Final Farewell to Cannes (aka the Day of Arthur Cohen)

           I woke up Saturday morning feeling bittersweet: I knew an exciting day was ahead of us, but it was also my last. Turns out, my last day was better than I ever could have expected. Rawson was leaving Saturday morning, so Adam, Hayley, and I met him for breakfast before he departed at an amazing little restaurant by the beach we just discovered. The pastries there looked amazing and we had homemade muffins and coffees for breakfast. Such a wonderful start to the morning. They also had what appeared to be homemade ice cream bars in the freezer there- Hayls, I hope you get those today while you're still there, because not having one of those babies seems to be my only regret about the entire week…. 

            Rawson sadly departed after that and the three of us ventured into town to buy souvenir posters from the Boutique Officiale to bring home and frame. However, they were all sold out so we were majorly stressing. The lady in the store said they would have a shipment that afternoon so it was a top priority that we went back to get them later on. While we were down there, we got a phone call from Arthur that one of his family friends was taking his boat out for a little spin in the Mediterranean (casual) and asked us to join along. We dropped everything and practically ran home (and by that I mean walked at a snail’s pace because we were so exhausted) so that I could pack and we could make it on the boat. We could not have been more excited- boating was the one thing on our Cannes bucket list we had yet to do. We stopped at what we presumed to be another small sandwich stand on the side of the road near the beach to pick up lunch for the boat, but it turned out to be a gourmet one, where instead of just premade sandwiches they had made-to-order sandwiches and salads. Hayley and I got the best salads of our entire trip there, so I would like to retract my previous statement that all of France has bad salads. See this Cannes equivalent of a food truck for proof.

            Then, the boat. It was supposed to rain according to the trusty iPhone weather app, but in typical fashion for us, it held off- our luck once again. We sailed for over 2 hours, had wine, and went swimming in the freezing and salty, but absolutely breathtaking, Mediterranean Sea. Arthur became our hero in that moment- and the four of us had the best day ever. We passed an island that is largely undeveloped and has belonged to monks since the 5^th century, and another island where Louis XIV’s twin brother was supposedly held captive behind an Iron Mask during his reign. It is a pretty interesting tale (that can be read here). En route back to the Cannes harbor, we passed tons of huge yachts and a famous sailboat that was made in the early 1900s and still is on the water today. We napped in the sun (finally got some more color I think!) and were so relaxed.

            Then the marathon that was my last night began. The final competition premiere was at 7, and our boat docked at 4:30. In between that time, we had to get posters from the store, make it back to the dorms, shower/change, make it back to the Palais area, beg for tickets, and enter the Grand Lumiere with tickets in hand before the access closed at 6:30. Could we do it? Read on my friends…

            We literally jumped off the boat, thanked Arthur and his family friend profusely for the amazing afternoon we just had, and ran to the store. I can't stress enough how luck ALWAYS managed to be on our side this trip. It was absolutely incredible. The store had just gotten in their poster shipment an hour before, and there was an abundance to go around. We each picked up our coveted prize and then power-walked home as fast as our feet would take us. Hayley and I beat Adam and Arthur back, arriving at 5:03 and were showered, changed, and ready to go by 5:28. It was a miracle. We sprinted to the bus stop decked out for the red carpet and magically (but somehow not surprising) the bus arrived 10 seconds after we did. We got on and made our way into town, sprinting to our successful ticket-begging spot. It was brutally hot and Cannes was emptying out already, but Adam and Hayley managed to score 3 tickets for us. We scarfed down soft-serve ice cream cones (“Italian style” as they call it in France) and were entering by 6:30. I was SO impressed with us!!! We made everything happen and had so much fun doing it.

