So today was the big Indiana Jones premiere and all I felt I could do was sleep! I am still seriously jet lagged and did way too much too fast when I got here. Plus, the access/no access security check point stand in a line all day thing really wears you out after a while. It’s like going to the airport for fun. Even the lawn is "forbidded" here:

This is actually a common complaint of festival-goers. Nothing is explained to you here. Access to certain places seems to be granted and denied at the whim of whoever. Not only that, but there’s this fatalistic attitude that goes along with the whole thing- as if nothing can be done to make anything clearer. That’s just the way it is. “This space is now closed,” one guard said to me. “Oh, okay. Well, what time is it usually opened?” I asked. “Not now.”

Oh... Thanks for the help. I guess as long as it's not "now," I can go in.

Indiana Jones was a mob scene. I was pushed from one end of the carpet (no access) to the other (limited access) and then back again, all the while being accosted by people demanding if I had “un ticket de plus” that they could have. I ended up being late for the big red carpet entrance and had to wait as the movie stars made their way up the carpet. After all, the last thing you want in a picture of a star on the red carpet is a normal person in the background! Normally, I wouldn’t mind, but this meant that by the time I got to the top, I was ushered into a sort of overflow room and wasn‘t allowed to sit in the larger theatre. This was an extreme disappointment to me, as I went to great lengths to secure a ticket in the main auditorium so that I could share the film with its director. That was the whole point, in fact. I didn’t quite see the point in reserving a ticket if the space was not… reserved. I still got to see the film, but no Spielberg. I’d have just gone to the earlier screening that did not demand formal dress if I had known that would be the case. Still, I think I looked okay- even though my phone somehow skewed/warped the image…

I'm really not that diagonal...

After the film, I ended up by the back exit where the movie stars and their entourage leave. This is where I had seen Woody Allen the night before. I decided to stick around, just in case Stevo and the cast decided to show up. I ended up in the paparazzi mob- which is not a place I ever wish to find myself again. And that’s about all I got photos of:

I did see the back of Goldie Hawn’s head, Faye Dunaway, some guy named Giles, some woman named Denise (or a guy named Denny- it’s hard to tell with the French accents) and a woman who looked like Kirsten Dunst (but who I don’t think was). I think the people from the film had left by the time I got there. No Spielberg.

Oh, there was one famous woman I did see: Salma Hayek. In fact, as I mentioned, I arrived at the same time as the stars. We had to move around the red carpet to get to the steps. When I arrived at the steps, I heard the paparazzi scream “Salma!” I turned to my right, and there she was. So, we climbed the red steps together and we left the film together.

This is particularly funny to me, as Salma Hayek and I have a bit of a “history” together at Cannes: When I was an intern here in 1999, I got to be “the list holder” for a swanky party- if they didn't have their invite, they came to me. This beautiful woman was sent to me because she didn’t have her invitation. She looked at me, perplexed. “Hayek? Salma Hayek?” What can I say? Her name wasn’t on the list! I didn’t know what to say. Luckily, a herd of official people ran out of the party to grab her and bring her in, saving me the embarrassment of putting her in an armlock and throwing her out (I'm mean like that). Still, I felt like an idiot. Telling her she wasn’t on the list was bad enough!

Flash forward nine years and not only do I know who she is (heck, one of the companies I worked for in New York did the special effects for Frieda), but here we are on the same side of the fence this time. Only, I was the one denied entry and no one ran out to grab me and bring me in…

That and the film made it a good night. None of the access/denial crap mattered once the movie started. I loved it. I think it’s going to get a mixed reception by the fans, but this fan adored it. It was fun, and Indy and... yeah. I thought it was good.