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By Dave Karger
Dave Karger
Dave Karger
Dave Karger, a senior writer at EW, also reports on box office and other movie- related matters on NBC's ''Today''

You would think a premiere for Woody Allen's Celebrity, a comedy that takes down the world of fame, would be the perfect op for a party that pokes fun at itself. Nah. The Sept. 25, 1998, fete at New York's Tavern on the Green — the movie kicked off the New York Film Festival — was an irony-free madhouse where little attention was paid to Allen's flick, and much attention was paid to — you guessed it — the famous. While press-shy Celebrity costar Leonardo DiCaprio hid at a corner table with magician pal David Blaine (the two chatted on matching cell phones, though presumably not to each other), frantic publicists cleared a path for star Kenneth Branagh. ''It's surreal — life imitating art imitating life,'' said costar Joe Mantegna. Fellow cast member Famke Janssen agreed: ''We're at this party but it feels like a scene in the movie.'' True to form, Allen didn't show; he was shooting his next film. ''Woody'd rather be a fly on the ceiling,'' figured Mantegna. ''I hope he's somewhere safe and warm and happy.'' Well, two out of three ain't bad.


Posted Oct 09, 1998 | Published in issue #453 Oct 09, 1998 | Order Article Reprints