Jolie victim of her celebrity

The campaign to secure Marion Cotillard an Oscar earlier this year was shamelessly calculated and manipulative (hardly unusual in Oscar promotions).

Every opportunity was grasped to contrast how much younger and attractive the relatively unknown Cotillard was when not stooped and caked in make-up to play Edith Piaf in the vastly overrated La Vie en Rose. Many reviewers bought that hard sell.

Contrast that with all the Changeling reviews many of which were tiresomely predicated on the assumption that it was designed to secure a second Oscar for Angelina Jolie. Her media-dictated status as celebrity fodder apparently undermines Jolie's remarkable performance. That mantra began after the world premiere of Changeling at Cannes, where some reviewers adopted a sheep-like mentality - and it continues.

Independent Brit awards named

Continuing on a roll that began when it won the Camera d'Or at Cannes in May, Hunger collected three prizes at this week's British Independent Film Awards in London. Michael Fassbender was named best actor for his portrayal of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands. Steve McQueen was voted best first-time director. And the best cinematography award went to Sean Bobbitt.

The prizes for best film and best director went to Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, for which leading actor Dev Patel (see top right) took the best newcomer award. Martin McDonagh received the best screenplay prize for In Bruges. Vera Farmiga was voted best actress for The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

Alan Moloney of Dublin- based Parallel Films and UK producer Adrian Sturges accepted the award for best achievement in production for their Irish-shot thriller The Escapist. The prize for best foreign film went to Ari Folman for his animated documentary Waltz with Bashir. The award for best documentary went to James Marsh for Man on Wire.

Cedric the complainer

Cedric the Entertainer is the latest actor to engage in the popular practice of shooting the messenger by blaming New York Times drama critic Ben Brantley for the failure of the Broadway revival of American Buffalo. Cedric co-starred in the David Mamet play with John Leguizamo and Haley Joel Osment. It opened on November 17th and closed after eight performances. Brantley's review compared the production to "a souped- up sports car's flat tire, built for speed but going nowhere."

More Hairspray on the way

The movie of the stage musical based on the 1988 movie Hairspray is about to get a film sequel. It will reunite director Adam Shankman with cast members Zac Efron and Nikki Blonsky. John Waters, who wrote and directed the original movie, is working on a storyline with a political edge as it takes the key characters to London during the Swinging Sixties.

You go, Guttenberg

You may (or may not) have been wondering whatever happened to Steve Guttenberg. He made his breakthrough in Diner (1982) and enjoyed hits with four Police Academy comedies, two Cocoon movies, and the US remake of Three Men and a Baby and its sequel, Three Men and a Little Lady.

More recently, Guttenberg has been working mostly in US TV series and movies, but he returns to cinema with Three Men and a Bride, which reunites him with Tom Selleck and Ted Danson. Guttenberg also plans to direct an eighth Police Academy movie, and he hopes to entice former cast members Kim Cattrall (from the first one) and Sharon Stone (from Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol) to join him in the cast.