Marshall and the Movies

Can I get a oui oui for actually getting one of these diary posts on time?  Now that I’m in a rhythm, hopefully you people following my every move in Cannes won’t have to wait like you did for the first three days – totally on edge, that is.  There’s not too much to talk about today, but I’ll throw in a few pictures to make it interesting.

By the way, how awesome is the Cannes festival poster?  I bought one of these to take home and hang somewhere.  Might as well start my art gallery poster collection early…

Day 4 – Saturday, May 19

I woke up early – 6:30, to be precise – in order to dash off quickly to get in the rush line for the day’s first screening of “Lawless,” John Hillcoat’s bootlegger drama starring Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy.  Because I didn’t have a ticket, I had to arrive especially early if I wanted to get a chance at a seat not filled by a member of the press or someone with an actual invitation.  I got to the front of the line at 7:00 A.M., a full 90 minutes before the screening was supposed to start.  I snapped this picture of the red carpet with no one there; hopefully it gives you a sense of just how small it really is.

I stood there for an hour and a half watching over two thousand people walk the steps up to the Lumiere theater, which really had me disheartened when the clock struck 8:30 and I had yet to enter.  But around 8:33, someone came to declare (in French, which I don’t speak or understand) that they were simultaneously showing the movie in the Salle du Soixantième, a rooftop theater in the back of the Palais.  Translation: in a few seconds, I quickly found myself at the BACK of the rush line of which I was originally at the front.

So naturally, I sprinted.  I probably pushed a few people.  It was my exercise for the day.  But in the end, I got to see “Lawless.”  It was totally worth the effort.  It was a very good, entertaining movie that probably won’t win the Palme D’Or or an Oscar, but it will hold up for many years on Sunday afternoon TNT viewings.

I was then going to attempt to see the day-after screening of “Reality,” but the line was already absurdly long by the time I got out of “Lawless” around 11:00.  I tried to see “Antiviral,” the first film of David Cronenberg’s son, Brandon, at 2:00 but left the line when I realized I had no chance of getting in.  I tried again at 10:15 … still no luck.  And then I ran to try to make Michel Gondry’s “The We and The I” at 10:30 around the corner only to barely miss the cut.  I’m ready for another double feature day again!  But it looks like tomorrow will just be “Amour” at 8:30 in the Lumiere (I at least have a ticket this time) and several panels of industry experts.  Maybe I can make it to “Diamonds Are Forever” on the beach … but who knows, I may need to be up early on Monday for “Killing Them Softly.”  (UPDATE: “Killing Them Softly” opens in competition on Tuesday … I need some sleep.)  The American cavalcade begins next week!