Variety On the Town

'Sex and the City' lands in london

The "Sex and the City" gals arrived in London Monday for the pic's European premiere. Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall and Kristin Davis were greeted by hundreds of screaming fans (many had camped out over night) as they walked the red carpet in Leicester Square. "This is a miraculous and simply unforgettable night for all of us," Parker told the BBC.  Parker, who wore an eye-catching green dress by Alexander McQueen and a unusual headpiece by Philip Treacy, added that the preem was "an incredible way to kick off this adventure".  Click here to watch live coverage of the premiere.

McCain, Murdoch and more at the Time Mag bash

Everyone from Judd Apatow to John McCain attended Time Magazine's "The World's Most Influential People" party at the Lincoln Center in New York Thursday. Others celebrating their importance included newlyweds Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Rock, Tina Fey, Jeffrey Bewkes, Rupert Murdoch, Lorne Michaels and Harvey Weinstein just to name a few. In Time's issue Garry Shandling writes a piece on Apatow and recalls when Apatow was a writer on The Larry Sanders Show.  "I can still his hear his upbeat voice, 'o.k., let's write some jokes!' " Shandling writes. Read the full article here. 

Below: Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey/ SNL's Fred Armisen points to Rupert Murdoch and Wendi Deng/ John McCain and Judd Apatow (WireImage)

Polanski Pic Premieres

At Tuesday's premiere of "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" helmer Marina Zenovich explained what compelled her to make a doc about the scandal that led Polanski to flee America into exile during the 1970s.

"Right after Polanski was nominated for 'The Pianist' I was listening to one of the lawyers talk about the case on 'Larry King' and he said that the case was a sad day for the American judicial system and suddenly a light bulb went off and I thought I want to investigate this."

The doc premieres on HBO in June and will be theatrically distributed by ThinkFilm in July.

(pictured: Alec Baldwin with HBO's Sheila Nevins and Marina Zenovich/ credit: filmmagic)

Minghella's 'Truly' Tribute

According to the late-director Anthony Minghella's daughter Hannah, “Truly Madly Deeply” was not only the helmer's first film, but one of his most personal.

Hannah Minghella, along with several of the helmer's close colleagues gathered at Hollywood's Egyptian theater Sunday for a screening and discussion of the film as one of many events during BritWeek 2008.

“I think this film achieves what great films achieve — it makes you laugh, it makes you cry and it also brings a bit of humanism to it, which dad was always so good at,” Hannah
said, also revealing that the film was originally meant to be titled “Cello,” an instrument
her father loved. She was joined on stage by actor Julian Sands and producers Colin Vaines and Bill Horberg, in a conversation moderated by filmmaker Nick Redman.

“Seeing (“Truly Madly Deeply”) again on a screen, I was struck at how much a self portrait
it was,” Sands said of the film about a woman grieving over the death of a loved
one. “I'm overwhelmed by his presence on the screen tonight.” — Libby McCarthy

(Pictured: Bill Horberg, Hannah Minghella and Julian Sands/ WireImage)

Downey's Crowning Moment

It's not unusual for premieres to quickly turn into lovefests as co-stars and directors gush about each other ad nauseam on the red carpet. But instead of spreading the love, the "Iron Man" team has been directing it all towards Robert Downey Jr. At last week's London premiere, Gwyneth Paltrow went so far as to call Downey, "the greatest leading man in Hollywood." Then at Monday's Gotham screening, helmer Jon Favreau said the thesp, "carried the film on his back," while co-star Terrence Howard said, "he’s innovative, he’s fearless, he’s a genius."  Photo: WireImage

Taking a Chance with Mamet

"Everyone in Hollywood passed on the project," Sony Pictures Classics co-chief Tom Bernard said Friday at the Tribeca Film Fest's premiere of David Mamet's latest pic "Redbelt." "We said, we will take a chance because we like David and we have done a lot of great movies with him in the past."

Pic is about a Jiu-Jitsu teacher (Chiwetel Ejiofor) in Los Angeles who runs his studio by the honorable samurai code until greed and corruption threaten to derail his existence. At the preem, Ejiofor said he was not intimidated by Mamet, who he said approached him about the lead role in the film. "He sent me the script and I loved it," the thesp said before adding that he trained "for quite a bit of time in London and Los Angeles before filming began." - Addie Morfoot in N.Y.

Photos: L: Chiwetel Ejiofar; R: David Mamet/ WireImage

Ellen's Missed Photo Op

Ellen DeGeneres presented Janet Jackson with the Vanguard Award during Saturday's GLAAD Media Awards at the Kodak in L.A. Before handing over the kudo to Jackson, DeGeneres joked;  “I looked up the Vanguard Award and the people who have won before are Liza Minnelli and Elizabeth Taylor, both have their picture taken with Michael Jackson. Coincidence, I don’t know, I’m just saying, I’ve never had my picture taken with Michael Jackson, and I’ve never won this award.”  photos: WireImage

Tribeca's 'Baby' Talk

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler delivered "Baby Mama" to Gothamites on Wednesday at the film's premiere at the Tribeca Film Fest.  The evening began at the Ziegfeld theater screening where the duo was joined by Robert De Niro, Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Sigourney Weaver and Kristen Bell.  During the Museum of Modern Art after-party the ladies got a lot of love from their SNL crew as they celebrated with Jimmy Fallon, Chris Katan and Lorne Michaels. Poehler told USA Today that having the preem in New York was "honestly awesome," since they shot the film in the city. She added that the premiere, "kind of felt like a mini-wedding. Because my parents are here and I'm just nervous."  To read Variety's review of the pic, click here.

Photo: WireImage

Vanity Fair's Toast to Tribeca

Although they canceled their Oscar party, Vanity Fair proved they still know how to throw a lavish fete Tuesday night as Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal, Jerry Seinfeld, Lorne Michaels, Harvey Keitel and Edie Falco arrived at the State Supreme Courthouse bash to help kick-off the 7th annual Tribeca Film Festival, which starts Wednesday.

(pictured: VF's Graydon Carter and Larry David, Jessica and Jerry Seinfeld/ WireImage)

Globetrotting Stars: Paltrow, Downey, Kutcher

Rob Corddry, Ashton Kutcher and Lake Bell walked the red carpet in London for the  "What Happens In Vegas" bow, while Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. brought their "Iron Man" pic to Berlin on Tuesday.   Both films have their L.A. premiere next week.