LOS ANGELES--Sting is facing a chattery crowd of several hundred actors and producers and agents and studio executives at the Mondrian Hotel, and he is having trouble getting everyone's attention. "This is a very tough room," he says. "Maybe if the person next to you is still talking, you can tap them on the shoulder and say, 'Sting is going to do a song now.' Thanks." With that, Sting begins playing his Academy Award-nominated "Until"--but he never quite captures the room. Only at a Hollywood party would you see so many people who can't shut up long enough to hear...