A Neutron star has the mass of 1.5 times our sun but is only the size of a city. Its incredibly dense and 5ml of its core material would …
A Neutron star has the mass of 1.5 times our sun but is only the size of a city. Its incredibly dense and 5ml of its core material would weigh a billion tons on earth…. That is just mind-bogglin hey?!!!
Movie premieres! They’re back like they were only gone for a couple of weeks. Which they were. This one was for a WW2 era film called “De…
Movie premieres! They’re back like they were only gone for a couple of weeks. Which they were. This one was for a WW2 era film called “Defiance”, directed by Ed Zwick and starring Daniel Craig (insert scream if you’re female of any age), Jamie Bell (insert another scream if you’re female and younger), Liev Schreiber (I’m really not sure… do what you feel you must) and my personal favourite though I’d never heard of her before tonight, Alexa Davalos. This one wasn’t bad, only the photography in some cases was. But steady on, it was my first one in almost three weeks. I was bound to be rusty! / “Ed, this may be the only time I ever say this, but my eyes are _down here“ / “Damnit, lift your game, Ed. You know that’s not what I meant” / Look, it’s Satsuki Mitchell!! (Oh, and Daniel Craig) / The screaming girls stopped screaming for Daniel Craig occasionally to scream for Jamie Bell. He’s… well, he’s Jamie Bell, apparently. / Alexa Davalos. If you’re only going to take one photo of a beautiful actress… I forget where I was going with that sentence. She didn’t sign autographs but her assistant gives an idea of the weather, while Davalos’ dress verges on reckless. / I’m not sure who or what exactly a ‘Nick Knowles’ is but that’s what he looks like. That’s also what the girl who looks like him looks like. (This is one of the reasons I’m not a Paparazzi) / Hey look! It’s… them! Damn, I really do suck at this kind of thing! / According to imdb, she’s not some random celeb, she’s actually Jodhi May and she’s in this film. / Okay, so that’s Daniel Craig on his closest of several orbits around me which never actually resulted in him getting within focus distance. Avoiding me and the five dollars he still owes me, I surmise… / It’s Liev Schreiber. (His name rings a bell but I really can’t place him. The girls around me who didn’t get an autograph from Daniel Craig seemed happy to get his, though.) It’s the only photo from the night that I can say I’m pretty much happy with. / If Daniel Craig had been standing here I could also have taken this curiously flattering photo of him rather than Liev (improbably pronounced ‘Lau’) Schreiber (again, to his credit, Daniel Craig spent more time in more parts of the crowd than just about anyone) / The movie ‘Defiance’ was directed by Ed Zwick, who did ‘The Last Samurai’ and ‘Blood Diamond’. Had I been more switched on, I would have both bothered to figure out what he looked like and made more of an effort to locate him on the red carpet. So this is my only shot, taken while circumnavigating Leicester Square to get a better vantage point. / “Why yes, I did know that I look suspiciously like the guy on the poster over there. But I’m not Hugh Jackman, no…” Daniel Craig as close to not-blurry as I managed. / “The cheque for five dollars is in the mail. No, seriously!”. / Yeah, thanks, 007. / It’s a movie premiere in London : do you know where your Yellow Cap Guy is? / He’s right there… and possibly so is craigis007… and argh! Mr Daniel Craig’s assistant has her hand IN FRONT OF his face for the one shot in the series that was actually pretty sharp! A fun premiere. Next up, the high expectation for and probably crushing disapointment of the premiere for “Bride Wars”. If I couldn’t pick out Ed Zwick or get more than one shot of Alexa Davalos in an ‘average’ sized premiere, what are my odds on Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson? Edited to add: the Bride Wars premiere was cancelled… D’OH!!! That means theoretically the next Premiere should be the Will Smith / Rosario Dawson film ‘Seven Pounds’ next Wednesday. Until next time! Last year’s fun exploits: / Australia – Kidman! Jackman! Luhrman! / Yes Man – Carrey! Deschanel! / Madagascar2 – Rock! Stiller! Pinkett-Smith! / A Bunch of Amateurs- Royal Screening – HRH represents!! / Quantum of Solace – Everyone! Often blurry! / How to Lose Friends and Alienate People – Pegg! Ummm….Serkiss?! / Tropic Thunder – Stiller! Downey Jnr! Black! / Righteous Kill – De Niro! Pacino! 50Cent! Kickass / RockNRolla – Ritchie! Butler! Newton! Madonna shows up! / The X-Files : I Want to Believe – Anderson! Duchovny! Carter! / The Dark Knight – Bale! Caine! Eckhart! Gyllenhall! All kind of! / Wall-E – Weaver! Burtt! The Robot! / Hancock – Charlize Theron. Will Smith. Enough Said.
The crowd for this one, like the last one, was a little bit excessively enthusiastic at times. More so probably because this was a weeken…
The crowd for this one, like the last one, was a little bit excessively enthusiastic at times. More so probably because this was a weekend premiere, and diehards who are ordinarily employed during the week had a chance to line up earlier than they otherwise would (this may or may not have included me). And with a gorgeous lead actress attending the premiere for a movie she’s starring in for the first time in, like, a month, you can understand the excitement. Oh, and some dude called ‘Leonardo Di Caprio’ was going to show up, it was rumoured. And a couple of people seemed excited about that too. / Leo! Kate! Jack! Rose! Director Sam Mendez didn’t attend! For all I know, nobody else of the cast did either! I barely bothered to take photos of anybody else even so!! / It’s the international symbol for a London Movie Premiere – Yellow Cap Guy is in position and primed, albeit in a rare sub-optimal non-pole-position location. / You know that thing I get when I see a gorgeous actress and I can’t think of anything funny to say, and I need to revert to factual information? Well, I’m getting it here. / Kate Winslet. At the Golden Globes she got best actress (for this film) and best support actress (for The Reader). For the BAFTAS, however, things are tricker : she’s been nominated for best actress for BOTH films. / Leonardo Di Caprio. The girls were screaming from the moment…. well, that they arrived a couple of hours before he did, it seemed. / It’s been 12 years since Titanic and even longer since Baz Luhrman’s ‘Romeo+Juliet’ but apparently The Ladies still like this guy. / The crowd were all screaming ‘Dermott!!’ or ‘Dylan!!’ or ‘Derek!!’ or something suchlike for this guy. I contemplated tossing in a ‘Jebediah!!!’ just to see what would happen… / “No, in fact I’ve been in nearly a dozen films since Titanic. Don’t you remember ‘The Man in the Iron Mask’ and ‘Don’s Plum’? “ / “I do NOT owe you five dollars. It was like 8 yuan and that exchange rate is completely out of date”. Hmmm… Kate Winslet may be right. (I hasten to add that I do not do anything so banal as screaming out a star’s name during a premiere. I’m all about capturing them in their environment, not interacting) / “Sophie!!” “Sophie!!” the crowd screamed. I wondered if the idea of getting fans to scream out celebrities’ full names would ever catch on. My money was on a Sophie of the Ellis-Bextor persuasion, but who knows… / It’s the chaos of premieres I like, the raw challenge of taking photos in split seconds on a camera whose low-light focus is somewhat suspect. Did you know that my camera defaults to an aperture of f8 when you change batteries on the fly? That’s a fairly disastrous setting on the lens I was using… / I’m going with guessing that guy is Aussie wobbleboard legend Rolf Harris, in the absence of any assistance from wireimage.com / “it’s kind of a sequel, except in this one the boat DOESN’T sink!! Can my people call your people?” Leonardo Di Caprio looks diplomatically transfixed. / Unaccountably this is not my photo for the day / It’s this one (In other words, the London Monument to the Great Fire of 1666 never stood a chance…) So this one wasn’t one of my all-time faves, except that somehow despite some rather ungentlemanly conduct from the guys in my immediate vicinity I still managed to get some pretty good photos. All thanks to the mighty stool, which even got me enough elevation to shoot blindly over the hoarding protecting the public from the assembled paparazzi (or vice versa). Next up, I’m not sure I’ll make it to the ‘Valkyrie’ premiere, but we shall see. Until next time! The archive: / 7 Pounds – Will Smith!! / Defiance – Craig! Liev! .. the other guy! / Australia – Kidman! Jackman! Luhrman! / Yes Man – Carrey! Deschanel! / Madagascar2 – Rock! Stiller! Pinkett-Smith! / A Bunch of Amateurs- Royal Screening – HRH represents!! / Quantum of Solace – Everyone! Often blurry! / How to Lose Friends and Alienate People – Pegg! Ummm….Serkiss?! / Tropic Thunder – Stiller! Downey Jnr! Black! / Righteous Kill – De Niro! Pacino! 50Cent! Kickass / RockNRolla – Ritchie! Butler! Newton! Madonna shows up! / The X-Files : I Want to Believe – Anderson! Duchovny! Carter! / The Dark Knight – Bale! Caine! Eckhart! Gyllenhall! All kind of! / Wall-E – Weaver! Burtt! The Robot! / Hancock – Charlize Theron. Will Smith. Enough Said.
