Here are some photos from the Madrid photocall and premiere of Official Competition (or Competencia Oficial) this week. This movie is the next big Spanish film, the one which will get a lot of attention, I’m sure. What’s interesting is that this promotion probably helps Penelope Cruz’s current Oscar campaign for Parallel Mothers, yet another collaboration with her friend Pedro Almodóvar. Almodovar also directed Antonio Banderas in what was Antonio’s greatest performance, in Pain and Glory, which also starred Cruz. Now they’re reunited again for this film, Official Competition, which is a spoof of how films get made and how crazy it is.
For both the photocall and premiere, Penelope wore Chanel. Wildly different Chanel looks. The purple minidress is actually denim? Which is sort of cool, because it photographs like some kind of light tweed almost. The purple is not really my style at all, but it looks sort of cute on Penelope. I’m flat-out shocked that I like the black-and-white gown though. Does that Chanel gown *need* that baby-collar though? No. I kind of love the bell-sleeves, don’t @ me.
The Official Competition trailer is bonkers! It looks funny and weird. Something I’ve noticed is that Antonio Banderas is in the midst of some kind of career renaissance? A few years back, he was Oscar-nominated for Pain and Glory, and it was soooo well-deserved. He was brilliant in that, and he just seems to be in such an interesting phase of his career. Plus, Penelope in this wig is pretty fun.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Actors Antonio Banderas, Penelope Cruz and Oscar Martinez attend ‘Competencia Oficial’ photocall. February 21, 2022.,Image: 664091123, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Not to be resold by any non direct partner of ALTERPHOTOS, Model Release: no, Credit line: Acero / Alter Photos / Avalon
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- Actress Penelope Cruz attends ‘Competencia Oficial’ photocall. February 21, 2022.,Image: 664091207, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Not to be resold by any non direct partner of ALTERPHOTOS, Model Release: no, Credit line: Acero / Alter Photos / Avalon
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- Actress Penelope Cruz attends ‘Competencia Oficial’ photocall. February 21, 2022.,Image: 664091399, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Not to be resold by any non direct partner of ALTERPHOTOS, Model Release: no, Credit line: Acero / Alter Photos / Avalon
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- Actress Penelope Cruz attends ‘Competencia Oficial’ photocall. February 21, 2022.,Image: 664091448, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Not to be resold by any non direct partner of ALTERPHOTOS, Model Release: no, Credit line: Acero / Alter Photos / Avalon
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- Penelope Cruz attends the ‘Competencia oficial’ (Official Competition) premiere. February 21, 2022.,Image: 664091506, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Not to be resold by any non direct partner of ALTERPHOTOS, Model Release: no, Credit line: Acero / Alter Photos / Avalon
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- Penelope Cruz attends the ‘Competencia oficial’ (Official Competition) premiere. February 21, 2022.,Image: 664091599, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Not to be resold by any non direct partner of ALTERPHOTOS, Model Release: no, Credit line: Acero / Alter Photos / Avalon
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- Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz attend the ‘Competencia oficial’ (Official Competition) premiere. February 21, 2022.,Image: 664091765, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Not to be resold by any non direct partner of ALTERPHOTOS, Model Release: no, Credit line: Acero / Alter Photos / Avalon
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- Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz attend the ‘Competencia oficial’ (Official Competition) premiere. February 21, 2022.,Image: 664091799, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Not to be resold by any non direct partner of ALTERPHOTOS, Model Release: no, Credit line: Acero / Alter Photos / Avalon
Love the short dress and the fabric of the black and white dress. I did not like the style/cut of the maxi/long dress (mainly the collar) which is disappointing because I love long dresses. She looks great.
Not only is that collar wrong style-wise, it seems to be ineptly attached. I would have expected better from Chanel.
That purple dress looks like a 7th grade Home Ec sewing project.
The purple dress (jacket??) looks like the top of a lounging set, one that goes with wide legged silk pants.
In the B/W maxi, facially, she reminds me so much of a young Susan Lucci (if you discount the heavy bangs/fringe for our Brit friends 😊 ). I think that fabric, combined with the bell sleeves, just overwhelms her. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I feel like Penelope manages to make the purple dress work but it also looks like she just picked out a jacket intended to go with another outfit and was like “eh, this could be a dress” and because she’s Penelope Cruz, it is!
All that said, considering some of the stuff Chanel has been putting out there lately, picking a jean jacket for a dress might not have been the worst call.
I don’t like either! The first one looks like a jacket the sales assistant would wear at a Chanel makeup counter (Or half of a pajama set) and the second one is borderline mumu.
I thought half a pajama set, too! And muumuus at least have color going for them.
lol I didn’t read far enough… I said the same thing above! Great minds… 😊
The mini dress is awful and I guess if you wear that to an event with photographers and a red carpet you better also get your bikini line waxed! But I love loooove the black and white gown.
The short dress would be cute if it weren’t too big, kind of wrinkled and an inch or so too short. The long dress also looks too big – like the whole thing needs to be hiked up from the shoulders.
I can’t wait to watch this movie.
Hospital gown, but make it fashion!
Ok CBs, dumb hair question: are her bangs clip-ins in the pics with the white/black dress? Or are they just styled so differently in the purple dress that they aren’t super visible?
I have similar hair thickness to Cruz, and keep considering bangs, but know that isn’t always the best route (aka, can’t undo!)… but hers look cute.
Separately, I like both dresses though they could use some tweaks, but both look cute on her, and match her style.
They look like clip ins. You should buy a pair to try! Whenever someone wants bangs for the first time I always recommend side swept or curtain bangs. I used to have really thick hair and side swept bangs and it really complimented me. If you don’t like it you can hide it with Bobby pins and it grows out pretty quickly. Same with curtain bangs, though if you like them you can go shorter like the picture here.
Thanks for the ideas, Fig! 🙂
The purple is very cute and she looks good in it. Those dreadful bangs are absolutely killing me and they make her look AWFUL. Make it stop, Penelope!
Cruz has a contract with Chanel and essentially has to wear what they give her.
I hope they pay her a lot because she could do a lot better than those clothes.