            Finally catching my breath, I made my way down the red carpet slowly, as number 12 would be my final and last journey down it. I looked around, soaking up everything, and made my way inside of the Grand Lumiere for the last time. It was such a bittersweet experience. The movie, Mud, was another American film, written and directed by Jeff Nichols, and starred Reese Witherspoon and Matthew McConaughey. The film was FABULOUS. Definitely made my top 5 list out of the 25 films I’ve seen. It was such a nice closure to my time at the festival, my time in the Grand Lumiere, and my time in Cannes. The film is a beautiful coming of age story of two young boys who encounter a fugitive and form a pact with him to help him evade the bounty hunters who are after him in order to reunite him with his one true love. I sat in my seat for as long as I could, saying my internal goodbyes and reflecting on how amazing my time here was.

            I wasn’t sitting with Adam and Hayley so I left to go meet up with them and Arthur, who, as you can tell by the name of this blog post, made our day yet again by getting us invited to a private party on the beach sponsored by Schweppes. YAY ARTHUR- YOU ARE THE BOMB!!! We had a quick final dinner for me at an amazing restaurant called Petit Paris and made our way to the villa. The four of us were some of the first people there and it was AWESOME. It is so weird to think how all of these hundreds of tents are set up for a mere two weeks and afterwards they’ll be taken down, the beach reduced to its natural and mundane sandiness once again. Everything about the festival is so real, but at the same time so, so fake. Such an interesting thing to contemplate…

            The party had live entertainment and an open bar and they must have had some type of pact with Grey Goose because that was the vodka of the night- served with delicious new Schweppes juices/fizzy mixers. Loved it! And the champagne of course. The four of us toasted our trip and our new friendship. I could not have asked for a better last night!!!!!!! We brought our drinks out to the beach and sat together by the water, talking and laughing and having the best time of our lives. Biggest joke of it all was that we were getting an academic credit for it- that one sure had a lotta laughs. The views were incredible and will forever be etched into my memory. Hayley and I were the first ones to retire back to the dorms (surprise, surprise) and left the boys there until closing (mandatory 2 am beach evacuation in Cannes). Hayley and I passed out and then I woke up this morning to finish packing so upset, realizing my trip of a lifetime (if that’s even an appropriate term for what my time here was) was coming to a close. Yesterday was perfect (thanks 99.9% to Arthur) in every sense of the word, As I sit in the Nice airport typing this second to last post (I think I still have one more in me…), I am happy to be going home, but at the same time so upset to be leaving Cannes behind.

The Penultimate

   I cannot believe that yesterday was my second to last full day in Cannes. It seems unbelievable that it's been 15 days since I got to the lovely French Riviera and started what has turned out to be one of the best/most unforgettable trips of my entire life. Though we are all (well, me and Hayley at least) completely exhausted and wiped out, we obviously managed to have another amazing day yesterday. Every minute counts now. We had a meeting with our Penn professors (oh right- this is actually an academic credit?) at noon so we slept in and skipped out on morning movies. We discussed our essays that we have to write (LOL) for about two hours and then went on our merry way. Hayley and I tanned on the picnic benches and ate chicken nuggets outside the college waiting for the boys to get ready. We walked into town to hit up a shoe store we noticed the other day and Hayley bought a super cool pair of Oxfords. Tres bien.

   Then, we went to Amorino, an au natural gelato place that has caught our eye since Day 1 which we had yet to try. Well, not only did we try it, we literally conquered that place. Rather than make ice creams in scoops, they make cones into flowers, with one flavor at the center and as many others as you want in petals around it. With fresh whipped cream on top as an option - which I obviously took advantage of. It was AMAZING. Hayley and I walked back in and were on the verge of ordering a second one when Adam stopped us. Thanks Adam. Instead, we ended up at McDonald's...Supposedly they're better in Europe and so it was on our bucket list. Turns out, the chicken nuggets and fries taste exactly the same. SHOCKER. Adam did get a fried goat cheese wrap though, and they do have McBaguettes- kinda cool I guess.