Number of premieres photographed : SIXTY!! I just wanted a place to amalgamate them all so I wouldn’t have to have a huge mass of link…
Number of premieres photographed : SIXTY!! I just wanted a place to amalgamate them all so I wouldn’t have to have a huge mass of links at the bottom of movie premiere journals! / (I’m all about the convenience) They’re in chronological order – most recent to most… distant (?) 2009: / Sherlock Holmes – J.Law! R.DowneyJnr! G.Ritchie! R.McAdams! / Avatar – James Cameron! In Colour! In Widescreen! / also available as Avatar – James Cameron! In standard def! . / 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! / Me & Orson Welles – Zac! Efron! Eee! And Claire Danes! / We are the people we’ve been waiting for -The Fonz Dissed Me!! / Harry Brown : Michael Caine! / Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 2 / Nowhere Boy – Scott-Thomas! Taylor-Wood! / A Serious Man – Coen! Hurt! Coen! Rush! / Glorious 39 – Dr Who! Girl with Spiky Hair! Davey Jones! / Chloe – Moore! Seyfried! Reitman! / Dead Man Running – 50 Cent! Rio Ferdinand! / An Education – Thompson! Mulligan! / Bright Star – Jane Campion! Boris Johnson! / The Road – Firth! Mortensen! / The Men Who Stare At Goats – Clooney! Again! / The Fantastic Mr Fox – Clooney! Murray! ... Cindy Crawford?? / The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus – Gilliam! Cole! Garfield!? / Pixar’s ‘Up’ – Literally no (0) cast or crew showed! / Creation – Bettany: Yes! Connelly: No!) / The Ugly Truth – Heigl! Butler! / Inglourious Basterds – Tarantino! Kruger! But not Pitt! / Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Rowling! Radcliffe! Watson! Grint! / Public Enemies – Depp!!! Cotillard! Mann! / Bruno – ...Bruno! / Transformers Revenge of the Fallen – Fox! LaBeouf! Turturro! Gibson! / The Hangover – Heather Graham! And some guys! / Tormented – People! Other People! / The Jonas Brothers 3D Experience – Jonas! Jonas! ..and Jonas! / A Night at the Museum2 – Stiller! Gervais! Azaria! / State of Play – Mirren! Crowe! / Star Trek – JJ Abrams! Eric Bana! Sylar! / 17 Again – Zac Efron! Eeeee!! / The Boat that Rocked – McCartney! Halliwell!.. even some of the Cast showed up! / Fast and Furious – Walker! Brewster! Rodriguez! Vin Diesel gives us a couple of minutes of his precious time! / The Damned United – Broadbent! Sheen! / Monsters vs Aliens – Witherspoon! Sutherland! / Duplicity – Julia Roberts! Clive Owen! / The Young Victoria – Royalty and Cast attended / Marley and Me – Aniston! Wilson! / Watchmen – The whole cast!! / Confessions of a Shopaholic – Fisher! Bruckheimer! / Valkyrie – TomKat! (Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes = TomKat)!! / Revolutionary Road – Kate! Leo! / 7 Pounds – Will Smith!! / Defiance – Craig! Liev! .. the other guy! 2008: / Australia – Kidman! Jackman! Luhrman! / Yes Man – Carrey! Deschanel! / Madagascar2 – Rock! Stiller! Pinkett-Smith! / A Bunch of Amateurs- Royal Screening – HRH Queen Elizabeth II attended!! / Quantum of Solace – Everyone! Often blurry! / How to Lose Friends and Alienate People – Pegg! Ummm….Serkiss?! / Tropic Thunder – Stiller! Downey Jnr! Black! / Righteous Kill – De Niro! Pacino! 50Cent! Kickass / RockNRolla – Ritchie! Butler! Newton! Madonna shows up! / The X-Files : I Want to Believe – Anderson! Duchovny! Carter! / The Dark Knight – Bale! Caine! Eckhart! Gyllenhall! All kind of! / Wall-E – Weaver! Burtt! The Robot! / Hancock – Charlize Theron. Will Smith. Enough Said. I’m still a bit iffy on the extent to which these should or would be worth putting on sale, but I have put a couple of shots out there: / Charlize Theron ‘Starlet’ / ... I actually can’t quite get so blase as to dismiss nonchalantly the fact that I’ve actually snapped a shot of Megan Fox! / Katherine Heigl at the premeire of “The Ugly Truth” (where ironically nobody you’d call ugly was actually in attendance..) / Clive Owen ‘Diligence’ / Nicole Kidman, ‘Our Nic’ at the premiere of Baz Luhrman’s “Australia” / Al Pacinio, ‘You Can Call Me Al’ / David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, ‘X-Files Premiere’ / That Zac Efron dude from High School Musical and … that. (Ideally, you need to get yourself a sound recording of a thousand girls all screaming crazily to go with this print and fully appreciate it.) and…. / / The only shot to now be signed by the star in question (and the security guard on the right later saw the shot and laughed at being in it) And here’s the calendar again, just in case you couldn’t be bothered scrolling all the way to the top to view it: /
So I have been designing shirts for awhile, and finally got the chance to do something with them myself… So We just launched this to…
So I have been designing shirts for awhile, and finally got the chance to do something with them myself… So We just launched this today!... got 4 new shirts up for presale of the Dead Head Celebs line… / Rogers / Cosby / Candy / Rodney sooo you can visit the site and check out the store from here… / the presales are selling for $15 a piece right now.. plus even better package deals!! We Are SlaughterHouse let me know what you guys think.. hope you enjoy!
I’ll be honest, I felt a bit rusty going to this one. Also, I was a bit worried. See, I had Trek tendencies a while back and much like St…
I’ll be honest, I felt a bit rusty going to this one. Also, I was a bit worried. See, I had Trek tendencies a while back and much like Star Wars, these once mighty franchises have become a bit of a laughing stock due to overexposure and George Lucas’ greed (well… one more than the other on that reason). So would it be excruciating seeing a whole crowd filled with Klingons, Borg and Ferengi, or sad if there weren’t many. ... and who cares? As long as one (1) cute actress showed up and I got a JJ Abrams autograph, where was the issue? / Forget odd and even number rules for star trek sequels. forget JJ Abrams. Forget fans who distinguish between ‘trekker’ and ‘trekkie’. It’s Yellow Cap Guy, so it all pales into insignificance. / Blue carpet premiere. Funky! / That? Says it all. / She’s here under sufferance, oblivious to the dilithium crystal monoliths spewing forth periodic dry ice and fans screaming “KHAAAAAAN” every couple of minutes. I’m sorry, lady…. but this isn’t a tenth of how bad it could all have been! / Ya cannae change the laws of sporrans, cap’n. It’s Simon Pegg. I’ve photographed him at, like, four premieres already, so he’ll only be appearing in this album once. Wearing a kilt, though. He plays Scotty in this film. / It’s Zachary Quinto, better known as villain Sylar in Heroes. I stopped watching that about halfway through season One but do plan to continue. I kind of expected him to punch the people in wheelchairs in front of him, but in fact he was more than happy to sign autographs (‘Yours in evil, Sylar… I mean Zachary. Love…’) / “Are you calling me ‘Stacey’? Are you calling me ‘Jane’?. Those aren’t my name, dude.” John Cho plays Sulu in the film. / She’s Zoe Saldana, and she’s more than cute enough for me to forgive her if that’s a vulcan salute she’s trying for in this shot. She plays Uhura in the film. / “Dude, loved you in that movie” / “Yeah, me too” / Kirk and Spock share a moment. / Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond was telling the people in front of me desperate for his autograph that he was kind of running late. Obviously not driving a Bugatti to the premiere, then…. / Christopher Pike plays Captain Kirk in this film and if that’s a Vulcan Salute, then I may have to go home in protest. (I’m not that big a fanboy… I’m just a supporter of… ermmm infinite diversity in infinite combinations?). / Farq, I just insulted Kirk. On the plus side, I did nearly burst out laughing at the lady apparently doing that ‘pretend you’re walking down stairs on a flat surface trick’ in front of him (“Look at me! I’m heading into the basement!!”) / Don’t look into his eyes – he’ll steal your soul! (My knowledge of Heroes is limited, so I’m not sure he can actually do that…) / JJ Abrams. All joking aside, and forgetting for a moment that I never watched Alias and stopped watching Lost about four episodes in in protest over them not revealing what the deal with the giant dust monster and the polar bear was…. he’s a great director. Mission Impossible III was excellent and Cloverfield was fantastic / Check it out – actor Eric Bana is a fan of Top Gear! I am too. And I think Bana is a very good actor. I just thought Ang Lee’s ‘The Hulk’ was maybe not the acme of comic book adaptations. ‘Slow and ponderous to the point of coma-inducing’ is not the same as ‘deep and meaningful’. But I don’t blame the guy who wore the purple shorts… / Actually, I was both surprised and relieved that there wasn’t more of this kind of thing. / Eric Bana doesn’t like it when you dis The Hulk. Fine, I’ll modify it by saying I did quite like Munich and Black Hawk Down, both of which he was in. And Jennifer Connelly made The Hulk bearable anyway.. / Actress Zoe Saldana once again looking cute. I was vaguely disappointed by 3 of the last 4 Star Trek films and most of the last two series, but I think I’ll give this movie a go.(hey, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve watched a movie on the strength of the female lead. Aeon Flux sure did suck, incidentally….) / Pike and Kirk. If nothing else, the trailer looks good and the instrumental score they were playing on the speakers sounds interesting (hey, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve watched a movie on the strength of the soundtrack composer, incidentally) / JJ Abrams signed an autograph, so I’ll forgive his attempt at a Vulcan Salute, if that’s what it was.. / That Sylar dude sure is popular. I must become more evil. Somehow… / “And I’m coming for you and I’m coming for your kids. Oh, wait, hold that thought. Go about your business, people” You’ll note that daylight savings has started in London as well… nice to have some natural light at these things.n Next up? Possibly ‘State of Play’ tomorrow. But in any event, until next time! The Archive of Premieres The last few: / 17 Again – Zac Efron!!! Eeee!!! / The Boat that Rocked – McCartney! Halliwell!.. even some of the Cast showed up! / Fast and Furious – Diesel! Walker! Brewster! Rodriguez! / The Damned United – Broadbent! Sheen! / Monsters vs Aliens – Witherspoon! Sutherland!
