Los Angeles, June 29, 2006 – Fresh off the "high" of his summer flop, The Lake House, Keanu Reeves returns with the animated A Scanner Darkly. (The verdict is still out on this one, but one critic told us that he walked out in the middle of a screening.)

Robert Downey Jr. didn’t show up for the Hollywood premiere, but Winona Ryder was her usual deer-caught-in-headlights self, and Reeves was self-important, as usual. Everyone ran very quickly down the red carpet; it was like “scanning” the premiere instead of actually being there. Woody Harrelson did not bring his wife, Laura, but he was beaming; the two had their third child earlier this month.

New York, June 28, 2006 – Despite its recent IPO of historically disastrous proportions, Vonage dusted itself off and launched a spiffy new product called the V-Phone, a plug-in device that turns a computer into a phone. The most important element, we believe, to any company’s success is throwing star-studded parties, and Vonage did a bang up job on Wednesday evening at Aer Lounge in the Meatpacking district.

They even managed to get the expectant (and hence reclusive) Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard out of the house to check out the new gadget. And we found out why Maggie loves Peter when a reporter from one of the beloved celebrity weeklies asked the question, “Do you think there are too many skinny stars in Hollywood right now?” Sarsgaard deadpanned, “It’s pretty much evened out to the right number.” Sarsgaard also revealed that one of his secrets for staying in shape is ping-pong.

Liv Tyler said she’s so square that this was the first time she’s heard DJ AM spin. Tyler is not a huge gadget head, but she told us that she has a lot of them, and her current favorite is her Treo.

Freddie Prinze, Jr. may have denied that his marriage to Sarah Michelle Gellar is on the rocks, but he came solo to the Vonage party. For some reason, he avoided talking to reporters.

Haylie Duff, Grammy-winner John Legend and model Tyson Beckford sporting a beard dyed bright red all phoned home from the party. Lost co-stars Maggie Grace and Emilie de Ravin came late, after 11.

New York, June 28, 2006 – Anyone taking a leisurely stroll in Central Park on Wednesday evening must have thought they’d stumbled onto a greener, sweatier, less well-dressed Oscar ceremony. But they weren’t hallucinating; Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jessica Lange really were traipsing through the grass to get to the Public Theater’s summer gala. The evening marked the opening night of the Public’s Shakespeare in the Park, featuring Liev Schreiber in Macbeth.

Everybody thought she was still in Australia, but Naomi Watts joined her man, Liev, at the gala. She wouldn’t talk (to us, anyway) about her friend Nicole Kidman’s wedding to Keith Urban, but despite the long trip Watts was very relaxed, if a bit shiny thanks to the humidity. Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates came along, and Liev introduced Naomi; they hadn't met before.

Also causing gaper blocks along the park trails: Steve Martin, Alan Alda, Candice Bergen, director Sydney Pollack and playwright Tony Kushner. Rachel Weisz dashed in at the last moment, just in time for the play, and boy, she is slim for someone who gave birth just one month ago!

Hot and sticky as the evening was, Tom Hanks put it in perspective: “It’s a beautiful night for Shakespeare”, he said.

Los Angeles, June 27, 2006 – The BET Awards on Tuesday was a really big, really hot event. In fact, there were so many people clogging the red carpet at the Shrine Auditorium that some of the biggest stars just got lost in the crowd. We saw Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige and Beyonce Knowles slip by unnoticed. However, Beyonce was in a rush – she did the show’s opening number, along with her man, Jay-Z.

And the BETs were hot, literally. The temperature was so high that people were drooping; lifetime achievement honoree Chaka Khan came prepared, fanning herself on the red carpet. While we were there, it began to rain really hard, and then got so hot again after the downpour ended, that we didn’t stay for the show. Don’t tell anyone.

New York, June 27, 2006 – Brandon Routh, the new Superman, is not gay, got it? Routh’s girlfriend, Courtney Ford, was at his side on Tuesday when Madame Tussaud’s unveiled a wax figure of the Man of Steel. In fact, Ford was superglued to his side, and had paparazzi begging her to step away for a moment, just long enough to snap a few photos of the two waxy versions of the superhero bonding. (Most photos you’ll see from this session without Ford in them have been cropped.)

The super clingy super girlfriend had the media types babbling about the persistent gay rumors, and one person claimed that years before he was cast in the role, Routh dated Superman Returns’ openly gay director, Bryan Singer. We can’t say, but certainly Singer wasn’t invading any photo ops.

New York, June 27, 2006 – Be glad that you are not Naomi Campbell’s driver today. The supermodel appeared in court briefly this morning in connection with her cell phone assault case, and when she left, her car was nowhere to be found. Besieged by media crews, Naomi and her small entourage were forced to go back inside the courthouse until her limo arrived. We don’t envy that driver!

The anger-management poster girl wore dark sunglasses, and, apparently, Birkin bags are no longer the must-have accessory for the legally challenged; Naomi carried no handbag.