**If you want to win a big race, is it better to be out front early, or be patient and make your charge at the end?

Eastwood of course has the advantage of a second movie (Letters From Iwo Jima) probably released in January in order to boost interest in the first. Since January is the month when so many much hyped Oscar nominees begin to sag at the last lap the release of a second Iwo Jima movie could give Flags a serious boost and put it ahead of its rivals at the most critical time.

**Furthermore, even if the film is solid, it may not appeal to the masses in a current climate, as with Munich.

Munich failed with audiences because the advertising sold it as An Important Film. Ask yourself how much better Munich would have done if the ads had sold it as a superlative 70’s-style thriller from a master director.

**Saving Private Ryan. Here’s another film that was easily the frontrunner well before it opened. It was nominated for Best Picture and by all accounts should have won.

And why did Shakespeare in Love beat SPR? In part because it had a ruthless Miramax marketing campaign behind it that managed to seize the momentum during the critical voting period. The other problem is the familiar criticism of Ryan – that the battle scenes are astonishing but the bits inbetween rather less so. If Flags can rectify this – and there’s a good chance it can given the source material – and Eastwood has a second movie out there to remind Oscar voters of what he’s achieved, then watch out.