A Monster Crowd

Yeah, yeah: Size matters. We know that by now, yet the world premiere of Godzilla, held May 18 at New York's Madison Square Garden (featured prominently in the film), reminded us once again of the hyperbolic slogan. Aside from the big venue, there was the big guest list (11,500 partygoers) and the big stars (Godzilla's Matthew Broderick and Hank Azaria with respective significant others Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt, as well as Drew Carey and Muhammad Ali), not to mention some big problems (Sony Pictures Entertainment president and CEO John Calley and wife Meg Tilly were stuck in a 25-minute human bottleneck on the way to the post-movie street fete outside the arena). Even the screening had some monstrous moments. ''They booed me at one point,'' said costar Maria Pitillo, whose backstabbing reporter earned disdain from the audience. ''I was like, 'How am I going to get out of this freakin' theater?''' But there was one advantage to living large. ''I never saw Ali at the Garden,'' said Azaria of the other monster fighter in attendance. ''But Ali saw me at the Garden.''