And it’s Julia by a neck in the home stretch.

Feb 24, 2001 by Ian Evans

To some people, the awards season is one big Hollywood horserace.

So it’s only natural that our favorite awards pundit, author Tom O’Neil, has set up a web site, GoldDerby.com, that horses around with the racing metaphor.

Joined by fellow flick followers Leonard Maltin, Joel Siegel, David Germain, Thelma Adams, Jack Mathews and a “Mystery Man”, O’Neil’s site sets out to handicap the racers.

O’Neil, who’s the author of a new book called Movie Awards, says “Crouching Tiger hovers menacingly over the Oscars®. It’s picking up huge momentum right now as it goes into broad national release. But can it take down mighty Gladiator? A few of our pundits think it’s possible, but most of them believe Gladiator will do exactly what gladiators did in Rome’s ancient coliseum: plunge its sword through an exotic beast.”

If you want a head start on the office pool, the pundits picks are:

  • Best Picture: Gladiator
  • Best Director: Ang Lee, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
  • Best Actor: Tom Hanks, Cast Away
  • Best Actress: Julia Roberts, Erin Brockovich
  • Best Supporting Actor: Too close to call — Benecio Del Toro, Traffic and Albert Finney Erin Brockovich
  • Best Supporting Actress: Kate Hudson, Almost Famous
  • Best Original Screenplay: Almost Famous
  • Best Adapted Screenplay: Traffic

Head over to GoldDerby.com for more info from the pros and stick with Digital Hit for all your Academy Awards® news and coverage.