As a film Cast Away is a thin, melancholic story. But Hanks gives a very strong performance, many say the best of his career, and it's expected the role will bring him yet one more Oscar nomination. Another film with powerful performances is Traffic, director Steven Soderbergh's panoramic look at America's war on drugs. The picture, which has its origins in a 1989 Channel 4 TV series called Traffik, boasts a strong ensemble cast that includes Michael Douglas and his new wife Catherine Zeta Jones. Catherine Zeta Jones received a Golden Globes nomination for Christmas Soderbergh, who also did the camerawork, has woven together several interconnected stories to create a visually impressive picture that serves as a stinging critique of current US government drug policy.
Traffic is edgy filmmaking.
It has earned a lot of praise, winning the New York Critics Circle award for best film of 2000, and has just picked up five Golden Globe nominations. Big name stars will be lighting up cinema screens in the next few days in a range of roles. Sean Connery can be seen in Finding Forrester, playing a reclusive writer who becomes a mentor to a young African-American boy, while Sandra Bullock stars in the comedy Miss Congeniality as a tough FBI agent who has to pose as a beauty contestant to foil a bombing. With Mel Gibson continuing to impress moviegoers with his first foray into romantic comedy in What Women Want, and a new animation from Disney, The Emperor's New Groove, the Hollywood box office is expected to remain buoyant over the Christmas holidays. If records are broken, it will come about largely as a result of inflated ticket prices, because admissions are down, which remains a source of concern among many studio executives.