It’s been a little while since my last premiere and based on the season, it may still be a little while until the next one. For this reas…
It’s been a little while since my last premiere and based on the season, it may still be a little while until the next one. For this reason, no matter how obscure (and the fact that it was Sunday) I was still determined to go to this little premiere in London. Also, it wasn’t at Leicester Square like all the others I’ve been to – this one was at The Curzon, Mayfair. And the final, telling reason to go – the lead actress being Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly (Best Supporting Actress, A Beautiful Mind), who is very pretty. And a good actress too. Sadly, she didn’t show up, but I had my camera and a spot in the queue. What was I going to do, turn around and go home? Unlikely… / I really like the image on this poster (no, really!) / The Paps are lined up for the kill… / Director John Amiel, who based on the DVD covers people were getting him to sign, directed ‘Copycat’ (Sigourney Weaver, Harry Connick Jnr – good film) and ‘The Core’ (ludicrously laughable film). Nice to know he’s capable of such… uh.. diverse genres! / Oh, look. It’s that guy . I have no idea who this guy is, actually. I’d slowly been building up a knowledge of British Actors over the past year, but in my defence this wasn’t a cast I was overly familiar with. / The face looked vaguely familiar – and my keen powers of observation noted people holding out DVD covers of the movies ‘Wimbledon’ and ‘The Da Vinci Code’ for him to sign. That (as well as people calling out ‘PAUL’ and there being a Paul mentioned in the movie poster) leads me to conclude this is Paul Bettany, the star of the film. / I know I’ve already posted a shot of the Wall O’ Paps, but even though the lady isn’t one of the stars, look at the hair! The hair! (I need to get out more…) – also the expression on the face of the Pap at the back. / Noted thespian and knight Sir Derek Jacobi. I recognised him from the Royal Premiere of “A Bunch of Amateurs” last year. He’s also Senator Gracchus in “Gladiator” (2000). He’s also graciously crossing the ‘divide’ between the Paps and the Red Carpet to sign a couple of autographs. Thank you, kind Sir! / I didn’t like the Narnia films overmuch and didn’t pay much attention to the stars but I did recognise Anna Popplewell who seems to remarkably young even after she was remarkably young in a film released several years ago now. So there you go, Anna Popplewell. / In the absence of Jennifer Connelly at this premiere, I’ve shortlisted this as Photo For The Day. Even though Anna Popplewell could be, like, 12 years old or something. / Oh look, it’s … it’s… it’s…. that guy! Please insert name and claim to fame < here > / It’s Natascha McElhone, who isn’t actually in this film, but whom I’d recognise because I did watch ‘Californication’ where she was the female lead, as well as ‘The Truman Show’, where she also was. She didn’t stop for autographs (some people apparently go to premieres just to watch the film… uncanny!) Well… if nothing else it’s practice for the next one which is, per the Internet, for a film called “Just Said” (who?) And needless to say it joins The Archive of Film Premieres
When Heath Ledger died during the making of ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’, his role was divided into additional parts that were p…
When Heath Ledger died during the making of ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’, his role was divided into additional parts that were played by Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law. None of whom were at this premiere. And Verne Troyer I photographed yesterday at Radio1 and model/actress Lily Cole I photographed today at Radio1 and as for Terry Gilliam? Well, let’s just say Monty Python is yet to make me laugh. So why was I in Leicester Square, you might I ask. Well, where else would I be but here, for my first full Leicester Square premiere in almost two months, reacquainting myself with my camera and ‘The Square…. / I may be brave taking my camera out in the dark and the forecast rain, but I wasn’t game to tell these ladies that none of Depp, Law or Farrell would be attending tonight. ... I could comfort them afterwards, though. / Premieres are back in Leicester Square, and so is Yellow Cap Guy. It’s been far too long! / Verne Troyer arrives, looking upbeat and dapper (yesterday I snapped him outside Radio1 and he was looking cool as well!) / Verne Troyer is a good interview subject, however despite my close proximity I couldn’t hear him over the noise of people screaming at Johnny Depp. Who wasn’t here and wasn’t scheduled to be here and accordingly didn’t attend. Fans are strange! / Terry Gilliam, director of this film, was also a member of the Monty Python troupe, which doesn’t particularly impress me. I don’t recall laughing during ‘The Life of Brian’ and I actually stopped watching ‘The Meaning of Life’ and after that I pretty much stopped bothering trying to understand the humour. I like fawlty towers, though! As for the rest of Gilliam’s work, I can honestly say none of it has appealed other than ‘12 Monkeys’ and that Nike Ad with the soccer game in a tanker ship (he directed that) / Rather amazingly, I’ve managed to track down this guy’s identity. Some fans near me were desperately beckoning him over and a had a promo picture I recognised as being from ‘Twilight – New Moon’. So I’ve tracked down that photo and he is apparently actor Jamie Campbell Bower. If I’m right, what do I win?? / LaToya Jackson, sister of the late Michael, attends the premiere. I never can figure out whether she’s legitimately famous or simply famous by association, or basically neither, and I can’t be bothered checking wikipedia. Neither can she, by all appearances! / From left to right, actor Andrew Garfield, director Terry Gilliam and actress/model Lily Cole. I’ve checked out Lily Cole’s wikipedia entry, and apparently she’s a legitimate model. Like, really! / Claudia Schiffer : snapped. Twiggy : snapped. Agyness Deyn : snapped. And you can now add Lily Cole to the list of models I’ve shot. (How does that compare with what I accomplished in the office today? Umm… not well, if I’m completely honest) / “Who is Andrew Garfield?” I hear you ask. He’s that guy. Over there! / It’s another one of those “is she famous, or he?” moments, to which you can certainly play along at home. She looks significantly like actress Anna Paquin from this angle, so my guess is her even though wireimage does not provide me with any assistance as to who she might be. / One last shot of director Terry Gilliam. He seems cheerful enough! So, that was that. My first nighttime premiere since.. I can’t even remember. The failure rate was staggering, the Pentax’ autofocus was twitchy to the point where I switched to manual (and further raised the failure rate) but fortunately I got at least one recognisable shot from each of the ‘majors’. And The Premiere Season is definitely upon us, with ten (10) big or small currently scheduled between now and the end of November. Can’t wait to add more to The Archive of Movie Premieres And possibly add more celebs to current and future movie premiere calendars such as this one Until next time, Bernd
The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting colder, and my Pentax’s ISO1600 setting is grimly dusting itself off for the only ti…
The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting colder, and my Pentax’s ISO1600 setting is grimly dusting itself off for the only time it gets any use. Movie premieres are BACK, and they’re getting trickier.. / It’s the BFI British Film Festival. And what does that mean? It means Yellow Cap Guy ain’t leaving Leicester Square for the next fortnight…. / It’s George Clooney! I’ve actually watched very few of his films outside of the Oceans Series, but he’s never offended me in the way of, say, the Matthew Brodericks and Sean William Scotts of this world. / George Clooney has won an Oscar and portrayed Batman on screen. (Those two facts are unlikely to be related) / Incidentally, I too now am in proud possession of a genuine George Clooney autograph. That said, the stylised ‘GC’ initial-based autograph leaves me open to accusations I’m passing off the autograph of West Indian opening batsman Gordon Greenidge as that of George Clooney. Never mind… / It’s comedian Jason Schwartzman. I had to check IMDB to find out why he was important. I recognise some films but oddly none of his roles. Never mind, the hairstyle and bow tie are clearly top-notch. / Director Wes Anderson was also responsible for ‘The Royal Tennenbaums’ which was okay I guess, and ‘The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou’, which made me laugh twice… in the trailer. / I don’t know who he is, and I’m not sure how I feel about him dressing his son as a smaller version of himself. / Is… is that… former supermodel Cindy Crawford?? Well, let’s add a fourth supermodel to my list, then! Fittingly for the way the universe works, my autofocus and framerate both played up the instant she got out of her car, and a couple of seconds later my camera’s battery failed. I quickly changed it, but by the time I did that she was gone.. / Bill Murray!! Ghostbusters : brilliant. Broken Flowers : moving. Lost in Translation : brilliant AND moving. (In this picture, I believe he was looking up and waving at some people in looking out of windows in hotel rooms overlooking the ‘Square) / We shared a moment. He still owes me five dollars. / Actress Thandie Newton, whom I snapped at last year’s Rock’n’Rolla premiere. Back then, I was unable to determine whether she actually had two eyes as over the course of a whole evening all I photographed were profile-aspect pictures. Newsflash : she’s pretty AND has two eyes. (She also appears to have an offspring…) / Maryam D’Abo played the Bond Girl in 1987’s ‘The Living Daylights’ (one of my favourite Bond Films). Cool! She’s not in this film, but I’m not raising any objections to her presence here. / Finally, here is everyone’s favourite paranoid megalomaniacal xenophobic dictator, from the film ‘V for Vendetta’ it’s clearly John Hurt! (He also, IMDB informs me, played wand-maker Ollivander in the first Harry Potter film, a much more benign role) So… that was that. It was actually a very big premiere in the sense that they closed off all of the centre of Leicester Square and had footbridges to not one but two separate cinemas. Oh, and Yellow Cap Guy update – I saw him wandering around at lunch, and I assume he found his way into the central part where all the cool kids got to. Next up : it’s hard to say – the BFI Film Festival has lots of premieres, first showings and gala screenings… For now, it’s the latest film to join The Archive of Film Premieres The last few entries of which were: / The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus – Gilliam! Cole! Garfield!? / Pixar’s ‘Up’ – Literally no (0) cast or crew showed! / Creation – Bettany – Yes! Connelly – No!) / The Ugly Truth – Heigl! Butler! / Inglourious Basterds – Tarantino! Kruger! But not Pitt! ... now, when will I have enough celeb shots to make a second Calendar of Movie Celebs?!!! / Until next time!
One day after the premiere for The Amazing Mr Fox...
One day after the premiere for The Amazing Mr Fox, Leicester Square paid host to another premiere. The cast list for this one was potentially even more impressive if they all turned up : George Clooney, Ewan MacGregor, Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges and A Goat were all on the movie poster. But who would show up, that was the question…? / The men who stare at… nothing. Not yet, anyway. / Their relationship already on a rocky platform, neither the reporter nor cameraman was going to give the other the satisfaction of untangling the cable, red carpet or no, George Clooney or no. / Yellow Cap Guy, in position and in high spirits. Good times. / I hear they even put cappucchino makers on these things now… / George Clooney shares a laugh with a reporter, but to be honest I think the real story in this picture is the body language of the security dude in the background to the left… / “AND that’s _WHEN I knew I should PURSUE a career IN act-ING” / George Clooney. Acting. / Actress Neve Campbell, who isn’t actually in this movie, is in this photo. Meanwhile, Kevin Spacey, who is in this movie, is not. (While I am disappointed, I will acknowledge that Neve Campbell is the prettier of the two.) / Why not try to see if you can find Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, and Ewan MacGregor in this picture. (You can’t? Yes, that’s because only George Clooney is at this premiere). Ewan MacGregor is actually not in the country at the moment, and… I don’t really care about Jeff Bridges. But Kevin Spacey? He IS in London. But not at this premiere. Thanks, Clooney, for flying the flag! / This is not Kevin Spacey. It’s John Hurt, who was also at Yesterday’s premiere despite not being in that movie. Or this one. / This man is not Kevin Spacey. His very good looking date is… also not Kevin Spacey…. / ... or is she? (No, she’s not. She’s Hofit Golan, and based on extensive web research her occupation appears to be ‘Israeli Socialite”). The guy she’s with is, or may be, a choreographer called “Ben Friedman” So, okay, what’s Kevin Spacey’s excuse for nonattendance?? Well.. interestingly I’ve since learned that Spacey WAS at the premiere, he simply chose not to walk the Red Carpet to get into the cinema. Which is… well… kind of disappointing. But, no problem – a guy can never have too many photos of George Clooney. I … think. And it means yet another premiere to add to My archive of movie premieres Of which the five most recent were / The Fantastic Mr Fox – Clooney! Murray! ... Cindy Crawford?? / The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus – Gilliam! Cole! Garfield!? / Creation – Bettany – Yes! Connelly – No!) / The Ugly Truth – Heigl! Butler! / Inglourious Basterds – Tarantino! Kruger! But not Pitt! Finally, here’s an easy link to my ‘Movie Premieres Highlights’ Calendar! /
