New York, December 5, 2005 – Arriving at the King Kong premiere on 42nd Street in Manhattan, the first thing that came to mind was: who the heck decided to have one of the biggest movie premieres ever in the middle of Times Square? AT RUSH HOUR? Have you ever tried to walk through Times Square on just an average day? Hello!

Anyway, fighting through the slow moving tourist masses was even more aggravating when thickened by thousands of invitees packing multiple screenings.

There were a few surprises on the red carpet. We’d been fruitlessly asking everyone for days before whether star Naomi Watts was still dating actor Liev Schreiber. No one knew, but the romance is apparently still on, as they were very much a couple.

Director Peter Jackson looked positively transformed having lost a dramatic amount of weight since his LOTR days. A movie premiere is an odd place for delicate antiques, but he was carrying a “Kong” from the original 1933 version.

Lindsay Lohan popped in for a look. Even serious, sober-minded activist Tim Robbins lightens up sometimes. He gave one of our team an ardent talk about human rights over at the WITNESS gala, but then disappeared, and resurfaced a few blocks away to see King Kong and his buddy Jack Black.