A season for carpets, kudos

MIRAMAX chief Harvey Weinstein stood outside the theater after the Los Angeles premiere of “Gangs of New York,” greeting colleagues with hearty handshakes and the buoyancy of a winner. He chatted amiably with Variety columnist Army Archerd and bear-hugged director Kevin Smith. There was no sign of the man characterized in a recent New Yorker profile as a bombastic bully who is alienating Hollywood.

In fact, when asked what he thought of writer Ken Auletta’s piece, Weinstein chuckled and shook his head, saying, “Nothing.” Behind him, Miramax publicist Karen Paul repeated the evening’s mantra, “Gangs of New York.”

Here in Premieresville -- so-called by grumbling celebrity photographers because eight films opened the week of Dec. 15 -- studio rivalries don’t exist, co-stars are endlessly generous and every director is “amazing.” The red carpet is a parallel universe, a media spectacle that even studio executives admit does little to boost box office but is nevertheless integral to the Hollywood hype machine.

It’s an experience that can exhaust even the most die-hard film promoter. At the Westwood premiere of “The Hours,” a Reuters reporter stuck a long microphone in Nicole Kidman’s face and shouted repeatedly, “Why should your fans see this movie?” The actress laughed and walked away, saying, “I don’t know! I can’t sell it!” To an Australian TV reporter who asked, “Did this seem like an unlikely role for you?,” Kidman quipped: “I answered that question to you at the junket!”

Despite the disorienting strobe effect, the red-carpet premiere draws critics and academy voters during the crucial season when nominations are decided.

Kidman’s film was among the eight that premiered mid-December, along with “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” “Catch Me if You Can,” “Narc,” “Antwone Fisher” and “Gangs of New York.” “Rings,” “Gangs,” “Catch” and “The Hours” earned Golden Globe nominations on Dec. 19.

After the “Gangs” premiere at the Directors Guild on Sunset Boulevard, Quincy Jones shook director Martin Scorsese’s hand furiously, congratulating him. Later, Jones joined the chorus of audience members apparently shaken by the film’s brutality. “Some of the stuff I could hardly look at,” he said. Director Michael Mann reserved comment on his friend’s film, saying only, “It was a massive effort.” Others maneuvered through the after-party, nibbling caviar and salmon and shaking their heads over Daniel Day-Lewis’ turn as the tyrannical gang leader Bill the Butcher. “What a performance, this guy!” said actor Robert Forster. “It was the kind of movie people don’t make anymore,” said Jennifer Tilly.

At the reception for “The Hours” -- also starring Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep -- guests compared notes on the film, which inspired some to conversations of a philosophical bent and others to Oscar forecasting. Producer David Foster summarized the opinions of several when he asked, “How do we choose between these three women? That should be three nominations right there.”

More important for the premiere regulars, however, was the next stop. “Where are you going tomorrow night?” one woman asked a friend. “ ‘Antwone Fisher,’ ” he said.