Fame does not sit comfortably on the shoulders of Javier Bardem. But what can you do when you are one half of Hollywood's hippest couple and you've triumphed at Cannes and the Oscars? The actor talks to James Mottram about invasions of privacy and getting under the skin of a dying man in his new film

Television: I thought 'The Trip' was sublimely brilliant; beautiful and funny at every turn. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, continuing their comedic sparring from Michael Winterbottom's 'A Cock and Bull Story', was subtle yet silly British mid-life-crisis comedy at its best.

Spain's politically correct government, which legalised gay marriage and simplified divorce proceedings, is now taking aim at a subtle form of machismo: male predominance in Spain's double-headed surnames.

His fantastical films explore many horrors, but none quite so terrible as his lengthy Hobbit nightmare, he tells James Mottram.

Hollywood superstar Julia Roberts lit up London with her beaming smile at the gala premiere of her new film, Eat Pray Love.

Spanish actors Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz have joined the ranks of Oscar-winning married couples after tying the knot in the Bahamas earlier this month, according to several celebrity magazines.

Tim Burton and his Cannes jury have had thin pickings this year. The 2010 competition has been full of films that have provoked mild enthusiasm or moderate disapproval without really inflaming the passions of the festival-goers.

Dustin Hoffman did not have to think too long or too hard when he was offered the chance to direct his first film, according to Jane Wright, the managing director of BBC Films, which will make Quartet, the actor's debut from behind the camera lens. A British venture starring Dame Maggie Smith, Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay as ageing opera singers, Hoffman reportedly accepted the challenge with considerable excitement. He had made known his desire to venture into directing, said Ms Wright, adding: "He's got access to incredible amounts of material. This film is the one he really wanted to do". The 72-year-old was, according to BBC Films, "slightly in awe of the cast". It seems beyond doubt that they will be in awe of their director.

This breezy tale of two American tourists (Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall) who have their hormones and preconceptions shaken by two Spanish artists (Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz) is the return to form Woody Allen fans had given up hoping for.

Better than Match Point but far from the heights of Manhattan, this Spanish romance is a welcome return to form for Woody Allen.

If you’re thinking of gate-crashing, don’t. Getting into the Oscars will be like getting into Fort Knox, reports Guy Adams

"The film wouldn't work without its superb acting quartet. Johansson, the latest Allen muse, gives her best performance for him as the capricious Cristina... Yet fittingly it's the Iberian contingent who really shine." - Leigh Singer, www. channel4.com/film

Allen takes two girls on a summer holiday and produces his best work in at least a decade