J Michael Straczynski

"I used TO know Frank Capra," Clint Eastwood says, watching the ocean in a quiet corner of the legendary Eden Roc in what he calls "beautiful downtown Antibes" and thinking about the past. Eastwood met the great Hollywood director back in 1973 when he was shooting "High Plains Drifter" and Capra was in his mid-70s. "He seemed like such a vital guy, his brain cooking on all eight cylinders. You could tell the same story about Billy Wilder, you could go on and on.

Arguably the most important Oscars reward those people who write the words we hear in movies, shoot the visual images we see on the screen and weave those together with the actors' performances. There's a lot of real drama in the writing, cinematography and directing races this year. Could a woman be nominated for cinematography for the first time? Could Batman and Iron Man break down other Oscar barriers? DIRECTOR Favorites Darren Aronofsky, "The Wrestler" Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire" Stephen Daldry, "The Reader" Jonathan Demme, "Rachel Getting Married" David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon" Baz Luhrmann, "Australia" Christopher Nolan, "The Dark Knight" Sam Mendes, "Revolutionary Road" John Patrick Shanley, "Doubt" Gus Van Sant, "Milk" Spotlight: Oscar voters love art-house darlings who cross over to prove they can helm popular hits.

Hollywood has already dipped into its sci-fi vault for 21st century remakes of "The War of the Worlds," "Planet of the Apes" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still," so what's next on the revival list? Plenty.

There were inscriptions written above the entrance of the Temple of Apollo at the Oracle of Delphi, and the two most famous ones were cautionary words of wisdom: "Know thyself" and "Nothing too much." Those bits of ancient advice are worth considering as two Hollywood studios hope to launch film franchises that use Greek mythology as the unlikely premise for popcorn entertainment. "These are the stories that began storytelling in many ways," director Louis Leterrier said a few months ago on the London set of his "Clash of the Titans," the Warner Bros.

When Los Angeles screenwriter and novelist David Freeman wants to relax at the end of his work day, he doesn't leave the house or even get up from his computer terminal: He hits a few keys and is instantly among friends. He can discuss the cocaine trial of Washington Mayor Marion Barry or the crime wave by New York's Zodiac killer, indulge in shoptalk about $3-million screenplays, tell a joke, give advice, gossip or simply sound off.

When Los Angeles screenwriter and novelist David Freeman wants to relax at the end of his work day, he doesn't leave the house or even get up from his computer terminal: He hits a few keys and is instantly among friends. He can discuss the cocaine trial of Washington Mayor Marion Barry or the crime wave by New York's Zodiac killer, indulge in shoptalk about $3-million screenplays, tell a joke, give advice, gossip or simply sound off.

Remember the 2003 film "The Real Cancun"? No? Oh, c'mon, admit it. You still remember the coed shower scene like it was yesterday. Heralded as the first foray into "reality features," "Cancun" played off the proven "Real World"/"Road Rules" formula by sticking a bunch of inebriated teen and twentysomething strangers together in an unsupervised Spring Break scenario. There they could drink and carouse their way to international stardom in front of cameras 24/7.

He-Man was in a pickle. He'd spent all morning saving Radio City Music Hall from the forces of evil, relying on a blunt sword and baby-oiled biceps to massacre the Snakemen, humiliate Beastman and even clinch the interplanetary roller derby. He-Man was tired and He-Man was hungry, and now the unthinkable was happening. Some snooty Manhattan restaurant was refusing him service. No jacket, no lunch. And borrowing a jacket from the house is out of the question when you wear size 54.

It sounds like someone's idea of a sequel to this year's Hollywood writers' strike. Frustrated with what they believe are inadequate payments, lack of benefits at some studios and insufficient rules governing credits, writers of television cartoon shows have formed a new union. The fledging group, the Animation Writers of America or AWA, claims more than 110 members, roughly half the active cartoon writers in Hollywood.

Last July, R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe turned on a personal computer and chatted with 900,000 of his closest friends. Taking occasional breaks from recording "Monster" at Ocean Way Studio in Hollywood, Stipe used an America Online account-- stipey@aol.com --to post e-mail comments to an R.E.M. newsgroup. AOL subscribers could join in or merely watch as Stipe spent a week clearing up debates over song lyrics and entertaining system users with anecdotes from past tours. When one R.E.M.