Jessica Szohr was back in New York on Monday following her time in Toronto, to reunite with her Gossip Girl costar Penn Badgley at a party for Malibu. She wore a bright blue skirt and black flats, while Penn pulled on a plaid shirt for the party. Other guests included Estelle, who also performed at the bash, and Sean Paul. With Chace Crawford in Milan and Leighton Meester filming in Paris, the whole GG gang seem to be enjoying their hiatus from filming the TV show.
In today's "casting news that makes you go 'Oooo,'" Robert Pattinson and Sean Penn are in talks to star in the film adaptation of Water For Elephants, the Great Depression-era story by author Sara Gruen. The novel follows a veterinary student who leaves his schooling after his parents are killed and instead takes up with the circus. He "sees the brutality of circus life while falling for the wife of an abusive animal trainer." Reese Witherspoon is already attached to the project; throw Penn in, and Pattinson has officially landed himself in legit A-lister territory.
Assuming that Pattinson plays the lead role and Witherspoon and Penn are the married couple, it sounds like Reese and Robert will be a pretty interesting (pretty hot?) onscreen couple. Do you think Pattinson has the talent to keep up with acting heavyweights like Oscar winners Penn and Witherspoon?
Anna Kendrick, Mariah Carey and Marion Cotillard may become especially familiar faces this award season thanks to their acclaimed films, and the three lovely ladies were among the attendees at last night's Palm Springs International Film Festival gala. Anna joked on the red carpet about learning how not to fuss with herself when she's all done up, saying, "I'm trying to get used to the dresses and the heels and trying not to play with my hair when it's been so perfectly coiffed." Meanwhile, Mariah just gushed about how lucky she is to have landed a part in Precious since the book on which the movie is based means so much to her. The gala kicked off the festival that runs until January 17, which is the night of the Golden Globes and right before Sundance. Anna took the stage during the evening, while the esteemed Quentin Tarantino, Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood also attended, brushing off their tux collections for what will no doubt be a busy few months. Overall, the night was a success and set the mood for the much-anticipated awards season, including today's People's Choice Awards!
Picture this: it's 1975. The airwaves are dominated by the likes of David Bowie, The Eagles and the Bee Gees. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a rock group—made up entirely of teenage girls—explodes onto the scene. In no time they've signed a record deal and are touring Japan, singing to thousands of fans who can't get enough. Sounds like standard film fodder, but what rocks about The Runaways is that it all actually happened. The film is truly about the band's front-runners, Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) and Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning). Joan is the mysterious, sexually ambiguous rhythm guitar player who just wants to be taken seriously as a rock musician. She approaches producer Kim Fowley (played to a T by Michael Shannon) outside of a club one night and after an introduction to drummer Sandy West their girl group emerges. Across town, 16-year-old Cherie Currie is slowly starting to come into her own as a social outcast from a broken home. We get a glimpse of her star power as she writhes fearlessly on stage, embodying David Bowie for a high school talent show. She meets Joan and Kim in a club one night and weeks later she's the blond bombshell, the lead singer, and the face of The Runaways. To see which notes the movie hits and where it misses, just keep reading.
Marion Cotillard was surrounded by handsome men at a Dior cocktail party to honour her and Nine at the Chateau Marmont in LA on Saturday night. True Blood's Alexander Skarsgard provided plenty of eye candy in his sheer shirt, taking some of the attention away from Marion's show-stopping dress. Scruffy Jake Gyllenhaal didn't crack a smile, but Tobey Maguire and wife Jennifer Meyer laughed it up. Jake recently talked about how he often gets mistaken for his Brothers costar, saying, "People have very often said to me that I look like Tobey, so I thought it was perfect casting. They really just made Brothers so it could be said that I look different from Tobey. In fact, to all those cab drivers out in New York, I am not Spider-Man!" Marion is so far the only one getting nods this award season; she is among the nominees at this Saturday's Critics Choice Awards as well as Monday's Golden Globes — cast your vote on all the awards with our Golden Globe polls!
