Altitude readings

PEAKING

MAN OF THE MOMENT: At a SAG screening of “Hairspray” with John Travolta and Amanda Bynes among the stars on the Q&A; panel, guess who got all the attention? Director Adam Shankman was mobbed after the event by autograph seekers.

CLIMBING

STARTING STRONG: Sean Penn brings in an early award for his “Into the Wild,” with the announcement that he will receive the Director of the Year award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in January.

WHAT’S IN A NAME? George Clooney, star of “Michael Clayton,” can take heart. Several actors have won Oscar gold for playing title roles, including: Greer Garson (“Mrs. Miniver”); Joan Crawford (“Mildred Pierce”); Burt Lancaster (“Elmer Gantry”); Cliff Robertson (“Charly”); Julia Roberts (“Erin Brockovich”); and Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Capote”).

AT BASE CAMP

FAMILY FEUD: With Ben Affleck directing brother Casey in “Gone Baby Gone,” will the Oscars tear the clan apart if one gets a nomination and the other doesn’t? Then again, it could be Ben’s wife, Jennifer Garner, who trades in her man for Oscar for her supporting role in “Juno.”

EARLY BIRDS: The first screeners of the season sent out with For Your Consideration labeling were from Fox Searchlight. When did they arrive? Sept. 4.

AMERICAN GLADIATOR? Is Ridley Scott the new Martin Scorsese? “American Gangster” could be his ticket to reigning as the sentimental favorite after losing the directing nod in 2001 for “Gladiator.”

LOOKING FOR A SHERPA

WHERE’S THE FADEOUT: At a recent screening of the Coen brothers’ action-packed morality tale “No Country for Old Men,” some audience members felt shortchanged by the film’s anticlimactic, “Sopranos”-like ending. “Is that it?” a female voice cried out as the screen went black and cut to the credits.

SING FOR YOUR OSCAR: Perhaps trying to follow in the footsteps of Reese Witherspoon’s Oscar-winning turn in “Walk the Line,” several films this year rely on music to tell their stories: “August Rush,” “Once,” “La Vie En Rose” and “Across the Universe.”

REPRISE ROLES: Both Johnny Depp and Cate Blanchett returned to the screen in roles they’ve been nominated for in the past (as Capt. Jack Sparrow and Queen Elizabeth, you figure out who was who). Both have a better shot with their original roles this year as Sweeney Todd and Bob Dylan.