Cate Blanchett arrived at the Museum of Modern Art last night for the premiere of Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine” with two young men. They’d flown in from Paris as representatives of design house Balenciaga with Cate’s gown for the evening. That’s right: the dress had assistants. And that was as it should be since Blanchett is not fooling around in “Blue Jasmine.” Her turn as Jasmine–er, Jeanette–French is going to be hard to be beat come Oscar time.

I said this a couple of weeks ago. But now the A list came and they are pretty critical. Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell from CBS The Morning, Al Roker and Deborah Roberts, Sopranos creator David Chase, Bob Balaban and wife Lynn, the writer, many “Girls” cast members including Adam Driver, Alex Karpovsky, and Zosia Mamet, Cuba Gooding Jr., Martha Stewart, Amy Poehler, Natasha Lyonne (looking pretty swell), Evan Jongkeit, plus Tony nominee Billy Magnussen, and so on were just mesmerized by Blanchett’s Jasmine.

And then there’s Andrew Dice Clay, fully revived, 55 years old, with dyed jet black hair and a cool black tough looking vest. He’s got an autobiography coming out in January called “The Dirty Truth.” Entourage creator Doug Ellin is making a documentary about him.

Blanchett has a few scenes with him and Alec Baldwin, and one with him and Peter Sarsgaard that’s integral to the movie. It’s a big reveal. “I think like all of us he was nervous,” Cate said of ADC, whom she praised. The Dice Man said, “When we did that scene, I pulled Cate aside and said I can’t believe I’m working with all of you.”

Did Cate know who he was in advance? After all, she’s Australian. “Oh yes,” she said, smiling. Clay is infamous now even 25 years after the controversial peak of his career.

Of the cast, Baldwin, Sarsgaard, Louis CK and Michael Stuhlbarg were present.  Stuhlbarg went to the after party at Harlow, as did Tammy Blanchard. Bobby Cannavale was unaccounted for, and Sally Hawkins is in England.

And Woody? His publicist Leslee Dart read a very brief text from Allen, who’s shooting his new film right now in Cannes and Nice with Colin Firth. “I am in the south of france filming and unable to be there tonight. I only wish i was in NY and unable to be there. My best to all, woody”

Allen is notorious for skipping his own premieres.

The premise of “Blue Jasmine” is sort of– I made this up- what if Blanche DuBois came to live with Stella because her husband was Bernie Madoff, and he’d lost everything. Jasmine’s husband. Hal (Baldwin) pulls a Madoff. But it has more far more dramatic results. Jasmine is destroyed. Woody so comprehended this character, and Blanchett so fully portrays her, that her tragedy is quite real on screen. And that means come Oscar time, Blanchett will have the lead in a tough, tough category.

Really sad news today: “Law & Order” actor Dennis Farina has died at age 69. His publicist says it was from a blood clot in his lung. Farina was very well known to TV audiences from the Dick Wolf series, as well as countless other television and movie roles. His key films roles were in “Get Shorty,” with Bette Midler in “That Old Feeling,” in “Saving Private Ryan,” and in “Out of Sight.” Farina was a handsome, leading man type who worked better in character roles– he was always the fifth guy on the credits. But he was a welcome sight in any film, usually playing a smooth operator. His resume is huge because he was so talented. Most recently he starred in the ill fated HBO series “Luck.” According to the imdb, he’d just finished two new films. He’s the third big name actor after James Gandolfini and Cory Monteith to die this summer. I hope that’s it. Condolences to his family and friends.

Back on April 25th I told you that Katherine Jackson had been taken to a family meeting at Janet’s secret Beverly Hills apartment. It was to discuss how the avaricious Jacksons would divide up their spoils after winning the AEG case. Yesterday there was a similar story in the New York Post. But just to refresh our memories:

Oh, the Jacksons. Their game has not changed. I am told by an insider that while Paris and Prince were at school back on April 18th, their grandmother was summoned to a family meeting in Beverly Hills. According to sources, Mrs. Jackson went to daughter Janet’s house where she was met by Jermaine, Randy, Rebbie, Janet and several other family members.

The topic of this 1pm pow-wow: how to divvy up the billions the Jacksons expect to make reap from the wrongful death suit against AEG Live. “Jermaine is already talking about how he’s getting a new Ferrari and a Bentley,” says a source.

And strangely enough: LaToya Jackson wasn’t there. No one told her about the meeting.

It was only ten months ago that the same Jacksons– Randy, Jermaine, Janet and Rebbie– “kidnapped” Mrs Jackson to Arizona, hoping to get access to her money from Michael Jackson’s estate.

The 1 pm meeting, it’s believed, was designed to take place while Prince and Paris were in school. According to my sources, Michael Jackson’s kids do not know this meeting took place. This might be of note to Prince, especially, who has lately been listening to Jermaine and Randy, according to insiders.

The AEG case is going to hinge on whether the Jackson lawyers can prove AEG knew Michael was ill, and somehow encouraged Dr. Conrad Murray to ignore the facts. It’s also going to depend on how much Murray reported to AEG at all. This may prove difficult since Murray was never paid, and was “hired” by Michael. The AEG side is going to say Michael insisted on Murray, and they simply acquiesced.

In any case, the Jacksons shouldn’t be buying anything expensive before a verdict is reached.