Los Angeles, November 10-12, 2006 – Going to the movies took on a whole other dimension this weekend in Hollywood with one of the most packed-with-screenings weekends we can remember. In part thanks to the AFI Film Festival, we counted nine premieres from Friday through Sunday. (Thankfully, we slobs in the media don’t have to come up with a gleaming new outfit for each one!)

Friday, we found out that Avril Lavigne likes fast food, when she upstaged stars Wilmer Valderrama, Catalina Sandino Moreno and Greg Kinnear at the premiere of Fast Food Nation. Concurrently, Chad Lowe unveiled his directorial debut, Beautiful Ohio, at the ArcLight. Apparently, Lowe wasn’t just sitting around while his marriage to Hilary Swank disintegrated. His cast - Rita Wilson, Michelle Trachtenberg, Julianna Margulies - wasn’t bad for a novice. Later Friday evening at the ArcLight, Rebecca Romijn stepped out for a screening of her newest, The Alibi. Also on Friday in a darkened corner we stumbled upon Thora Birch at a screening of her new thriller, Dark Corners.

Saturday’s schedule included Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman at a screening of The Fountain, Karen Black and Justin Kirk at Hollywood Dreams, and beautiful Ashley Judd at a special presentation of Bug.

Sunday morning – waaaay too early Sunday morning – Hollywood Boulevard and everyone in the vicinity was covered in fake snow for the premiere of Happy Feet. Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy and cute Elijah Wood all managed to wake up in time, and the live penguin diverted attention from Nicole Kidman’s absence. They left the whole set up at Grauman’s for that evening’s extravaganza, Deck the Halls, where Matthew Broderick’s real-life wife Sarah Jessica Parker bonded with his on-screen wife Kristin Davis, just like on Sex and the City.

Avril Lavigne, Ashley Judd, Karen Black by Andy Fossum/Startraks Photo

Rachel Weisz by Michael Williams/Startraks Photo