Vanity Fair’s latest Hollywood Portfolio, photographed by Annie Leibovitz (natch), features this year’s prominent actor-director filmmaking duos. Oh yeah, and Clint Eastwood stands on his own for obvious reasons. I really like this shot of “The Odd Couple,” Penelope Cruz and Woody Allen, mostly because everyone expects Woody and Scarlett Johansson together. However, the focal point of Vicky Christina Barcelona was, undoubtedly, Cruz’s character, who was both well-drawn and exquisitely delivered. To say the very least, this particular photo really works.

As a whole, this year’s Hollywood Portfolio is rather tame compared to the usual risque standards of Annie Leibovitz’s work. Quite noticeably, these photos also distance themselves from the elaborate themes and detailed costumes of the magazine’s past Hollywood Portfolios. Instead, a more raw, behind-the-scenes look prevails this year, which I assume is intentional in light of the global recession. Of course, there is also the obligatory behind-the-behind-the-scenes section of imagery, which is rather superfluous and distracts from the main event. In addition, one glaring miscall exists in this portfolio, which was, undoubtedly, shot many months before the film in question went splat. That said, a few nice shots, including one of Heath Ledger and Christopher Nolan, can be found within the pages of the Hollywood Portfolio itself.