While "Volver" came into the Goyas with 14 nominations, at the end of a long Sunday night in Madrid, it had won 5 including best picture while "Pan's Labyrinth," a foreign film Oscar contender, took home 7 including best screenplay and the newcomer award for Ivana Baquero. Pedro Almodovar, who resigned from the Spanish Film Academy in 2005 after "Bad Education" was passed over as Spain's official Oscar entry for the eventual winner, "The Sea Inside," did win best director for "Volver," but he was not there to say, "Gracias!" That's odd, considering the rift seemed to be mended. "Volver" was Spain's official Oscar entry this year, although it failed to make the cut to the final five. Apparently, Pedro was just pulling a Joan Crawford. A Spanish news agency said he "stayed away, blaming nerves."

His star, Penelope Cruz, won best actress and admitted, "This award is very important, very special for me. I am going to try not to cry because I'm a disaster, and these 30 seconds are not going to be enough."

While Penelope hasn't fared well on the Yankee awards scene, she's been romping on the other side of the Big Drink, winning the European Film Academy prize for best femme perf. At Cannes, she shared the lead-actress laurels with her "Volver" costars when all of Pedro's gals were declared the winner together.