Movie premieres continue to come thick and fast over here, with the BFI Film Festival running from the 15th-29th October. Tonight’s was a…
Movie premieres continue to come thick and fast over here, with the BFI Film Festival running from the 15th-29th October. Tonight’s was a fairly under-attended premiere, which I would attribute to the cold weather and the less well-known cast of this particular film. But what was I going to do, go home where it was warm? Not a chance… / “Bright Star” is a movie about the love affair between poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, which was cut short by his untimely death at a young age. I actually studied Keats in High School (Ah, yes … “Ode to a Nightingale” and “Ode on a Grecian Urn”). And the director is from New Zealand, which I’ve visited. The connections between me and this film are numerous, clearly. (Very cool poster) / His name is Guy, and his cap is Yellow. He is : Yellow Cap Guy. (Actually, his name isn’t Guy, but to keep the mystery I’m not going to reveal it) / The much more knowledgable crowd than I was shouting out “Kerry”, or “Carey” (or at a stretch possibly “Gary”?) but I don’t know who is she is. Or rather, I didn’t until I later checked the cast listing for the premiere. She’s Kerry Fox, and I probably should have taken a better shot of her. / Looking rather awesomely like an older version of Kadaj from Final Fantasy Advent Children (and that’s possibly the most obscure movie reference you will ever hear me make), this is Director Jane Campion – who won an Academy Award™ for best screenplay for “The Piano” in 1994 (as well as a Best Director nomination that same year) / “Yes, I am aware that to the untrained ear, New Zealand accents can sound funny. But no, that doesn’t mean my signature will read funny. That’s not how accents work” Whether she actually said this is doubtful… / My outlook calendar for today originally read “Premiere (who is Abby Cornish?)”, to which I myself had after a google search replied (to myself) “she’s pretty. that’s all that matters”. Which is uncharacteristically shallow of me, really. But then Abby didn’t turn up, so here’s another photo of Jane Campion. / This is Ben Whishaw, who I believe plays John Keats in the film. It would have been kind of cool if he’d stayed in character for his red carpet interview, and delivered all his responses in flowery iambic pentameter.. but being a bit further away I can’t confirm whether he did or not. / This is actor Andy Serkis, who has a strong connection with New Zealand via kiwi director Peter Jackson (Serkis played Gollum in Lord of the Rings and King Kong in, erm, King Kong). I will confess that I was kind of geekily pleased to get his autograph for my travel journal – right opposite that of Viggo Mortensen (Gollum AND Aragorn on the same double page opening : I RULE) (Oddly, I’m also single) / And finally, here’s a photo of London’s Mayor Boris Johnson. He looks a bit quirky and ungainly, but for a politician he has a rather cool sense of humour in his speeches and writing, so I’m cool with that. The errant flash from somebody else’s camera did me a nice favour, there, too, in making him look even more quirky and ungainly. So.. that was another premiere. And wouldn’t you know it : tomorrow I get to do it yet again! Gotta love this town! Here’s my traditional link to the archive of movie premieres And the list of most recent premieres I was at: / The Road – Firth! Mortensen! / The Men Who Stare At Goats – Clooney! Again! / The Fantastic Mr Fox – Clooney! Murray! ... Cindy Crawford?? / The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus – Gilliam! Cole! Garfield!? / Creation – Bettany: Yes! Connelly: No!) / Inglourious Basterds – Tarantino! Kruger! But not Pitt! And finally, here’s an easy link to my ‘Movie Premieres Highlights’ Calendar which is so awesome I might yet buy one for myself! /
Today was a rare evening indeed : not one but TWO premieres in Leicester Square! They were in two separate cinemas, and timed two hours…
Today was a rare evening indeed : not one but TWO premieres in Leicester Square! They were in two separate cinemas, and timed two hours apart. I was pretty sure I’d miss the first one and was happy to just see the second. However, when I wandered down after work I found the first one just getting started. The only downside – it’s a cinema that’s not really geared up for premieres where ‘normos’ (like me) can easily see what’s going on if they arrive even slightly late. And I’d arrived late. Worse still, it was mostly attended by rap and r’n’b stars and footballers, so it was more crowded than usual. And it was dark. And another thing… we’ll get to that. / Yellow Cap Guy in the hizzle. (Fo’ shizzle) / Movie poster. All I’m seeing is wordplay on the pre-existing film ‘Dead Man Walking’ in a non-sequel context so I’m yet to be impressed, but that’s partly because I haven’t photographed any celebs yet other than Yellow Cap Guy / If this the director, surely he should be wearing more gold chains than this? It feels like I’m at a distance of about 10km from the action here and I’m struggling to tell…. / The guy on the right is Rio Ferdinand, or so I’m told (What I was not told is who he is or why he’s important). Somebody said something about Football… about him being a former captain… of England. So… does that means either he’s not The Rock, or The Rock also used to play football for England and is now called Rio Ferdinand? I feel out of my depth here… / Well, at least here’s somebody relatively pretty to photograph! My initial attempted ID was ‘Tricia Helfer from Battlestar Galactica and her chamaeleon dress’, but I’ve now found out she’s Monet Mazur. Next thing to do : find out who Monet Mazur is! / Monet Mazur. OMG she was in the movie ‘Torque’, possibly one of the most ludicrous films ever made. Hilarious, sure. But also very, very, VERY bad. (Fortunately I’m a forgiving kind of person.) / If I could have better-exposed just ONE photo I took at this premiere, it would be this one. Monet Mazur is looking very ‘leading lady-esque’ being led to the double wall o’paps. / I really want these people to be Drug Gangstas. Even if I’m not sure what Drug Gangstas are, exactly. / Okay, one more shot of Monet Mazur. The man she’s with is Alex de Rakoff. I’m not sure who he is, but I’m hoping he’s the director and theirs is just a short-term, on-set thing. (I’ve now checked imdb and yes, he’s the director. And she and he have a child together. Alrightey then!) / Yes, I would like to join your bikie gang / rap ensemble / florist franchise / (I don’t like to prejudge who these people are) / Everything was fine… all I needed was one person’s flash to go off and this would have been pretty much perfectly exposed and a high-and-blind-shot would actually have paid off for once. But it didn’t. And it isn’t. Here, “50 Cent” (aka Curtis Jackson) shows up in the world’s biggest F*KOFF WHITE-coloured Rolls Royce. / If I was just 40cm higher this would be a pretty cool shot – Actor 50 Cent, A white Rolls Royce, and two rows of parallel paparazzi primed to unleash hell. But that 40cm was denied to me by (a) my genetic heritage and (b) some clown whose yellow reflective jacket made him the ultimate arbiter of what ‘safe’ was. Okay, I’m allowed to drive a car, vote in local elections and pay tax and apparently I’m not actually responsible for my own safety in this day and age. I hope you loved your power trip, you pathetic little man. / This photo has about three potentially cool elements to it, and in this resized form, none of these are evident! Jeff Stewart is the old dude with the beard and tie-dye shirt and hat / He’s Ashley Cole, successful soccer player. (Oh, wait. I’m in England) *He’s Ashley Cole, successful Football player. Apparently Rio Ferdinand (the guy further up in the photos) is a financier/producer of the film. So… that’s that. I’ll be frank. My position was crap, The Man decided I was not allowed to improve it in any way, it was dark and distant and the Pentax K10D’s autofocus was throwing some kind of hissyfit for some reason, possibly related to me spending a bit too much time looking at getting a Pentax K-7 replacement for it, or being jealous of Monet Mazur. Deal with it, baby. And then, a little before it ended, I wandered across the square and joined the ‘queue’ for the next premiere, due to start in about an hour and a half. Bingo! But until I get to journalising that one, here’s the list of all the movie premieres The most recent of which are/were: / An Education – Thompson! Mulligan! / Bright Star – Jane Campion! Boris Johnson! / The Road – Firth! Mortensen! / The Men Who Stare At Goats – Clooney! Again! / The Fantastic Mr Fox – Clooney! Murray! ... Cindy Crawford?? / The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus – Gilliam! Cole! Garfield!? Oh, and here’s an easy link to my ‘Movie Premieres Highlights’ Calendar! /
Do you remember back when it seemed that every premiere I went to featured a Tom Cruise...
Do you remember back when it seemed that every premiere I went to featured a Tom Cruise or Charlize Theron or a Will Smith or Megan Fox ... and now I’m typing names like ‘Dominic Cooper’ and ‘Hofit Golan’? It’s BFI Film Festival, and I’m really enjoying it photographically as the premieres are a bit smaller, the crowds a little bit more manageable and the stars a little more accessible. And for me, a premiere is a premiere is a premiere, after all. But do you care? It doesn’t matter. Here’s the latest anyway! / “Glorious 39”. I’d never heard of the film, and if I’m honest I didn’t know there was a premiere for it – I was there for the movie after it, same cinema, two hours later. But hey, have camera, will travel! / Actress Juno Temple, who has actually been in a reasonable number of recent films, some of which I’ve heard of (“St Trinians”, “Year One” and “Atonement”), and one of which I’ve seen (“The Other Boleyn Girl” – I wish to state that I was on a flight, and I generally don’t sleep on flights) / And people ask why I don’t use a flash even in low light…. this is why! / Toby Regbo. I’m all set to go “who?” but according to IMDB, he’ll be playing the role of teenage Dumbledore in the last two Harry Potter films, which is certainly something I couldn’t. / Actor Hugh Bonneville. His imdb entry is remarkably long. That’s all I’ve got. / Playwright / Director / Scriptwriter Stephen Poliakoff. Call me uncultured, but is it wrong that I look at him and go : “Now, if he was wearing a monocle rather than spectacles, this image would be verging on awesome“? / She’s late… she’s late… for a very important date (and yet the Michael Jackson “This is it” is in a totally different part of Leicester Square… and not for another five hours…) / Actor Bill Nighy has been in nearly every movie ever made, and been at the premiere for many of the rest. In this instance…. he’s both in the movie and at the premiere. Well played, sir! / Actress Romola Garai. Like a present day Sherlock Holmes, while putting together this journal I’m starting to put together what’s going on here. She was in the movie ‘Atonement’. So was Juno Temple. The poster for the film says “Glorious 39” is “This year’s Atonement” Different director…. but the theme is there. I’ll keep you posted. / Taking low-light photography to the next (even lower) level. Why use a flash when you can make actors look as creepy as this? / Actor David Tennant is in this film, and he’s also the outgoing Dr Who. The crowd went fairly crazy-nuts upon his arrival, and he responded in kind! / David Tenant played the mad Barty Crouch in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. A risky bit of casting? Not really… So then it was time to either go home, or wait around for two hours for another premiere, this one for the latest by the Coen brothers. I think we all know how that would work out! Until next time, why not check out the archive of movie premieres Chloe – Moore! Seyfried! Reitman! / Dead Man Running – 50 Cent! Rio Ferdinand! / An Education – Thompson! Mulligan! / Bright Star – Jane Campion! Boris Johnson! / The Road – Firth! Mortensen! / The Men Who Stare At Goats – Clooney! Again! But what about my ‘Movie Premieres Highlights’ Calendar? /
You’re probably sick of yet another movie premiere journal entry… Actually, looking at the number of views these have been getting, tha…
