October 17th, 2016.
Incredibly, after 12 consecutive days of BFI London Film Festival, my reward (as was the case last year) was a premiere on the first day after the closing - in this case the European premiere for the new Ben Affleck movie, 'The Accountant'.
Here's how it went down:
Seems like double-entry book-keeping finally has the hero it's been looking for..
"If Accountants are getting movies made about them now, when is the time of the Carpet Layers?"
"Uh... boss...?"
I've found a front-row spot kind of near the stage and kind of near a bunch of guys whose opinion of Anna Kendrick skews well into the "Pitch Perfect was a fine film" class of people, and thankfully not too far into the "... and so was the sequel" territory.
"And that thing you've got falling from the sky here... is that normal? For London, I mean?"
"... and he was absolutely adamant he couldn't loan me an umbrella. It's almost like he WANTED me to get wet!" Selective chivalry should never be a strategic choice, gentlemen.
I've strategically shifted position to a spot in a newly opened pen giving me a view down the carpet, hoping that the interviews will be held in precisely this direction (I may be suffering chronic sleep deprivation after close to a fortnight of BFI London Film Festival, but some of my instincts still work) (as far the instinct to bringing an umbrella to this thing? Sadly lacking)
Ladies and Gentlemen, after almost two weeks of rap-less London Film Festival crowd warmup, your prayers and mine have been answered : Mr Impact and DJ Debits4Credits are in the house, the hizzouse, and possibly even the hizzizzouse.
"No, honestly... if it wasn't raining during our premiere here in London, I'd almost be disappointed" - one of this film's six indispensable producers has shown up, in the form of Mark Williams.
"This movie looks clever, compelling and in all respects amazing. Thankfully this is our movie's trailer"
It's Batman (I'm sorry "The Batman") himself - Ben Affleck! I'd harboured faint hopes of getting a photo I took of him at the premiere of Argo back in 2012 signed by the man, but sadly (a) I couldn't find it (b) Snappy Snaps' same day processing for 18x12 enlargements verges mildly on the extortionate, (c) It was raining and (d) he didn't sign in our area anyway.
"To all you people out there who thought Batman v Superman was a sub-par movie-making effort, I'm not going to apologise but I am going to promise to do better with my movie".
"As for ensuring David S Goyer** gets a court-mandated 10mile exclusion zone from anything to do with the production... I'm not sure I can promise that"
**writer of Batman v Superman and Man of Steel
"I'm sensing a lot of hostility towards the DC Cinematic Universe coming from about ... here?" - if the DCCU was a restaurant and they served the culinary equivalent of Man of Steel, and followed it with the culinary equivalent of of Batman v Superman, there is no way I'd eat at that restaurant again, ever. There are other restaurants I haven't tried that haven't served up crap on a plate twice in a row (or three if what I hear abou Suicide Squad is true).
... and after a quick cup of tea and a lie down.... I'm ready to resume :)
"If this lighting seems inappropriately romantic, please let me know and I'll tell the violinist to quieten it down a little..."
"Hi everyone : I was born in London, as you can tell by the way I pronounce "Nyoo Yawk" !!" - among other things, Cynthia Addai-Robinson plays Amanda Waller in the Arrow TV show. Which I don't watch (refer above diatribe about DCCU, and extent it to TV)
"Sure you've maybe seen Cynthia Addai-Robinson in one or more of her 18 episodes of 'Spartacus', but you'll all be racking your brains over how you could have missed her as "San Francisco Woman" in 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness!"
"What was it like working with Ben? Well... it's like having this charismatic billionaire playboy on set who also has really strong ideas about morality. I'm not saying he's actually Batman... but I'm also not saying he's not"
"Enough with the spoilers, dude!"
"Anyway, like I said. Maybe he's not Batman. Or... THE Batman. Or maybe he is. 50-50 chance" - Gavin O'Connor also directed the surprisingly good Tom Hardy / Joel Edgerton movie Warrior (2011)
"And you're sure Jessie Eisenberg also signed on behalf of Ben Affleck at the Batman v Superman premiere?" - I was there. I don't know if he did, but he certainly offered.
And so we finally come to the Anna Kendrick section of this journal. Enoy!
I've photographed Anna Kendrick twice before if memory serves, and neither particularly well or at close range. Once was a few years back from a different storey at the 'What to Expect when you're Expecting' premiere, and earlier this year (again from a different storey) at the 2016 TV Baftas.
Anna Kendrick? Small. Great singing voice and an excellent actress... but tricky to photograph from ground level at a crowded premiere.
"OMG I'm Anna Kendrick!!" - and with that I feel like we're off on 'the many faces of Anna Kendrick'
All of a sudden, I fear that my new game show 'the many faces of Anna Kendrick may never be officially sanctioned'. Well... damn.
"See... now I'm going to have to get my lawyers involved. And I usually keep them fairly hungry, for obvious strategic reasons..."
At this stage, in addition to her many fine acting credits, Anna Kendrick is also deservedly in part known for BEING Anna Kendrick, who has a pretty great Twitter feed, among other attributes
"Twilight? I have no idea what time the sun sets in England this time of year...."
"I don't know much about financial statements, and I don't really have time to look in depth, but if these are your tax records you might really be in trouble....." ... also I just realised the Australian Tax deadline is in about two weeks...
So... that was that. Not a lot of love from the weather or from Ben Affleck, but I got to (finally) photograph Anna Kendrick well, and that's never a bad thing. I said 'No' to watching this movie when they were handing out free tickets near me, as there's still three more premieres in three days scheduled, and I have my twisted priorities if not straight, then at least consistent. It's all for the fame, fortune and to keep my Archive of Movie Premieres well-fed.
Until next time!
ps. If you want to know whenever I post one of these journals, feel free to follow me on facebook at premieresdotco, or on twitter @berndt2_photo. You can also like this journal, share it, or write comments below (and if you're Anna Kendrick's lawyers, please be aware that I'm not really me and not contactable via this website)