Marianne Jean Baptiste

"Career Girls" isn't going to cause the fuss that "Secrets & Lies" did, but that's not the point. How often, after all, does a psychologically acute British independent film win the Palme d'Or at Cannes, get nominated for five Oscars and gross $40 million theatrically worldwide? But as a smaller-scale work, this look at the weekend reunion of two former college roommates puts into even sharper relief what makes writer-director Mike Leigh unique among his contemporaries.

Some movies make you sorry you've seen them, and "The Cell" is one of those. Creepy and horrific, it's a torture chamber film about a man who tortures women that puts viewers through as much misery as the people on the screen. In the year 2000, that's entertainment.

There are 71 creations in the retrospective exhibition "Galanos" celebrating the 40-year career of American couturier James Galanos at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. And surely there were as many more on the women who walked the purple carpet for the museum's Costume Council's opening and the gala dinner for 400 at Neiman Marcus. Galanos admirers came from Houston, Dallas, Cleveland, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Palm Beach, Fla.

"Spy Game" is nakedly a star vehicle, but what kind of vehicle might that be? The sleek Rolls-Royce of studio dreams or the bedraggled Yugo of viewer reality? Big names Robert Redford and Brad Pitt are above the title, but what is going on under the hood? What "Spy Game" turns out to be is the old reliable family car spruced up around the edges in an attempt to convince a new generation of buyers that it's a hot number.

Aside from winning an Oscar, the most difficult task the glamorous hordes faced Monday night was choosing which post-ceremony party to attend. The Governors Ball, chaired by Sid Ganis, has simplicity on its side. It's just a short step from the ceremony. As guests entered the Shrine's convention hall, they were greeted by "Earthly Paradise," Hiro Yamagata's lush floral artwork (originally painted on vintage Mercedes-Benzes) projected on a scrim that lowered the hall's cavernous ceiling.

Australia Down Under titans Baz Luhrmann, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman team for this romance between an English aristocrat and a cattle driver at the onset of World War II. With David Wenham, Jack Thompson and Bryan Brown. Written by Luhrmann, Ronald Harwood, Stuart Beattie and Richard Flanagan. 20th Century Fox, Holiday release. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian The second film based on the classic C.S.

What a non-difference a little more than a year makes. Last year's pre-Academy Awards fever became fueled by controversy when the Rev. Jesse Jackson descended upon Hollywood to protest the almost total absence of black and minority nominees. A number of entertainment unions and community advocacy groups joined forces with the civil rights leader in what Jackson proclaimed was the first step in the fight against "institutional racism" in the entertainment industry.