I've got a few more stories to tell and several more reviews to write, but I doubt I'll get to them before I leave Cannes.
The trip has been fun and educational, if not overwhelming at the beginning. Fortunately, I know that if I ever come again, I'll be able to hit the ground running. In fact, I'm going to see what my chances are next year of returning with some freelance gigs in place to pay for the trip.
I've also made several friends who I'll stay in touch with -- that alone makes the trip worth it.
The best part about my trip was that I was able to stay motivated to produce some original reporting and blogging -- my main worry before I left. The stories aren't terribly great, but it's a good start.
I'll post more photos and pictures when I get back to Chicago. Maybe I'll write a few more entries, as well.
It's been a long 12 days, and I'm somewhat burnt out. It will be nice to go at a slower pace again.
I saw the 12:30 a.m. screening of "Clerks II" at the Palais de Festival on Saturday, and Kevin Smith and the stars from the movie were in the audience.
*** "Clerks II" is a great film. For those not familiar with "Clerks" or the cartoon series of the same name, the plot consists of two convenient store/fast-food clerks, Dante and Randall, who banter about everything from Star Wars to sex while on the clock. Lots of jokes about homosexuality and lots of swearing also are staples of the films.
The movie succeeds by offering original jokes -- such as why the term "porch monkey" is a racial slur and why the "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy is boring -- and also because it has a heart. The relationships among the characters are surprisingly touching in some scenes. Finally, there's some good discussion about how to live your life -- especially if you're a clerk.
3.5 stars *** Wayne's star system 1 star --> avoid at all costs 2 stars --> watch on TV when nothing else is on 3 stars --> rent it eventually 4 stars --> must see before you die
Many of the foreign films I saw at Cannes were disappointing due to their slow pace and lack of plot. I guess it's because films selected for Cannes are more artistic rather than commercial. Some of these films likely never will see commercial release, especially in the United States.
Good films I screened "Pan's Labyrinth" directed by Guillermo Del Toro (Spain). "Clerks II" directed by Kevin Smith (United States). "A Scanner Darkly" directed by Richard Linklater (United States). "Sketches of Frank Gehry" directed by Sydney Pollack (United States). "Shortbus" directed by John Cameron Mitchell (United States). "Babel" directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu (United States). "Uro" directed by Stefan Faldbakken (Norway). "X-Men: The Last Stand" directed by Brett Ratner (United States) "Volver" directed by Pedro Almodovar (Spain). "Akeelah and the Bee" directed by Doug Atchison (United States). "Fast Food Nation" directed by Richard Linklater (United States). "Paris, Je t'Aime" directed by various (France). "This Film is Not Yet Rated" directed by Kirby Dick (United States).
Not so good films "Re-Cycle" directed by Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang (Taiwan). "Election 2" directed by Johnnie To (China). "Marie Antoinette" directed by Sophia Coppola (United States). "Selon Charlie" directed by Nicole Garcia (France). "Over the Hedge" Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick (United States). "Il Caimino" directed by Nanni Moretti (Italy). "Destricted" directed by various (United States). "Suburban Mayhem" directed by Paul Goldman (Australia). "Southland Tales" directed by Richard Kelly (United States). "Red Road" directed by Andrea Arnold (United Kingdom). "977" directed by Otar Litanishvili (former Soviet Union). "Taxidermia" directed by György Pálfi (Hungary). "Manhattan Minutiae" (United States). "Life Remote Control" (United States).
I'm behind on my film reviews, and I doubt I'll ever catch up, but I do want to write something about Richard Linklater's film, "A Scanner Darkly," which was screened early Friday morning.
***
"A Scanner Darkly" takes place in the near future in Anaheim, Calif., and features Keanu Reeves as an undercover drug agent whose goal is to find out who sells and manufactures the mysterious drug known as Substance D. Reeves secretly is taking Substance D because of job stress and finds that both hemispheres of his brain are competing with each other to fill in the brain lobes destroyed by his drug use.
Although it isn't the best film in competition, it is one of the best. It's not really a commercial film, if only because it spends a lot of time on conversations between paranoid drug users, has little special effects or quick plot developments. I haven't read Phillip K. Dick's book, which the film is based off of. However, several reviews have noted that the movie is so true to the book that it's not commercially viable.
The ending, however, is more commercial and surprisingly touching and definitely redeems a lot of the movie. If this sees a wide release, I'll be surprised, but it's definitely worth watching.
3.5 stars *** Wayne's star system 1 star --> avoid at all costs 2 stars --> watch on TV when nothing else is on 3 stars --> rent it eventually 4 stars --> must see before you die
*** If I had to pick one movie to see at Cannes, it would be "A Scanner Darkly." The film has intrigued me ever since it was announced in 2003. I saw "Waking Life," and really liked the animation process -- called interpolated rotoscoping. The technique involves filming the movie in DV and then painting over each cell one by one. Highlights from the news conference
At the news conference Thursday, Linklater said the movie was delayed from its original September 2005 release, because the animation process ended up taking more than 500 hours. Downey Jr. joked that animators worked under sweatshop conditions to get the film completed.
The film was shot on a really low budget in Austin, Texas, in just 23 days, Linklater added. No company even would fund it until stars Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Winona Ryder and Woody Harrelson were attached to the project, he said.
Downey Jr. joked that "the 25 years of drug research I've been doing" helped him prepare for his role as a paranoid drug user. This generated lots of laughs.
One reporter asked whether Linklater thought the media made people paranoid.
"I don't think the media is paranoid enough or they are about the wrong things," Linklater said. "They report on a person that could break into your house but give a free pass to what's really affecting things. Healthy paranoia is good for dialogue, but they're made to think it's bad to be paranoid."
Meanwhile, Downey Jr. said that just because he has roles liberal films such as "Good Night, and Good Luck," and "A Scanner Darkly," doesn't mean he "is some left-wing Larry."
"I like George Bush," he said. "I have a nice picture of Bush with my wife on top of my refrigerator. I think he's a shitkicker and gets things done. Is that OK?" he asked.
