Little Film Shoots for the Stars

The Scene: Sunday night’s premiere of the new film “Ted & Venus.” After a 7:30 screening at the Royal Theatre in West L.A., where the picture opened the next day, guests cruised westward to the Golden Monkey for a reception. (The Golden Monkey is on the no-longer-new Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, where street musicians vie with the musical strains of car alarms for public approbation.)

The Buzz: Can a so-called little picture like “Ted & Venus” survive against the Christmas juggernaut of “Bugsy, Hook, and JFK Meet the Last Boy Scout of Tides”? Luckily for “Ted & Venus,” it won’t have to; its major release is coming next spring. This one-week-only Los Angeles run is to qualify the movie for next year’s Academy Awards.

Who Was There: Director/star/co-writer Bud Cort, as well as James Brolin and Timothy Leary (both in the movie), and Shelley Duvall, Sally Kellerman and Cyndy Garvey.

Fashion Statement: Bud Cort was easy to find--he wore a bright red jacket with an enormous gardenia on his lapel. Club security wore standard nightclub security garb: black jackets, headsets, ponytails, and biceps that looked like they had shoved Cornish game hens up their shirt sleeves.

Quoted: Timothy Leary wore a snappy crew jacket from “The Last Boy Scout.” “Can we cross that out and write in Ted & Venus?” asked Cort.

Crashability: Pretty easy, since there were no passes necessary. A snappy rendition of “I’m with the movie” was all anyone needed to find themselves on the other side of the ropes.

Outside the Club: A rather frightening genus of clown, whose discomfiting outfit included cutoff shorts and knee pads, was tying balloon animals for anyone who came near. Are clowns going to be the mimes of the ‘90s?

Medical Corner: “I just got over three weeks of the flu,” confided Cort to a guest who wasn’t feeling well. “I recommend Alka Seltzer Plus in the blue package. Not the green.” Good advice, but we would have loved to hear what Timothy Leary takes for the flu.

Triumphs: The people behind “Ted & Venus” deserve kudos for having the guts to schedule their premiere at a time when a tsunami of Christmas premieres is fighting for media space.

Glitches: That aside, it was still a low star turnout.