The darlings of the indie press gathered together at the Museum of Finance last night IFP 18th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards.

Penelope Cruz and Michelle Williams both took home honors as part of Best Ensemble Cast for their films Vicky, Christina, Barcelona and Synecdoche, New York.  Also in attendance were; Evan Rachel Wood, Amy Adams, Terrance Howard and Rachel Weisz. 

The IFP believes that independent films enrich the universal language of cinema, seeding the global culture with new ideas, kindling awareness, and fostering activism

          

Penelope Cruz was looking very va-va-voom on the set of her new movie Nine, filming in England today.  The Spanish actress co-stars with crazy good actor Daniel Day-Lewis in the period musical Nine.

Nine tells (or should I say sings) the story of a middle-aged movie director (DDL) who's trying to complete his next project, the problem is that there are too many distracting women in his life, including his mistress Carla (played by Penelope).

The film already has Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard, Fergie and Sophia Loren among it's listed actresses!  With the exception of Fugie, Nine sounds like it's shaping up to be a great movie.

        

The new Woody Allen movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona premiered in Hollywood last night; the film's stars Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson got cozy on the red carpet, much like they do in the movie.  Vicky Cristina tells the story of two girlfriends on a summer holiday in Spain who become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.  The story is a love triangle or a love square actually and adding to sizzle is Penelope and Javier Bardem's real-life romance.  The sexy Spanish romantic comedy opens in theaters next week, but to check out a trailer click here.

      

Queen Sofia Spanish Institute Gold Medal Gala was held last night in NYC and amongst the honorees was Penelope Cruz.  I have to say, I think she looks magnificent.  I want to hang out with her and have her make me over and help me with my Spanish so I could be as charming as she is.  I love the giant bow on the back of the dress; giant bows are something that you can't wear everyday but she is owning that bow.  In fact, I think think giant bows should be the new accessory of 2008.  Most of the guests were on the "mature" side if you

Looks like Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem are trying to play it cool.  Earlier in the day Penelope was spotted in New York, shopping alone but she was reunited at night with her sweetie Javier, entering the Cuban night club/lounge Socialista. Javier was about a step behind Pe (as her friends call her) and her assistant, but we knew what was up!

The Marie Claire Fashion Awards were held at the French Ambassador's residence in Madrid, Spain over the weekend and I can only presume that those who attended weren't necessarily nominated. Yee-ikes!

Monica Cruz and sister Penelope Cruz must be close, and we mean really close.  The two beautiful ladies were spotted wearing the exact same dress just a mere week apart.  Monica wore the dress off her shoulders, paired with white sandals, whereas Penelope stayed more conservative, wearing hers as a tunic over a pair of blue jeans.  Now we want to know… which Cruz sister wore it best?

What's going on! Are the Kabbalah meetings being held at trendy club Butter in NYC these days? We caught Madonna, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher enjoying a meet up at the hip joint. And then Penelope Cruz, Shakira and Janet Jackson made it a real A-list gathering. Are they, too, thinking of joining the mystic faith?