TINSELTOWN SPYWITNESS.

Byline: Elizabeth Snead and Joel Stratte-McClure

A TIMELY REFRAIN: Singing, dancing and politics. Those strange bedfellows converged on Hollywood Thursday as Kevin Spacey channeled Bobby Darin in the new biopic ``Beyond the Sea.''

Weird as it is to see the normally serious dramatic actor singing his heart out and doing the soft-shoe in the film, even weirder is the parallel between Darin's anti-Vietnam War activism and the current Iraq War and recent presidential election.

``I think what's interesting is that people will see parallels to what's happening right now in the film,'' said Spacey, who also directed the film that launched the 11-day AFI Fest 2004 at the Cinerama Dome. ``Bobby wrote 'Simple Song of Freedom' at the height of the Vietnam War, at the height of what many in the United States saw as hypocrisy and manipulation from the government. And I think you can release that song today and it would have as much resonance as it did in 1968.''

But political talk went out the window at the after-party as the Big Phat Band filled the Henry Fonda Theater with Darin's music, much to the delight of Kate Bosworth, who plays Sandra Dee to Spacey's Darin. Bosworth and main squeeze Orlando Bloom openly canoodled to the tunes, seemingly agreeing with Spacey's assessment of what Americans need to do right now.

``The country needs to sing and dance. Now it is just time to sing and dance,'' Spacey insisted, offering what seems to be a perfect alternative to contemplating post-election politics.

JOLLY GOOD SHOW: What's the secret to the successful galas of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles?

``An open bar!'' said one BAFTA/LA member at the 13th annual gala bestowing the coveted Britannia Award on director Jim Sheridan and actors Helen Mirren and Tom Hanks.

Thursday night got rolling with Michael Caine taking credit for writing Guinness-guzzling U2 singer Bono's incoherent congratulations to Sheridan.

Sheridan's pal Colin Farrell said he was only there because it was ``good for my career.'' Then he spoke about how the sight of the pale, pot-bellied Irish director sunning at the Four Seasons Hotel pool always makes him feel like he's back in Ireland.

Caine called Mirren a ``real dame'' and Meg Ryan read personal e-mails Hanks sent during the filming of ``You've Got Mail'' asking strange questions about her refrigerator.

Hanks talked about the ways his longtime pal director Robert Zemeckis has tried to kill him (including drowning during ``Cast Away'') and seeing his father cry for the first time after watching ``Zulu'' at the drive-in.

Then Hanks waxed nostalgic about a pivotal moment in his life: the first time he saw Stanley Kubrick's epic ``2001,'' at age 13. So you can imagine how thrilled the Oscar-winning actor was about receiving his Stanley Kubrick Award for Excellence in Film.

Scotsman Craig Ferguson hosted the three-hour event, amusing everyone with his spot-on impressions of Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert. In the crowd: Anjelica Huston, Rita Wilson, Jeremy Irons, Jane Seymour, Juliet Mills, 50 Cent (huh?), Zemeckis, Nia Vardalos and British designer Zandra Rhodes, who designed Mirren's Aztec print silk gown.

But the emotional highlight of the night was when ``Band of Brothers'' stars Robin Laing, Frank John Hughes and the real men they portrayed - Pvt. Edward ``Babe'' Heffron and Sgt. William ``Wild Bill'' Guarnere - stepped on stage to laud Hanks. Although the award-winning HBO series aired two years ago, the bond between producer Hanks, his stars and the real guys is still palpable.

BASKET CASES: How to say ``thank you'' in Hollywood style?

Discerning stars go to Market Gourmet in Venice for unusual gift baskets chock full of off-the-radar goodies like New Zealand Hokey Pokey chocolate sauce, Italian Saba syrup, Georgia's Tupelo honey and Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter from Brooklyn.

Petro Zillia designer Nony Tochterman ordered out-of-this-mundane- world thank you baskets after her Mercedes-Benz fashion show. Market regulars include Jamie Lee Curtis, Elizabeth Shue and Camryn Manheim.

``Our customers want unusual products made by small producers from around the world,'' says founder Lauren Hunter. ``The range of goods we've found in 30 different countries, including cinnamon from Vietnam and cheese with aboriginal spices from Tasmania, is unique, even in L.A. We stock 4,000 items, 50 cheeses and 40 kinds of olive oil from over a dozen countries.''

Tochterman's baskets brimmed with goodies, including Australia's ``Manna From Heaven'' pistachio/almond shortbread, all-natural almond fig and balsamic vinegar biscuits, a rare French hot chocolate mix, caramel and paprika wafers from the Netherlands and Licorice Piglets from Minnesota.

We're getting hungry already.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) SPACEY, BOSWORTH: Getting in tune.

Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com

(2) MIRREN, HANKS: Call them Your Excellencies.

Chris Pizzello/WireImage.com