Variety On the Town

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

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

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.                                                                                                                                                                               

Streep Steps Into 'Dark Matter'

Aidan Quinn, Meryl Streep, Liu Ye and director Chen Shi-Zheng gathered at the Tribeca Film Center in New York on Monday for a special screening of their new pic "Dark Matter." The film is based on the actual events of a Chinese university student who becomes violent after he feels his chances for a Nobel Prize are crushed by school politics.  The pic had been scheduled for release last year but was delayed after the Virginia Tech shootings. It now opens in N.Y on Friday. Watch a clip of the film below:

Clooney's "Leatherheads" kick off

Guests at Monday night's "Leatherheads" premiere were treated to a swinging time at the 1920's styled after-party complete with a big band, swing dancers and the pic's star and director George Clooney. Jon Krasinski who plays the bigshot football player in the film, got a lot of "Office" support at the bash as his skein co-stars Jenna Fischer, Kate Flannery and Angela Kinsey were among the aud at the Chinese Theater screening. Watch Clooney discuss on-set injuries and how he enjoyed yelling at co-star Renee Zellweger in this clip from the preem's red carpet.

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You

The preem scene has definitely slowed down a bit these last few weeks. But things are starting to pick up with some big movies opening soon:

Demi's 'Flawless' accent?

At Monday's Gotham premiere of "Flawless" star Demi Moore admitted getting her character's English accent flawless was a bit of a challenge. "Every time I thought, 'ok I got it,' (Director Michael Radford) would come up to me and say, 'I think that is a little too English,' and I would say, 'Michael, you are killing me.' Then it would be too American. Figuring that accent out was a huge challenge." Below is a clip from the film. What do you think of the accent?

photo: Demi Moore and Michael Radford (WireImage)

'The Grand' Scheme

There are surprises on every film set but in the case of Anchor Bay’s improvisational comedy “The Grand,” co-writer-director Zak Penn said he was prepared for anything.

“I wrote what I call a scriptment because it’s part script, part treatment,” he explained Wednesday at the pic’s ArcLight bow. “It basically tells the actors everything they need to know about their characters and what’s going to happen in what scene.” Luckily, Penn's cast — Woody Harrelson, Cheryl Hines, Chris Parnell and Dennis Farina, are no strangers to improv and tried their luck playing poker pros competing for a $10 million prize.

Penn is best known for writing superhero movies such as “Elektra,” “X3” and the upcoming “The Incredible Hulk,” but says he was amazed at how the ad-lib approach came together. “You’re hoping it will force you to throw away the conventions that you get used to as a writer. The improv forced us into an ending that’s more believable because, like the characters in the movie, we were really committed to the luck of the draw.”  (J. Sneider)

(Pictured above: Zak Penn and Woody Harrelson; left: preem guest Ray Romano and pic's Cheryl Hines - photos credit: WireImage)

Thesps Take It To The 'Bank'

The low-tech heist flick “The Bank Job” looked anything but broke during Monday's premiere at the upscale Bryant Park Hotel in Gotham. Corseted waitresses served cocktails at the Cinema Society’s pre-screening party, and with director Roger Donaldson, stars Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows in attendance, the guests adjourned to the hotel’s theater to watch the film.

Donaldson said that he enjoyed the limitations of old technology in the film, since they made the story a better one. “This isn’t a story that could happen today,” explained the Aussie helmer. “If this was set now, you’d be triangulating using cell phones and so forth.”  In his introduction to the film, Donaldson emphasized the movie’s adherence to the facts — things that English journalists writing at the time of the actual robbery on which the film is based, were forbidden from reporting for 35 years. (S. Thielman)