In response to the comment on my previous post about my lack of celebrity encounters, I guess I'd say there are celebrities everywhere in Cannes, but many of them are inaccessible unless you're a key player in the movie industry or a journalist from a prominent media outlet.
Most celebrities stay outside of Cannes and only venture in for premieres and parties. When they do cone in, they are closely guarded and cordoned off from the public.
I've seen lots of movie stars at news conferences and on the red carpet, but none of them just walk around Cannes -- mainly because they would be mobbed.
Parties are a good way to meet celebrities, but invitations are scarce and only go to key industry people or prominent entertainment journalists.
Meanwhile, I haven't really gone out to clubs or bars at night, if only because I'm on a budget and can't afford a $45 taxi ride home after the trains stop at midnight.
I've heard a few funny stories, such as one case where someone pointed out that a homeless guy playing the harmonica looked a lot like Nick Nolte. It turned out that it was a shaggy bearded Nick Nolte dressed in shaggy clothes.
But really, celebrity sightings just aren't my thing.
*** Director Richard Linklater, Keanu Reeves and Robert Downey Jr. participated in a news conference Thursday about "A Scanner Darkly."
With a festival like this, there are bound to be highs and lows -- mainly because I have expectations since I'm paying my own way to be here.
Wednesday sort of was a bust until the last part of the day. Sophia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette" was disappointing, even though it got lukewarm reviews by Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.
In the afternoon, I tried to watch the Australian film "Suburban Mayhem," but it was too stylized rather than engaging -- I slept through the majority of it and eventually walked out.
Then I tried to get into the press screening of Richard Linklater's "A Scanner Darkly" and waited in line for 45 minutes, only to watch people with higher priority badges fill up the theater.
I called the Weinstein Company later to see if there were any advanced screenings for Kevin Smith's "Clerks 2," but was told that a screening in the evening was invitation only.
I tried to get into a foreign press screening of "United 93," only to be rudely turned away at the door, because I was domestic press.
Afterward, I ran into a student from UPenn who said he and several other of his classmates attended the "Clerks 2" screening. Apparently, someone was handing out flyers for it, and you could bring as many people as you wanted to the theater!
Finally, I went to see a low-budget documentary called "Life Remote Control," but the production values, story and editing were not up to par, so I walked out.
*** So I sat in the wifi cafe, wishing I had made different choices throughout the day -- even though it's impossible to do everything and you can't expect to be on top of everything always -- and called a friend to tell him about my crappy day, which made me feel a little better.
Fortunately, the end of the night redeemed some of the disappointments.
Because I had to carpool back with a friend from Variety, I went to meet her over at the American Pavillion and found out that the Queer party was open to the public. Many cast members from "Shortbus" were around, and I was able to talk to one of the main actors Sook-Yin Lee. Director John Cameron Mitchell, who is known for his other movie, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," also was present, although I didn't get a chance to speak to him.
John Cameron Mitchell, left, and Sook-Yin Lee, right, attend the Queer party at the American Pavillion. "Hedwig" is about "a transexual punk rock girl from East Berlin who tours the US with her rock band as she tells her life story and follows the ex-boyfriend/bandmate who stole her songs," according to IMDB.
"Shortbus," meanwhile, is "an exploration of relationships in New York City through gender, sexuality, art, music and politics," according to IMDB.
That's putting it lightly -- "Shortbus" has some of the most sexually graphic scenes I've ever watched. It likely never will be released in theaters -- although there was a successful bidding war for it at Cannes, according to Variety.
Mitchell's next film, "Oskur Fishman," is for child audiences -- I find that hilarious.
*** The highlight of the party was the fantastic fireworks display. Because the American Pavillion's back yard is the beach, partygoers got a fantastic view.
Below is video footage of some of the fireworks I saw.
More photos of the fireworks show outside the American Pavillion early Thursday morning.
"Babel," by Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu, is the best movie I've seen at Cannes so far. In fact, it's so good that I predict it will win the festival's top prize, the Palm D'Or, or Golden Palm.
The Tower of Babel "was a tower built by a united humanity to reach the heavens. Because man had it in his heart to be like God, God stopped this project by confusing their languages so that each spoke a different language. As a result, they could no longer communicate with one another and the work was halted. The builders were then scattered to different parts of Earth. This story is used to explain the existence of many different languages and races," according to Wikipedia.org.
MIñárritu, director of "Amores Perros" and "21 Grams," gave the film its title because it weaves four different story lines in four different languages from four different countries -- Tunisa, Morroco, Mexico and Japan. Eventually, the audience discovers that each story is connected in some way.
Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett lend their starpower in the Morocco storyline, where they play American tourists. But despite their notoriety, all the actors and actresses are good.
I'm not going to give away the story, because it ruins the film -- but the style, acting, editing and directing are top notch. It's sort of like "Amores Perros," if you've seen that.
3.5 stars *** Wayne's star system 1 star --> avoid at all costs 2 stars --> watch on TV when nothing else is on 3 stars --> rent it eventually 4 stars --> must see before you die
This film is written and directed by Richard Kelly in his first project since "Donnie Darko." The film takes place in a Los Angeles in 2008, and is an ensemble drama/comedy/sci-fi flick with The Rock, Justin Timberlake, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sean William Scott, Miranda Richardson, Mandy Moore, Kevin Smith and many members of Saturday Night Live.
In "Southland Tales", Abilene, Texas, is hit by a nuclear attack in 2004. The United States now uses an energy source powered by ocean waves, and citizens are monitored by a Big Brother-type department called USIDENT.
The Rock plays Boxer Santaros, whose father, a Texas senator, is running for vice president. Santaros has amnesia and finds himself writing a movie script about the end of the world. Meanwhile, a presidential election is about to occur and the last vestiges of the Democratic Party, who now are considered marxists, attempt to sabotage it.
Even though this plot might sound coherent, it's really not. There are a lot of other plot lines and conspiracies that are underdeveloped, and I'm really not doing the plot justice, because it's so convoluted.
