April 8th, 2016
Some days you want your cake and to eat it too (although : if you're getting a cake and NOT eating it, then what's the point?) . But there are other days when you get ambitious and want TWO cakes and to eat both.... and today was one of those days.
Bottom line : there was a premiere in one part of London (Mayfair) around 6:15pm, and there was a Hans Zimmer concert at 8pm in another part of London (Wembley) which I had tickets for. AND I had to stow my photography gear back at the office before I went there (not close to either Mayfair or Wembley) AND it was raining. So... two tube rides (5mins, 20mins), plus waiting time, plus 4x 10(ish) minutes walking time. How long could I stay? You do the maths!
Here's how it went down:
So this is the Curzon Mayfair. When I arrived, my numer in the queue was#121, and I'd gone to a late 3pm lunch and returned to find that I'd missed wristbands being handed out. And there were only 100 of them anyway. Great start...
And yet soon after a sudden a spot presented itself BEHIND the back of the barriers! So now i could take stock of the scenario : I could stay at the premiere as long as I wanted, but the longer I stayed the greater the risk of getting to the concert late. Complex times... (In the end, I made the call that got me seated 5mins before the concert started.... but it meant I missed out on some late arrivals at the premiere).
Two separate adn conflicting sources had it on good authority that (a) Only director Ariel Vroman and the hasn't-been-in-London-for-something-like-over-decade Oscar-winning Kevin Costner would attend.... or (b) (optimistically) that Costner would be joined by Ryan Reynolds and Tommy Lee Jones. Of course, "(c) (neither) ..." ended up being correct.
FBI says: "We don't really expect any major crimes to go down at the premiere of a film called "Criminal" since most villains don't really have a sense of irony..."
"Big fans of Ariel Vroman and Israeli cinema, are we?"
"Wait... who?"
DC's own Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot is in this movie but was not expected to attend. And since I left before she arrived, in my own corner of the universe that's (a) still true, and (b) somewhat compensated for by the moment we shared at the premiere of Batman v Superman : Dawn of Marthas a couple of weeks ago.
Too busy taking panicked phone calls and texts from my fellow-concert-going friend already at Wembley (with thanks to the f**king incompetent a**es at Tickemaster and Wembley Arena), I also missed taking a better photo of..... I'm actualy not sure who, but the top is nice, the handbag is great and the hairstyle is excellent (and you can trust me : I've covered Fashion weeks since 2013)
One of our first arrivals has (uh...) arrived, and all I can report is that much like many male models who are not ambi-turners, he can not or will not turn right. (but if you're a fan of male right ears, you're in luck with this photo)
Fantastic news : a team of forensic scientists and I have spent several minutes poring over a man's sideburns and nascent beard to determine that in all likelihood this is director Ariel Vroman. (And yes, I/we did this on a Friday night, because that's what you should ALL be doing on a Friday night)
"Check it out : I'm on imdb.com!" Jordi Mollà is a Spanish actor possibly best known for playing the villain in 2003's Bad Boys II if you're a Culturally Oblivious Westerner like me. Alternatively, he's a very highly regarded Spanish actor with numerous awards to his credit.
Per imdb, Jordi Molla is an actor, director, painter and a writer. So he could probably take my camera and take better photos than me as well. Although not if he doesn't subscribe to my own preference for "blurry, therefore art" images. Yes, sure, Most people prefer accurate focus, but I feel that's way past passe in a world of 51-point autofocus and phase-detect....
"I believe it's called "borrosa, por lo tanto, el arte" " (thanks, google translate!)
"Who are you, or who am I even, to deny the freedom of my hair?" (you may also correctly assume if I had more Kevin Costner photos or ANY Gal Gadot photos from this premiere, I would be posting them here)
"Is it... ? Is IT?? Wait... who is it?" Ah, the Curzon Mayfair.... where a premiere is not a good enough reason to shut down through-traffic on a London street. If it was any more glamorous, I'd be fighting off supermodels while taking these photos (which I'm going to continue to claim against all evidence is the case).
Somehow, at this premiere I managed to either miss or leave before two actors, a producer and the director showed up.... and yet I photographed this guy, getting a security escort across a busy London alleyway. I have no idea who he is.
I have no idea who this is either, and I've just checked wireimage.com and he's not important enough to have been photographed by any of their Paparazzi. But... but... he WAS WEARING A TIE!!
Amazingly, with probably about 10 minutes before I *had* to leave, a car pulls up and dispenses The Man We're All Here To See (except for those diehard groupies of producer Avi Lerner) - Kevin Costner.
"I know how much my autograph is worth, and I'm sitting on a stockpile of thousands for my retirement. Also I know how supply and demand works" nobody ever accused Kevin Costner of being unintelligent.... however rumours of his reluctance to sign for fans appeared to have been partially accurate.
Kevin Costner's look says quite clearly "I'll swap you two autographs for a tie. The security guy behind me refused to give me his....". I, of course am wearing a rainproof jacket and t-shirt at this event.
"I crocheted it for Emperor Palpatine in anticipation of his eventual return..." I don't need to know your political leanings, lady : I just need to know whether anybody is coming in the next 30-40 seconds that I might regret not photographing....
But I couldn't stay any longer. I zipped off to Bond Street, across to Tottenham Court Road, off to the office, then up to Euston Road and Wembley. Didn't find out about Gal Gadot until I got back home after midnight....
Whatever. It's still a premiere and I went and that's good enough for The Archive of Movie Premieres, and there are several premieres next week I'm not double booked for (yet) because Gal Gadot hasn't called me (yet).
AND.....
The Hans Zimmer concert was AWESOME. Buy tickets and buy soundtracks - film scores and film scorers don't get enough love! (Even when they can sell out Wembley Arena twice in two days...)
PS. If you want to know whenever I post a new premiere journal, feel free to follow me on twitter @berndt2_photo or on facebook by clicking here
Until next time!