Past Week...

Okay, so I know I’ve been slacking on the blogging. I’m sorry, our internet access has been horrible! A few days have passed since I last blogged, so here goes…

It all started on the day we got our market badges.

Market badge info:

For the festival, a market badge allows the badge owner to get into practically any film screening in the marketplace. This is great, and I’ve already been able to see around 10 films in the marketplace. However, for the late premieres (where you must wear a tux or formal dress to enter) you MUST have a ticket. Tickets can be hard to come by and require begging. Begging means wearing a tux, standing on a crowded street corner, and holding a sign reading “1 invitation S.V.P.”, but more on this later.

Going to Cannes to get our badges was a surreal experience. I walked in, showed my passport, nodded a lot (my French is not very good!), and walked out with a badge, a bag full of magazines and posters, and a heart full of Cannes hopes and dreams.

A normal day for me in Cannes tends to be: wake up anywhere between 7-10:00 AM, watch about 3 movies in the Palais (the magnificently large building that houses the massive Lumiere theater and many other smaller marketplace theaters), pick up my tux, change clothes in a broom closet-sized room, walk around begging for tickets for that evenings premiere and, finally, hopefully attend the premiere.

Last night was the premiere of Oliver Stone’s film, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. I walked the red carpet! Some pretty big names attended like director Oliver Stone, and actors Shia Lebeouf and Carey Mulligan. Although I hadn’t seen the prequel to this film, I really enjoyed it and had a wonderful time.

Today was the screening of Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. I loved the film, but seeing the film took 3 separate (successful) attempts at begging. I had tickets for the 11am, 5pm, and 7:30 screenings, but was only allowed to see it at 7:30. That’s right- the festival over distributed tickets! I finally got in (pushed my way through the crowds!) to see the 7:30 (formal dress required) screening, but the Lumiere was actually already full (no surprise to me at this point) so they moved a group of us to the Bazin theater next door. I loved the film! It was charming and entertaining in Woody’s classic style. Earlier this morning I also saw Mike Leigh’s Another Year and Im Sang-soo’s The Housemaid. I’m not a huge fan of Leigh’s film (just the subject of his films, they are mostly all masterfully done), but I enjoyed Sang-soo’s latest and found it really crazy and entertaining.

Okay, I know I’m leaving much out. But I’m tired.

Goodnight!