Though vastly different, both Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino are cross-cultural, two-generational sagas, in which Eastwood the actor functions as surrogate father-mentor figure to a much younger character, such as Hilary Swank in the former.

Dec 28, 2008–Ann Savage, an actress who played femme fatale roles in pulp fiction films, died at 87.  She made her mark in film noir in Detour, Apology For Murder and Scared Stiff, all made in the 1940s. She also appeared in B movies such as Dark Horse, Jungle Fight and Satan's Cradle.

During the interval between the 1947 and 1951 hearings, Rossen made a name as a hard?hitting director of such dramas as Johnny O'Clock, Body and Soul, and All the King's Men. The latter, a sturdy drama of polit­ical corruption, won the Best Picture Oscar for 1949.

Javier Bardem gives another stellar performance as Juan Antonio in Woody Allen's entertaining comedy, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”

 Bardem is the first Spaniard to have been nominated for an Oscar Award for Best Actor, an honor he received for his portrayal of the Cuban poet and dissident Reinaldo Arenas in Julian Schnabel’s BEFORE NIGHT FALLS.  He was also named Best actor at the Venice Film festival for this role, which also won him Best Actor honors from the National Society of Film Critics, the Independent Spirit Award and the National Board of Review, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor.  Javier has received a total of seven nominations and four wins for the Goya Award, which is the Spanish equivalent of an Oscar.