Someone from Variety told me that the film probably will destroy Kelly's career, because almost all the reviews have been dreadful. When people asked me about the film before the premiere, I told them to expect an incoherent narrative similar to David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive."
At times, it feels as if the plot was written by a 16-year-old who just thought it would be cool to cobble a bunch of cool actors and actresses together in a sci-fi flick. The dialogue is bad, and the acting in many cases is stiff. However, the soundtrack, mostly by Moby, is really great, and I like the sets, costumes and some of the special effects.
A funny thing about red-carpet premieres. Because the films are screened beforehand for the press, if a film is a good, extra tickets are hard to come by. If a film is bad, lots of extra tickets suddenly become available.
That was the case with "Southland Tales." Many people were able to get extra tickets because of the bad buzz generated earlier in the day.
2 stars *** Wayne's star system 1 star --> avoid at all costs 2 stars --> watch on TV when nothing else is on 3 stars --> rent it eventually 4 stars --> must see before you die
Here's what it's like to be at the top of the stairs at a red carpet premiere. Props go out to my friend D who shot the footage.
The secret to getting a ticket to a red-carpet premiere is to be patient. Someone somewhere has extra tickets, you just need to be able to catch them at the right place and at the right time.
Whenever I have a free moment, I usually wander to the last-minute ticket booth to see how long the line is and whether anyone is walking in to give away tickets.
Someone had two extra tickets to the premiere of "Il Caimino" (The Caiman), which is about a movie producer who tries to make a film satirizing former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
My friend D got a ticket with me, and she had to go buy an evening dress for the screening -- or security wouldn't let her in the door. Meanwhile, I was allowed in the red-carpet area but was forced to buy a black bow-tie for $20 before they would let me walk the red carpet. Below is a photo of me shelling out the dough.
*** Walking the red carpet was fun, if only because you need to do it at least once if you're at the festival. If I come again, a black bow-tie will be on my packing list.
Fortunately, I was wearing a black suit and white dress shirt on Tuesday. That's the thing about the festival, everything is last minute. Most people don't give away their tickets until a half-hour or hour before the premieres. If you're planning to go and your hotel is far away, you need to either bring dress clothes with you or try to wear them during the day.
I'm wearing a suit every day, although I don't have enough white dress shirts. I plan to wear white on days where good films premiere :-p.
*** As for "Il Caimano," it's definitely an Italy film. Because I'm not familiar with Berlusconi and the controversy about his four-year reign as prime minister, the film is harder to understand and appreciate. It has decent characters and some good emotional scenes -- mainly between the film producer and his wife, who are separating. However, it gets a low rating because its not accessible to non-Italian audiences.
1.5 stars *** Wayne's star system 1 star --> avoid at all costs 2 stars --> watch on TV when nothing else is on 3 stars --> rent it eventually 4 stars --> must see before you die
Expanded comments from the talent of “Fast Food Nation”
The movie trailer for "Fast Food Nation."
The “Fast Food Nation” roundtable discussion consisted of three groups of journalists sitting at three different tables in a ballroom. Meanwhile, Ethan Hawke, Wilmer Valderrama, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Richard Linklater and Eric Schlosser rotated from table to table every 15 minutes to answer questions. The event lasted about an hour, and if you’re interested in reading a lot of text, below are some notable excerpts from my notes.
*** Hawke came to my table first, and I asked him several questions about his character and about his scenes in the film. His character, Uncle Rick, is a hippie/college dropout, but he eventually inspires his niece, who works at a fast-food restaurant, to believe in something.
Hawke told me that he developed his character with Linklater so that his scenes would discuss accountability in our personal lives. Most people, for instance, don’t think they can stop eating meat because they don’t know anyone else who leads by example. Hawke’s character, however, practices what he preaches.
“We don’t think we can make a difference with what we do as individuals,” he said. “But if we meet one person who doesn’t lie and who holds themselves to a higher standard, that’s one person who doesn’t do it.”
Hawke also answered a question I had about whether his scenes warned of the dangers of those who protest while neglecting their personal ambitions. After all, I know a lot of people who are passionate about social causes but who aren’t ambitious about their lives (I call them hippies).
“How do you define success?” he asked me. “By making money? By doing that, we belittle ourselves.”
Everyone is disappointed with his or her life at some point, he added. “But success is determined by how well you handle that disappointment and measure your shortcomings.”
Hawke later was asked by a journalist about how much money he needed to do the things he wanted to do.
“I don’t need any,” Hawke said. “Although I do need money to pay taxes and my ex-wife (Uma Thurman). Dostoyevsky didn’t need money to be a great writer.”
Hawke said his first trip to the Cannes Film Festival was in 1989 to help promote “Dead Poet’s Society.” At the age of 75, if he still is sitting at a table talking to journalists, he’ll be happy, he said.
“That would mean my work still is relevant,” he said.
*** For those who don’t know, Wilmer Valderrama plays Fes (short for foreign-exchange student) on Fox’s “That ’70s Show.” I asked Valderrama why he chose such a serious role after the show, similar to what Topher Grace has done. On an interesting note, Valderrama was really hungover – his eyes were bloodshot, and he was losing his voice.
“For many years I was sitting out of movie making. Nothing was presented that I could really relate to, nothing mattered,” he told me. “Nowadays, a lot of movies are ‘let’s make it quick, make the budget back and $5 million to $10 million after that.' ”
“I’m not saying this with cockiness, but “That ’70s Show” was a platform that allowed me to sit out. It gave me such a safety net,” he added.
Valderrama said he was drawn to the role of a Mexican illegal immigrant in the film, because it was a character that no one expected him to play -- and a statistic for most people.
“I was so inspired in performing a character that didn’t exist; that was invisible to the masses,” he said.
“Let’s face it, it’s easy to be the heart throb,” Valderrama added. “All you have to do is know how to say ‘I love you’ in three different voices. Screaming, crying and [in a suave voice] ‘I love you.’
This comment generated a lot of laughs at our table.
*** During the interview, Linklater was slightly irked that I called his movie “Traffic” with beef.
It’s just an ensemble drama like any other, he said. “Traffic” is more stylized and has more storylines, he added.