   It started to rain, but we toughed it out sans umbrellas and walked back to the dorms. I stopped to get a coffee because I was literally about to fall asleep on the sidewalk, but the coffee did nothing and I took a nice nap in my bed anyways. We woke up at 5:30 to make it down to the Palais by 6:15 to beg for tickets to the premiere of Robert Pattinson's new movie Cosmopolis. For the first time, I had an orchestra ticket and was sitting with Rawson. Despite the pouring rain, Adam and Hayley both got tickets and red carpet number 10 proved to be the best one yet- this time inside, not outside of the Grand Lumiere Theater. The row Rawson and I were assigned to had a bunch of signs on seats that said "RESERVE JURY" on them, which was so exciting because Diane Kruger, Ewan McGregor, and Alexander Payne, among tons of other extremelyyyyy talented folks are among the judges. Instead of sitting next to those seats though, we moved all the way to the aisle next to the row all the cast members walk down as they enter/exit the theater. Turned out to be the BEST DECISION WE EVER MADE. Casually, Alexander Payne, judge and director/writer of Academy Award winning screenplay, The Descendants, sat down RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. Kristen Stewart (looking fabulous) was at the premiere to support Robert Pattinson and paused in the aisle RIGHT NEXT TO ME. Rawson can attest to how much I died. Then, as if it was fate, Ewan McGregor sits down right in front of Rawson, next to Alexander Payne, and they start chit chatting. Rawson and I are in awe of our luck. Diane Kruger and Joshua Jackson also file into the row in front of us, and I could not believe it. Seriously such unbelievable luck. The cast filed in, and R. Pattz was inches from my face. Honestly- no words. Just so so so amazing.

   Sadly, Cosmopolis was ehh. It is about one of the wealthiest men on Earth trying to make his way across town in his limo, determined to get a haircut, despite multiple threats to his life. It was way too wordy and hard to understand, but the cinematography was some of the best I've seen yet. And I thought Pattinson did a great job in the role, and Paul Giamatti in his role as the person threatening his life. But overall, meh. Experience was WAY BETTER than the movie itself.

                                    Special shoutout to Ab & Arthur for this fab ensemble!

   The cast filed out, Robert Pattinson mere inches from me again. Swoon. Afterwards, I left on cloud nine and Adam, Hayley, and I grabbed quick sandwiches before hitting up red carpet 11- the second Nicole Kidman premiere (she looked outstanding both nights) we had in two days. This time, it was for an out of competition movie made for HBO (YAY!!!) starring her and Clive Owen called Hemingway and Gellhorn about the life of the esteemed author Ernest Hemingway and his lover/future wife/fellow writer, Martha Gelhorn. I loved it, thought it was so fabulously well done--- to anyone with HBO (which you should all have ;)), watch it if it's on!!!! That movie was done after 1 am, and so we came back (Hayley and I did the walk in heels- so impressed with us still Hayls) and all passed out. Such an incredible night. We were chatting on the walk home about how normalized being on the red carpet has become and what a weird feeling it is to be leaving this life we have made for ourselves here. The transition back to my purple, cream, and ligth blue checkered carpet tomorrow will definitely be weird....

No. 9

Yesterday lived up to every single expectation we had. Let me start off by describing Wednesday night…. Last time I checked in, we were getting ready to go for dinner and a movie. Well, movie never happened- dinner was too good/fun/amazing to even consider sitting in a dark theater for two hours after that. We walked down the cobblestone street with the bazillions of restaurants and by chance, settled on one in particular called Di Fredo. We chose it because on the appetizer menu for the price fixe, it had a pan-fried foie gras on top of a homemade apple tart (Adam Pearlson’s heaven on a plate slash one of the best things all of us have eaten this entire trip). I don’t think I’ve ever seen Adam eat anything that slowly, well, ever…. The waitress too, enticed us with a giant “magnum” bottle of rose wine and stopped us on the street to tell us she thought we looked like a fun bunch. How could Hayley, Rawson, Adam, Arthur, and I ever turn that type of invitation down? The food (especially the chocolate mousse which we all had for dessert), company, and conversation made it the best meal we’ve had all trip! Afterwards we wandered over to the beach and played fooseball at the outdoor arcade. Adam and I dominated. Naturally. We came back to the dorms after that to play ping-pong and also naturally, Hayley and I passed out within half an hour.

