In '00, a bunch of zeroes

With a month to go, Oscar-worthy films are in a short supply.

Film

Other rays of hope for 2000 (although several won't make it to Baltimore theaters until 2001) include Taylor Hackford's "Proof of Life," even though interest in that film may have more to do with the offscreen sparks ignited between co-stars Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan than anticipation for the movie itself; Nancy Myers' "What Women Want," with Mel Gibson as a man given the ability to read women's minds (its trailers look particularly promising); Philip Kaufman's "Quills," with Geoffrey Rush as the imprisoned and increasingly desperate Marquis de Sade; the Coen Brothers "Brother, Where Art Thou?" (although Cannes audiences failed to be impressed); and the great Chow Yun Fat in Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," a film shot mostly in Chinese that's said to feature some stunningly beautiful martial arts sequences.

Also coming up: Billy Bob Thornton's "All the Pretty Horses," Gus Van Sant's "Finding Forrester" and Soderbergh's "Traffic."

Oscar nominations, by the way, will be announced Feb. 13. Perhaps the Academy should start ordering those blue ribbons now.