Linklater also explained how his crew got permission to film cows being slaughtered in several Mexican beef-packing plants. Seventy cows were killed on film, he said.
"Isn't that unethical to kill animals for a movie?" I asked.
"Well, the cows were going to be killed anyway," he said.
After the interview, I chatted with Linklater a bit about his other movie that is premiering at the festival, “A Scanner Darkly.” The reason it took so long to complete was because of the digital-painting process, he said.
Although I was unsuccessful in pumping him for information about whether there would be a cast party that I could attend, I did mention that I was interested in doing a story on the technical aspects of the film, which is filmed in digital video and then digitally painted over cell by cell.
“You should come to our studios in Austin,” he said.
Richard Linklater, right, poses for a photo Sunday with intrepid reporter Wayne Ma at the Hotel Carleton at the Cannes Film Festival. *** Residents in the Quad-Cities are wise to have a community debate about the pork-processing plant proposed in East Moline, said Eric Schlosser, author of the bestselling novel “Fast Food Nation.”
“These (meat processing) companies beforehand promise high-paying jobs to their communities,” Schlosser said. “But when they come, they typically bring in workers who are often unattached males or transients who work in bleak conditions.”
The migration of these workers can bring in prostitution, drugs and crime, he added.
“Your community should consider it very carefully,” Schlosser said. From text to film
The book “Fast Food Nation” came from an article Schlosser wrote in Rolling Stone magazine that connected the plight of Mexican migrant workers with the strawberry industry, he said. Editors at the magazine liked his article and asked him to write a similar piece about the fast-food industry.
Schlosser spent several years researching his book. Although he was not allowed into meat-packing plants, he was able to sneak into a few with the assistance of workers who were angry at the practices.
Linklater and Schlosser met in Austin, Texas, several years ago about the possibility of turning the book into a feature film. At first, Linklater said he assumed it would be a documentary -- and was going to refer Schlosser to someone else.
“But after (Schlosser) told me it would be a character-based piece about people in one town, it clicked in – this is what I do,” Linklater said.
Fact-food nation
For Hawke, an Academy Award nominee, and Valderamma, a star of Fox’s “That '70s Show,” “Fast Food Nation” does not have a clear point of view.
“I don’t think it has a giant agenda; it doesn’t say what you should or shouldn’t do,” Hawke said. “What you see is the invisible hold of corporate America – making money at the bottom line.”
“It just puts info out,” Valderamma said. “We’re just showing and creating a window.”
The movie does not tell audiences who is the “bad guy or good guy” added Moreno, who was nominated for an Oscar in 2004 for best actress in “Maria Full of Grace.”
Some scenes -- such as a conversation between two fast-food executives played by Bruce Willis and Greg Kinnear – present valid points that fast-food corporations might make, Linklater said.
“It’s such a complex issue,” Linklater added. “There’s not one person in the world (who can change things) and there’s not one bad guy – it’s the system.”
Patrick Stewart, Anna Paquin and Hugh Jackman arrive at the official Cannes news conference. *** Although I was told that I couldn't attend the advanced screening of "X-Men: The Last Stand," I tried anyway. Because I already had received a badge, I was able to get in.
While standing in line at the entrance to the theater, I struck up a conversation with Justin Chang, a film critic for Los Angeles-based Variety magazine. I asked a lot of questions about Variety and about his job. Chang, it turns out, writes only one or two movie reviews a week. Most of the time, he does layout, design and editing on Quark for the publication.
One of the interesting things about Variety is that it has its own style -- or slanguage. NBC, for example, is referred to in all articles as Peacock, CBS is called Eye and ABC is called Alphabet. Chang said that Variety breaks all sorts of styles, and agreed that it moves the farthest away from AP Style compared to major newspapers.
Chang has a pretty cushy job, although he said he'd eventually like to branch out into more mainstream press. We swapped information, and when I visit L.A., I might ask him to give me a tour of Variety's offices.
***
Meanwhile, "X-Men 3" is the best superhero film I've seen so far. I was worried about the film after Brett Ratner replaced Bryan Singer as director. Ratner's "Red Dragon" is a good film, but his "Rush Hour" films aren't all that.
The third X-men film deals with the return of Jean Grey, who was presumed dead at the end of the second movie. Grey, it turns out, has split-personality disorder because of Professor X. The professor knew that Grey would not be able to control her powers unless her agressive and uninhibited side was not contained. As a result, he buried that side of her at a young age into her subconscious. Grey's near-death experience, unfortuantely, has brought this side up to the surface -- with fatal results.
Meanwhile, the government has developed a genetic cure for mutants, something that Magento wants to obtain and destroy. This leads to a confrontational showdown on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco.
Ratner, surprisingly, does a great job in this film. The movie still maintains the style and tone of the first and second films, it's not too over the top, and it has a willingness to kill off major characters.
I went in hoping that the movie would be good, but not expecting it to be good. It has exceeded my expectations.
3.5 stars *** Wayne's star system 1 star --> avoid at all costs 2 stars --> watch on TV when nothing else is on 3 stars --> rent it eventually 4 stars --> must see before you die
If I were a reporter from Variety, I'm sure I'd have better access. *** Saturday got off to a good start, but now it's kind of a let down.
While waiting for the train in Juan le Pin, I met a group of 25 NYU students who are in the entertainment section of the MBA program. We swapped information, and I might meet up with them later.
Next, I saw "Selon Charlie" at the 8:30 a.m. and fortunately managed not to fall asleep; had a quick lunch and then caught the last 20 minutes of "Paris je't amie" that I missed a several days ago.
I took a lucid nap in the same theater, which later screened "Color Me Kubrick," a film -- "based on trueish events" -- starring John Malkovich as a Stanley Kubrick impersonator. The film got good buzz at the Tribeca Festival in New York City, and I saw enough of it to catch the gist, but not enough to feel comfortable reviewing it.
Finding films to nap in is a difficult strategy. The movies have to be good enough to watch in case I don't fall asleep, but not good enough that I'll regret it if I do.
