Variety On the Town

HBO's Bloody Good Time

At the Thursday night premiere for Alan Ball’s new HBO vampire skein “True Blood,” entertainment prexy Sue Naegle got a big laugh for her witty introduction.

“A bizarre cult of mythical creatures: They look like us, they talk like us, but they’re not like us. They’re predators that feed on the living, but enough about the republican convention,” she said.

While Anne Rice often gets credit for creating Louisiana vampire lore, this didn’t daunt author Charlaine Harris prior to penning her own series “Southern Vampire Mysteries” in 1999 centering on a young telepathic femme protag.

“I thought, let’s create the flip side of Anne Rice: What if vampires lived in Northern Louisiana instead of Southern? What if they were funny instead of angst-ridden? That’s how it evolved,” explained Harris prior to the screening.

Mesmerized by Harris' blend of humor and emotion in "Mysteries," Ball sunk his teeth into adapting them as his second HBO series.

“I was wasting time in a book store (before a dental appointment) and came across the first book.  The tagline on the cover was ‘Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn’t such a bright idea.’ That made laugh,” said the Oscar-winning scribe.   — by Anthony D'Alessandro 

Photo: Alan Ball at the "True Blood" premiere in L.A. (WireImage)

'Entourage' Takes Manhattan

In its fifth season, “Entourage” is still one of the hottest tickets in town, even when that town is New York. Over 1200 HBO guests made their way downtown to Mansion, a multi-room dance club, after viewing the season’s first two episodes at The Ziegfeld on Wednesday. “We try to create something that is relatable and real and I think people in Los Angeles and outside of the city appreciate that,” skein’s creator and exec producer Doug Ellin explained.
Occasionally the show hits a little too close to home for some of its LA viewers.
“We have gotten a couple of angry calls here and there,” Ellin admits. “But the truth is we aren’t usually too negative.” Not negative enough to scare off this season’s crop of guest stars including execs, Fox’s Tom Rothman and NBC’s Ben Silverman, as well as thesps Leighton Meester and Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who mingled at the after-party with cast members Kevin Connolly, Jerry Ferrara, Rex Lee and a fashionably late Jeremy Piven. - by Addie Morfoot

photo: Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Dillon, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Doug Ellin, Jeremy Piven, Mark Wahlberg and Rex Lee at the "Entourage" season 5 premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater. (WireImage)

'Express' Stops in L.A.

Sony's "Pineapple Express" premiere pulled out all the stops at a huge after-party in Westwood on Thursday. Seth Rogen and James Franco celebrated their pot pic alongside guests Jim Carey and Kanye West and producer Judd Apatow. In keeping with the theme, the event included hookahs and "munchies" such as mini grilled cheese sandwiches and nachos. Guests were also able to pose with fake drugs, guns and more thanks to politeinpublic.com an innovative twist on photo booths. 

Preem's Monkey Business

Lined with banana and coconut trees, the yellow carpet premiere of “Space Chimps” got off to a fun-filled afternoon in Los Angeles with ice cream trucks, XBOX gaming stations and a BBQ buffet on the Fox lot. "This is a great chance for parents to laugh at the movies with their kids,” Cheryl Hines said at Saturday's preem. Joining Hines was the pic's director Kirk De Micco, and c0-stars Andy Samberg and Kristin Chenoweth. When asked who would reign in an intergalactic battle between “Space Chimps” or his SNL short “Lazer Cats,” Samburg chuckled. “It’s tough. With “Lazer Cats” it depends on who’s hands they fall into. So they could be good or evil. Where as 'Space Chimps' are just good. But that’s like asking me to choose between my children…which I would totally do—don’t get me wrong!”
- by Stuart Oldham

Carell Out Smarts Reporters

It can't be easy promoting a film around the world when at the same time going through a very public scandal. Anne Hathaway has been trying to take the high road as she jets to Mexico City, Australia and New York tub thumping "Get Smart" while her ex-boyfriend, Raffaello Follieri, has been arrested on charges of wire-fraud conspiracy and money laundering. It had been pretty smooth sailing until Monday's Rome premiere when despite being told no personal questions were allowed on the red carpet, a reporter went ahead and asked Hathaway how she was dealing with the break-up. People magazine reports that Hathaway "attempted a slight smile" before co-star Steve Carell stepped in to ease the awkwardness telling the reporter; "In my role of agent [for] Miss Hathaway, I would like to say that she does not answer questions relating to this subject."
(Photo: WireImage)

Will Smith Pumps Up Preem Crowd

It's a sight you don't normally see at premieres. The film's star performing a mini concert at the after-party. But that's exactly what happened Monday night at the Hollywood bow of "Hancock" where  Will Smith joined his former cohort, DJ Jazzy Jeff, for a five-song set that got industry folks on their feet. It's hard to picture other leading men doing such a thing. Could you imagine Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise leaping up out of their VIP booth at a preem after-party to sing "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It?" While Smith may be a tireless entertainer, he also knows a thing or two about promoting a film and made sure to use his time on stage to plug the pic's release date and thank director Peter Berg and co-stars Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman who were all bouncing their head to the beat.

Stars Sing for 'Mia!'

"Mamma Mia!" stars Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Amanda Seyfried brought their musical to Leicester Square on Monday for the pic's world premiere. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, who are producers on the film were also on hand.

Firth told the The Press Association that singing in the film was "delightful and mortifying" adding, "I love singing but I have only really ever done it in the shower." Brosnan echoed the sentiment when talking to the BBC saying, "To see an ex-MI6 thespian singing and dancing in the world of Mamma Mia... people are going to howl."

Photos: Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and Amanda Seyfried/ Colin Firth with wife Livia Giuggioli/ Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan: WireImage

Sex Returns to the City

"I want to congratulate you all on getting the hottest ticket in town tonight," New Line's Toby Emmerich told the aud at Tuesday's Gotham premiere of "Sex and the City."

Judging by the thousands of screaming fans outside Radio City Music Hall and the hour-long will call line, he wasn't joking. Even a sudden downpour as stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Kim Cattrall and Cynthia Nixon arrived, didn't damper anyone's spirits as Manhattan's favorite foursome caused a flashbulb frenzy.

Once inside the theater, the excitement continued as ticket holders such as Jerry Seinfeld, Katie Couric and Donald Trump took their seats. But no one caused more excitement than the belle of the ball, SJP, as guests actually rose to their feet and applauded her entrance into the building.

Pic's writer-director Michael Patrick King introduced the cast and the film saying, "sex is back where it belongs, New York City."

After the screening, guests walked a few blocks to the Museum of Modern Art for the chic soiree packed with cosmos and Manolo Blahniks. None of the guests played it cool and instead were snapping photos of the stars any chance they got. One female fan even asked Time Warner topper Jeffrey Bewkes if he would mind taking her photo with Chris Noth aka Mr. Big, while singer Fergie took out her camera for a shot with Parker.

Later in the evening, the museum's downstairs section turned into the men's club as Noth chatted with Willie Garson (Stanford) and David Eigenberg (Steve). While upstairs Parker and husband, Matthew Broderick, held court with the Seinfelds.

As for the chance of more sex with a second pic, producer Darren Star would only say, "anything is possible."

(pictured: Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall: Startaks/ Jason Lewis, Jennifer Hudson and Michael Patrick King: WireImage)

'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.

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)