Penelope Cruz and recent Oscar winnerJavier Bardem read together on a beach in Nice over Easter Weekend. The couple met in 1992 on the set of the Spanish movie "Jamon, jamon."
If you're on Spring Break in the U.S. (and for some reason you're reading this), you're probably seeing record crowds as the classic spring-vacation window has narrowed. If you're in Europe this week, though, it's business as usual, since in most European countries it's traditional to vacation the week of Holy Week (or at least the weekend of Easter). Plus, with the mighty euro, you probably wouldn't be running into many of your compatriots.
The 80th Annual Oscars began with a whimper but went out with a bang--specifically, the bang from Anton Chigurh's scary-ass weapon, as Joel and Ethan Coen picked up three statuettes for their Western thriller "No Country for Old Men."
Javier Bardem, who played Chigurh, grabbed Best Supporting Actor in a foreigners' sweep of the acting awards--only the second such occurrence in Oscar history. Bardem was joined in the winners' circle by Brits Daniel Day-Lewis (Best Actor, "There Will Be Blood") and Tilda Swinton (a surprise Best Supporting Actress winner for "Michael Clayton"), as well as French actress Marion Cotillard, who cried out "It is true there are some angels in this city!" after taking Best Actress for "La Vie En Rose."
Water-cooler trivia you need to know: Host Jon Stewart played Wii, mocked montages and ceded some of his time for Best Song winner Marketa Irglova to give her thanks. "The Bourne Ultimatum" clobbered "Transformers" in the editing awards. Gary Buseygot all crazy onJennifer Garner on the red carpet, and Best Original Screenplay winner Diablo Cody wore a very ugly leopard-print dress.
The Oscars are back on, and we're celebrating with a series on the New York City locations you might've seen in this year's nominated films. Our Oscar Movies Map will be your golden statuette.
While we've been focused on the Oscar nominees shot in New York City, we can't forget that there are plenty of travel-inspiring films up for awards that weren't shot in Gotham.
The Coen Brothers thriller "No Country for Old Men" garnered eight nominations, including one for Javier Bardem. Shot in Big Bend National Park and Marfa, the stark West Texas landscape is all over the Oscars this year.
The Oscar nominations for this year have just arrived, and we're digging through to figure out which stars you'll see at the Kodak Theatre on February 24--provided they care to cross the WGA picket line. George Clooney will leave his Italian palazzo to represent legal thriller "Michael Clayton"; Ellen Page will go south of the border for "Juno," Javier Bardem will fly over the Atlantic for "No Country for Old Men" (he's from Spain, didn't you know?) and Daniel Day-Lewis will come out of his secret underground lair in support of "There Will Be Blood."
If you're thinking about going to the Oscars this year, and don't mind that they may be starless, get your tickets now! Need help? The UK Times has an interesting article about getting tickets. (Hint: It's hard.)
Looking for your own matinee idol? While Jaunted's Paul Brady revels in the Sundance Film Festival, we're wondering if Javier Bardem has a date to the Oscars yet. As long as he gets a new haircut, we'd be happy to dine with him at one of these Park City hot spots:
Baja Cantina -- In "Waitress 2," a curly redhead at a Mexican restaurant is charmed by a dangerous drifter whose opening line is, "I'd love to buy you a... um... anything."1284 Empire Ave.
Glitretind Restaurant -- In "Natural Born Skiers," an ensemble cast explores the ennui and existentialist wonder of their yearly mountain trip while dining at a local resort. Think "The Big Chill," but cooler. 7700 Stein Way
Zoom Restaurant -- In "There Will Be Food," an aspiring director cons his way into dinner at Robert Redford's restaurant... and will stop at nothing to get the owner's attention. 660 Main St.
Because of the writers' strike, this weekend's planned Golden Globes ceremony was reduced to a press conference and three hours of "The Night of Zero Stars" after celebs refused to cross guild picket lines. Apparently no one writes porn movies, because there were no pickets at the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas. Stars like Jenna Jameson hoped their films would be chosen out of the estimated 4,000 made every year to receive an AVN award.
Back at the Golden Globes, "Atonement" and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" took home best picture honors (in the drama and musical-or-comedy categories, respectively), Javier Bardem continued his murderous streak of artistic excellence and "Gossip Girl" was snubbed for best television series.
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by egw