We woke up earlyish the next morning and reconvened to see a re-screening of On the Road, the premiere we ditched out on the night before. We were all so glad we waited, since the movie was 2 hours and 40 minutes- WAY TOO LONG! We had heard mixed reviews going into it, but the movie actually turned out to be very enjoyable and interesting. Literally starving after, Hayley, Rawson, Adam, and I returned in the daylight to the restaurant where we got pizza and fries at 1 am many days ago. We got pasta and salads for lunch, and sadly came to the conclusion that salads just are not good in France. Like at all… Oh well, more pastries/bread/meat for us then I guess.

Wednesday was the first day that we were able to reserve invitations to the movies inside the Grand Lumiere rather than have to beg for them, so although all the premieres were of course sold out, there was an afternoon film, Post Tenebras Lux, that had tickets available. We were excited we got to actually be legit enough to do this ourselves and eagerly reserved them. We hurried home after lunch to quickly change into our premiere attire so that we could see this film and then immediately go start begging outside for tickets to The Paperboy. Well, I won't even go into the details of this film because, to be honest, Hayley and I only stayed for 40 minutes, 35 of which I slept through. It was literally the weirdest/worst movie ever. Not that it will ever make it to American shores, but if you see this on the theater roster, RUN THE OTHER WAY. The exhaustion of the trip hit me and Hayley allll at once and we bailed on the movie to instead go to one of our personal fav restaurants in Cannes, Cookies and Coffee. It literally has exactly what it promises/exactly what we needed: cookies and coffee. We had our first actual-American sized lattes and chocolate chip and kinder bar cookies. Heavenly. (However, after we were halfway through our coffees, we discovered that they actually had iced coffee there- almost on the brink of tears.) We came to the mutual decision that the caffeine/sugar rush put us at 65% working capacity, so we got up to start begging. Luckily (but at this point really not surprising to us), we all got tickets to the movie. I was SO EXCITED. As I mentioned yesterday, the film stars Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, John Cusack, and Matthew McCoughnahey.

Our crew was particularly excited to see them on the red carpet, because they're all so fabulous and amazing. Since this was our ninth (yes, 9 ;) ) red carpet experience, we knew how to time it so that we could see the cast on the red carpet just as they were closing it off to the public. Last night, though, we were about 3 minutes too late and they closed the balcony access to the red carpet so we were al huddled behind a gate watching the carpet from afar as the cast descended down it. At first, I was furious, because I wanted to go inside, but it actually ended up being a blessing in disguise. Rather than see the cast on the screen inside the theater, we saw them with our own eyes taking pictures on the stairs/on the carpet. We also saw Heidi Klum and Antonio Banderas. It was pretty cool. Then, though, we were scared it meant we weren’t going to get seats since they let the people huddled outside in at 7:27. K….

We RAN, literally, RAN, the red carpet. Forget about walking it, we’re so past that- all about the casual jog in heels up those famous stairs. Turns out, they had closed the Grand Lumiere (LITERALLY THE PITS, as Hayley Brooks would say) and so we had to see the movie in a smaller theater called the Buzin inside the Palais. At first it was sad, but then the movie was so fabulous it didn’t even matter. AS SOON AS IT COMES TO AMERICA, SEE IT PEOPLE. SO WORTH IT!!!!! Set in the 1960s, it tells the story of a journalist trying to get a man off death row, and the friendship and affair that forms between the convict’s lover and the journalist’s younger brother. Fabulous, absolutely fabulous. Definitely one of my top 3 favorite movies.

