Starry nights in Provincetown
Hyperactive writer/director Quentin Tarantino had plenty to celebrate in Provincetown over the weekend. In addition to receiving the Filmmaker on the Edge Award at the Provincetown International Film Festival, the "Pulp Fiction" director said he'd finally finished the script for his World War II drama "Inglorious Bastards," which he's been working on for a whopping eight years. "I was proof-reading it on Cape Air," he told an eager audience at the awards ceremony. "Someone was, like, 'Look at that whale,' and I was, like, 'Dude, I'm proof-reading.' " Tarantino, clad in a tomato-red blazer, was interviewed on stage by P'town grand dame John Waters. The "Hairspray" director delivered one of the evening's best lines, telling Tarantino: "You helped reinvent John Travolta as a man and I reinvented him as a woman." Actress Jane Lynch, recipient of the Faith Hubley Memorial Award, declared her eternal love for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Lynch, who recently wrapped work on the Julia Child biopic "Julie & Julia," said she met the Illinois senator awhile back, but when they ran into each other again, Obama drew a blank. Then, in the middle of a speech, he remembered one of her roles, and blurted out: "40-Year-Old Virgin." Perhaps the most touching moment of the weekend came when diminutive Mexican heartthrob Gael Garcia Bernal accepted the Excellence in Acting Award. "I feel like Miss Mexico," he said through tears. Tarantino, of course, could not resist a reply, cooing "I feel like Miss Guatemala."
No faking Ryan's appeal
Considering she summers on Martha's Vineyard, it wasn't too difficult for Meg Ryan to make it to this weekend's Nantucket Film Festival, where she was honored for her long and illustrious oeuvre. In a career-spanning sitdown with genial film historian Leonard Maltin, Ryan remarked on the firestorm ignited by her role in Jane Campion's edgy drama "In the Cut." "Apparently, if the phrase 'America's Sweetheart' is in any way applicable to you, you shouldn't be having that kind of sex, on or off the screen," she said, while noting it's still kosher to "fake it," as she did in that indelible deli scene in "When Harry Met Sally. . ." About her upcoming film "The Women," which was shot last fall in Boston, Ryan sounds generally optimistic. The movie took many years to get going, but "[director] Diane English willed it into being." Later, we stopped by the NBC Universal Screenwriters Tribute, where Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara presided and "Knocked Up" director Judd Apatow was honored. (We'll spare you Stiller's story about his first erection lest you never approach a subway turnstile the same way again.) Apatow poked fun at emcee Brian Williams, calling him "created-by-science" handsome, and also questioned why Ben Stiller didn't make the scene. "He's doing 'Night at the Museum XI' now, instead of being here for me," said Apatow. (Had he attended, Stiller would have seen his sister Amy handle the Marilyn Monroe role in a staged reading of "Some Like It Hot.")
Light, Connolly shine at Shrine
Pats lineman Matt Light celebrated his 30th birthday at Shrine on Saturday with the help of a few teammates, including Ellis Hobbs, Stephen Neal, Matt Cassel, Richard Seymour, Stephen Gostkowski, Dan Koppen, and Russ Hochstein. Ed and Joe Kane's new club at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods also played host to "Entourage" actor Kevin Connolly (above), who hung around long enough to eat some sushi and quaff a few Grey Goose cocktails before hitting the blackjack tables. Cedric the Entertainer also dropped by for dinner after his show at MGM Grand Theater.
Chris Muther of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Sandy MacDonald contributed to this report. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253. 