Even though it officially ended last week, we’re still catching our breath from RT’s visit to the French Riviera! Read on for Jen, Senh and Tim’s last tango in Cannes — plus our top-ranked movies, parties, and highlights of the trip — or flip through our photo gallery for a visual tour of the Cannes Film Festival!
Next year we’re definitely staying longer in Cannes — 8 days hardly seemed enough, even though every one of them was action-packed with screenings, parties, and sightings. Click here to read the blog entry for our last day at the festival, when we wandered the cobbled streets of Cannes, sipped champagne aboard another yacht, partied with Roger Ebert at the Dubai party, Jen met a camel, and watched the hilarious "Borat" with The Rock.
Senh, Tim and Jen say au revoir, Cannes — until next year!
And since we’ve all had enough time to reflect upon our journey to the star-studded Cote d’Azur for the most fabulous film festival in the world, here are our Cannes favorites lists, in descending order:
Senh’s Top Flicks:
1. "Borat"
2. "Re-cycle"
3. "Dragon Tiger Gate" 15 minute clip
4. "Fast Food Nation"
5. "Home of the Brave" first 45 minutes
Tim’s Top Flicks:
1. "Red Road"
2. "Lights in the Dusk"
3. "Borat"
4. "An Inconvenient Truth"
5. "Fast Food Nation"
Jen’s Top Flicks:
1. "Volver"
2. "Shortbus"
3. "Paris, Je’Taime"
4. "Princess"
5. "Borat"
Yes, you read that right — "Borat" made all of our top lists, incredibly enough. What? It’s funny! And outrageous and frightening, when you realize how many people Sacha Cohen captured on film were probably unaware of his charade.
"Borat": funnier than you might think…
But on to the important stuff, the real reason we went to Cannes — the parties! You can’t possibly grasp the craziness of the nightlife there during the festival unless you’ve seen it yourself — impossible-to-get-into events, sly gatecrashers in tuxedos, celebs everywhere, free-flowing champagne! It takes a lot of research, word of mouth, and hustle to get invites at Cannes…and even then, the parties all start to blend together…
In any case, we’re all agreed that the DreamWorks party for "Over The Hedge" was fabulous — though a bit low on star wattage, since Avril Levigne, Nick Nolte, and my picture pal Bruce Willis made their short appearances and left — but it definitely had great food, nice people (non-industry and the CGI-crowd, of course), and some pretty awesome decoration. Plus the pc tablet caricature artists walking around drew us, so that pretty much won us over…
Mood lighting, Bruce Willis, and a Sk8ter Girl at the "Over The Hedge" party
Also pretty sweet was the party on the Majestic Hotel’s beach for "The Banquet," where celebs showed up and actually hung out like regular party people! Who knew A-listers actually sat down, ate hors’deuvres, and talked to people?? We definitely saw the most stars there, including Oliver Stone, Willem Dafoe, Samuel L. Jackson, Zhang Ziyi, Dan Wu, and (coming out of the bathrooms on our way out) Tim Roth.
At the "Banquet" fete, the RT crew partied with Dan Wu while Zhang Ziyi giggled at Oliver Stone
The Majestic turned out to be a hotspot for huge parties, as another memorable event was held there on our last night: the Dubai party. Do I know where Dubai is? No! Do I like their party-throwing ways? Heck yes! One guest-greeting camel is really all it takes to delight me, but if I’d had a chance to hit up the hookahs I’d have been in heaven. Another reason the Dubai party rocked? Roger and Chaz Ebert. Always a delight…
Two key elements for throwing an awesome party: a camel and three hookahs on Night 7…
But what is a Cannes Film Festival without a visit to a yacht? We boarded the Budweiser Big Eagle Yacht (infamously owned years ago by the King of Beers) not once, but twice, and each time the mandatory house slippers were as comfy as the oysters were yummy…plus, I had perhaps my most memorable celeb photo op of the festival, if not my entire life, with Bai "But Can They Sing?" Ling at the "Southland Tales" party.
Bai Ling, the Boys of EW, and Cheri Oteri — no somber faces on the "Southland Tales" yacht
More Cannes 2006 Lists:
Celebs We Met: Jury President Wong Kar-Wai, who wears sunglasses at night; Donnie Yen; the lovely Rachael Leigh Cook; RT bud Daniel Wu; Bai Ling; John Cameron Mitchell; the entire, wonderful cast of "Shortbus."
We’re all friends here: Rachael, Donnie, and Kar-Wai…
Celebs We Met, Kinda/Breathed the Same Air As: Bruce Willis; Willem Dafoe; Oliver Stone; Avril Levigne; Samuel L. Jackson; Zhang Ziyi; Monica Bellucci; Tim Roth; The Rock; Tom Beringer; Charlie Sheen; D.B. Sweeney; Cheri Oteri.
And lest we forget the friends we made during the festival, here’s our shout-out to the illustrious fellow press buddies we kept time with at Cannes: Roger Ebert; James Rocchi; Geoff Pevere; Joblo; Emanuel Levy; Gene Seymour; Cole Smithey; Gregory and Dan from EW; Sylvia Toh Paik Choo and J F Susbielle!
Bye Geoff! Bye James! Bye Cole!
For our full coverage of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, check out our news, reviews, photos and more!