Since I wasn’t in the main theater, Adam took a video of the cast leaving the theater for me, and I should point out on this blog that Nicole Kidman PERSONALLY thanked him after he told her she did an outstanding job in the film as she left the theater. Way to go Adam! Cloud 9 after red carpet number 9 must be a great place to be!

Afterwards, we broke our number one rule never to return to the same restaurant twice—“why should we because there are thousands to choose from and we need to experience as much as we can?” has been our mentality—which turned out for the best. Our second meal there was equally as incredible and we had another bottle of “magnum”-sized rose wine. A special thanks to Sophia, the hostess/waitress who’s name we finally learned last night. And to the chefs, who continue to make the best chocolate mousse on earth. We were all so tired though, so we came back and PASSED OUT. More to come tomorrow… Hayley and I discovered that there has been over 2,000 hits on the blog since I started it up. Thanks so much to everyone who has read and keep on reading!!!

Soaking Up the Sun

   Now that we're all caught up to date, lemme tell you about our adventures today. We decided that today for the most part would be movie-free. The sun was SHINING, weather was warm, and we needed a break from the inside of the theaters. At 11:45, our group was lucky enough to meet with Jeff Berg, the Chairman and CEO of International Creative Management, one of the biggest and most prestigious talent agencies in the world. I was so interested by his talk, because as you all obviously know, I am obsessed with the entertainment industry and have a not-so-secret dream of becoming the next Ari Gold. He spoke about issues that personally were really relevant to me and it was a great start to the day! Afterwards, Adam, Hayley, and I went straight to the beach. And by that, I mean took literally 30 steps across the road from the J.W. Marriott where our meeting was (Family: use our Marriott points there, it is fabulous) to the beautiful and SANDY (see posts about the rocky beaches of Nice) beaches of Cannes. We picked up sandwiches, had a little picnic, and chilled hard for four hours. We were joined by Jaycee, Rawson, and Arthur a little bit later in the day. I think that I actually got some color (finally) so it looks like I may have some chance at getting a tan from this trip.
   After the beach, we finally fulfilled our trip-long dream of going to Haagen-Dazs. We intended to get mint chip dazzlers- an American shoppe staple and Adam Pearlson's personal childhood favorite (and by favorite, I mean he had it every single day after school for years). We were extremely disappointed to find out that not only do they NOT SERVE THEM IN EUROPE, but they did not have any mint chip ice cream in sight. Well, we settled on other deliciously amazing flavors instead *cough cough vanilla caramel brownie and chocolate chip cookie dough* and brought them on our walk back to the dorms. We took the beach route today, which even though is an extra like 7 minute walk, was perfect and just what we needed on this beautiful day. Then, I blogged, showered, and just accidentally stepped on a plug lying on the ground from a cell phone charger three seconds before I wrote this. I shrieked. Hayley freaked. Then we laughed. No blood in sight- so we're all good. We are about to get changed for dinner and wander over to our favorite cobblestone windy side street to try and find a place to eat for dinner. Kristen Stewart's new film, On the Road, is premiering tonight, but the movie is 2 hours and 40 minutes long and as much as I loveeeeeeee her, no one really wants to sit through that long of a film tonight (myself included) so I think we'll catch that one tomorrow instead. Not like K.Stew is much of a red carpet whore anyways, so I wouldn't want to add to her uncomfortableness in public and all that stuff by being there. Right? We are planning on seeing a one-time screening of a film called Seven Nights in Havana though after dinner, which hopefully will be good! Tomorrow we are going to movie ourselves out, hopefully including the premiere of The Paperboy, the next American film to premiere which we are all really looking forward to seeing staring (breathe, Sharon): Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, John Cusack, Matthew McConaughey. [Insert me dying here.] Check back tomorrow!

Are You Keeping Up?

To my loyal readers: my apologies for the 2-day delay in writing on here. When the rain came to Cannes, apparently it also washed out all of my incentive to blog since we were a little down in the dumps. Fam, I know how this literally makes your life complete so here it goes. Monday and Tuesday. Are you keeping up with us so far?

