The 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards went off at the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles on Friday and, while the carpet was, officially, blue, the occasion did give Tinseltown’s finest a chance to get a running start for the Oscars glam-a-thon.

Dive into our big, juicy photo gallery to see Rosario Dawson, Maria Bello, Mariah Carey, Taraji  P. Henson, Olivia Wilde and tons more assert their independence.

The smart celebrities know that enduring that kind of partying schedule requires training, so a bunch of them got together at the 3rd Annual Pre-Oscar Hollywood Domino Gala Benefit, which went down at Beverly Hills’ Bar 210 on Thursday.

Click through our massive, and very celebratory, photo gallery to see Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Nicky Hilton, Molly Sims, Matt Dillon, Aaron Eckhart, AnnaLynne McCord, Mel Gibson and tons of other party-positive stars prove that proper preparation leads to perfect partying. Learn from the masters, people.

Apparently, Dillon thought he was on the Autobahn in Germany instead of a road in icy and rural Newbury, Vermont.

Police pulled him over at around 10:00 p.m. after radar tracked him heading north at an alarming rate of speed, according to Vermont State Police Sgt. Tara Thomas.  Because he was driving so high over the limit, he was taken into custody and charged with driving at an excessive speed.

Dillon was piloting a rented 2009 Chevy Impala.  His court date is set for January 21 in Vermont’s Orange County Court.  If found guilty, he faces three months in jail and $300 fine.

The most beloved role of the former boyfriend of Cameron Diaz was probably as her improbable stalker in There’s Something About Mary.  Dillon’s due to hit the big screen this year in director Rod Lurie‘s Nothing But the Truth.  The film’s story line seems to be taken from newspaper headlines of a few years back: A female reporter who outed a CIA agent faces jail time for refusing to reveal her source.

Unless he wants to share a cell with his fictional co-star, perhaps Matt should stick to boating.

Matt was vacationing in Ischia, Italy, this week, out on the water surrounded by bikini-clad flesh.

Like, bikini-clad female flesh. Not that other, super-yucky kind.

This, despite the fact that he’s 44 years old. And hasn’t made a hit movie in, like, two years. And brazenly scratches his nipple in public—not a terribly attractive quality in anyone.

What’s his secret? Perhaps a highly refined pheromone that he releases when he scratches his nipple.

He should bottle that stuff and sell it. If he thinks he can compete with the world’s most powerful celebrity fragrance.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Stomp the Yard actor and KFC enthusiast Chris Brown is in final negotiations to co-star with Matt Dillon in the upcoming crime thriller Bone Deep. Chris may also executive-produce the project.

Earlier reports that Bone Deep was actually the next project from knee-high thespian Verne Troyer proved to be false. But hey, the crime thriller might be okay too.