Dame Judi, 66, has become an Oscar favorite in recent years, having won for her supporting performance as Elizabeth I in "Shakespeare in Love" in 1999.

Last year by this time a titanic struggle was already under way between the forces of "Saving Private Ryan" and the minions of "Shakespeare in Love," the dueling Oscar favorites for best picture.

In 2002 Universal Studios, now owned by General Electric, acquired the executive team behind Focus Features, who have successfully backed a string of modestly budgeted Oscar favorites, including "Brokeback Mountain" and "Lost in Translation."

Tom Hanks, a jazzy, nimble comic actor, only became an Oscar favorite by dying of AIDS in "Philadelphia" and being reborn as the slow but steadfast hero of "Forrest Gump."

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They weren't snowed by three-hour biographical epics, even though "Malcolm X" in particular has the spirit of an old-fashioned Oscar favorite.

"L.A. Confidential," another much-nominated Oscar favorite, climaxes with a shooting in which the hero is riddled with more bullets than Bonnie and Clyde combined.

Most of the films touted as early Oscar favorites - "American Beauty," "The Talented Mr. Ripley," "The Insider," "The Hurricane" - were among the Globe nominees.

Last year, "The Social Network" won best-drama at the Globes and looked like the early Oscar favorite.

Everyone involved in the grueling struggle to transform "Chicago" from a Broadway musical into an improbable Hollywood hit are making nice now that the film is this year's odds-on Oscar favorite.