While waiting in line for "Color Me Kubrick," a man who runs the Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Film Festival -- the longest running festival in the world at 38 days -- gave me some tips on how to get party invites. Big distributors such as Miramax, Warner Bros., Fox, etc., rent out offices in the nearby hotels. Sometimes, they will grant invites if you go to their offices. He gave me two tickets to the Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival party later this week.
Based on that conversation, I skipped my afternoon film, "Shortbus" -- directed by the guy who did "Hedwig and the Angry Itch" -- and went to nearby hotels with some ideas of the parties I wanted to attend. MTV, HBO, Kodak and Playboy all have private parties next week.
At the HBO office, the woman said she only was a sales person and didn't have power to add me to the list. At the Fox office, I got a pass to see "X-Men 3" in the evening and talked my way onto a shuttle that took me to a villa further in Cannes where a news conference was being held. Because my name wasn't on the list at the villa, I had to wait outside for 30 minutes, which was a good thing, because Kelsey Grammer came outside to talk on his cell phone and ended up sitting next to me and talking to me for a few minutes.
Sadly, I was turned away from the news conference -- because I wasn't on the list -- and forced to take a shuttle back. A few hours later, I received an e-mail saying I couldn't attend the "X-Men" film either. The Fox employees might have got annoyed at my attempt to get into the news conference without proper authorization. But whatever, Cannes is all about getting turned down for things. Everything is a numbers game.
Besides, "X-Men" still will be playing Monday for press. I'll watch it then.
On a side note, I was told that Fox gave away 250 more tickets than they could for the "X-Men" premiere Monday night! I wonder what's going to happen to those people who were promised tickets, ho hum.
Moving on, at the Kodak Pavillion, I was able to wiggle my way in by obtaining a pavillion badge without proper accreditation. However, I was unsuccessful working the guest list for the evening yacht party.
Meanwhile, at the American Pavillion, I tried to get into a press cocktail party for "Fast Food Nation," but was turned away at the entrance because it only was for large press like the New York Times or Los Angeles Times. As consilation, the publicist said I could get a seat at the Sunday afternoon roundtable with director Richard Linklater and the stars of "Fast Food Nation" -- so it's not a total loss.
So hopefully, Sunday will be better. There are a whole slew of films I want to see, including "Donnie Darko" director Richard Kelly's "Southland Tales" and the computer-animated film "Over the Hedge."
"Akeelah and the Bee," "Red Road," and "Selon Charlie"
Writing film reviews are getting harder, if only because I'm starting to see more of them and writing a whole review is tedious. However, I want people to know what I've watched, so I'm going to include short summaries from now on.
"Akeelah and the Bee" (United States) Akeelah is an 11-year-old girl in South Central Los Angeles who is so incredible at spelling that she makes it to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. -- despite being laughed at by her peers and ignored by her mother. Lawrence Fishburne plays her spelling coach, portraying a former UCLA English professor with a sad past.
The film is the first one produced by Starbucks Coffee (not kidding), but it's surprisingly good for the following reasons: It's not overly sentimental and its ending is not entirely predictable. The best part of the film is how it deals with education and success in black culture; how black students are discouraged from showing off or achieving success because of a fear that they will be looked down upon or laughed at by their peers and family members.
3.5 stars *** "Red Road" (United Kingdom) Jackie works as a security camera operator in Glascow, Scotland. One day, among her many camera eyes, she spots the man who was convicted of killing those closest to her. Apparently, he has been given an early release and now lives in a slum on Red Road. Jackie attempts to befriend her killer for reasons unknown to the audience until the last 15 minutes of the film.
Although the movie is part of the official selection, I didn't like it because it took forever to understand why Jackie was doing what she was doing. It was too slow.
1.5 stars *** Selon Charlie" (France) Also part of the official selection, and although better than "Red Road," it was still a bit slow, especially at the beginning. The movie is about 12 people in a French city and shows their stories weaving in and out of one another. The characters all are connected in some way. The stories include an archealogist/scientist running a science conference, a colleague of his who left his team and now is a teacher, one of the teacher's students, the mayor of the town, a criminal, the student's father, a young tennis player and several more.
Similar to "Red Road," audiences have to sit until almost the very end to appreciate and understand the coincidences.
2 stars *** Wayne's star system 1 star --> avoid at all costs 2 stars --> watch on TV when nothing else is on 3 stars --> rent it eventually 4 stars --> must see before you die
Kelsey Grammer plays the character Beast in "X-Men 3: The Last Stand," which premieres Monday at the Cannes Film Festival. Wayne Ma takes a shameless picture of Kelsey Grammer so that people will believe the interview happened. Video footage of Kelsey Grammer sitting in the villa before a news conference
*** The best part about the last years of "Fraiser" was that audiences could see and understand how the character got himself into his absurd situations, said actor Kelsey Grammer.
"After 10 years in Seattle, he definitely was frantic and frenzied," Grammer said.
Grammer is at the Cannes Film Festival promoting "X-Men 3: The Last Stand." In the film, he plays Beast, a blue and highly cerebral mutant.
The characters of Fraiser and Beast or "both men of thought and action," Grammer said. "But Beast is more formidable. I guess you could say that Beast is slow to act, while Fraiser is quick to act."
In 2005, Grammer hosted Fox TV's "The Sketch Show," a sketch comedy show based off the British version. The show was quickly canceled.
"It was an interesting collaboration with the Brits," he said. "Some of it translated really well and some of it didn't."
Grammer said Fox probably shouldn't have asked him to be a part of it, because Fraiser "casts a big shadow." Audiences aren't comfortable seeing Grammer act as someone other than Fraiser on TV, he said.
"But maybe they are more comfortable seeing me in (X-Men 3) because of all the makeup I have on," Grammer said.
Grammer said he was surprised that comic book fans had pegged him to play Beast years ago in the comic book magazine Wizard. In fact, he didn't even know about the Beast character until he was contacted about the part.
Director Matthew Vaughn -- who aburptly left production and was replaced by current director Brett Ratner -- was the person who really championed for him to get the part, Grammer said.