You’re probably sick of yet another movie premiere journal entry… Actually, looking at the number of views these have been getting, that point was reached about a dozen premieres ago. (Oops!). But even so, I went to this one and photos were taken and I’m putting them out there. Besides, there were three academy award winners in attendance… so these guys were worthy / A kinked Red Carpet means this is a smaller premiere. (From brutal experience, this typically means Charlize Theron will not attend, and even Yellow Cap Guy is only a ‘maybe’). This movie was for a Coen Brothers film, so perhaps one or both would deign to attend. And John Hurt would probably show up regardless. / A Serious Man… or four. / The legally required John Hurt shot- he’s been a fixture of the British Film Festival this year. If being a film star means free movie tickets, perhaps I’ve made yet another error in my choice of career path. / It’s one of the Coen Brothers! I can’t tell them apart because I’ve never met them and the other one isn’t here yet. So I’m going to play the odds and call this one Ethan / This is the lead actor of the film (now tentatively identified as ‘Michael Stuhlbarg’) with one of the Coen Brothers (‘Fargo’, ‘The Big Lebowski’). I can’t tell them apart because I’ve never met them and the other one isn’t in frame, so I’m playing the odds and calling the same Coen brother ‘Joel’ this time. I’m now therefore at least 50% accurate in identifying Coen Brothers I’ve never met! / I’m willing to irritate and anger film fans everywhere by saying I didn’t find ‘The Big Lebowski’ funny at all. Didn’t see the humour, didn’t gel with the characters, was unconvinced by the hype. That said, I thought ‘Fargo’ was very good. (The Coen Brothers appear to be blissfully unaware and unconcerned by this, as is their right.) / “Pssst! Ethan! The dude over there hates ‘The Big Lebowski’. What do we do?” / “How many Oscars has he won?” / “None” / “How many have we won?” / “Four. Shared. In other words, two for each mantlepiece or four shared depending on how you count it, really” / (Incidentally, I’ve now looked online. Apparently Joel is the taller one, so this comment, while probably not correct, is at least based in accuracy) (you’re welcome!) / Former Bond Girl Maryam D’Abo sneaks past the Coen Brothers and the Paparazzi. (Maybe she’s not a big fan of The Big Lebowski either?) / Aussie actor (and Academy Award ™ winner) Geoffrey Rush dropped by. I don’t believe he’s involved with the film in any way, but who were any of us to deny him access if he wanted it? / If I may be honest, I don’t think Geoffrey Rush looks like,…. erm, Geoffrey Rush unless he’s wearing a giant hat with oversized feather and a monkey on his shoulder. He was of course Captain Barbossa in Pirates of the Carribean, and had roles in the movies ‘Elizabeth’, ‘Elizabeth : the Golden Age’ and ‘Shakespeare in Love’ – so older style costumes do tend to be the norm… / Geoffrey Rush. Where’s the rage? The cutlass? The cursed undead minions? Here, he’s just… just… waving!? He’s like a…. normal person…. It’s unaccountably disappointing, and I’m spending more time looking at the unknown girl in the background than the Academy Award Winner! So… that’s the penultimate premiere of the BFI Film Festival. The finale is the premiere of the young John Lennon biopic ‘Nowhere Boy’. But that’s not til tomorrow… Until then, it means another entry for “The Archive of Movie Premieres”
2 Premieres in 2 days in London town. And would you believe it: tomorrow (which at the time of posting = today) there’s a third. It’s for…
2 Premieres in 2 days in London town. And would you believe it: tomorrow (which at the time of posting = today) there’s a third. It’s for the new Twilight Film ‘New Moon’ and… ummm… I’m sorry. But there are some premieres I just can’t face. So I won’t be going to that. But premieres for movies about old-agers turning to vigilantism?> I’m there. / It’s Harry Brown. (And, possibly, fine Indian food. It’s a combination that’s worth some consideration, surely?) / Spotted in the far distance : Yellow Cap Guy. His story is interesting, and so is that of Nikon D70 Guy, who I stood next to at yesterday’s Call of Duty Premiere . There are some fascinating people who hang out at these premieres. Except me. I’m just standing here, pointing my camera. I can take or leave these things – indeed, I went to Harry Brown but will NOT go to New Moon. Sorry! / Sir Michael Caine alights from his vehicle, looking very Sir/Knight-like. Or… well… very Butler-like, given he’s also Alfred the Butler in Batman. .. And a citizen vigilante in this film. (Approach him at your own risk, really!) / Sir Michael Caine and some cute reporter lady made an on-the-spot pact never to mention that ever again, I’m guessing… / “The capital of Liechtenstein? Ummm…” Cute reporter lady was clearly asking some tricky questions. This would appear to be Ben Drew, who is in the film. / Almost exactly a year ago I failed to get a proper shots of both Quantum of Solace Bond Girls Gemma Arterton and Olga Kurylenko. Incredibly, Gemma Arterton was at this premiere. How did I go? I hear you ask? Well… not all that great. But thanks for asking. / Man’s cruelty to our feathered friends hits yet another landmark. / “Bruce Wayne…. Is Batman??” Cute reporter lady is destroying these people… whoever they are / he is. / Almost exactly a year ago I failed to get a proper shots of both Quantum of Solace Bond Girls Gemma Arterton and Olga Kurylenko. Incredibly, somebody called out to this lady, identifying her as Olga Kurylenko. I’m not convinced…mostly because I don’t really have a decent shot to compare against! / Cute reporter lady lines up another curve-ball. Her intended victim here is an actor by the name of Joseph Gilgun, whose name rings absolutely no bells. Free throw for you, cute reporter lady! / Sir Michael Caine says: “Stay In School, Kids. And don’t do Drugs.” (Or somesuch thing. I was taking photos, not paying attention..) / (Please allow me to reaffirm my commitment to observe, record and not influence the proceedings at a premiere in any way. No Michael Caines were hurt, distracted or interfered with by me in the making of this premiere. ) / The repetitive strain injury toll from yesterday’s Call of Duty 2 premiere and game release may have claimed yet another victim? I honestly have no idea who this is. IMDB is unhelpful, wireimage is unhelpful and getty images seems to have 28 pages of pictures I’m really not game to trawl though. I’m going with ‘the director’! / Well… at least this guy was easy to figure out. He’s newly crowned WBA Heavyweight Champ David ‘The Hayemaker’ Haye. His connection with the film is spurious, but given he’s a heavyweight world champ, I doubt anybody was game to call him on it. / Whoever it was that made David Haye turn around: you caught a world heavyweight champ off-guard. Well done! So… that was another premiere. And no matter how much you beg or plead, the very linear nature of time means I can’t/won’t go to the Twilight “New Moon” premiere on the 11th. I have laundry duties.. and I take those very seriously. Until next time! / Here’s the archive Bernd
Through a fortuitous series of emails, the expenditure of rather a lot of money on half-decent frames, and, well… standing out in the c…
Through a fortuitous series of emails, the expenditure of rather a lot of money on half-decent frames, and, well… standing out in the cold for hours and hours in Leicester Square over the past 18 months…I now have 13 of my photos hanging in a sort of vestibule area leading to an in-house cafe at my old office. Woo! / Woo! I even got to make my own flyer. It’s kind of a pity that I can’t have people handing out canapes and champagne for an opening. OMG – I just realised I could have a premiere opening for an exhibit about premieres… at which I could then take premiere photos!! (Why, yes.I’m fine) / Decent picture frames? Somewhat expensive. And then you multiply by thirteen. (Or ‘12a’ if you’re superstitious). / On your immediate right as you enter the area, there are six shots, five shown here. There’s even a short philosophical musing underneath the portrait of Reese Witherspoon, but I doubt you can make it out in this image… (there is a ‘pondering chair’ though) / On your left as you enter the vestibule area you’ll see one set of shots. Hopefully you brought your own champagne and canapes because not even my opening had either of those things. Indeed, I went and got my own coffee after hanging the photos, and drank it in a nearby cafe… The photos: / (can I just mention – if you’re looking at them on a slightly larger than usual screen, they’re not this blurry in real life- these are facebook album links, and simply clicking on one with a link will take you to the appropriate redbubble page to verify some kind of quality is present!) / / Reese Witherspoon at the ‘Monsters vs Aliens’ Premiere. This was both 100% candid (and taken at about the same time that I fell in love with Reese Witherspoon, interestingly). After that premiere, I went to watch a Symphonic Metal band from Finland play at a concert. / John Simm at the ‘Dark Knight’ premiere. This was a massive event, my position was crap, and it was only when I walked away that I turned around and did one high and blind shot of the crowd. THAT’S what premieres can be like! / Megan Fox, at the ‘Transformers Revenge of the Fallen’ Premiere. Taken at a massive distance and weird angle shooting through parts of a crowd. Converted to black’n’white in my mind immediately due to the highly blinding neon yellow jackets of the police standing behind her / Nicole Kidman, at the ‘Australia’ Premiere. It was a freezing night and Kidman showed up wearing THAT dress. She put a coat on a bit later to do interviews, at which point she probably couldn’t feel anything. / George Clooney, at ‘The Fantastic Mr Fox’ Premiere. I even got his signature : the stylised ‘GC’ is indistinguishable from what ‘CC’, ‘GG’ or ‘CG’ would also look like. But hey, he’s still cool! / Zac Efron (insert scream here) at The premiere of ‘17 Again’. High and semi-blind with a 10-20mm lens and one of the luckiest random flash bursts from somebody else’s camera you’d ever get. (Refer Nicole Kidman photo and refer David Duchovny photo, though) / Charlize Theron, at the ‘Hancock’ premiere. It was the first premiere I’d gone to and I snapped Will Smith AND Charlize Theron. You can pretty much trace the next 50+ premieres I’ve attended to this photo. / Will Smith, at the ‘Seven Pounds’ premiere. Will Smith is pretty much EXACTLY this cool. / Add a caption / Johnny Depp, at the ‘Public Enemies’ Premiere. The bouncer / security guard / goon in front of him benefitted from two things : (1) guns are hard to come by, because I probably would have shot him for blocking views of Mr Depp and (2) his presence was necessary in order for this shot to take place, so… you know… kudos, scary tall security dude! / Quentin Tarantino, at the ‘Inglourious Basterds’ Premiere. Not much to say – I’d missed out on getting either a photo or autograph by virtue of a poorly scheduled firedrill at work… and here I missed out on an autograph but got the shot. Shot always comes first. / Al Pacino, at the ‘Righteous Kill’ Premiere. Robert De Niro apparently really dislikes being out in public at these sort of events, but you just know Al loves it. / April Pearson, the only actress in this selection whom I’d never even heard of prior to this premiere, for a movie I hadn’t even heard of prior to this Premiere for ‘Tormented’. Still… have to love the unselfconsciousness of the pose / David Duchovny and an obscured-by-flash Gillian Anderson at the ‘X-Files : I want to believe’ premiere. Probably the photo that made me positively inclined towards continuing to speculatively shoot into paparazzi flash bursts in the hope of a second bit of magic. It hasn’t really worked a second time. Yet. Bonus shots from Behind the Scenes! / / Me’n’Will. (it’s not in exhibit, because… well…) / Me’n’Reese. (It’s not in exhibit, because… uh…) / Me’n’QT. (Not in exhibit, because… I couldn’t quite match the pose anyway) / Me’n’Jack Sparrow. (Not in exhibit, because… of quality issues, for a start) / Me’n’Al. (Not in exhibit because… sadly there wasn’t enough space. Otherwise it totally would have been!) / Me’n’Megan (Not in exhibit because … that expression on my face is freakin’ weird) / Me’n’Charlize (not in exhibit because…. my hand under the picture frame is annoying) Oh, and per my psych evaluation at an overnight training thingy, ‘Introversion’ is apparently my strongest trait. HAHAHAHAA!! (the food was good, though) If you can’t make it to the exhibit (and let’s face it, you kind of need to be signed in to the office by security, or somehow press your face against the window when the blinds are open…) (as well as be in London) hopefully this has been a semi-worthy alternative! Incredibly, however, a lot of these photos are for sale on Redbubble (as the links on the photos above will attest) and by sheer coincidence my calendar of Movie Premieres is ALSO for sale right here on Redbubble! How many of these Premieres have I been to now? I hear you ask? / FIFTY FOUR is my answer Until Next Time!
