"Sherlock Holmes" Premiere (J.Law! R.DowneyJnr! G.Ritchie! R.McAdams!) by berndt2

And so, for the last time this year, we head down to Leicester Square, ensure that Yellow Cap Guy is in position, and learn that the tallest man in the world from Amsterdam and his Girlfriend are right in front of the only plausible spot to set down in. So I put on my beanie and gloves and noted the rain and thought to myself…

“You know what? I still love doing this!”

They went for a little bit of subtlety with the setup… You know, with the gas lighting and fired braziers.

… and green carpet (with a cool ‘London Silhouette’ Design)…

…. and smoke machines. Which… well… make it hard to see anything, which is hardly crowd friendly but hey, the wind was blowing the other way and it did look very atmospheric.

And Yellow Cap Guy, front and centre.

Actor Mark Strong, who apparently plays the main bad guy. He seems like a pleasant enough guy: the most successful bad guys do, I’m told!

Mark Strong, now looking a bit more evil, or at least thinking about it

Kelly Reilly provides ever-so-slight eye-contact. The massively powerful (albeit diffuse) flash of the photographer(s) around me might have contributed.

Reilley – even prettier! She apparently plays Watson’s girlfriend in the film. And she was in Me and Orson Welles

Rachel McAdams arrives, and the crush begins. It’s okay, breathing is overrated anyway.

Rachel McAdams’ wikipedia entry reveals such fascinating facts as her career surviving playing Rob Schneider’s love interest in The Hot Chick and turning down the role of Vesper Lind in the James Bond film Casino Royale. Impressive!

Guy Ritchie directed Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Rock’n’Rolla and this film, among others. He owns a pub, used to be married to Madonna and… well… here he is.

Robert and Mrs Downey Jnr, shot through the crooked elbow of another photographer. Gotta work those angles (and hey, it makes composing your shots a little easier by giving you less options)

Apparently this style of hat is a trilby? (I though they were a furry creature from Star Trek..? Oh. Right. THAT’S why I’m still single.)

He’s clearly getting to the part where he acknowledges he still owes me five dollars

The Sherlock Holmes shot. Sometimes (I like to tell myself, when I’m struggling to breathe and/or rise above a crowd of people, and camera equipment, working angles that don’t really exist) this kind of shot is all the kind of shot you need! I call this photo Holmes

“I was thinking of wearing a backwards baseball cap, but I heard there’s a guy in the crowd who already has a yellow one. So I went with this hat, and I’m not really happy at the compromise”

Joel Silver produced this film, and also the Matrix Trilogy, among many, many other films. And you may well ask why it is that HE stood this close and directly in front of my camera when other, possibly more worthy photographic subjects like Rachel McAdams and Kelly Reilly did not. I certainly did ask myself that.

Jude Law ultra-closeup. Sometimes you just get lucky with your angle and somebody else’s lighting. (And then, in changing positions to the opposite side of the square, you totally miss the arrival of actress Heather Graham. Premiere photography can be a cruel mistress. Unless, you know, you’re a fan of Jude Law, I suppose). I call this photo Watson

McAdams at a distance. She was also in Mean Girls and The Notebook and is currently single. Hey, me too! (well… no. I wasn’t in either of those two films)

“Acting is all about projection. For instance, to play ‘fear’, I just imagine a nameless evil is right behind me and ready to pounce.” Sounds tricky.

I… have no comment for this photo! But I do like it.

McAdams about to pose – and apparently she declined to pose for a cover shoot of Vanity Fair with Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley when she found out it was to be nude. I.. um…. fair enough. I suppose?

“Tony Stark… is Iron Man??” ’Tis true.

In 2007, Jude Law was named a “Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” by the French Government. I don’t know what that even means! (and isn’t one of those words the French word for “horse”?)

So that was it… 2009 film premieres: closed, unless something very random gets announced in the next two weeks. It’s been a Fab year for this, and there’s still another two months next year to go to these things before I go into self-imposed exile and Yellow Cap Guy will once again reign unopposed.

The Archive of All (over 60) Movie Premieres has been duly updated.

The last several of which were:
Avatar – James Cameron! In Colour! In Widescreen!
St Trinians2 – Sarah Harding! Her Dress! A nearly all-female cast!
Did you hear about the Morgans – Jessica Parker! Grant! Hurley!?
Nine – Kidman! Cruz! Hudson! Dench!
Where the Wild Things Are – Jonze! and the Kid!
The Lovely Bones – Peter Jackson! Charles and Camilla!

Until next time!