IT WAS a trifle disappointing to see onetime rebel Helen Mirren raise her best actress Oscar statuette "to the Queen".

Her portrayal of Britain's Queen Elizabeth was a hit because it was a gently ironic satire, not a piece of hagiography. It would be a pity if Stephen Frears and Peter Morgan's delicately balanced work was appropriated as royalist memorabilia, along with all the Princess Di mugs. Tom Stoppard once told me that irony needed to have a special type face so that people could recognise it. Maybe ironic movies should carry a similar admonition.

Good as Mirren's performance was - and also Forest Whitaker's winning turn as Idi Amin - I wish the Academy voters could get over their obsession with real life characters and give more recognition to wholly original roles. My preference as best actress would have been Penelope Cruz's performance in Pedro Almodovar's 'Volver'. At least the Academy recognised the brilliance of 'The Lives of Others' (due for release in Ireland on 13 April) by giving it their best foreign picture Oscar.

A moral tale WITH Mary McGuckian's celebrity rehab satire 'Intervention', starring Andie McDowell and Rupert Graves, ready for release, the Northern Ireland director is already in pre-production on 'Art In Las Vegas', the final picture in a trilogy on contemporary morals that began in 2005 with 'Rag Tail'. 'Rag Tail' took on the tabloid press. Now it's the turn of the testtube baby industry.

ALL IRELAND TOP FIVE (weekend 23-25 February) 1 (1) Hot Fuzz (Edgar Wright) Euro403,290 (Euro1,327531 to date) 2 (2) Charlotte's Web (Gary Winick) Euro319,417 (Euro1,568,428) 3 (-) The Good Shepherd (Robert De Niro) Euro144,636 4 (-) The Number 23 (Joel Schumacher) Euro121,662 (-) 5 (3) Music & Lyrics (Marc Lawrence) Euro121,662 (Euro1,142,395) Compiled from Sunday Tribune industry figures.

US TOP FIVE MOVIES (weekend 23-25 February) 1 (1) Ghost Rider (Mark Steven Johnson) $19.7m ($78. m to date) 2 (-) The Number 23 (Joel Schumacher) $15.1m (-) 3 (2) Bridge to Terebithia (Gabor Csupo) $13.6m ($46.2m) 4 (-) Reno 911! : Miami $10.4m (-) 5 (3) Norbit (Brian Robbins) $9.7m ($74.7m)