Aniston's Big Night Before; Plus, Madonna!

By Marc Malkin Feb 24, 2008 11:18 PMTags
Jennifer AnistonNancy Kaszerman/ZUMAPress.com

Jennifer Aniston was among the gazillion or so stars last night at the Beverly Hills Hotel for the Night Before pre-Oscar party benefiting the Motion Picture Television Fund.

"She looked beautiful," an onlooker told me.

Aniston was decked out in Bulgari jewels, including an 18-karat white-gold bracelet with diamonds, pear-shaped platinum-and-diamond earrings and an 18-karat gold ring. Her crocodile clutch was from Bulgari's 1910 collection.

The onlooker saw Aniston chatting with Aaron Eckhart around 10 p.m., her costar in the upcoming romantic drama Traveling.

Also at the Night Before were Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Cameron Diaz, George Clooney, Orlando Bloom, Heidi Klum and Eric Bana.

Now, another megawatt superstar party took place on Friday. Here's what went down...

Nancy Kaszerman/ZUMA Press

Madonna was there. So were Demi Moore, Sean Penn, Casey Affleck, Colin Farrell, Oliver Stone, Jared Leto, Brett Ratner, Guy Pearce, Matt Dillon and Eva Mendes.

I'm talking about CAA superagent Bryan Lourd's pre-Oscar party at his L.A.-area manse.

I'm told all the star power, however, didn't exactly add up to fireworks. It was pretty subdued, according to a partygoer. "It felt like a business cocktail party with a bunch of suits just standing around," the partygoer said.

It was elbow-to-elbow inside Lourd's house, because it was a bit too chilly outside, I'm told, despite the placement of several outdoor heaters.

The attendees munched on a wide variety of appetizers and took advantage of a couple of bars set up throughout the locale. And just in case anyone feared having bad breath, Lourd had put out bowls of Tic Tacs and Altoids.

Meanwhile, Drew Barrymore was across town at the Chateau Marmont. She was there celebrating her birthday with her boyfriend, Justin Long, and a bunch of friends, after having dinner at Mr. Chow.

And how did some of your fave stars begin preparing for Oscar night? I hear Renée Zellweger was getting a facial at the Olé Hendrickson spa in West Hollywood yesterday at the same time Ellen DeGeneres was there getting a body treatment.

—Filed by Marc Malkin