Showbiz411

Exclusive: Quentin Tarantino and Christoph Waltz will be honored on Tuesday at the LA-Italia Festival in Hollywood. This little Italy week in movieland has turned into a big deal, and a showcase for Harvey Weinstein’s Oscar nominees. The whole cast of “Silver Linings Playbook” is also being feted this week. So is the great Al Pacino, by the way. Last night, Waltz was a hilarious host on “Saturday Night Live.” He appeared in a parody of “Django Unchained” called “Djesus Uncrossed.” (See below.) LA-Italia is connected to the burgeoning Ischia Film Festival in Italy, which happens every July and attracts amazing talent. Pascal Vicedomini is the mastermind. (But he’s got to fix their crazy website.) Anyway, if you love Italy and Italian films actors, this week in LA is for you. And for me! Prego!

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.