Madonna is on the new cover of US magazine, Interview. She opened up to the mag about her work in Africa, her upcoming directorial effort W.E and even commented on her ex-husband Sean Penn's good deeds in Haiti. Accompanying Ms M's quotes, though, were these racy photos which are actually reminiscent of Jesus Luz' spread in the mag's February issue. It's a great deal more of Madonna than we've seen recently, so tell us what you think of her shoot—love it or leave it?
The Oscar afterparty fun kicked off in LA last night with Vanity Fair's Post-Oscar Bash! The Sunset Towers hosted celebs who attended the show, as well as those who didn't, like Victoria Beckham, Abbie Cornish and Jessica Simpson, who chatted with Heidi Klum. Sandra Bullock clutched her Academy Award, as her The Blind Side costar Quinton Aaron posed with Rachel McAdams. Kathryn Bigelow and Jeremy Renner looked thrilled to bring out their The Hurt Locker gold and fellow winner Jeff Bridges smiled alongside fellow Crazy Heart actor Maggie Gyllenhaal. Cameron Diaz changed out of her red carpet dress and into something shorter as she chatted with Jason Segel, while elsewhere Sean Penn shared a drink with Kid Rock. Kristen Stewart, meanwhile, chatted away alongside Anjelica Huston, as Inglourious Basterds' Eli Roth cuddled up to his new lady, Peaches Geldof. Rachel McAdams' ex Josh Lucas gave some bunny ears to Sam Worthington and Carey Mulligan, while happy couples like Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens and Russell Brand and Katy Perry only had eyes for each other. Natalie Portman stopped to say hi to her Black Swan costar Mila Kunis' boyfriend Macaulay Culkin, following his touching tribute to John Hughes. Lovely ladies like Kate Beckinsale and Anna Kendrick kept the fashionable times going, as the VF bash got a long night of partying in LA under way.
The 2010 Oscars have come and gone with The Hurt Locker standing out as the night's big winner. The acting awards went to this awards season's favourites—Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side, Mo'Nique for Precious, Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart and Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds. The show kicked off with Neil Patrick Harris' opening number, which was the perfect lead-in to Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin playing off each other throughout the night. Young Hollywood had an exciting evening as well, with presenters including Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart, who both chatted backstage about being a bit nervous before taking the stage. Kristen got to have a moment with her dad on the way in, which gave us a super sweet sighting. Zac Efron and Anna Kendrick also made a sweet duo giving out a statue together. The Academy Awards red carpet provided some excitement, of course, and the acceptance speeches had us laughing and crying as the winners took the stage. Penelope Cruz didn't make it two in a row, but she was holding hands with Javier Bardem when the cameras announced the best supporting actress nominees—that's a pretty big public display of affection for the private couple. Sarah Jessica Parker got animated in the crowd before Matthew Broderick took part in the touching tribute to John Hughes. Keep track of all our beauty and fashion coverage over at Bella and Fab, and weigh in on all the winners too!
Renner, meanwhile, is in negotiations for Battleship, an action movie from Peter Berg based on the board game. I'd expect The Hurt Locker star to play some sort of lead and be more than able to take on another wartime flick.
I immensely enjoyed both actors' performances in the past year, and am happy to see them securing new jobs. That said, I'm sure they're still a little preoccupied with Oscar fever right now.
Warner Bros. is gearing up to remakeA Star Is Born and Russell Crowe has emerged as the leading contender to star alongside Beyonce. This would be the third version of the film—the first was in 1954 and starred Judy Garland and James Mason, while the 1976 movie featured Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. The film tells the story of an aging, alcoholic musician who mentors and then falls in love with a younger female star. Beyonce has long been associated with the project, while other male co-stars being considered include Sean Penn and Robert Downey Jr. The studio is said favour Russell, although it’s believed no formal offer has been made yet. What do you think—would you watch a movie starring Beyonce and Rusty?
Assuming that Pattinson plays the lead role and Witherspoon and Penn are the married couple, it sounds like Reese and Robert will be a pretty interesting (pretty hot?) onscreen couple. Do you think Pattinson has the talent to keep up with acting heavyweights like Oscar winners Penn and Witherspoon?
The film is truly about the band's front-runners, 
