Travolta's turn: John Travolta says Shirley MacLaine, Jessica Lange and Meryl Streep all have something in common, and he's hoping the same holds true for him. "Some of their best roles have come in their 40s and 50s," he told Reporter at Large on Tuesday after making a "giddy" appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." "The one good thing about getting older is that there is more of a variety of opportunities. You can fit more niches than you could before -- there are these areas and nooks and crannies that open up. I've never been a believer that men and women getting older limits your opportunities. I think it expands." Travolta's ideas on aging might skew to the positive right about now, because the actor, who turned 50 years old in February, is currently on a high thanks to a pair of projects: the Walt Disney Co.'s "Ladder 49" and Screen Gems' "A Love Song for Bobby Long." He said he has wanted to do a movie like the Friday opener "49" since Sept. 11, and while it delivers the action that audiences would expect, he said there's more behind the flames. "It's more about the drama of the families and the camaraderie with the men at the firehouse," he said. "It's a realistic and accurate portrayal of relationships." Then there's "Bobby Long," a movie that he said is straight out of "an actor's wish list." "I asked (WMA's) Jim Wiatt and Cassian Elwes to help me find something," he said. "I said that I don't need the money, and I don't need to be egocentric about what I'm doing anymore. I need to do good work. I don't care what package it comes in as long as it's good and gives me an opportunity to show my talent. And this is the first thing they came up with." The film debuted at the Venice International Film Festival and is set to close the upcoming Hollywood Film Festival, where he will receive a lifetime achievement award. Travolta, who already has earned some buzzworthy reviews for his performance as a dissolute former professor of literature, said he's "honored" that fests and critics are latching on to the Shainee Gabel-directed pic. "Art films, if they don't have a festival or reviews behind it, they die a short death," he said. "So you live for that, for these films. You put in a lot of time, and you do it for nothing. So it's beautiful when it works out in your favor."

That's hot: Florida's string of disaster-inducing hurricanes continued over the weekend, with Hurricane Jeanne wreaking havoc on the East Coast, and for a second time Paris Hilton found herself caught in the middle. The ubiquitous heiress is down South filming her biggest screen role to date in "National Lampoon's Pledge This!" but because of the latest round of nasty weather, she had to flee the South Beach set again, this time in favor of Orlando. "We are getting ready to evacuate right now," Hilton told Reporter at Large on Friday in between takes. "It's been hard to shoot with so many starts and stops, but it's a really funny movie, and I can't wait to get it done so everyone can see it." And if the movie doesn't satisfy the public's appetite for all-things Paris, they'll have their chance in a lot of other venues: in print, online, in stores, in clubs and on television. Take note: Her book, "Confessions of an Heiress," is No. 6 on the New York Times best-seller list; she has a jewelry line on Amazon.com; she is developing an apparel and denim line under Heiress Clothing; she's trademarked her signature saying "That's Hot," with plans in the works to develop a merchandising and apparel line emblazoned with the phrase; she's prepping for the release of a new perfume line; she's designing and planning a string of nightclubs called Club Paris, the first set to debut in Orlando; she's putting the finishing touches on her debut album; and is currently in creative discussions with Fox and Bunim/Murray for "The Simple Life 3" with pal Nicole Richie. It's quite a lot for a girl with a rep for being a hard-partying socialite, but as she says, that's old news. "I am a hard worker, and I travel a lot," said Hilton, who hosted Us Weekly's Hot Young Hollywood party at Spider Club on pre-Emmy Friday night. "When I'm on a plane, I'm reading scripts or designing things or writing. All I do is work. I wake up in the morning at 6, and I just go to work. It's been nonstop. I didn't even have a summer -- I usually go to Europe, but I've been here and busy building this brand. I'm doing everything I want to do and having fun while I'm doing it."

Tidal wave: The wave of Latin American movies is one that can be compared to other great film movements, says "The Motorcycle Diaries" director Walter Salles. At the afterparty for the film's Los Angeles premiere -- held at Sunset Boulevard haunt Falcon -- Salles said that the so-called Latin wave rose not just on directors but also thanks to actors, too. "If you look at the history of film and look at movements such as Italian realism or the French new wave, you will see they were not only made by great directors but also by a great generation of actors," he said, adding that the same applies to the trend that he is a part of. "You have a generation of very good directors such as Alfonso Cuaron, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund, but you also have an extraordinary generation of actors blossoming at the same time. It's not by coincidence that Gael Garcia Bernal is present in many films of this rebirth of Latin-American cinema." Salles said that what characterizes the Latin wave is its street sensibility. "You have a great generation of talented filmmakers that grab what they see on the streets and transfer it to the screen, the inspiration being the stories that we see in the cities of our countries," he said. "And we transfer them with urgency to the screen. These are films that are about life itself rather than being films about films."

Some Stritch time: At HBO's Emmy bash Sunday at the Pacific Design Center, the Moet & Chandon was flowing like water around the winners' circle as clips of the night's big HBO winners played on the big screen in the back. But it was apparent that the glammed-up audience had a soft spot for one of the company's Emmy darlings when a clip of her rousing acceptance speech replayed for all to see. And that would be Elaine Stritch, a winner for individual performance in a variety or music program for her show "Elaine Stritch: At Liberty." The next night Stritch could be found celebrating her new trophy over dinner at Orso with pals Stockard Channing and Lee Rose and a pair of other friends. She still had her winner's glow and happily accepted congratulations from nearby tables, even stopping to talk about non-Emmy-related subjects ... like the salad and Orso's decorative dinner plates.

With contributions from Borys Kit