Monday morning we woke up to another dreary day, but decided to get ourselves up early anyway (ahem, 6:30) to catch an 8:30 showing of a French in-competition film called You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet. Now, normally on mornings like these when we take initiative to get up, we stand with our signs asking for tickets for approximately 10-15 minutes, get a bunch, and walk right in… because, let’s be real, how many people at Cannes are ACTUALLY gonna get their asses out of bed to see an 8:30 am movie. Alas, Monday morning we were too tired to beg and instead waited on the last minute access line, which 9 times out of 10 will get into the theater because again, we thought there would be no way ever that in the rain, at 8:30 am, 2,500 people would fill up the Grand Lumiere to see a French film. Well- joke was on us. Because they did…. So, we got herded to a secondary theater, in the rain, waited on line for an additional half an hour, in the rain, and then finally got in- tired and soaking wet, and have never been more relieved to take our seats. Lights dim, movie starts, cool opening scene, and then bam- next thing I know Hayley, Jaycee, and I wake up an hour and a half later and slept through the entire thing. Great film to see if you're in search of a nice nap!

Then, we left. Had no idea what just happened, and went back on line at that same theater with our other friends to catch another French in-competition film entitled, Amour. Now, I cannot even put into words what a DRASTIC difference there was between these two. Not only did I stay awake the entire film (which seems to be a feat here…) but I was so emotionally engaged for the full 2+ hour film. If it doesn’t win the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, I will be absolutely SHOCKED. The film tells the story of an elderly couple, Georges and Anne, after Anne has a stroke and the right side of her body becomes paralyzed. There is no background music, no scenes shot outside of their apartment, no distractions—just pure, raw emotion. Though the film was in French, no language is even needed to gauge the amour between these two, and I cried for about half an hour.

We left the film, all of us shaken with emotion, and decided to head for lunch. Afterwards, we saw another film called In Another Country, which was good (not great) but definitely uplifting which was much needed after an emotionally draining and rainy day. We came back to the dorms after that film and stopped to do a little bit of shopping on the way back of course. Hayley bought herself her first romper (or as she often refers to it, a onesie). Go Hayls! We showered and changed for dinner- the first real dinner we’ve had in a while, as the timing of the premieres never coincides appropriately with dinner. We made a reservation at a great restaurant on this cobblestone street we need to take to get into the main town, and it was so delicious. We had bottles of rose wine, great steak/fish/pasta, etc. and then AMAZING desserts. Definitely a great night, and the rain was in our favor and died down while we were out and about.

                                                            ***

Tuesday morning we woke up to more rain (womp). I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this in the blog before and currently too lazy to go back and look, but there is a coffee shop right across the street from the dorms we’re staying at that we stop at every single morning on our walk into town. They have SUCH amazing croissants (and recently discovered, fruit salad) even better coffee (obviously uber-important, even though they're like baby sized…). Anyway, this same nice man every single day (who we assume is the owner) helps us and speaks perfect English and is always so, so nice and helpful. Tuesday was the day we finally introduced ourselves to him. His name is Olivier and word on the street is from past participants that if you befriend him, he’ll give you free coffee by the end of your trip. Done and done. Still waiting on that café ole, Olivier!!!

