BEFORE NIGHT FALLS

Fresh from his Golden Globe nomination, Spanish actor Javier Bardem gets the nod from the Academy for his performance as exiled Cuban novelist Reinaldo Arenas in Before Night Falls. The film tells the true story of Arenas, who lived in Castro's Cuba and as an exile in New York, following the 1980 boatlift. He died of AIDS in 1990. Bardem immediately felt connected to the novelist the instant he took on the role. "Once I started reading his books I found something that felt familiar to me. Reinaldo wasn't an intellectual; he was a person who was writing because he really needed to say something." Bardem has an unbelievable 16 films to his credit. With some pretty stiff competition against him in this category, he probably won't get the Oscar, but he was recognized with a Best Actor award for his performance at the recent Venice Film Festival. He will soon be seen in The Dancer Upstairs, the directorial debut of John Malkovich.

Russell Crowe has emerged as one of the leading male movie stars of the new millennium, with a variety of memorable roles in movies such as L.A. Confidential and The Insider. But it was his performance this past year as Maximus in Ridley Scott's Gladiator that really thrust him onto Hollywood's 'A' list. Crowe's performance as the charismatic Roman general of Spanish descent - a tragic figure who gets sucked into the whirlwind of event's surrounding him - was the foundation of the film. His gruff, macho, weather-beaten looks and the quiet intensity that he brings to roles like Maximus and Jeffrey Wigand - the real-life tobacco industry insider who appeared on 60 Minutes, blew the whistle on the industry and was subsequently smeared - in The Insider has entrenched Crowe as a leading man popular with both men and women. He also showed a different side this year with his work in Proof of Life.

No stranger to Best Actor glory, Tom Hanks is one of the most popular stars in contemporary American cinema, and once again an Oscar favorite for his role in Cast Away, where he spends a fair portion of the picture acting alongside a volleyball. Hanks plays Chuck Noland, a FedEx manager with a frenetic schedule who's left stranded on an island in the South Pacific after a plane crash. Movie fans have seen a lot of Hanks in recent years on the award podium, but there's no denying the fact his portrayal in Cast Away is compelling and stands out when looking back at the year. Hanks' character is the main focus of the film, and he carries it with aplomb. Hanks already has two Best Actor Oscars on his mantle, for Philadelphia in 1993, and Forrest Gump the following year. In 1998, he received a Best Actor nomination for Saving Private Ryan. His performance in Cast Away has already garnered him a Best Actor win at the Golden Globes.

Ed Harris is the latest star to direct himself right into an Oscar nomination. Mel Gibson won an Oscar only after he directed Braveheart and Clint Eastwood received an Oscar for his work behind the camera on Unforgiven. In Pollock, Harris plays the title character, Jackson Pollock, a painter well-known for his many personal problems in addition to his painting. Harris had been planning the movie for close to a decade and wanted his portrayal of Pollock to be so realistic that he took up painting in the early '90s to prepare for the role. Harris will be seen often this year, appearing in five films, the first of which is Enemy at the Gates.