard. Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron of "Y Tu Mama Tambien" and "The Little Princess" took the directing baton from Chris Columbus and brought a new style and intelligence to Hogwarts. The addition of David Thewlis as Professor Lupin and Gary Oldman as Sirius Black beef up the already good cast as well.

In reference to the article " 'Little Princess' Has Lackluster Return" (Calendar, Aug. 10), I would like to correct both a quote and an overall impression attributed to me. First of all, I never said that the original advertising of "A Little Princess" was "atrocious"; I said that the original poster of "A Little Princess" was "atrocious." There is a big difference. Both Alfonso Cuaron, the director, and I not only agreed with, but also enthusiastically endorsed, all of the Warner Bros.

Executives at Samuel Goldwyn Films, which just acquired for U.S. distribution the Mexican film "El Crimen del Padre Amaro" (The Crime of Father Amaro), say they are not afraid of any controversy the film might generate here despite the firestorm it caused in its home country.

Best known for his intense portrayal of a traumatized amnesiac in "Memento," Guy Pearce embarks on another head trip in the psychological drama "First Snow." But while his character in Christopher Nolan's scrambled film noir suffered the frustrations of a blank-slate mind, the predicament here is just the opposite: too much information.