We walked into the main town area at around 11 to catch an 11:30 showing of a British in-competition film called The Angels’ Share, by veteran Cannes director Ken Loach.  The movie is about a criminal who turns his life around once his girlfriend gives birth to their first son and after visiting a whiskey distillery, is inspired to seek a new way out of his hopeless life. It was really funny and overall fantastic. In the film, they took a trip to a whiskey conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was really cool to see since I am traveling abroad there for a semester in the fall!  We all were so happy to have an emotional break from all the heavy movies we’d been seeing and came out smiley. The sun started to peek out (FINALLY!), which we could see through the windows of the Palais, but before going outside, we stopped to see one more film in a smaller theater in the main building, Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview (per my request). It wasn’t exactly a movie, per se, but it was only screening once at Cannes and I knew I couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to see it. I learned about the interview when I was doing tons of reading about him after he died. In 1995, Jobs was interviewed for a huge multi-episode TV special, but in those days before computers (hehe), one of the interview videocassette tapes managed to get lost in the shuffle of it all, never to be found again until about a year ago when it was uncovered in one of the producer’s garages. The interview was only 70 minutes long, but I soaked up every minute of it. I won’t bore you with the details (although naturally, I remember most of them), but it was SO GREAT. He is beyond a genius, and the movie made me realize that whenever I am asked who the one person I would have dinner with, dead or alive, it would be him. For sure. In case you ever are wondering how I would answer that question…

We got out of the movie all starving because it was late in the afternoon and none of us had really eaten all day, so we decided to mix it up a little and went over to Planet Sushi for a little taste of home. The sushi here is so interesting and really different than in the US so it was a nice French spin on a group favorite food. We devoured it after waiting an absurd amount of time for a table, but at that point the sun was out (finally- and just in time for the slew of American premieres hitting Cannes this week) so we were chillin on a bench outside waiting. After sushi, we had some of the best gelato we’ve had all week (I had Oreo and Pistachio. YUM.).

Now, for the best part of the day- red carpet numero 7. The premiere for Brad Pitt’s newest film, Killing Them Softly, was last night, and we all believed it would be impossible to get tickets for since, well, who in their right mind would give up a ticket to see a movie in the same theater as Brad? Certainly not me. BUT, as fate would have it, some dude walked over to Jaycee and I with three tickets in hand that he gave us, and we were done. What a feeling of relief, actually having tickets an hour before the movie- such a novel thought, huh? Rawson, Adam, Hayley, and I all met up and took some cute pics in front of the beach and some artsy pics on the carousel (one of which is now Adam’s background) and then walked the red carpet. 

                                              Hey P. Diddy! Nice white tux.

We casually brushed arms with P. Diddy and walked down it the same time as him- NBD. Then, we took our seats, and saw Diane Kruger and Joshua Jackson arrive – love. Then, Brad arrived on the big screen. He looked, well, not so good actually… His hair and beard are both WAY too long. Come on, Brad. He took time to sign autographs for fans (the first star I’ve seen to do that), which I thought, was really nice, but Adam thought it was a little self-indulgent. He kept taking pics on his iPhone of all the paparazzi and the people on the red carpet, which I thought was so sweet, but then again I also know they're probably being sent to the kiddies. He was also wearing these super cool sunglasses that you could see all the camera flashes reflected in- true celeb life. I kept waiting for Angie, but to no avail- she didn’t show. To Angelina Jolie (who I’m sure is an active follower of this blog): WHERE WERE YOU?! I almost cried. Adam saw it. I was sad. It was sad. The end.

            The movie, on the other hand, was great. I loved it. Most of my friends didn’t, but still doesn’t change my opinion. It was about a man who is brought in to assassinate three people for breaking up the underground Poker scene in what is assumed to be some small northeastern town. Pitt was fabulous in his role as the nihilistic assassin, and the film (set in the backdrop of the 2008 presidential election) speaks to how this one man operated in the “business” rather than the country of America. The ending dialogue (although Adam will disagree- see his review!), I thought, was one of the best scenes of any movie we’ve seen here so far.

            After the movie, we all went for dinner to this really swanky restaurant with a live musician playing called Grille. It had the best bread I think we’ve had all trip. Definitely a small deet to remember… Afterwards, we stopped by the beach on the walk home to see an unexpected fireworks show from boats on the water. It was so beautiful. But, eventually, the entire city became enveloped (en-vel-upped, thanks for the pronunciation, Adam) in a smokey haze and it became not so pretty anymore. We got back to the dorm and Rawson, Arthur, Hayley, Adam, and I changed into sweatshirts and sat on the beach near the dorms in the darkness- talking and laughing for an hour. It is something that we so rarely get to do, and such a memorable end to our evening.

