TINSELTOWN SPYWITNESS.

Byline: Elizabeth Snead

'HOUSE' PARTY: Old and new school intertwined at Hollywood's El Capitan for the premiere of Queen Latifah and Steve Martin's new comedy ``Bringing Down the House.''

Most of the co-stars made the red carpet, including Latifah, Martin, Betty White, and Linus the dog.

Inside the theater, Jon Voight faced a ticket-seating snafu. (He finally got his seat.) Rose McGowan led her tall, handsome date while he held on to the popcorn and soda. ``NYPD Blue'' coppers Esai Morales, Garcelle Beauvais and Henry Simmons greeted each other from opposite ends of the theater. Michelle Trachtenberg explained how she wasn't sad to leave ``Buffy'' to a very interested ``8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter's'' Amy Davidson. Mandy Moore looked cute in a white suit jacket over a jean skirt. But why did Larry King and his wife feel they needed to stand up and wave at everyone as if they were on a parade float?

At the after-party, fake gold watches were given away as party favors. Tony Shalhoub, William H. Macy and Sarah Michelle Gellar all congratulated the beige-suited Martin. Kathy Najimy wished Latifah Oscar luck by promising to keep her fingers crossed, but all Latifah wanted to do was bum a cigarette out on the balcony. And just like true royalty, the Queen held court till the very end with a group of gal pals.

PROS AND CONS: The Santa Barbara Film Festival celebrated its 18th year (who knew?) with the premiere of ``Confidence,'' starring Dustin Hoffman, Andy Garcia, Ed Burns and Rachel Weisz, at the Arlington Theatre on State Street.

Everyone who hoped to see anyone was there, crowding the tented street in front of the historic venue.

Starting at 5:30 p.m., locals lined up inside the tent for shots of flavored vodkas and sips of local vinos. Two hours later, properly lubricated, everyone then waited out front to spot the stars.

But not even Montecito resident Oprah Winfrey, who was reportedly ``on the list,'' showed up. Hoffman and Garcia were no-shows. Maybe Hoffman was recovering from his Grammy appearance the week before. Weisz was busy filming something or other - maybe a new shampoo commercial. That left director James Foley and his star Burns, who plays a handsome grifter working for an eccentric L.A. mob boss (Hoffman), to fend for themselves.

Foley, whose credits include ``After Dark, My Sweet'' and ``Glengarry Glen Ross,'' admitted that ``Confidence'' is within his oeuvre.

``I'm continually drawn to situations where a group of people, mainly guys, get together and have a relationship that involves trust and money and how that affects their loyalty.''

Burns was the first actor cast. ``I had seen him in films, and he has a charm to him,'' said Foley. ``I think he shows his chops as an actor in this film and I like to think that's because I directed him.'' Hey, he has directed Gene Hackman, Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey, Jason Patric and Jack Lemmon.

But Foley says the magic happened when Hoffman approached the filmmakers. ``His role was originally written for a 250-pound New Yorker so we changed the locale to L.A. and Dustin, the writer and I sat in a room and threw ideas around and came up with the character.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) MARTIN (with LINUS), LATIFAH: Don't worry - they're housebroken.

Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

(2) FOLEY, BURNS: Who gave Dustin the night off?

Lee Celano/WireImage.com