Holy Blockbuster Premiere Party!

The Scene: The streets of Westwood were choked with movie stars, rock stars, shrieking fans and Bat contraptions, so what else could it be but the premiere of “Batman & Robin,” the fourth in the series of latter-day Caped Crusader films? So huge was the turnout that the film, directed by Joel Schumacher and featuring an almost-new cast, which includes George Clooney (as Batman), Arnold Schwarzenegger (as Mr. Freeze), Alicia Silverstone, Elle MacPherson and Chris O’Donnell (reprising his role as Robin), had to be screened at four theaters: the Village, Bruin, Plaza and National. Afterward, there was a party at a parking lot across the street, done up in--you guessed it--a contemporary Gotham motif.

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Who Was There: The autograph hounds had plenty of pickings. In addition to Schumacher and cast members Clooney, Schwarzenegger, O’Donnell, Silverstone and John Glover were soundtrack artists the Smashing Pumpkins, as well as Gillian Anderson, Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Danny DeVito, Piper Laurie, Ashley Judd, Dean Cain and some of Clooney’s “ER” cohorts, Noah Wyle and Eriq LaSalle. Also spotted were Courtney Love with her band, Hole, Queen Latifah, Quincy Jones, director John Singleton and Batman creator Bob Kane.

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Holy Chow!: There was no going hungry here. Buffet tables were everywhere, serving up chicken tacos, carved roast beef, soba noodles and wonton and a veggie bar with pastas and salads.

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Freebies: To make sure the Batman experience lingered, everyone was given a “Batman & Robin” CD soundtrack as well as an interactive CD-ROM.

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What Does It All Mean?: While most of the audience appreciated the movie for its wild visuals and plethora of puns, actress Judd found herself tuning into the message of the film. “My favorite parts were the moral parts,” she said. “Especially when Alfred was saying, ‘You don’t have any power in trying to control or avert death. You have power when you improve the quality of an already existing life.’ I’m paraphrasing. But please! If the movie’s not about that, then it’s not worth seeing.”

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Batman’s Guide to Letting Go: “The only thing I didn’t want to do is sit around and have my guy feeling sorry for himself all the time,” Clooney said. “I don’t respond well in general to people who sit around and say, ‘Woe is me.’ Now, it was important to do that for the Batman character originally, but we know it now. We know that his parents are dead. . . . Move on. Grow up.”