British Billionaire Richard Branson! / Noted Feminist Germaine Greer! / Former US President Bill Clinton! / ‘The Fonz’ Henry Winkler! A…
British Billionaire Richard Branson! / Noted Feminist Germaine Greer! / Former US President Bill Clinton! / ‘The Fonz’ Henry Winkler! All of these played themselves in this film/documentary, and might therefore have been possible attendees. However, since this premiere was billed in advance as ‘small’, this was probably the first clue that not all of the above would, in fact, show up. And indeed, most didn’t. Only one did. No, not him. And no, not that guy either. And not her. (Although these photos and a lack of online assistance as to their identity might imply I have some kind of world exclusive on these shots, sadly this is not quite true : there was one (1) camera crew, one (1) outdoor red carpet photographer, and two (2) inside arrivals photographers.) But whatever, the carpet was red, and the cap on the head of the guy three down from me was yellow, so you know what that means… / ‘We are the people we’ve been waiting for’ is a film/documentary about the deteriorating education system in England, which is surely an important enough topic for everyone to stop updating their facebook status profiles and go and see? / Contrary to a belief surely few people have, Red carpets aren’t actually dragged fully unfurled through the streets of London and into Leicester Square…. They’re actually transported in rolled-up form. (Handy!) / It’s The Fonz! By which I mean…. I’m far too young to know who this guy is. I’ll need to check the internet. Bring on Richard Branson already. (My mental attitude might have been caught by Mr Winker, who not only declined to sign my proferred travel journal, but left the pen he was holding flat on the open page before walking away. Yikes!). Anyway, Henry Winkler played a character called Arthur ‘Fonzie’ Fonzarelli in the 1974-84 TV series ‘Happy Days’. The character was popular enough that he made guest appearances on other TV shows over that time. / Sigh. I got dissed by ‘The Fonz’. (‘The Fonz’ appears unconcerned). / The Fonz uses one last opportunity to not sign an autograph. / This is not Germaine Greer, and not Bill Clinton. ….and probably not Richard Branson. / This is the cast and crew of ‘We are the People we’ve been waiting for’ who could be bothered to pose as a group (thanks, Fonzie). Owing to a complete lack of pictures on IMDB and wireimage and gettyimages for this film, I don’t know who any of these people are. Well… except for the girl second from the right. Her name is Natasha Cooper. I have ways. (And they are non-verbal) (okay, that came out wrong…) / Yellow Cap Guy is distracted by something that is not even close to as interesting as who I was photographing at the same time. I have no explanation for this. At all. / Actually, by a process of elimination (also known as ‘using the number of girls in the cast listing and their names‘), I have concluded that this is probably Amy Scott. Or Germaine Greer. (Or, maybe Sir Richard if he’s doing it for publicity). / These two are either Scott Harlflett and David Bryant, Scott Harlflett and Ken Robinson, or David Bryant and Ken Robinson, because there are three child leads and these are two of them. / Actress / Student Natasha Cooper does some impromptu posing. Anything to keep warm, I suppose… the weather is getting more wintery these days, poor thing. / “If I can hug against that furry microphone, I’ll answer any question you ask, no matter how weird or lengthy the required answer…” / If you ever want to know what I look like, this is pretty much exactly what I don’t (More specifically, I’d wear an LA cap and if I’m forced to do a hand-symbol, I’d do a westside (aiii)) / If the fifth member of the cast was in this photo, it might almost have been a case of labelling it a “semi-exclusive candid ensemble shot”. (And next time I’m out with my friends, I’m going to insist we recreate these poses….) / If this is the director of ‘We are the people we’ve been waiting for’, then (a) I managed to photograph him – woohoo – and (b) his clout was not sufficient to insist ‘The Fonz’ get out of his comfy cinema chair and pose with the rest of the cast. (The Fonze clearly doesn’t move once he’s got his choc-top icecream and mega-gulp Pepsi) / Yellow Cap Guy readies his 40-second unsolicited script pitch for the director. / (Actually, no, sadly he wasn’t, but how awesome would it have been??) So… that’s that, then. Fare thee well, young stars: go out there and make your lives extraordinary! I’ll just head home and get steel myself to do battle against the thousand screaming girls at tomorrow’s Zac Efron premiere….. Until next time! It goes without saying It Joins the Archive of Film Premieres Oh, and if you can’t make it to London and/or past security in my old office, I now have my own (kind of) exhibition of movie premiere shots!! /
It was short(ish) notice, but I found out about the World Premiere / Royal Screening for the new Peter (“Lord of the Rings”) Jackson film…
It was short(ish) notice, but I found out about the World Premiere / Royal Screening for the new Peter (“Lord of the Rings”) Jackson film one day before it happened. And since I’d some luck at the Last Royal Screening I attended (what with Queen Elizabeth II going to it) I decided I’d try again. Here’s how it went down: / “Tom, I’m standing here on the red carpet, Yellow Cap Guy is further up ahead, and that crazy extensible boom mike idea you had appears to be working. Good times, as long as it doesn’t rain” / Thanks a truckload, Tom. Still apparently my camera is weatherproof. Time to test that hypothesis! (Apparently the most expensive lens in my arsenal – ie. the one mounted on it right now – isn’t weatherproof. Well…. Let’s test THAT hypothesis too. This photo is of Actress Carolyn Dando, who managed to leverage a role in the production “Fatal Contact (Bird Flu in America)” into a role in a Peter Jackson film. Wow… / A guy with an umbrella, whose name is Michael Imperioli who was in “The Sopranos” and a heap of films, none of which I recognise him from. Hey, I take photos… I don’t have time to actually WATCH stuff! / “Come on Richard, you know very well that the first Lord of the Rings film was the best.” True, in my opinion. The Academy went kind of crazy-nuts and gave the third in the trilogy every award but ‘Best R’n’B release’ at the Oscars. But that’s just me… / And here he is : Director Peter Jackson, looking very dapper in a tux, and sporting an even thinner look than he had on the King Kong directors commentary back in 2005 (I mention it because ‘the list’ of celebs had him looking a lot chubbier. I hope he was recognised!) / ”You really want me to write ”For Frodo”?. Oh, like I haven’t signed that before” . Mr Jackson didn’t have a whole heap of time to sign autographs in our area, and I was unsuccessful in obtaining a signature that would have gone nicely with my Gollum + Aragorn. Never mind… he joins Quentin Tarantino and The Fonz, all of whom have snubbed me in the past 8) / Actress Susan Sarandon is HOW old? Damn.. that’s pretty impresive / Academy Award winning actress Susan Sarandon says ”I’m HOW old?? Damn… that’s pretty impressive” / Director Peter Jackson and Actress Saoirse Ronan admire the rain and the heavy camera machinery pointed at them / It’s a busy photo, but there are some interesting expressions in it. My position was good, except Peter Jackson doesn’t really present much more than a profile aspect when interviewed. And there was rain. And people moving back and forth. And stuff. / Peter Jackson. He started out with movies like ‘Bad Taste’ and ‘Meet the Feebles’, then somehow leveraged that into a middlingly unsuccessful movie called ‘The Frighteners’ starring Michael J Fox, and then somehow leveraged that into directing THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY. Now THAT’S how you use leverage! / ”PJ: The detail in the water droplets is fantastic! Is that CGI?? / “Interviewer: Dude, I think that’s just ordinary rain” / “PJ: Oh” / Peter Jackson also founded Weta Digital, a world-class effects house based in New Zealand. I was once on holiday in New Zealand where I had dinner with a girl who worked for Weta Digital and apparently it’s hard but fun work. / / / Actor Reese Ritchie managed to leverage a role in the widely panned ’10,000 BC’ into a role in a Peter Jackson film. More great leverage. / She’s fifteen. Time for… curfew? No, in fact Saoirse Ronan kept her promise and returned to sign autographs after finishing her interviews further up the chain of media cameras. Very commendable indeed. / Dude, let it go. She obviously doesn’t owe you five dollars / Comedian, Author, Podcaster and famous twitter-er Stephen Fry. / A bit over a year ago, I snapped the Queen herself at a premiere. This time? Another member of the family. Though sadly, I did not do as well. / That Bentley has some clean windows alright… This is Camilla…. and… I actually don’t know her last name… / With The Queen last year, I was shooting long distance, but at least unobstructed. Here, it wasn’t just a crowd in front of me, but Paps on step-ladders in from of THEM and security and red-carpet revellers in front of THEM. Still… here’s HRH Prince Charles. (Just barely!) So.. that’s another one for The Archive of Movie Premieres, which is starting to bulge with over FIFTY movie premieres, which is incidentally sufficient to provide photos for its own Calendar and even an Exhibition Until next time!
Rain, and the weather slowly getting colder meant that this premiere had a bit of a smaller attendance from the public than usual. Having…
Rain, and the weather slowly getting colder meant that this premiere had a bit of a smaller attendance from the public than usual. Having the speakers blast out the same three childrens songs for almost ninety minutes may have contributed, and the fact that actor Tom Hanks and Blake Lively (‘Gossip Girl’) were in the film but not at the premiere probably didn’t help either. / It’s a movie based on a kids book with less than 300 words of length. (And just think.. they can’t make the movie of the last Harry Potter book without turning it into two films). I haven’t read it, but the monsters look… big? / “Blake Lively isn’t coming to this thing? Then what the hell am I doing up here???” Yeah, disappointment was the order of the day. I got what satisfaction I could from knowing at least I had an umbrella the size of a small postcode to shelter under when the rain became too teeming. / Wireimage tells me she’s ‘Lizzie Cundy’ as if that’s meant to help. Still, if she’s willing to throw out a pose, I won’t say no… / Minor flooding on red carpet. Yeah.. that’s not ideal. On the plus side, it kept crowd numbers down (I’m not generally an optimist, but anything short of meteor strikes and locust plagues that keeps crowd numbers down is generally a good thing) (the carpet had a plastic covering that was removed at the last minute) / Oh, look it’s… umm…. You know, I’m kind of stumped as to why they didn’t get a couple of people in larger monster costumes (as opposed to merely masks) to show up to this thing… / He’s Matthew Lewis, who plays Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter films and is the only red carpet celeb I recognised today. Not that this is necessarily a slur on him or the other celebs… but still. / The older dude is director Spike Jonze, who also directed the Charlie Kaufman works ‘Being John Malkovich’ and ‘Adaptation’, and was an actor in ‘The Game’ and ‘Three Kings’. I might have thought about getting his autograph, in retrospect. / The kid, meanwhile, is called ‘Max Records’. I have no idea as to his acting credentials, but that name? Is awesome… I believe he’s the kid on the movie poster, and hence in the film. / Clearly, I have a way with kids… (either me, or the dude with the Nikon D80 next to me who was, like most of the population of London, leaching off the coverage area afforded by my umbrella) / One of the Paps referred to the calibre of tonight’s celebrity turnout as “z-grade”. (Come on… MAX! RECORDS!) Anyway, here is a photo of the Paps whose job it is to photograph z-grade celebrities with their own brand of gusto. (For me? It’s just a hobby! No, really…) / Please enjoy tonight’s edition of ‘is he the one who’s famous, or is she?’. I’ve never seen either before, if that helps… (scroll down for answer) / No idea who… but surely you can’t argue with the needlecraft in the knitting? / English model (if wikipedia says it, I won’t judge) and celebrity daughter Georgia May Jagger showed up. My heart rate remained unchanged. My camera’s performance was sluggish this evening, which might have said something. / “But wait / what celebrity through yonder carpet walks / It is the North / and Yellow Cap Guy is the compass” Thank you, and goodnight! So that was another one for The Archive of Movie Premieres and if nothing else, it adds to the count! The last couple of premieres: / The Lovely Bones – Peter Jackson! Charles and Camilla! / Me & Orson Welles – Zac! Efron! Eee! And Claire Danes! / We are the people we’ve been waiting for -The Fonz Dissed Me!! / Harry Brown : Michael Caine! Until next time, consider buying a calendar: it’s almost the end of the year. Sure, you could buy anybody’s, but you could also buy mine! / / (yeah, I’ve kind of sold out… let’s never mention it again) Answer to tonight’s edition of ‘is he famous, or is she?’ : She is. Her name is Isabella Calthorpe and she’s a model and actress (she’s appeared in “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People”). Hmmm.. that might almost be worth a second photo… / According to wikipedia, she’s not just a model-actress, but also an aristocrat: full name Isabella Amaryllis Charlotte Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe. She… should probably think about donating some of those middle names to people who truly need them.
