The Czech Republic is a popular shooting location for directors looking to cut costs, as a back-drop to modern-day thrillers like "Wanted" and "Casino Royale," fantasy worlds like in "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" or the past ("Amadeus," Roman Polanski's "Oliver Twist"). This weekend, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (running through July 12) celebrates the fruits of some of those labors, but also the exploding film markets of Central and Eastern Europe.
In addition to the fest's official selection, it presents a special "East of the West" award to a pool of films made in and by crews from Germany, Hungary, Austria and the Baltic states. German actor-director Armin Mueller-Stahl (you know him as the Russian Mafia godfather in "Eastern Promises") exhibits not a film, but a set of his paintings at the festival.
Just in time for "Swingtown," Ukrainian-American director Paul Mazursky is dusting off his bed-swapping classic "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice," and Czech-born Oscar winner Markéta Irglová will play a concert July 10 with her "Once" co-star, bandmate and beau Glen Hansard.
You thought that because Vanity Faircanceled its Oscar bash, that all the stars would just go home? Ha! There was much merriment, starting backstage in the press room where Marion Cotillard sang a Piaf song for the waiting reporters.
George Clooney told everyone at the Governor's Ball that he was a loser (not true!) while James McAvoy stuck to "Atonement" costar Saoirse Ronan's side--but in a brotherly way, mind you!
And Viggo Mortensen was allowed to pat the pregnant belly of the great past winner Cate Blanchett. If she had seen "Eastern Promises," she might not be so loose with her favors!
Over at Elton John's party, the recently separated Sean Penn showed up with his new girlfriend--model and Boxing Day tsunami survivor Petra Nemcova. Seal took a million photos of wife Heidi Klum.
And at Prince's pad, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz watched some exotic dancers while Orlando Bloom took flack from Sean "Diddy" Combs. Partying for a living is hard! Don't miss newy minted Oscar winner Diablo Cody's sign-off.
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 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.
As betrayed by the "Bourne Comes Home" marketing campaign, the hero of "The Bourne Ultimatum" (Matt Damon) made New York City the final stop on his journey to self-discovery. We don't want to spoil the ending, other than to point out the kick-ass chase down Seventh Avenue.
But! Should one visit the Oscar Movies Map, one might see where Jason Bourne was last spotted in the film. In the summer, it's a great place to see Fourth of July fireworks. This is the first Bourne movie to garner Academy Award nominations.
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.
Before we dive into our nomination pool, did you know you can actually see and hold Oscar in New York right now? For the third year in a row, the Academy has sent its little golden men out on the road before the Oscars. The resulting exhibition, Meet the Oscars, allows you to get up close and personal with statuettes won by Gary Cooper and Thelma Schoonmaker for editing "The Departed."
You can even pose for pictures with one--and you bet we did it. Meet the Oscars is open through Saturday from noon to 7 pm at 1500 Broadway.
Here's something worth flying standby for: The WGA has overwhelmingly voted to end its strike, which means the Academy Awards will go on as planned! We bet second-time host Jon Stewart already has his tickets.
The WGA has been on strike since November 5th, converting the Golden Globes into a glorified press conference and throwing the remainder of this television season--as well as next year's pilots--into jeopardy.
If you never want to travel again, at least keep yourself busy at home with this list of all your favorite TV shows, including the ones which are going back into production right away ("Gossip Girl," yes!) and the ones that are being threatened with cancellation (critical fave "Friday Night Lights" among them).
While rumors of the ending of the WGA strike seem to be running rampant, at least one star seeker is not optimistic: After promising that the party would continue, "Vanity Fair" magazine officially canceled its flash post-Oscar bash. A statement offered support for the writers, who as of now do not have waivers to write for the Jon Stewart-hosted awards ceremony, and said that having a party at this time would not be appropriate.
Now we'll have to take our couture gowns back for real. Hey, there's always George Clooney's house--Angelina Jolie said at Newsweek'sOscars roundtable that the party would be there. We'll bring some popcorn, but we can't promise that we'll be rooting for "Michael Clayton."
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by egw
