When Babel, a tale of far flung fates linked by the threads of globalization, won the Golden Globe for Best Drama in 2007 as well as seven Oscar nominations, its Mexican director, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, voiced the hope that such recognition meant Hollywood was entering a new era. "In the...

LOS ANGELES -- As if it were not jarring enough that cherry trees blossomed in Central Park in January while it snowed in the Malibu hills, climate change of a different sort is unsettling this year's Hollywood awards season as well.

No, it's not that Arnold Schwarzenegger has morphed from...