Two premieres in two days for Leicester Square, and for this one it was pretty much attended by all the people on the movie poster! / / !...
Two premieres in two days for Leicester Square, and for this one it was pretty much attended by all the people on the movie poster! / / / The movie is called ‘Nine’ and its female cast alone promised a fairly cool premiere if they showd up. Indeed, I was wearing a beanie and gloves in anticipation of the cool factor (And/or because it was pretty cold. It’s London and it’s winter) / The famous Yellow Cap Guy getting interviewed by The Fuzz?? No, Yellow Cap Guy! Get to your spot!! / Actor Daniel Day-Lewis was first to arrive. He’s won two Academy Awards and is an exponent of the Method Acting style. (Depending on how recently they finished filming the movie, he might actually have been struggling to stay in character as… himself.) / A rare uncropped image created by me shooting through the crooked elbow of a nearby photographer. Sigh. It’s all about adapting and staying nimble, I guess. (And of course whining afterwards. A lot of whining. But always afterwards. That’s the key) / Dame Judi Dench arrived next. She’s also won an Academy Award , which no doubt nestles comfortably among her ten BAFTAS, seven Laurence Olivier Awards, two SAG awards, and two Golden Globes. (Okay, sure. But did she get a cheesy brass medal for finishing the St Albans Half Marathon this year? I certainly did!) / Dame Judi Dench may have gotten heaps more efficient at signing autographs in recent years, now that she can sign many of them as simply ‘M’. / It’s a cold night, you’ve done your first two interviews, and it’s time to relax before your next one. Why not have yourself a nice hot coffee… directly in front of my view of Dame Judi Dench? Thanks, reporter lady! / ”Yes I’m director Rob Marshall and I was nominated for an Academy Award for ‘Chicago’. Hey… are you drinking a cup of coffee while interviewing me? If it’s really hot, that’s like totally dangerous!” Fair call. I’ve been in London long enough to recognise devastating health and safety risks… like this one. / I have no idea who any of these three are. They just saw our group, walked up, and asked if we’d photograph them. Fair enough, ladies: good luck with your music careers, or… you know… your crimefighting duties. / ”Is that Kate Hudson? I totally need a fresh coffee!!” Steady on, there, lady… / This is Kate Hudson. And… ummm… Wow. / Kate Hudson pretty (Apologies, I may have regressed to a more primitive state…) / Insofar as I, as a man who likes playing Gran Turismo and once almost succeeded in fixing a broken shower all on my own, can ever credibly love a dress? -I love this dress. And possibly may be fond of Kate Hudson as well. / ”Hi. My name is Kate Hudson and you may remember me from the dress I’m wearing right now. Could you spare some change for a parking meter? The limo is currently double-parked…” / And then Nicole Kidman showed up. Academy Award count : one, for The Hours (2002), and I forgot in all the excitement to mention that Kate Hudson also has an Academy Award nomination to her credit. (You know, I suspect that even the catering crew that worked on this picture have at least gotten a nomination from the ‘Academy over the years.) / Nicole Kidman faces her toughest foe. Is it possible that Reporter Lady is even more dangerous without a coffee? / … and then Penelope Cruz showed up. Academy Award? Why yes, for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2009) , though I don’t think she brought it with her on the night. Oh, and note Yellow Cap Guy in the background to the left of the security dude on the left – bless him, he found a spot. Well done, sir. / Feeling sufficiently cold in the freezing London winter eve, Penelope Cruz quickly caught, killed, skinned and then made a coat out of a passing Polar Bear. Sadly, I didn’t get any photos of her doing most of that – you’re just going to have to believe me based on my assertion (and this one photo of the aftermath.) / I don’t know who she is, but her agent (?) brought her over and got her to pose in front of our area, presumably to give her more public exposure in a premiere dominated by Academy Award nominees and winners. Clever move. So here’s…. umm… That Actress. / Meanwhile, Penelope Cruz faces a tough question, and Coffee-Laden Reporter Lady With Nobody To Interview Right Now flirts with blocking my view yet again. Lady, don’t you know who I AM? I wrote a NOVEL, Damnit! / / Check it out: half a second and a minor collision later, they’d swapped details and started planning their first date. (No, that’s not what happened, but clearly I’m a romantic at heart, and I really must start walking without looking where I’m going whenever I’m near pretty ladies….) / This is what the premiere looked like from a different angle: cinema on the far left, Paparazzi on the front left, security blocking off the public, fortunate members of the public on the right, the press in the left centre stretching back. Way, way in the distance: the regular people who actually have to be induced to pay money to watch the film. (This shot was taken about as high and blind as I’m capable of, short of some rather risky and pointless bone extension surgery) / Last shot. Depending on how generous you’re willing to be, this is maybe three and two halves of the cast and crew. (I do what I can…) So, yeah. It was big and it was good and there was a large failure rate on shots because it was cold and dark and all that. But there were a couple of pretty good ones. And Kate Hudson’s dress (and Kate Hudson generally)? Awesome. And this one? Definitely joins the Archive The last couple of premieres: / Where the Wild Things Are – Jonze! Records! Annoying Music! / The Lovely Bones – Peter Jackson! Charles and Camilla! / Me & Orson Welles – Zac! Efron! Eee! And Claire Danes! / We are the people we’ve been waiting for -The Fonz Dissed Me!! / Harry Brown : Michael Caine! Until next time, consider buying a calendar: it’s almost the end of the year. Sure, you could buy anybody’s, but you could also buy mine! / / (yeah, I’ve kind of sold out… let’s never mention it again, until next time or it’s January or something)
The first of three premieres this week (and the first of five in seven days, if I can motivate myself to get to all of them). One imme…
The first of three premieres this week (and the first of five in seven days, if I can motivate myself to get to all of them). One immediately different aspect to this one – the wait was slightly longer but it felt considerably shorter with the addition of some friendly and intelligent conversation beforehand. ....On a slightly related note, can I ask a question: if you see a pretty girl next to you is reading the only Jane Austen novel you actually enjoyed reading (as opposed to the ones you read because you were forced), can you mention it in conversation, or is it so massively implausible – despite being true – that you’re better off not mentioning it? I ask on the off chance that there’s ever a time this call needs to be made again. Anyway, here’s how it turned out. Photographically, I mean. / The film is apparently about a couple who get placed in some kind of backwater hick town as part of a witness protection/relocation thing. I think they’re downplaying what I would call the ‘plot’ aspect of the movie (which it was pointed out is not too dissimilar to ‘For Richer of Poorer’) in favour of the ‘Sarah Jessica Parker! Hugh Grant!’ aspect, though. / Yellow Cap Guy? Check. I’m going to have to get his autograph at some stage, I think. / This is Sam Elliot and he’s…. walking. He’s also in ‘The Golden Compass’ which is one of those films that it’s little fun to watch unless you’ve read the book (I haven’t), and even less fun to watch when you’re in a cinema full of people who have read the book (it was). / / / Sam Elliot keeps walking, which is a fair strategy since two Audis are about to pull out and discharge their contents: Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker, and he’s about to drop in relative importance to the assembled crowd. / / / I wouldn’t always post photos of such dubiously poor quality, but there is a kind of weird ‘manga awesomeness’ to Sarah Jessica Parker, on the far left of this photo. / / / Hugh Grant was kind of hilariously described by the Premiere’s master-of-ceremonies as having the range to play anything from an English Gentleman to a Rock Star and even the British Prime Minister. Well… yes. They’re all very different as long as you discount the fact that Hugh Grant is playing the role of “Hugh Grant playing all those roles” ...in those roles. / Sarah Jessica Parker promises to return momentarily and sign autographs. But did she…? (Sadly for autograph hunters, no. I’m sorry) / Selective Desaturation can sometimes be the last refuge of the photographically desperate (and I indulge in it all the time!), but I felt it was warranted here. / / / Sarah Jessica Parker dazzles by Paparazzi light. I’ve never watched nor felt like I particularly missed out by not seeing ‘Sex and the City’. But one of my flatmates once put a ban on any noise louder than (say) an ant clearing its throat whenever she was watching it, upon pain of death or worse. So I gather it’s “Important”! / / / Paparazzi flashes can do the damndest things. Sarah Jessica Parker turns zombie mutant!! / My position in the context of the crowd and the paps and media was sub-optimal, and I was forced to choose between looking effortlessly cool by wielding a Pentax K10D at ground level in front of a very pretty literature student…. or standing on a portable elevation platform I happened to have with me and looking like some kind of weirdo to try to get some half-decent shots. / Weirdo it is, then…. Sigh / “Stand back. It’s probably just as scared of us as we are of it”. From my vantagepoint, I lacked visibility of what exactly was going on down there, so I assume somebody released a cobra or mongoose or scorpion or something? / No idea who, but her seamstress did a great job repairing the shark damage done to her dress. / / / Hugh Grant pauses to sign some autographs while Sarah Jessica Parker thinks “I’m sure I made a promise to somebody about something… but who? and what?” My heart goes out to all those people who have ever been disappointed by an A-lister. (Quentin…you’re still on my ‘disappointed’ list) / Director Marc Lawrence has directed such films as ‘Music and Lyrics’ and ‘Two Weeks Notice’, but he was also the writer of those two films AND ‘Miss Congeniality’ (1 and 2) AND thirty one episodes of the 1980s TV series ‘Family Ties’. Which of course I’m FAR too young to remember. His daughter is also in the film. And in this photo. / And then, let’s say completely unexpectedly, actress Elizabeth Hurley turned up. By which I mean – she’s not in the film, and she was Hugh Grant’s girlfriend for 13 years, until they split in 2000. And yet… here she is. Not wielding a machine gun or anything. Classy. / / / Liz Hurley showing up to this premiere is kind of (but actually not really) like finding a set of Lamborghini car keys. It shouldn’t really happen, and it doesn’t really make sense, but.. well….why not take advantage? In other news…. I never really take advantage… So that was that. Actually, I think this premiere might have garnered some better than average shots, but since it’s for a film that features (I’m guessing) little in the way of massive CGI-budgets or plausible academy-award winning performances, I’m rating it higher on overall enjoyment than photographic resonance. Until next time! / It joins the Archive of Movie Premieres Nine – Kidman! Cruz! Hudson! Dench! / Where the Wild Things Are – Jonze! and the Kid! / The Lovely Bones – Peter Jackson! Charles and Camilla! / Me & Orson Welles – Zac! Efron! Eee! And Claire Danes!
Okay, so perhaps like James Cameron, you look at the state of My Standard Movie Premiere Journals...
