A Private Premiere and Party

The Scene: Friday night’s premiere of “My Own Private Idaho,” sponsored by Fine Line Features and Detour magazine. After a reception and screening at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, guests convened for an after-party at the Hollywood discotheque Arena. The evening benefited the Los Angeles Center for Living’s Project Angel Food and the Los Angeles Film Forum.

The Buzz: Would “Idaho” stars River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves be at the screening? (No and no.) Most of the celebrities were in their teens or early 20s, a generation more familiar to readers of Sassy magazine than to members of the academy. “I feel so old,” moaned one woman, looking over the guest list. (“Idaho” director Gus Van Sant, at 39, was old Hollywood.)

Who Was There: Van Sant and actors William Reichart, Rodney Harvey and Udo Kier, along with guests Anthony Perkins and Berry Berenson, Christian Slater, Alex Winter, Rebecca de Mornay, Scott Coffey, Sean Astin, Patrick Dempsey, Balthazar Getty, Valeria Golina, Brad Pitt, Ione Skye, Winona Ryder, Drew Barrymore and Terry Sweeney.

Fashion Statement: One man wore a two-piece suit, the trousers transformed into shorts. There were also several women wearing little black dresses accessorized by demure little tattoos on the shoulder blades.

Chow: A buffet of pastas, quiche, chicken, pot stickers and various desserts. The bar was understaffed and mobbed.

Favors: A copy of Detour and a movie poster. The most coveted toy was the neon-pink plastic bracelet admitting the wearer to the after-party.

Hedging Bets: Whoever made up the list of attendees for the party promised “possibly Keanu Reeves” and “possibly Madonna.” Explained a publicist, “We’re not allowing any cameras at Arena. That’s the only way we can get Keanu to show up.” He did. Madonna didn’t.

Best Credit Line: “Additional dialogue by William Shakespeare.”

Triumphs: On the day Anita Hill galvanized the country with her testimony, Jimmy Swaggart was found in the company of another admitted prostitute and several thousand people protested the AB 101 veto in Sacramento, it was a miracle that anyone would leave the vicinity of a TV long enough to watch a movie.

Glitches: What could be worse than the inadequate lobby at the academy? Only the inadequate parking at Arena.