The Oscar Challenge

IT'S ALL ABOUT JIM CARREY

Oscar may have snubbed Golden Globe winner Jim Carrey, but he's a lucky charm for Best Actress nominees, all of whom can be linked to Carrey within four steps

ANNETTE BENING was in Bugsy with husband Warren Beatty who was in Bulworth with Oliver Platt who was in Simon Birch with ...

JULIANNE MOORE in Magnolia with Tom Cruise who was in Jerry Maguire with Renee Zellweger who dates...

JANET MCTEER was in Velvet Goldmine with Ewan McGregor who was in A Life Less Ordinary with Cameron Diaz who was in The Mask with...

MERYL STREEP was in Bridges of Madison County with Clint Eastwood who was honored in A Salute to Clint Eastwood, which was hosted by...

HILARY SWANK was in Beverly Hills 90210 with Tori Spelling who was in House of Yes with Parker Posey who was in Basquiat with Courtney Love who was in Man in the Moon with...

IF YOU THINK YOU KNOW OSCAR...

1) Sixth Sense made more than $200 million in the U.S. Only two more lucrative movies have won Best Picture Oscars. They are?

2) The words Diolch Yn Fawr may be heard at the awards for the first time. Why?

3) Directors Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich) and Sam Mendes (American Beauty) are each nominated for their debuts. How many first-time directors have won?

4) Angelina Jolie (daughter of Jon Voight) is a Best Supporting Actress nominee for Girl, Interrupted. How many families can boast parent-child Oscar winners for acting?

5) Now that the interpretive dance is gone, at what point in the ceremony will people leave for the bathroom?

ANSWERS

1) Titanic (1997) and Forrest Gump (1994)

2) It's Welsh for thank you very much. Gaemon and Solomon, in Welsh, has been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. A Welsh language movie has never won an Oscar

3) Five: Delbert Mann, Marty; Jerome Robbins, West Side Story; Robert Redford, Ordinary People; James L. Brooks, Terms of Endearment; and Kevin Costner, Dances with Wolves

4) One: The Fondas, Jane for Klute (1971) and Coming Home (1978) and Henry for On Golden Pond (1981)

5) Our guess: Best Sound Effects Editing

DO THE BROWS HAVE IT?

A hitherto undiscovered factor in Oscar nominations may be the eyebrows. Is it time for stars to toss their Tweezermans?

--In American Beauty--nominated for eight Oscars--Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari and Peter Gallagher (he of the "two-pound brows," says the Washington Post) are all heavily browed

--Tom Cruise, nominated for Best Supporting Actor, is often called "beetle browed"

--Haley Joel Osment, also up for Best Supporting Actor, is a little man with big eyebrows

--Hilary Swank, hot favorite for the Best Actress statue, stopped plucking her eyebrows for the role