Meanwhile, Grammer said that he really enjoyed the last Sideshow Bob episode he did on "The Simpsons," which was titled "The Italian Bob." In the episode, Bob starts a fresh life in Italy and even gets to sing, he said.
Grammer said he doesn't have any plans to do the Sideshow Bob character again, "but you never know."
Grammer even has a favorite Sideshow Bob line.
"It's the one where he's using dynamite. Lisa asks: 'Do you know what you're doing?' and Bob goes [Grammer changes into his Sideshow Bob voice]: Lisa, you don't spend 10 years as a homicidal maniac without learning a few things about dynamite."
(Below) University of Georgia senior Kim Cichelli, far left, tries to get a ticket to the premiere of "Volver." (Below) University of Georgia seniors, Anna Beaver, left, and Brooks Becker, right, stand outside the Palais de Festival looking for tickets to the evening premiere of "Fast Food Nation." The two women didn't have to wait long, because after I interviewed them, I gave them the two tickets that I had nabbed earlier from the last-minute ticket counter. *** Alex Jacobs said he plans to dress up in a tuxedo Saturday night to try to get a ticket to an evening film premiere.
Jacobs, a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, is on a Cannes study abroad program. For 20 years, students in the UPenn program were able to obtain badges with greater access by forming fake production companies in advance.
But several years back, university officials discovered the practice and put a stop to it, Jacobs said.
Jacobs has a lowly black badge, which provides no access to the Palais de Festival or many of the screenings in nearby hotels.
But even attendees with poor accreditation have tricks up their sleve. There are many ways to get tickets to the evening premieres, even if you're not a member of the press or film industry.
Kim Cichelli, a senior at the University of Georgia, said she learned on the first day of the festival that hotel concierges and waiters are good sources for extra-ticket info. Cichellia was fortunate enough to attend the Wednesday premiere of "The Da Vinci Code" because of a tip.
Production companies typically order more tickets than they need, Cichellia said, because companies are alloted only a certain amount each year. Festival officials keep track of how many tickets are used with a bar code scanner. If companies don't use a significant portion of their allotment, they get fewer tickets next year. As a result, many companies give extra tickets away to keep their allottment numbers high, said Cichellia, who is part of a group of 25 students from UGA.
Meanwhile, inside the Palais de Festival, those with access can wait in line at the last-minute ticket booth, a station where people can physically or electronically return tickets they don't need.
While waiting at the booth, Harrison Coltun of Santa Barbara, Calif., said that on the opening night of "The Da Vinci Code," bad buzz caused a company to return 60-80 extra tickets. Coltun, an intern at the American Pavillion, said many of his coworkers rushed to the booth for a chance to walk the red carpet.
For those who are desperate, begging can go a long way. It's not uncommon to see a swath of people outside the Palais de Festival dressed in evening gowns and tuxedos while holding up signs requesting extra tickets.
Brooks Becker, a senior at UGA, said one-third of her group was able to attend "The Da Vinci Code" premiere by holding up these signs.
"We've had good luck," Becker added, while holding up a sign asking for a ticket to the "Fast Food Nation" premiere. "It always happens at the last second."
Let's see if this works. About 30 minutes ago, I was standing outside the entrance to the Palais de Festival when I saw a lot of people in tuxedos near the entrance. Zhang Ziyi and Samuel L. Jackson -- who are part of the Cannes jury -- were among them. I pulled out my digital camera, which also can record audio and video, to see if I could capture the scene.
Pedro Almodovar's "Volver" is the story of three Spanish women: Raimunda, played by Penelope Cruz; her sister, Sole; and Raimunda's daughter, Paula.
The story takes place somewhere in Spain, and begins with the three women cleaning the gravesite where Raimunda's mother has been buried for four years. The film is both a comedy and drama. Here's the IMDB summary:
"After her death, a mother (Maura) returns to her home town in order to fix the situations she should couldn't resolve during her life. Of her family left in the town, her ghost slowly becomes a comfort to her daughters (Cruz, Dueñas), as well as her grandchild (Cobo)."
It's hard to review this movie without revealing the plot surprises, but I'll try my best. Let's just say that an incident occurs near the beginning of the film, but doesn't set the tone for the film, which is odd. In fact, after this incident, no one is too affected, even though it's very traumatic.
The film then develop's slowly and ultimately answers questions raised in the film about each character's past.
Wow, is that vague enough for you?
Because I haven't seen Almodovar's acclaimed films "Talk to Her" or "All About My Mother," I really can't compare this film to them. The movie overall is good, but I don't know if anyone should go out of his or her way to see it.
2.5 stars
*** Wayne's star system 1 star --> avoid at all costs 2 stars --> watch on TV when nothing else is on 3 stars --> rent it eventually 4 stars --> must see before you die
The ability to obtain press credentials is the main reason why I'm at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Without this trusty press badge, my trip would not have been worth it.
This link outlines the steps I took to obtain press credentials.
Tourists who come to the festival without any type of accreditation can't get into the Palais de Festival convention center or any of the surrounding hotels or cinemas that screen most films. In fact, there are only a limited number of events that the public can attend, many of which are old movies shown on the beach, called the Cinéma de la Plage, or the Director's Fortnight, which showcases short films, documentary and feature films that aren't as high profile.
Black badge Cinéphiles Accreditation Organised by the City of Cannes, in association with the Festival, Cinéphiles accreditation enables local residents to see films from the official selection and sidebars in several cinemas around Cannes, and some screenings in the Palais. Cinéphiles accreditation is also open to film enthusiast and education groups (both French and foreign).
Yellow badge Market Accreditation Each year, nearly 10,000 industry professionals attend the Marché du Film. Market Accreditation is available to the board members and employees of companies which either operate in the film industry or service the film industry. Market accreditation costs around 299 Euros per person attending from a company.
Blue and pink badges Press Accreditation Cannes is one of the largest media events in the world and is attended by around 4,000 journalists, representing 1,500 media outlets in over 75 countries. Media access is managed directly by the Festival de Cannes via its "Press Accreditation Commission." Press credentials come in a range of flavours for different audience levels and media types- in other words, the higher the press outlet's profile, and the more people it reaches, the better the access that will be provided.
