On the eve of Sunday's vote by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, one prominent member reports, "Talking with several members, I'm finding that there's absolutely no consensus choice, which is fine by me, since this points to potentially more interesting and creative choices. Literally every single colleague has cited different favorite films, and no single film mentioned twice. It may end up being a case where the second or third choice ends up tallying enough points to come out on top, which could also point to a mediocre selection."

LAFCA is famous for pushing its own ponies into the Oscar derby, sometimes successfully (best picture winners "Rocky" and "Unforgiven"), sometimes not so (last year's LAFCA actress champ Vera Farmiga, "Down to the Bone"). Given the fact that the crix failed to launch Farmiga Oscar-bound in 2005 probably bodes well for them giving her another push this year, as supporting star of "The Departed," but that's just my wild guess.

Our LAFCA spy notes that there's scattered support for all of the obvious faves: "Dreamgirls," "Letters from Iwo Jima," "The Queen," "Babel," "Volver," "Little Children," "The Departed." Even "Children of Men," "Pursuit of Happyness," "Apocalypto," "Flags of Our Fathers."

Among the more highfalutin pix being pushed: "The Lives of Others" and "The Intruder/ L'Intrus." Urgently, our spy mentions "Army of Shadows," adding "Look for this one! Melville's previously unreleased masterpiece!" Another member is lobbying for "Gabrielle," starring Isabelle Huppert.

The L.A. critics use a voting method very different from the type employed by their print brethren in the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics. The latter two groups use a secret ballot system that can run for 4 or 5 rounds. LAFCA members vote publicly in only 2 stages. The procedure calls upon members to speak aloud their top three choices in each category, ranking them 1 to 3. The choices with the top two highest scores are then put to a show-of-hands vote. Some LAFCA members complain that the procedure is ruled by peer-group pressure. It may not be considered "cool" in the guy-heavy group to express go-go ra-ra for the girlie/queenie "Dreamgirls," for example. That film would probably fare better in a secret ballot. And clearly it favors the movies mentioned early in the process of polling of members' opinions.

For example, if you're a member who's stuck at the end of the first round of polling and there's little support for your fave pix like "Inland Empire" or "Happy Feet," it's likely you'll ditch them in favor of influencing the vote among the most-mentioned movies to that point. Otherwise, your vote is wasted. If you're among the first people polled, however, that's your big chance to toss out an obscure choice like last year's Vera Farmiga early so peers might back her when they see their own choices tanking.

The one good thing about the LAFCA vote is that it doesn't get bogged down in vicious standoffs that can only be resolved by picking out-of-the-blue compromises, which happens at NYFCC all the time. That's how "Mulholland Drive," "Quiz Show" and "The Accidental Tourist" won best pic out east despite the fact that those films had little support going in to the voting conclave.

Photos: Jessica Lange ("Blue Sky"), Sally Field ("Norma Rae") and Mercedes Ruehl ("The Fisher King") are among the many Oscar champs who owe their victories to being launched into the derby by winning LAFCA kudos. Obviously, voters have a special fondness for director Terry Gilliam flicks ("Fisher King") — they actually voted his quirky "Brazil" (bottom photo) best picture, director and screenplay of 1985 even though it wasn't released to theaters! It was their way of forcing Universal to take it off the shelf where it had been stuck while Gilliam refused to give it a new, upbeat ending. The ploy not only worked, but as soon as the film was released weeks later, Universal aggressively wooed Oscar votes. "Brazil" ended up with Academy Award nominations for screenplay and art direction.
(Orion/ 20th Century Fox/ Columbia/ Universal)