Festival de Cannes 2008 by Mandy_Rodgers

    So having a working phone (i.e. contact with the outside world) was quite refreshing, I must say. After some McDonald's for a quick recharge (contemplated getting the Royale with Cheese but figured I'd wait until Tarentino's Masterclass day), I perused the trades and saw some films in the Market area. Basically, the Market is the part of Cannes where the buying and selling of small (sometimes horrible) films happen, as opposed to the competition part of the Festival. Some films in this area are really good....others...not so much. And sometimes you see films with big name stars that you will possibly never hear of again aside from a DVD rental or late-night cable showing.

    Today's two big premiers were Lion's Den and Kung Fu Panda. The big red carpet one was, of course, Kung Fu Panda. It was pretty sparse (for a red carpet premiere) before it started, which I was surprised about considering the people set to appear. Earlier in the week Jack Black was even spotted dancing around town with a giant panda. Eva Longoria started things off (for the second night in a row) with an intriguing dress that gave her trouble all the way up the red carpet. When she finally arrived onto the top of the steps, the usual French, non-interacting red carpet announcer said, "You made it, Eva!")

   

    Then, Mary Hart from "Entertainment Tonight" showed up right before the director Steve McQueen and the cast of his current Cannes flick, Hunger. It had a small premiere in a different theater (and in a different competition than for the Palm), earlier today and has the critics buzzing, pretty much across the board. Starring Michael Fassbender, Hunger tells the story of Irish Republican hunger striker Bobby Sands's last six weeks of life.



    George Lucas made a cameo tonight, giving complete certainty to his upcoming appearance to his own film's premiere for Indiana Jones 4. Almost as soon as Lucas had arrived though, the song "Kung Fu Fighting" began and a panda arrived on the scene with Jack Black, voice of Po, a panda yearning to learn Kung Fu from some masters. Following the duo, a very pregnant Angelina Jolie came on the scene, sending the crowd into chaos. Dustin Hoffman soon arrived, walking with Lucy Liu, all who voiced characters in the Dreamworks animated flick. Then Brad Pitt came into view and he stole the show. Well, at least for all of the screaming girls in the crowd. He guided Angelina up the red carpet, and the two seemed to enjoy the attention.