By Michael Cieply

Suddenly, he's everywhere.

The publicity campaign for Tom Hanks and Cast Away is gaining traction, as the eternally popular actor pops up in any space left vacant by the political news. The Los Angeles Times isn't impressed by his voice narration of ABC's Shooting War television documentary, but slips in a mention of the ''Abe Lincoln beard'' he grew for Cast Away.

USA Today columnist Jeannie Williams quotes director Robert Zemeckis claiming Cast Away as Hanks' ''best work.'' Elsewhere in the same paper, TV critic Robert Bianco, reviewing Shooting War, notices the beard again and finds it ''to say the least, distracting,'' while other major outlets similarly post reviews. For now, this is all a plus, bumping Hanks up one spot to No. 6 with 222.0 points on the Inside Line. He's less than a point behind William Macy, who joins the list of leading men at No. 5, with 222.8 points, as Fine Line makes clear that it's backing him as Best Actor rather than as a supporting player. His ranking reflects very strong early reviews, though Macy and the picture won't really be tested until State and Main's Dec. 22 release in Los Angeles and New York.

Deeper in the ranks, Alfred Molina joins the actors race at No. 17 with 195.0 points for Chocolat. Kate Winslet, meanwhile, shifts out of the Best Actress list, to join the Best Supporting Actress race at No. 7 with 219.0 points, as Fox Searchlight campaigns for the lesser award. She had consistently placed in the top five among leading ladies, so the shift helps competitors, including Joan Allen, who moves up a spot on the Best Actress list to No. 5 with 221.7 points.

Miramax must be working the press, because Chocolat supporting actor Johnny Depp is in the papers here and abroad. The Los Angeles Times quotes his claim that Chocolat is the only one of his own films he's ever watched to the end -- ''and it was fine.''

In far away London, Depp writes a story about his own work in The Man Who Cried for the Evening Standard. Depp moves up four spots to No. 11, with 187.5 points. But the big mover among supporting actors was Bruce Greenwood, who moves into No. 10 spot from No. 18 with 189.0 points for his performance as John Kennedy in Thirteen Days. His reviews are only getting stronger. Writing in Entertainment Weekly, Owen Gleiberman says the actor looks just enough like Kennedy ''to allow the audience to relax into the illusion and to focus less on physiognomy than on the soothing, quick-snap command of his voice, which the actor nails with greater subtety than anyone before him.''

If ads could buy Oscars, Chicken Run might just be the Best Picture of the year. A three-page spread in Variety helps boost the DreamWorks film to No. 22 from No. 26 with 208 points.