With Rome launching a rival film festival in October, Venice is determined to maintain its status as a celeb-friendly haven for serious movies whose road to Oscar night begins here. Last year, both "Brokeback Mountain" and "Good Night, and Good Luck" were Venice sensations.

    This year's entries range from "Hollywoodland" (opening in Boston on Sept. 8), with Ben Affleck as the TV Superman who may have killed himself, to "Bobby," Emilio Estevez's take on the assassination of Robert Kennedy with a cast that includes Sharon Stone, Lindsay Lohan and Demi Moore. That doesn't open in the United States until Nov. 22, the anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination.

    This year's Oscar winner Rachel Weisz ("The Constant Gardener") arrived with writer-director husband Darren Aronofsky for "The Fountain," a sci-fi romance that co-stars Hugh Jackman. Clive Owen shows for "Children of Men," based on the P.D. James futuristic bestseller. Helen Mirren, who won an Emmy on Sunday for playing Queen Elizabeth I, plays Queen Elizabeth II in "The Queen," a compassionate study of the royal family the weekend after Princess Diana's death.

    Other films not competing for the festival's prestigious Golden Lion but debuting include: "Infamous," another look at the writing of "In Cold Blood,"; Ethan Hawke's "The Hottest State," adapted from his bestseller, with Michelle Williams and Hawke; and David Lynch's nearly three-hour "Inland Empire." Lynch is getting a career-achievement Gold Lion.

    American and English films are only part of what Venice offers; entries range from around the globe, from Taiwan, Hong Kong, France, Russia and, of course, Italy. Paul Verhoeven's "Blackbook," a World War II thriller, is the Netherlands' candidate for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Enditem

    (Agencies)