Definitely, a Girls’ Night on the Town

The Scene: Thursday’s premiere of New Line Cinema’s “Now and Then” at the Village Theater in Westwood with an after-party at the Armand Hammer Museum. No one could accuse this film of not being in touch with its feminine side. Star Rita Wilson called it “a female ‘Stand By Me.’ It’s a coming-of-age story for girls.” It was described by studio Chairman Bob Shaye as a look into “the arcane psyche of our beloved gender counterparts” and by a guest as “a real estrogen experience.”

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Who Was There: The film’s director, Lesli Linka Glatter; stars Wilson, Christina Ricci, Thora Birch and Ashleigh Aston Moore; co-stars Cloris Leachman and Brendan Fraser; plus 1,500 guests, including Tom Hanks, Mike Meyers, Gabriel Byrne, Ann Miller and studio execs Mike DeLuca, Rolf Mittweg and Mitch Goldman.

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Observed: The paparazzi shouting “Thora! Thora! Thora!” as Birch arrived.

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Quoted: Director Glatter said, “When I first read the script I started crying. I realized I’d seen nothing like this about girls growing up. I’d seen a lot about boys growing up, but nothing about girls. For me, 12 was like the worst time ever. It’s such a hard time to be a girl. You’re not a women yet, but you’re not a kid either. And then there’s the point, maybe a summer, when everything starts to change and you know nothing will ever be the same again.”

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Chow: Ambrosia, the caterer, served up buffets of macaroni and cheese, roasted free-range chicken, sauteed greens and organic salads.

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Dress Mode: Straight from the office, with a fair number of women in what’s been called “the New York walking look”--a serious gray suit with white tennis shoes.

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Money Matters: This was the American Film Institute Associates’ annual fund-raising premiere. Tickets were $250 and more than $100,000 was netted. The movie had a special AFI connection. Glatter had been a dancer / choreographer who took the school’s Directing Workshop for Women.

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Hollywood Wisdom: A publicist on what his advice to O.J. would be: “He did the right thing on ‘Larry King.’ Attack the media. That’s what the Republican Party did.”