White badges Festival Accreditation Previously known as "professional accreditation," this is basically your bog-standard credentials for entry to the Cannes' screenings and official activities. Festival Accreditation is available to a range of film industry professions and provides access to all festival venues (the Palais, Riviera, Village International and the major hotels) and to screenings in the official selection and sidebars. Festival accreditation is free.
*** I've got a blue badge, which allows me to see all the films in and out of competition, such as "The Da Vinci Code," "X-Men 3," "Clerks 2," "Fast Food Nation," "A Scanner Darkly," "Over the Hedge," "Southland Tales," and "United 93." These films are typically shown once or twice during the festival for people wearing yellow badges and up. Usually, there is an extra screening just for press.
I also can attend most of the market screenings, which are films shown for distributors and buyers. Some of these films, however, are marked as off-limits to the press because the film's creators don't want to generate any negative publicity about the film before it is sold and on the verge of release. Lionsgate's "Akeelah and the Bee," for example, was off-limits to the press because it still is looking for international distribution (it already has a wide release in the U.S.). Fortunately, I managed to swing by the Lionsgate booth and convince a publicist to let me into the screening. Look for my review shortly.
Meanwhile, most people can't attend film premieres -- where directors, actors and actresses arrive at the film by walking the red carpet -- without tickets. These tickets, however, can be easy to obtain if you know the right people or are just persistent. For example, because many members of the press saw and didn't like "The Da Vinci Code," they returned a lot of extra tickets to the premiere, which were given to people even with black badges at the last-minute ticket counter. Once you get a ticket, you must dress up in a gown or tuxedo, because you'll be strolling down the red carpet like everyone else.
When I first heard about Richard Linklater's "Fast Food Nation," I was bewildered as to how anyone could adapt a nonfiction book about fast-food consumerism and the meat industry into a fictionalized film.
But after talking to another reporter, it now makes sense. "'Fast Food Nation,' is just 'Traffic' with beef," he said.
That works. After all, audiences already have seen "Traffic" with oil -- and that was based off a nonfiction book, too.
"Fast Food Nation" tells the story of the fast-food and meat packing industry through the eyes of three characters -- Greg Kinnear, the vice president of marketing for Mickey's, a fictionalized fast-food chain; Wilmer Valderrama, star of "That '70s Show," as a Mexican illegal immigrant working at a meat-packing plant; and "Growing Pains" star Ashley Johnson, as a Mickey's fast-food cashier.
Linklater is able to approach the subject matter surprisingly well. A lot of the criticism leveled at the meat industry is seen through the eyes of Johnson's character, who finds herself drawn to a group of environmentally conscious and liberal college students. Meanwhile, Greg Kinnear gets the fast-food industry's point of view when he is sent to investigate the meat-packing plant after tests find that the chain's beef patties have high concentrations of fecal matter. (Bestline by Kinnear: "I'm still dealing with the same bullshit today.") Valderrama does a good job of potraying a Mexican illegal who takes us inside the plant to see the highly graphic slaughtering process and the poor treatment of illegal workers.
The film is slightly preachy at times, but is aware of this by showing the arguments for and against idealists and realists. The stories are interesting and dramatic, and the film never takes on the style of a documentary, which might be boring to typical moviegoers.
Although "Fast Food Nation" might be able to get its point across better as a straight documentary, the fictional elements of the film will allow it to reach a larger audience.
Four stars
*** Wayne's star system 1 star --> avoid at all costs 2 stars --> watch on TV when nothing else is on 3 stars --> rent it eventually 4 stars --> must see before you die
Elijah Wood, left, born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is on his way to a news conference about Paris, je t'aimeAudience members in the Debussy theatre before the evening screening of Paris, je t'aime
Paris, je t'aime, consists of 20 short stories, each filmed by a well-known director. Several directors include Joel and Ethan Cohen, Gus Van Sant, Gerard Depardieu, Alexander Payne and Wes Craven. The movie features American actors such as Elijah Wood, Natalie Portman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Nick Nolte and Steve Buscemi.
The stories are separate, meaning that none of the characters or their plots intersect with one another. However, all their stories take place in Paris and deal with love.
Some shorts are basic love stories, while others are much stranger, such as a short, which has Elijah Wood falling in love with a female vampire.
Because of the varied directors, the movie is stylistically uneven -- but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Some of the shorts I liked, while others I didn't much care for. Either way, it makes the film hard to review as a whole.
I should add that I slept through some of the earlier shorts because of jet lag and had to skip the last few shorts to catch "Fast Food Nation."
3.5 stars. *** Wayne's star system 1 star --> avoid at all costs 2 stars --> watch on TV when nothing else is on 3 stars --> rent it eventually 4 stars --> must see before you die
The first film I've watched is "This Film is Not Yet Rated" by documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick. The movie is a critical look at the Motion Picture Association of America's, or MPAA's, ratings review board. A good summary of the film can be found here in Variety magazine.
Dick interviews directors of such films as "Boys Don't Cry," "The Cooler," "American Psycho," "Jersey Girl," and "South Park." The interviews focus on sex scenes and how arbitrary, random and unfair the ratings are. In one scene, for example, it's the belief of the directors that the "number of thrusts" in a sex scene is a random element that the ratings board pays attention to. There also is discussion on the double-standard of how women are portrayed when it comes to sex in film.
Matt Stone, creator of "South Park," makes an interesting observation that the board favors big-studio releases such as "South Park," a movie that received detailed notes about how to it could get an R rating. Independent films such as Stone's "Orgazmo," on the other hand, was handed an NC-17 rating without any explanation. When Stone asked for one, the board said it wasn't their policy to give notes -- that would be censorship.
The documentary is worth watching, mainly because it goes to hilarious lengths to find out who the members of the ratings review board actually are by hiring a private investigator to do surveillance on the its offices in southern California. Several members, it turns out, aren't your average family movie-goer. The film also ends up getting an NC-17 rating by the board, and Dick takes the audience along with him while he fights to appeal the rating.