The Night Your Favorite Guest Blogger Became a Cannes Whore

Saturday, May 19th 2012. This is the night that I became a Cannes whore.

Let me recount the way in which we acquire these coveted invitations to red carpet premiere screenings:

We beg for them. Literally. We write "Si'l vous plais invitation to XXX" for example, and hope that someone will bless us with a coveted ticket to paparazzi-ville. Usually, those with spares place one in our hands and keep walking. The balcony is open seating so it's unlikely you'll be sitting near the person that dolled it out to you, and even in the orchestra it's done by rows (your ticket could say rows A-F, for example) and no specific seat is ever assigned. So we rack 'em up from anyone and everyone we can find until the last second, and walk down the carpet together oozing Penn fabulosity.

We were a bit nervous though to get tickets for LAWLESS Saturday night, as it's the biggest Hollywood blockbuster with the most A list names at this point in the festival: Shia LeBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman, and Mia Wasikowska to name a few. We knew these golden tickets would be hard to come across, so we all tried our best to bring our A game. My strategy was holding the sign, but workin' my charm and making intense eye contact with people. I thought I'd have more person-by-person, varied individual interactions to to seal the deal. 

I wore my black slinky dress and red lipstick, silver pumps, and trekked the block with my sign. And this is where everything took a turn. This is where I became a Cannes whore. 

Let me back track once again. Every experience I've ever had with mentorship has been nothing but positive, inspiring, and of the best intentions. I have had amazing experiences with Penn alums and industry big-wigs that have really helped mold me and get me to where I am today. But outside of the Penn bubble, it is a seriously sketchier world.

I wasn't doing much up front filtering with who I asked because you never know just who will give you the goods. I asked both sexes, all ages, literally anyone that crossed my path. So one man I asked, an older gent of about 65, for a ticket, gave me a lead that he just might have one. So we started talking and within minutes, this baby was mine. Now instead of the usual procedure I just described, Michael not-so-implicitly made it known that he wanted me to be "his date" for the evening, and asked me to stay with him so we could strut down the red carpet as a pair and sit together, despite the open seating. Come again?

Now, homegirl wanted to get some facetime with Jessica Chastain. What was I to do? So I summoned my courage and my wits and walked down the carpet with Michael, as he creepily placed his hand on my lower back and waved to the cameras. Now the funny part about this is that we made such an outrageous, unlikely pair that all the paps took our picture! 19 year old pasty girl and sugar daddy Indian Brit take Lawlesss. (Shameless plug, look for me in the mags).

Michael wasn't done there. He asked me to have dinner and drinks with him after in his hotel...a TEN MINUTE DRIVE away. He started referring to me as "his darling," despite the glaring wedding ring on his finger. I was obviously texting Kath (mom) once I got into the theater and my friend Rawson in the orchestra whenever I could get away.

Funny texts from mom include: "As soon as it's over, run like the wind!" "If he puts a hand on you get out. I don't think he will. K ENJOY!" 

Lucky for me, Michael had to make some business calls to India and decked out of the film after about only 20 minutes. When he whispered in my ear that he had to go I could feel every hair on my body stand up (much more so than I did a few hour's later at the premiere of Argento's Dracula 3D- see Adam's blog for a review). 

When possible, I'm asking women for tickets from now on. The Lawless premiere kind of put me in check and made me realize that when you hit the streets begging for something, most usually want something else in return. And no more red lipstick — from hereon in, I'm sticking to Burt's Beeswax.

P.S.

Check out Adam's blog for tons of film reviews (he's a god) and a recap of our adventures from a different perspective! 


Adam Writes a Picture: http://adamwritesapicture.blogspot.com/ 


P.S. Maybe Adam will write a guest blog too soon! Please Adam?