Welcome to The French Riviera!
It’s one of the most beautiful places on earth and for two weeks in May, one of the most crowded!
This is the poster for the 77th edition of the world’s most glamorous film festival, with “Barbie” Director Greta Gerwig overseeing the jury, and iconic Director Franci For Coppola unveiling his $100-million independent film he financed himself called “Megalopolis”:
For the next two weeks, expect to see lots of picture of stars parading in front of the paparazzi as they attend screenings at the legendary Palais du Festival…
I was lucky enough to attend the film festival a dozen times – yes, TWELVE TIMES – and this is how my wife Alex and my great friend and Host Michael Castner used to prep for the craziness:
Yep, waiting in a stairwell was part of our life – but we met so many cool people, like Jean-Claude Van Damme:
That’s our friend Gary along with Alex having fun while Michael interviews the action star behind them – and we spent time with one famous Critic, who captured what it was like to be there in his insightful, candid memoir!
This is a timeless memoir of the world’s most glamorous film festival – from the iconic Film Critic Roger Ebert – which has been reissued with new material added!
The late Roger Ebert was America’s most celebrated Film Critic, and a true lover of cinema. Ebert left behind what his Publisher called “a legacy of lyrical long-form writing.”
“Two Weeks in the Midday Sun” was Ebert’s behind the scenes of one of the most glamorous and peculiar of cinematic rituals: the Cannes Film Festival.
Ebert’s Etchings!
The book is illustrated with Ebert’s charming sketches of the festival.
The book is also filled with great stories, like this conversation he had with Actor John Malkovich, who was more than willing to talk about the people he’s worked with:
“You take Susan Seidman” he said. “The Director of my last movie, ‘Making Mr. Right’.Her previous film was ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’, and there was all that publicity about how Madonna stole the movie from Rosanna Arquette, and Rosanna said Susan was a nitwit who was always lost and didn’t know about Actors or technique. And then I went to work with her, and I found her to be very bright and rather opinionated – not remotely a pushover.”
The book is filled with great stories and insights.
A new edition of the book features a brand new foreword written by Director Martin Scorsese, as well as a new postscript by Ebert himself about an eventful 1997 dinner with Scorsese at Cannes – so glad to have some new material from Ebert before he died.
I had the chance to interview Ebert once for the “E! Goes To Cannes” TV specials I produced. I remember his one great quote about the unique nature of the festival. He told me about the fascinating extremes in Cannes:
“Upstairs, some of the biggest stars in the world, and most important filmmakers climb the red carpet steps to showcase their latest films,” he told me, “while downstairs, they were selling films BY THE POUND.”
And he was right! In the basement of the Palais du Festival, a raucous film marketplace was also held simultaneously, and I saw that Movie Producer selling his VHS tapes by the pound!
As I said, I attended Cannes 12 times, and here is my credential from 2000: note that only a handful of Critics got coveted White badges like Ebert…the next best was the “Pink with a yellow dot” badge like mine, which ensured I could get in first to the major screenings and events.
A regular Pink badge was next, then the dreaded Blue badge, which got you into nothing but a spot on a photo line like this!
As I said, the downstairs of the Palais was filled with film distributors of all shapes and sizes, selling films and raising money to finance new projects as well.
I also shot interviews with stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, I danced at the “Moulin Rouge” world premiere party with Nicold Kidman, and I shot an entire fashion special on the end of a dock with the legendary Joan Rivers and her daughter Melissa!
Here’s a look:
Yes, Cannes was a magical place for so many reasons, and if you want to see more of my misadventures there, click on my story here:
People always ask who was the most famous person I hung out with, and I guess it would be this guy:
That’s me and Alex in the foreground – and yes, that is Prince Albert of Monaco – I met him and hung out with him for a few hours at a late night party in Cannes!
If you want the entire story of my night with the Prince, I shared it here:
I got to hang out with some big stars in Cannes – like the time my Host Michael Castner was interviewing Arnold Schwarzenegger:
That’s me in the orange shirt on the left…you can click here to see the entire story of Arnold’s interview, with one of the funniest moments with the Superstar ever!
Another highlight of that time was interviewing Jim Carrey on the Croisette as well:
He was hilarious, about to become a superstar thanks to “The Mask” – and we got to interview his new co-star Cameron Diaz as well…check out the video:
You can read the whole story here:
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Hope that all who attend the film festival have a blast and if you like this story please share on social media – thanks!
Categories: Art, Cannes Film Festival, Exotic Travel, Film Fight Club, Great Films, Memoirs, Movies, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir
johnrieber 
Wow, this all sounds amazing, scratch the interview idea you need to write a book.
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Thanks for the note…I actually have something underway…including a story about then-Prince Charles I’ve never shared publicly.
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Sounds intriguing and count me in to review your book when it happens.
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Fascinating stories.
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Wow! Thank you so much for sharing so many special memories and moments from Cannes with us, John.
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what an incredibly amazing firsthand experience. it seems like a whole different animal from the oscars
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It really is – chaos and creation on the same red carpet – thank you for reading!
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You have some great personal memories of that famous festival, John. I have to say I think it is more ‘relevant’ to real film fans than the Oscars. I have seen some wonderful films that won the Palme D’Or.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, I share this annually because some people have never seen it – and yes, some fun memories there…it will be interesting to see if there are some strikes and protests as have been rumored!
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Agree Pete and it gives a spotlight to some truly great films!
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