09.25.05
My First Movie Premiere
Started the morning with a New York diner breakfast. Challah French toast for me, huevos rancheros for Teresa and ‘the usual’ for my dad (he has breakfast there often enough that on entering the restaurant the cooks start cooking his breakfast). We then went back to the New York Film Festival, this time for another French / Belgic cinema verite film L’Enfant. The movie follows two young people living on and off the streets trying to make do with petty scams and thievery. Another new movie that is worth watching.
Teresa left directly for her hair appointment and I followed about an hour after. Mig did great work and Teresa looked stunning (I only wished she could have worn the gown she brought, we found out last minute the event would be informal). It was then time for the main event: the U.S. Premiere of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005). We showed up on the red carpet just as director Nick Park and producer Peter Lord were arriving and hung out while the press took photos and conducted interviews. A few minutes later Teresa and I both walked the red carpet ourselves, a new experience for me being photographed by paparazzi and all that. Once inside we sat among the Aardman folk and enjoyed the show. It was particularly fun because this was the first time Nick and Peter had seen the movie with a full audience and with children so they got to find out which of the jokes worked on what audience members.
Myung Lee, Bill Plymtoon, Nick Park and Peter Lord
After the show limousines took us to one hell of a great Italian restaurant in the Village (I wish I could remember the name) where Bill Plympton, Myung Lee, Peter’s son, and the Aardman and SKG publicists joined us for dinner. The conversation was lively and friendly, both Nick and Peter are terribly nice and friendly individuals. Given they had not seen Bill or Teresa for some while most of the table talk was dedicated to catching up and distributing the latest info (and rumors) in the animation world across both ends of the ocean. I was particularly delighted to have sat next to Myung Lee who proved a fascinating individual I would love to get to know better. After the aperitifs I was served an entrée of seared beef and had to break out with my “I need red meat” impersonation of the Brazilian leopard from Creature Comforts (1989). Nick overhead the imitation and told me the story of how that bit was recorded. By midnight the whole staff of the restaurant were standing in the back giving us the evil eye (ours was the only table still occupied), not that anyone else noticed. Teresa and I were both ready to keep the party going but everyone else had either morning work or morning flights and had to turn in.
