Tattle Tales

ARE GOLDEN GLOBE WINS FOLLOWED BY OSCARS?: Not necessarily so, but in the case of "A Beautiful Mind," the new Russell Crowe flick, I believe they are.

After seeing the movie this past Sunday night in a jammed auditorium at the College Point Multiplex in Whitestone, I can easily forecast that Crowe is certain to win the 2001 statuette to go with his previous Best Performance Oscar for "The Gladiator." The picture will also be a strong contender come March for Oscars in the Best Picture, Supporting Actress (Jennifer Connelly) and Screenplay categories. Also in the running for the Best Director award should be Ron Howard, who’s a Directors Guild of America nominee. My revered colleague New York Post columnist Liz Smith, has declared unequivocally, "Absolute certainty is that Russell Crowe will win."

In this true-life story, Crowe plays a schizophrenic math genius who is battling madness. Not a promising subject, but in the hands of director Howard and screen writer Akiva Goldman, this story of the vicissitudes that beset a beautiful mind evolve the movie into the Oscar candidate that it is. At all times, the motion picture remains smart and moving, reaching its zenith for its depiction of 1984 Nobel Prize winner John Forbes Nash. Not that it needs it, but the film is further enhanced by the star-making performance of the very pretty Jennifer Connelly as Nash’s wife.

I CAN DO WITHOUT: People loafing through magazines at newsstands. The owner may not object, but I want the magazine I buy to be unused.

Waiters who ask, "Is everything all right?" before I’ve had a bite.

Motorists cutting into a line at the toll booth. (They should be shot on the spot.)

TV weathermen who forecast "A threat of rain tomorrow" when we’re having a drought. A threat?

Broadway producers who flood the town with two-for-one tickets instead of just cutting the box office price.