New York, July 7 – Ah summer. Take the kids to the beach or the amusement park; maybe a Sunday picnic by a lake, or an opening of a heavy metal documentary. The premiere of Metallica: Some Kind of Monster made a nice family outing for Sean Penn, wife Robin Wright Penn and kids on Wednesday. (We skipped the Some Kind of Monster debut because we were uptown, gawking at Gwyneth Paltrow’s body modifications at another movie premiere. But then we headed down to the Gramercy Park Hotel for the Metallica after party.)

What brought the Penns to the premiere? We hear they’re friends of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. Also joining Metallicans Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo at the packed party were actor David Spade and, unrecognized by everyone under her green cap, Eva Mendes. Keep an eye on e-Bay, because it seems that David Spade lifted Sean Penn's wallet (photo at left).