Okay, so perhaps like James Cameron, you look at the state of My Standard Movie Premiere Journals and ask yourself ‘why?’. Perhaps you decide it’s time to go bigger, better, and more ambitious. So in honour of the James Cameron philosophy, for this premiere only, I’ve got two Premiere Journals. It’s basically the same premiere as this one except this one is much better because all photos are in 2:1 aspect ratio, all are in colour at a full 800 pixels in width, and all are tweaked in the filter to be more James Cameron-blue AND look like photorealistic CGI. (Rather than, you know… photorealistic real life!) Sadly, if you can’t see them fully, it means you need to upgrade your cinema! (umm… computer screen). And if you’re not seeing “Teh Awesome!!” below, try this version of the premiere Enjoy! / One of the websites I rely on to tell me about upcoming premieres decided to guess that this one, like that of St Trinians2 (journal yet to come) and Did You Hear About The Morgans would be ‘Average’ in size. Average?? / I suspect this might have been the first time in three decades that anything James Cameron has done has been described – even erroneously – as ‘Average’! / I mean, this is the camera James Cameron takes to premieres (take that, people taking photos on your iPods, point-and-shoots and, erm, Pentax K10Ds). / James Cameron is known for his use of stylish Blue Filter, so when he sees this Japanese reporter in searing yellow, there’s no telling what might happen, but there’s a chance it could turn ugly… / No, Yellow Cap Guy!….. Go blue! Go blue! / First to arrive was Joel Moore, who has been in a lot of television shows, and can now add a James Cameron film to his resume. (Which may be kind of like teaching English as a foreign language, and then one day writing the Harry Potter series of books.) / ”And James Cameron, he was like, GRRAAAARGHHH!!! Except he was, like, a sixteen foot lizard crocodile thingy, and in CGI. ...You kinda had to be there…” I’m sure. / James Cameron! If you only remember him from 1981’s “Pihrana II : The Spawning”, then… ummm… damn… sorry about the coma, but get yourself down to a video store and hire everything he’s ever done since then! / James Cameron meets a particularly excitable fan. Oh, wait, that’s actress Michelle Rodriguez, who is also in the film. / James Cameron? Signed my travel journal (And I’m now 3 for 3 on ‘Favourite people I’ve met who didn’t end up being kitten-hating, seal-clubbing villains! Yay!!) / ”You want me to sign this as ‘Quentin Tarantino’ as well as ‘James Cameron’ because he snubbed you at Inglourious Basterds? Sure, no problem” Thanks, Mr Cameron! / ”I’ve been described by people as “The King of the World”? That’s sweet!! By whom- oh, that’s right: me. Well, if I’m not the one who backs me, who the hell is going to give me $300mill to make a movie???” He makes an excellent point. / Actor Laz Alonso says : ”Your short script treatment for a sequel to ‘The Abyss’ intrigues me. I’ll pass it on to James for you” / Michelle Rodriguez was in Fast and Furious , as was Laz Alonso (below), while Alonso was in the TV series “Entourage” in an episode called ‘The Abyss’ which references a film by James Cameron, who has also appeared in “Entourage”…. It’s all rather neat, really! (Except this is a photo of Michelle Rodriguez) / By my estimation Michelle Rodriguez broke Nicole Kidman’s record from The Australia Premiere as ‘longest duration female autograph session at a movie premiere’ at this one. She even opted not to steal the pen she was unaccountably left with – classy! / Stephen Lang plays some kind of military commander, but whether his prior role in ‘Gods and Generals’ (2003) had a greater influence in getting the role than his performance in ‘The Amazing Panda Adventure’ (1995) can not be said for certain. / Actor Giovanni Ribisi played the younger brother in the Nicolas Cage movie ‘Gone in Sixty Seconds’. Or (as the dude from Jordan standing next to the lady from Uzbekistan in front of me noted- in English, thankfully) he was also Phoebe’s brother in the TV series ‘Friends’. True, dat. / Actress Zoe Saldana is both Very Pretty and In This Film. (This educational caption brought to you by me, and not the consumer durables manufacturer who paid money to sponsor this premiere but whom I will not mention!) Oh, but you should Totally Buy My Calendar / Zoe Saldana also played ‘Uhura’ in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek. That premiere was brilliant with all cast members going out of their way to mingle with fans and sign autographs. Awesomely, this premiere was just as good (as for the film? who knows…. with a premiere this good, who cares?). / The two main female stars hug and every guy’s camera phone goes up. The giant boom mike is a bit harder to explain in this context… / Zoe Saldana and Michelle Rodriguez share a laugh on the Red (okay, Blue) Carpet. Aussie Actor Sam Worthington, who was third to arrive, and at this point was STILL signing autographs in the first part of the crowd (which he later returned to) / James Cameron was the first person to make an R-rated movie budgeted at over $US100million (Terminator2); and then the first person to make a movie budgeted at over $US200million (Titanic); and now the first person to make a movie with a budget of over $US300million. ...It’s like playing double-or-nothing when you’re WINNING / Based on the schedule (and how long James Cameron takes to make movies) both Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana appeared in big-grossing movies filmed after but released BEFORE Avatar. (And both films involved time travel in their storylines. Coincidence? I think not!) / Reporter:”So you’re from Australia? Is that the country with the koalas or the yodelling?” / Sam Worthington: ”Koalas” / Reporter: ”Right. So you guys must all love Mozart down there” / Sam Worthington: ”Umm….sure” / Another quick Joel Moore photo. There sure was a lot of scaffolding at this premiere… / Zoe Saldana: ”Is that, like, a 2D camera?? I’ve totally forgotten how to act in front of one of those!” / Reporter: ”Yeah, James Cameron spent most of his interview laughing every time he looked at it” / ”And then he was like ‘I can totally see you as a nine foot blue alien’. Oh, how we all laughed.” Of course, being James Cameron he doesn’t really joke about these sort of things. / Sigourney Weaver (Alien, Aliens, Alien3… etc…) also showed up. She’s in this film, but sadly for fans of other James Cameron regulars, Bill Paxton (Aliens, Titanic, True Lies) is not. / I was going for some kind of poignancy and didn’t have the budget for a sepia filter and slightly more depth of field. (Oh, to be James Cameron and have those kinds of budgets. Or even one ten thousandth of that kind of budget…) / Finally, the weirdest part of the premiere was the Japanese reporter lady in Yellow, but the guy who dropped off one of the local celebrities and then pulled out a huge camera and started filming (he was politely asked to move on…) So… one film, and you can see it in IMAX 3D, Regular Cinema 3D, or Regular Cinema 2D. My ticket is for the middle one, but in any event I figure a movie with three versions deserves two premiere journals. Feel free to beg to differ, and check out The List of Movie Premieres if you like Until next time!
St Trinians 2 : The Legend of Fritton’s gold is a movie I can fairly honestly say is not one I intend to actually watch. But it does have…
St Trinians 2 : The Legend of Fritton’s gold is a movie I can fairly honestly say is not one I intend to actually watch. But it does have the advantage of being a film that has a mainly female cast, and I haven’t photographed one of those since….. oh… right. Nine – Kidman! Cruz! Hudson! Dench! last week! / It will be interesting to go back and look at this photo anything from three months to five hundred years from now and at any time see which of the following comments would be raised: Will it be ‘Oh wow. That’s singer Paloma Faith’.. or will it be ‘Who is or was Paloma Faith?’ / Montserrat Lombard is a British actress who is half Italian and half Spanish. Well… there’s your mathematical problem right there already. / This may possibly be actor Toby Jones in the foreground and the crowd swirls around and I absently wonder whether I might have been better off using a flash for this photo. (He provides the voice of the character Dobby the House Elf in whichever Harry Potter films that character appeared. The second..?) / Actress Jodie Whittaker’s skin isn’t really this white, because if it was she’d probably be so light sensitive she shouldn’t even be near streetlights or bus stops at night. (Yes, a passing flash caused over-exposure. It happens…) / Tamsin Egerton can’t quite believe something, and offhand I’m inclined to ascribe it to the state of the First Capital Connect service record. That said, her Wikipedia entry is very interesting – at school apparently she was bullied, frequently truanted to do modelling, yet achieved 9 A-Grade GCSEs, which since I wasn’t educated in England I’m not sure I understand, but appears very impressive / Rupert Everett, whom many would perhaps best know as the voice of Prince Charming in the ‘Shrek’ films, where he’s a blonde guy with flowing hair, a suit of armour and/or cape, and a chin so magnificent that songs will one day be sung about it. (I therefore don’t feel too bad about not recognising him). / Heavyweight boxing champ David Haye scores himself another movie premiere (He was also at Harry Brown ). The process of beating up ever-increasingly stronger people can lead you to some interesting places. (You know, like jail. OR movie premieres) / Clara Paget, about whom very little is known. Even the combined might of Getty Images, Wikipedia and IMDB could only come up with ‘no photos at the premiere’, ‘did you mean ‘clara planet’?’ and ‘do you represent Clara Paget?’ respectively. / Singer/Actress Sarah Harding Laughs. Which is not news in and of itself, but I do find the notion that she’s one of the shyest in the band ‘Girls Aloud’ yet seems to play one of the most ‘aggressive’ ‘bandmembers’ in it fascinating. / Reporter : ”Sarah, welcome to the premiere : love the dress. But what our viewers really want to know is what IS the guy behind you texting, and who is he texting it to??” / I’m going to go with my original photo description, which is: / Guy Scratches Head / No idea who he is. / The Curse of me failing to take a proper photo of actress Gemma Arterton continues. I’ve now failed at “Quantum of Solace – Everyone! Often blurry!, The Boat that Rocked – McCartney! Halliwell!.. even some of the Cast showed up!, and “Harry Brown. She does look very good in the trailers for ‘Clash of the Titans’ and ‘Prince of Persia’ though. / Per Wikipedia ,actress Talulah Riley is actress Tamsin Egerton’s flatmate. So you know (1) that’s totally correct and (2) that’s not in any way the kind of information that doesn’t deserve to be in the public domain. I’d like to add a third ‘fact’ if I may: she believes that Depth Perception is for wimps, and therefore always has her hair covering one eye. / Yellow Cap Guy shoots! Yellow Cap Guy Scores! Not only does nobody really, truly know who Clara Paget is, but he’s now got her autograph and made what I hope is a connection. Well done! / I moan at my camera’s sluggish and occasionally random autofocus often enough, so I should accordingly praise it for nailing this very ambitious shot. Well done, Pentax autofocus. / ”Tom, I’m standing here with Sarah Harding and about to ask her whether the dress she’s wearing is a James Cameron design that cost over 10million dollars to create and involves a fusion of metallurgy, bioluminescence and genetic tampering. Miss Harding?” / “Ummm…?” / You know that feeling you get when you’ve been partying all day, and all night, for several weeks, and then you finally fall asleep and you get woken up after only about 2 hours and in your head it seems to be 3 in the morning and you find yourself in Leicester Square in front of a crowd of people you don’t recognise? I think that’s what’s happened here with Nicola Roberts, Girls Aloud singer and here to provide support to bandmember Sarah Harding. / Mere moments previously: / Nicola Roberts: “Babe, it CAN’T be seven o’clock in the evening, because if I’d been sleeping for over nineteen hours, I would have known about it. Although, why are there so many people here for a three o’clock in the morning film premiere?” / Band member Kimberley Walsh in front of her : “Because it IS seven in the evening, Nicola…” / Nicola Roberts : ”Babe are you even LISTENING to me? I said…” / [photo taken here] So … another premiere, which because I posted it after ‘Avatar’ which happened the following, makes things a bit out of order. But no matter, it goes into my Archive of Movie Premieres where the last couple of posted entries were: Avatar – James Cameron! Sam Worthington! Rodriguez! Saldana! Weaver! . Also available In Widescreen CGI – format! / 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! / Me & Orson Welles – Zac! Efron! Eee! And Claire Danes! Until next time!
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 tall…
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!
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