Log-on problems

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One of the reasons it took so long to get rolling today in Cannes (apart from being occupied this morning with seeing Wong Kar Wai's My Blueberry Nights, a mystifying shortfall for a respected, world-class director and a full-on mediocrity that comes close to being a rank embarassment) is the absurd wi-fi situation at the American Pavillion and, for what I've been told, inside the Grand Palais press room also.

Everyone with a badge has been given a five-digit user ID and a three-digit password, and none of them work. But the AMPAV tech-head volunteers have a list of five-digit and three-digit codes that do work...as long as nobody else tries to log on with the same numbers. Except everyone at the American Pavillion is going up to these volunteers and asking for working code groups and using them, and every time a new person logs on with a given code it kicks off the previous person who used the same numbers.

Right now I'm connected with a 19585 user ID and an 871 password, but if somebody else comes along and logs on with these numbers, I'll get kicked off. This has happened to me seven times within the past hour, and I in turn have kicked off seven oothers. It's obviously insane all over here, and the situation won't be fixed, I'm told, until later this afternoon, which is a euphemism, I'm sure, or sometime tonight or tomorrow morning.

La PIzza gang<< previous | next >>Smiling Man

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on May 16, 2007 at 6:59 AM

comment #1

Bocephus says ...

Methinks it might not be the best idea to post the ID and passcode on the internets.

Posted by Bocephus at May 16, 2007 7:25 AM

comment #2

otakuhouse says ...

you just saw my blueberry nights and youre bitching about wifi? we had a friend call us from cannes the moment they walked out of 2046

Posted by otakuhouse at May 16, 2007 7:29 AM

comment #3

Dublin101 says ...

Sounds like the opening night fil curse of Cannes is holding true. Shame to see Wong Kar Wai tripping up but I guess it happens to a lot of Non-American filmmakers who try to make the transition to Hollywood. Not every director can be Ang Lee.

Quick question, does Nora Jones stink up the screen? I remember feeling baffled when I read that the director had cast Rachel Weisz and Natalie Portman in supporting roles but he had given the lead to a singer with zero acting experience. Plus Jude Law is in there too, that guy is the kiss of death as far as I'm concerned.

Posted by Dublin101 at May 16, 2007 7:32 AM

comment #4

Mike Schaefer says ...

FYI, Jeff, AO Scott gave "Once" a qualified rave in today's NYT.

Posted by Mike Schaefer at May 16, 2007 8:06 AM

comment #5

Jay T. says ...

That's because if it doesn't involve food or wine, the French are completely incompetent (don't get me wrong, I like visiting there, but sadly it's true).

Posted by Jay T. at May 16, 2007 8:09 AM

comment #6

christian says ...

wtf is norah jones doing in this?

why do directors think that musicians are replacements for actual actors?

why?

or wi-fi?

Posted by christian at May 16, 2007 9:03 AM

comment #7

Rob says ...

Way to bury your lead, Jeff.

Posted by Rob at May 16, 2007 9:23 AM

comment #8

Craig Kennedy says ...

I admit there is much to be skeptical about regarding My Blueberry Nights (starting with the title), but with Jeff's recent review track record, his slam gives me hope for it and makes me wonder if Once is really all that good.

Posted by Craig Kennedy at May 16, 2007 12:09 PM

comment #9

D.Z. says ...

Dublin: "Not every director can be Ang Lee."

That's an ironic comment, since Lee swiped a lot of scenes from WKW's films when he did Brokeback Mountain.

"I remember feeling baffled when I read that the director had cast Rachel Weisz and Natalie Portman in supporting roles but he had given the lead to a singer with zero acting experience."

He gave a lead role to a singer in Chungking Express.

Posted by D.Z. at May 16, 2007 12:49 PM

comment #10

jeffmcm says ...

"Lee swiped a lot of scenes from WKW's films when he did Brokeback Mountain. "

No he didn't. Name one. Liar.

Posted by jeffmcm at May 16, 2007 6:07 PM

comment #11

D.Z. says ...

jeff: I can name two: "In the Mood for Love" and "Happy Together", though IMDB only credits the former film.

Posted by D.Z. at May 16, 2007 9:31 PM

comment #12

Jayne Gacey says ...

Name scenes. Not movies.

Posted by Jayne Gacey at May 16, 2007 11:58 PM

comment #13

D.Z. says ...

Jayne: There are more scenes than I can count.

Posted by D.Z. at May 17, 2007 1:14 AM

comment #14

Spacelamb says ...

Fair go DZ, you're the one who said it. Now you can back it up, please. You haven't been asked to list them all, just one example of a scene stolen from WKW and used in Brokeback.

Posted by Spacelamb at May 18, 2007 3:18 AM

comment #15

D.Z. says ...

Brokeback is about two gay guys who sleep around when they're not with their families; Happy Together is about two gay guys who leave their homes to sleep around; Brokeback features one guy in the relationship who's the total ass, and one guy who's the bitch; Happy Together does the same; Brokeback features Heath Ledger walking past one scene with Nat King Cole music playing in the background; In the Mood for Love has the music playing through most of the film; the deleted scenes of In the Mood for Love on the Criterion disc feature the sluts meeting each other on and off again throughout the 60s and 70s; the same happens in Brokeback. To be fair to Brokeback, the short story came out around the same year as Happy Together, although Happy Together beat it by a few months. Anyway, I'm not sure why some people hate WKW, unless his films are "presented" by Tarantino, but he's been in the business long before that hack, and will probably be there long after Blueberry Nights.

Posted by D.Z. at May 18, 2007 3:18 PM

comment #16

D.Z. says ...

On a side note, am I the only one who was annoyed when I saw a movie called "Imagine You and Me" about a lesbian couple? The producers stole the same idea of a gay movie with music from The Turtles, but chose to use different lyrics as the title, probably because WKW would sue.

Posted by D.Z. at May 18, 2007 3:21 PM

comment #17