Oscar winner Javier Bardem has been honored with the 2008 National Cinematography Prize in his native Spain, in recognition of his contribution to the country’s film industry.

The No Country For Old Men star was presented with the prize by the members of the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Art in Madrid on Wednesday.

In a statement released by the Institute, they say the accolade recognizes “the professional goals he has achieved throughout his long career, particularly in 2007, for his defence of the acting profession and for his constant commitment to Spanish cinema, at home and abroad”.

Accepting his honor, Bardem told the crowd, (This) is not only for me, but for all members of this profession that I love and that I try to defend day after day.”

Bardem became the first Spaniard to win an Academy Award when he was named Best Supporting Actor for his role in No Country For Old Men earlier this year.

Source

WENN

Javier Bardem has withdrawn from the movie musical Nine, based on the Broadway hit, because of exhaustion from a busy work year and award season, reports Variety.

This is the second recent project that the Oscar winner has left. The Spanish actor, 39, was originally cast in Francis Ford Coppola’s drama Tetro – but was replaced by actress Carmen Maura after the director decided the role would be better filled by a female.

Subsequent reports suggested that Bardem was simply unavailable.

Nine, to be directed by Chicago’s Rob Marshall, is set to star La Vie En Rose Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, screen legend Sophia Loren and Bardem’s girlfriend Penelope Cruz. It is loosely based on Italian director Federico Fellini’s acclaimed autobiographical 1963 movie 8 ½ – about a sexually active movie director. Antonio Banderas starred in a 2003 Broadway revival.

In related Nine casting news, Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench are reportedly in negotiations to join the film, says Variety.

Source

WENN

Vincent Gallo is joining Javier Bardem in Francis Ford Coppola’s family drama “Tetro,” which starts shooting later this month in Buenos Aires.

Gallo will play the title character, a brother in a family torn apart by rivalries and betrayal. Newcomer Alden Ehrenreich plays the younger brother who searches for him in the Argentinean capital. Bardem plays a local literary critic, and Maribel Verdú (Y tu mamá también, Pan’s Labyrinth) plays Tetro’s longtime love interest.

“I know choosing Vincent Gallo to star in my film will raise a few eyebrows,” Coppola said, “but I’m betting that seeing him in the role will open some eyes.”

source

From Vanity Fair:

Alfred Hitchcock created some of the most arresting images in film history. For this year’s Hollywood Portfolio, the heart of our 14th annual Hollywood Issue, 21 of the finest actors working today have joined with four regular Vanity Fair photographers to re-create 11 of Hitchcock’s most iconic scenes.

“What makes these scenes so impressive is that they don’t last long in the movies, but they have become classic,” says photographer Art Streiber, who shot two of the portfolio pictures. “They hold up 50, 60 years later, as stills, without dialogue. You know immediately what it is.”

One reason the images endure is that Hitchcock was such a stickler about getting things on set exactly the way he wanted them, and everybody working on the Vanity Fair shoots was mindful of making sure the details were correct this time, too. That wasn’t always easy. Given the lack of phone booths today, it was impossible to find one the right size for the picture inspired by The Birds (with Jodie Foster in the Tippi Hedren role). So senior photography and beauty editor SunHee Grinnell, who oversaw the portfolio, had a 1960s-vintage phone booth built for the occasion.

Getting the man-versus-biplane scene from North by Northwest right began with a suit. Knowing it was important to match the one worn by Cary Grant in the original, Grinnell handed the assignment to senior style editor Jessica Diehl, who styled all 11 photos. “I asked Jess, ‘Can you find out who made Cary Grant’s suit in that film?,’ and it turned out to be Norton & Sons, on Savile Row, which still exists,” Grinnell says. After a phone call to the London clothier, and a set of measurements for Seth Rogen, who took on the Cary Grant role, a replica was on its way. Meanwhile, Streiber found a piece of unplanted farmland northwest of Los Angeles, rented the right plane, and hired a pilot. Things got tricky when an official on the ground, charged with making sure no aviation regulations were violated, demanded that anyone within 500 feet of the plane be sent away. “There were farmworkers just north of where we were shooting,” Streiber says, “and we had to clear them out. Then we had to track down the owner and pay their salaries for the day.” The next challenge was Rogen. “We probably did a dozen passes where Seth was actually running,” Streiber says. “At each go he probably ran for about 20 yards at a full sprint, which is not something Seth Rogen does on a regular basis.”

The Lifeboat still was taken in the water tank of a Hollywood back lot. Contributing photographer Mark Seliger had a dock built so that he could lean in with his camera when the light was just right. “It was a perfect Hollywood moment,” Seliger says. “The weather was great, we were outdoors, and the water was controlled. Everything is perfectly orchestrated by Hitchcock, so my job was remarkably easy.”

