I HAVE a sneaking suspicion Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench will have a bet on each other's chances at the Oscars. They are both nominated for Notes On A Scandal, Dench for Best Actress and Blanchett for Best Supporting Actress.

However, the Australian star has revealed they would bet on anything - "slugs in the garden" - to pass the time while on set together. Hence my suspicion of an Oscar wager.

Neither is favourite to win in their category and both have become old hands at the awards night game.

However, Cate remembers the moment at her first award ceremony when she realised it was going to be more daunting than she realised and ended up being mortally embarrassed.

"I remember my first one, when I realised I had this 45-minute press line to walk," she recalled. "It was the first time I went to the Golden Globes. I literally walked all the way up because no-one stopped me, and went: "This is easy!" And then someone said, "No, you've got to come back."

Blanchett and Dench have a lot in common, apart from their Oscars. For one thing they have both played Elizabeth I - as has fellow nominee Helen Mirren - which must have given them something to talk about when the slug racing paled.

But for Blanchett, working with Judi Dench was like being back at drama school.

"It was brilliant," she says with warmth and enthusiasm.

"I don't know what to say. Judi is an astonishing actress who has an incredible economy and an extraordinary technique and this mercurial ability to make it all just seem completely effortless.

"And she's wickedly funny. And has a very big gambling problem," she laughs. Clive set to stars as private eye Marlowe

BRITISH star Clive Owen says he was never seriously interviewed for the part of James Bond, but he may yet end up with his own movie franchise.

Owen, who made a big impression last year in Inside Man and Children Of Men, is to star as careworn private eye Philip Marlowe, the detective films set in 1940s Los Angeles.

Following in the footsteps of Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum and Elliot Gould, the plan is for a series of remakes of classics such as Farewell My Lovely and The Big Sleep.

Owen, 42, was reportedly touted for the role after his impressive narration and performance in cult movie Sin City.

He will be executive producer of the series, which should give him creative control.

Studio bosses are determined to stick to the noir spirit of the books, keeping Marlowe the hard-drinking, wise-cracking, world-weary character fans have come to expect. Young guns aim for Presley

Hollywood's hottest young talents will be out to snag a movie role which is as iconic as they come - Elvis Presley.

An unexplored aspect of Presley's life is being brought to the big screen in Sergeant Presley: The Untold Story of Elvis's Missing Years.

Based on the book of the same name, by Rex and Elisabeth Mansfield, the film will follow Presley through basic training in Texas to Germany and includes his addiction to prescription medications and his introduction to Priscilla.

Manfield was a fellow soldier during the singer's tour in the Army from 1958 to 1960, and wife Elisabeth was once romantically linked with Presley.

Casting is getting under way and it's hoped the film will shoot in the summer - let's hope it's better than Presley's own cinematic efforts.