Movie Answer Man (02/23/2003)

Q. The Hollywood Reporter said on 1/29 that "The Hours" was disqualified in the Best Makeup category because of a technicality--some digital work had been done on Kidman's prosthetic nose. What the heck does that actually mean? What did they DO to the schnozz? And why would they NEED to do it? You hear about an actor's hairlines being filled in digitally, but what could it mean for a nose? Why didn't they simply make the prosthetic the way they wanted it to look in the first place? (Mary Jo Kaplan, New York NY)

A. I'm told: It's not so much a question of creating Virginia Woolf's distinctive nose as of making it look absolutely realistic in big-screen color closeups. If it didn't look right in post-production scrutiny, it was too late to re-shoot the scenes, but not too late to make subtle digital improvements.

Q. I think Meryl Streep is great, but the articles that came out after the nominations for Oscar are technically wrong. They claim Streep has passed Katherine Hepburn in total number of nominations. In general, yes. But two of Streep's nominations are for supporting actress, leaving her with 11 for lead actress. All of Hepburn's are for lead actress; none for supporting. that leaves Hepburn with 12 and Streep with 11 in the lead category. I know it is a small point. (Myron Heaton, Las Vegas NV)

A. But not an invisible one.

Q. You mentioned in your Oscar nominations write-up that the nomination for Donald Kaufman for co-authoring "Adaptation's" screenplay was the first time the academy knowingly nominated a fictitious personality. This is actually the second time this has happened, the first being Roderick Jaynes' nomination as editor for "Fargo." Jaynes is of course a pseudonym used by both Joel and Ethan Coen. (Rhett Miller, Calgary Alberta)

A. A key distinction is that Joel and Ethan Coen both actually exist.

Q. I recently took my 10-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter to see "Citizen Kane," which they loved. They were unnaturally alert during the scene in which Kane throws a party celebrating the hiring of talented reporters from his rival newspaper, and trots out a line of chorus girls. Whereupon everyone bursts into a song, "There is a man, a certain man..." After a few lines, my kids were mouthing the words. I was incredulous until they told me these were the lyrics to a song by the White Stripes, "The Union Forever," on the hit album "White Blood Cells." While the tune is utterly different, the lyrics are exactly those in the film and they are bracketed by other significant lines from the "Kane" script. Yet the CD liner copy reads, "All songs written and performed by the White Stripes." "Citizen Kane" is neither mentioned nor credited. Is this flagrant, unpunished plagiarism, or did Jack and Meg White receive special dispensation from the Orson Welles estate? (Phil Freshman, St. Louis Park, MN)