An early start today, getting up at 6.30am to head into town for an 8.30am screening of WALL STREET 2: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS. We queued up in our smart clothes because we had been told that this was the dress code for the Grand Lumiere Theatre (the main cinema with the red carpet that has all the gala premieres), so imagine our disappointment when we got there and everyone was in jeans and t-shirts!
WALL STREET 2: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS - but you might!
This was a bit of a disappointment to be honest. Always felt that this was an unnecessary sequel that only got made due to the recent financial crisis, and was proved correct on this viewing.
I had issues with some dodgy camera moves, edits and awful music, but mainly I was annoyed that the central story was just dull.
I was looking for an exciting plot about the financial crash that would be examined in a way like documentaries like ENRON but instead I got a love story between Shia LaBoeuf and Carey Mulligan, with Douglas's Gordon Gekko almost tagged on as an afterthought.
Still given all the best lines, Douglas makes the most of his screen time but the decision to make him a reborn crusader against insider trading kind of muzzles his character.
It was onto the UK Film Pavilion next for some Wi-Fi which is so difficult to find and access in Cannes, possibly due to the absence of Starbucks... not a single shop in the whole of Cannes, bizarre.
The film festival is not all about screenings but also meetings and discussions as well.
There was a great discussion/debate about Market Intelligence: What Really Sells? which included speakers from UK Film Council, Producers, Distributors and Helen from Lovefilm.
It was a chance to see what was working well in the UK just now, how to capitalise and market on that, how it affects future productions, views on theatrical windows and my question on subtitled films. Very worthwhile stuff.
SHOCK LABYRINTH: EXTREME - 3D
After failing to get into CHATROOM I looked at my screening schedule and headed to the closest theatre to catch something, anything and I got this.
A trip to Cannes isn't complete without seeing some truly awful films, as the Marche De Film is all about producers trying to sell their rubbish films to distributors.
This film falls under this category. A group of friends who suffered a tragedy years ago are brought together to the scene of the crime and forced to relive the nightmare.
Sold as a horror film, it isn't remotely scary (when the scariest thing is a rabbit bag flying through the air you are onto a bad thing) and the use of 3D is almost non-existent. If you can't do 3D well, don't do it at all!
EL GATTAPARDO (THE LEOPARD)
This film is actually on the (500) Films of Empire list so I'll do a full review of this seperately but it was an amazing event with Martin Scorsese personally introducing the film as part of his dedication to the restoration of classic cinema.
After that film it was time to head off and meet the Cannes In A Van folk but tonight we would discover the problems in running a guerilla, independent (and unofficial) festival... lack of parking spaces! The Croisette was completely full and after a few circles of the main area it was decided to call it a night and we headed to Le Petit Majestic bar near Rue D'Antibes which is a haven for the UK contigent while in Cannes. Fortune was smiling on us however and a decent parking space near the bar allowed for an impromptu screening of a filmmaker's short film in front of an audience of friends and media types.
Getting back around 1.00am it was straight to bed cause it will be another early start for an 8.30am screening of the new Mike Leigh film ANOTHER YEAR.
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