The film is interesting for those in the film industry, but it's more like "inside baseball" to your average moviegoer.
2.5 stars
*** Wayne's star system 1 star --> avoid at all costs 2 stars --> watch on TV when nothing else is on 3 stars --> rent it eventually 4 stars --> must see before you die
I arrived at my hotel Wednesday afternoon and by the time I got into Cannes, it was 5 p.m. Most of the daily screenings end at 6 p.m., so I didn't really have the time to watch anything. Besides, I know would have fallen asleep in the theater due to jet lag.
I spent the evening wandering around the main festival area, which consists of the Palais de Festival convention center, a few hotels and some outlying areas with pavillions. Cannes is packed with people -- the festival has from 25,000 to 30,000 official attendees, not to mention the people who attend the fringe events. Basically, the town's population grows expontentially during that time.
A vast majority of people wear tuxedos and fancy dresses in the evening, likely because of the scheduled film premieres. However, I doubt most of those people walking around actually get into the premieres -- many appear to be photographers who go black-tie in order to get access to the red carpet.
Now that I've had a good night's sleep, I'm ready to tackle some of the films showing today such as Richard Linklater's "Fast Food Nation."
Finnish film student Sam Bjorulund is on a reconnaissance mission.
The goal? To learn how to sell a future movie.
"A lot of people come here for the first time to try to get their films sold," said Bjorulund, 26, while traveling on a bus from Nice to Cannes. "It takes a lot of time. You need to know the system."
Bjorulund and his two film production classmates, Mats Wagar, 24, and Andrea Svanback, 22, traveled to Cannes from Helsinki, Finland, to learn about sales work and how to pitch films. Closed to the public, the Cannes Film Festival's primary purpose is to provide an outlet for industry professionals to sell and market their films.
Although the three students are here to learn the tricks of the trade, they still plan to catch a few films in the Official Selection, which is the competition for the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, or Golden Palm. Svanback, for instance, wants to see "Marie-Antoinette", directed by Sophia Coppola.
One classmate last year allegedly partied on George Clooney's yacht, Bjorulund said.
After a slight scare with my credit card (the card I used to reserve the rooms was canceled due to security reasons), I finally was able to check into the hotels that I'll be staying at for the duration of the festival. Because of high demand, I couldn't book 12 days in one location and had to split the reservations up.
To contain costs, I'm staying in Juan les Pin, a town located about six miles east of Cannes. To travel to Cannes, I have to walk five minutes to a train station and then take a five-minute train ride into the city. The cost of a one-way train ticket is 2 Euros, or about $2.60.
After arriving in Cannes for the first time, I immediately went to the accreditation office -- located on the ground floor of the Palais des Festivals convention center -- to pick up my press badge. This was an easy process because I obtained the credentials by mail in March. The front of the entrance was crowded with people, mostly in black-tie, who turned out for the premiere of "The Da Vinci Code."
There are two red-carpet premieres each day at Cannes. Most of the red carpet is lined with paparazzi. If you want to walk the red carpet, you need to secure an invitation, which usually happens by networking heavily with people involved in the film.
Meanwhile, inside the convention center, I went to the third floor, where I obtained a free login and password for wireless Internet access for the duration of the festival. The wifi network extends as far as the beach, said one technician.
So far, my main problem is finding a way to upload photos to my blog. It turns out that I needed to bring my digital camera dock -- without it, I can't transfer photos from my camera to my laptop! One option is to convince officials to purchase a memory-card reader for the duration of the festival. The other is to convince someone who has a card reader to let me transfer the photos to my USB memory stick. Until I resolve this issue, we're out of luck with photos :-(
Film critic Roger Ebert just e-mailed me back. For those who don't know, I wrote a column about Roger Ebert several years back. At the time, I was a study-abroad student in South Africa, and I used what we shared in common to secure an e-mail interview with him.
Ebert grew up in Urbana, Ill., and went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was editor in chief of The Daily Illini, and after graduating, he spent a year in South Africa as a Rotary fellow.
He suggested that we meet for coffee at the American Pavillion sometime during the festival. Wish me luck!
OK, so I'm an Internet thief. I'm at a laptop bar in Amsterdam on a layover from Chicago to Nice. Normally, I'd have had to pay 10 Euros for Internet access, but I cleverly glanced at an access-code card that an unsuspecting businessman purchased after he sat down next to me. I quickly entered the code online, and as a result, he was confused when he couldn't log on and later had to ask an attendant to reissue him another code.
The eight-hour flight from Chicago was uneventful. Unfortunately, I couldn't fall asleep on the plane, which means my jet lag will progressively get worse as the day goes on.
I ended up watching Woody Allen's "Match Point" on the plane, which coincidentally was screened at the Cannes Film Festival last year. The film is about a Brit who falls in love with Scarlett Johansson, but with sexy and grisly results. I'd give the film 2.5 out of 4 Ebert stars -- it had flashes of brilliance, but was too long and meandered.
Once I got off the plane and began walking around the airport terminal, I ran into a guy named Joe who was wearing a University of Illinois T-shirt. After talking to him for a minute, I found out he was on the flight with me -- and then we both realized we knew each other from college. Joe is friends with my former roommate Dave, and was at my old apartment a few times during 2004. Small world, huh?
$830 round-trip plane ticket on KLM; Chicago to Nice, France, with a short layover in Amsterdam.
ATM/Debit and credit cards; I had to make sure to call the bank or credit-card company beforehand so they don't think my cards are stolen and shut them off. This is a useful Web site for determining how much money to bring and how to pay for things.
Going to the Cannes Film Festival probably is one of the most random things I've ever done, but I think it will be a good test of whether I'm cut out for international reporting. You can follow my attempts each day to cover the festival on this blog. Expect hilarious hijinks and minor grammatical errors.
From May 17 to May 28, I'll be in Cannes, France, covering the Cannes Film Festival. I'll probably blog daily about the festival and file several stories as well.
