"Majestic Mirren is hit in Venice" declared BBC News reporting on the reception of Helen Mirren as Britain's Elizabeth II in Stephen Frears' "The Queen" at the film festival in Italy. After its premiere on Saturday the filmmakers received a 15-minute standing ovation.

"'The Queen' is considered one of the favorites for the main honor at the Venice Film Festival, the Golden Lion," the Beeb adds.

Film critics are hailing it, too.

Variety: "Deliciously written and expertly played (with) a socko performance from Helen Mirren . . . which starts off as simply an uncanny lookalike job, with the cut-glass accent down to tee, and gradually takes on layers of texture. Thesp reaches into the royal's most private moments - rigorously writing her private diary, or alone on a Scottish moor - without tipping into bathos or pure impersonation."

Hollywood Reporter: "Mirren is superb in finding those telling moments where the royal mask drops to reveal the flesh-and-blood woman."

Reuters: "With tightly rolled silver hair in the film and her voice trained to match that of the monarch, Mirren gives a convincing performance full of humour and sympathy for a woman struggling to abandon the stiff upper lip she believed her people wanted."

Meantime, some other Oscar hopefuls received mixed reactions so far in Venice, including Brian de Palma's "The Black Dahlia," which opened the fest to conflicting reviews and Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center." Lucky for Stone, his pic is being shown out of competition, since he also received a hot-and-cold reception in addition to some boos when he introduced "WTC" with a political blast at Hollywood, saying, "'Pearl Harbor' and 'Black Hawk Down' — these movies worshipped the machinery of war and I think America went back to the concept of war too easily. I have reasons to be depressed as a Vietnam veteran, and I can say many Vietnam veterans are depressed about why we are in Iraq."

Photo: Screen Daily declares, "Helen Mirren's beautifully nuanced performance as Queen Elizabeth II is likely to be crowned with a host of awards nominations."
(Miramax)