The stars didn’t merely model, but engaged in some real acting. Especially notable was Renée Zellweger, who stood in for Kim Novak’s Vertigo heroine. “Renée was watching the scene over and over while getting her hair and makeup done,” says Grinnell, “and when she came on set she started breathing really hard, almost hyperventilating.” Says contributing photographer Norman Jean Roy, “She just absolutely exploded on the set and truly became that character like I’ve never seen before. We were in awe.”

Features editor Jane Sarkin had the grand task of figuring out which actors would not only be right for the parts but also give readers a Hollywood Who’s Who for 2008. The performers who were kind enough to take part include six Oscar winners: Zellweger, Foster, Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow, Julie Christie, and Eva Marie Saint. Other participants had breakout performances in 2007: Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), Tang Wei (Lust, Caution), Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma), Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), Rogen (Knocked Up), Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild), James McAvoy (Atonement), and Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose). Still others have proved themselves masters of two domains, doing huge box office while pleasing critics: Naomi Watts (of Eastern Promises and the Ring movies) and Keira Knightley (of Atonement and the Pirates of the Caribbean series). There’s also a go-to character guy, Omar Metwally (so good in Munich), and two “actor’s actors”: Jennifer Jason Leigh and Robert Downey Jr. Throw in a talented beauty to rival any Hitchcock heroine—Scarlett Johansson—and you’ve got the entire, ridiculously star-studded cast.

VF Go here to watch a behind-the-scenes video from this photoshoot.

These pictures are so good, that I didn’t want to crop them down. Click on each picture to see them in full view. They are amazing – amazing pictures. Annie Leibovitz never fails.

Atonement, starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, has won the best film award at this year’s Orange British Academy Film Awards.

The movie, adapetd from Ian McEwan’s novel, was nominated for 14 awards, but only went home with two, Best Film and Best Production Design.

James McAvoy lost out on the best actor award to Daniel Day-Lewis’s towering performance in There Will Be Blood, and Keira Knightley was beaten by Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose.

The Best British Film category was won by Shane Meadows’s 1980’s drama This Is England, beating off strong competition from The Bourne Ultimatum and Control.

The full list of winners:

Best Film – Atonement

Best British Film – This Is England

Best Actor – Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)

Best Actress – Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose)

Best Supporting Actor – Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men)

Best Supporting Actress – Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)

David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction – Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country For Old Men)

Best Original Screenplay – Juno (Diablo Cody)

Best Adapted Screenplay – The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (Ronald Harwood)

Film Not in the English Language – The Lives of Others

Best Animated Film – Ratatouille

The Carl Foreman Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Matt Greenhalgh (writer of Control)

Orange Rising Star Award – Shia LaBeouf

Music – La Vie En Rose

Cinematography – No Country For Old Men

Editing – The Bourne Ultimatum

Production Design – Atonement

Costume Design – La Vie En Rose

Sound – The Bourne Ultimatum

Special Visual Effects – The Golden Compass

Make Up & Hair – La Vie En Rose

Short Animation - The Pearce Sisters

Short Film – Dog Altogether

Red Carpet: Amanda Peet and husband, James McAvoy and wife,  Javier Bardem,  Jessica Biel, Kate Hudson, Keira Knightley, Kevin Spacey, Rosamund Pike, Samantha Morton, Sienna Miller and boyfriend Rhys Ifans and Viggo Mortensen.

Backstage: Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Daniel Day Lewis, Daniel Radcliffe, Emily Blunt, Eva Green, Harvey Keitel, Hugh Laurie, Ian McKellen, Javier Bardem, Marion Cotillard, Orlando Bloom, Paul Dano, Rosamund Pike, Thandie Newton and Tilda Swinton.

Spanish actor Javier Bardem suffered from “full-blown depression” after having his hair styled into a bizarre 1970s-style bowl-cut to play a sadistic killer in Oscar-nominated movie No Country For Old Men.

Bardem, who is a favorite to win the Best Supporting Actor prize at the upcoming Academy Awards for his performance in the Coen Brothers film, was so ashamed of his new look, he avoided venturing out in public.

His co-star Josh Brolin says, “He was depressed during the process… He felt like he wouldn’t have sex for three months. Full-blown depression. I mean, bad. (He) didn’t like the way he looked. He’d stay home for hours on end. He wouldn’t go out.”

Bardem admits he was surprised by how his unusual look affected him psychologically.

He says, “You see yourself, you see the haircut. You don’t realize that it’s affecting you in a very delicate way, through your own psyche. What happened to me was that after a couple of weeks, I was a little bit – a little bit – strange to myself. There was something that was not familiar. It was like, ‘What am I doing here?’”

I think Javier Bardem is GORGEOUS (Penelope Cruz is one lucky woman!). Watching NCFOM was extremely painful, because he really looked like a sadistic killer!

Can I get an AMEN!

WENN, Donna at USA Today