Celebrity Meeting/Celebrity Sighting

Monday night I had to work at the media check-in desk for a movie screening. My firm was promoting an IMAX film called...well, let's just call it a movie about cyclists in the Tour de France. (Not sure I want this so Google-able!) I haven't been able to see the movie yet, but I've heard it was pretty interesting. It's all about how a cyclist's body and brain functions during such a high-stress event. I haven't ridden a bike since my days of cruising out to the candy shop on my yellow Huffy, so it's all foreign territory for me.

The premiere was held at Lowe's in - Midtown? It was around the 50s, so I'm guessing that's Midtown. Hey, I'm still new here, and this was the first time I've been above 42nd Street, so you can't expect me to know this stuff. Anyway, as it turns out, the narrator of the movie was Alfred Molina. Alfred has a pretty solid acting resume, and seems to be quite the distinguished gentleman, but unfortunately or fortunately for him (depending on your point of view) he is recognized most often as the super-cool villain of Spider-Man 2, Doc Ock. As far as comic book movies go, the Spider-Man franchise is definitely the most entertaining and I think Molina made one of the greatest villains of the genre. I did get to meet him, as I wrangled my boss into introducing me. He shook my hand and said hello, and then my boss said something about me being a big Spider-Man fan, which prompted me to immediately feel the need to say something along the lines of, "I'm not a comic book geek, I just really liked the movies." He just smiled. He seemed like a pretty nice guy, although he looked tired and seemed like he wanted to go home. He doesn't look like the type who really goes for those big, elaborate parties.

Good thing he didn't venture downstairs. On the lower level, a different kind of movie premiere was happening. The sucky kind. It was the grand premiere of Sharon Stone's latest, Basic Instinct 2. One of my co-workers was downstairs directing people upstairs for our movie, so she got to see some of the celebs who came in. It seems that we only missed Alan Cumming and Usher. No big whoop. The big rumor was that Brad Pitt was supposed to be there, but I didn't think Brad would be bothered with such a stupid movie. Anyway, at some point soon after the movie started there was some hubbub down in the lobby and we looked down over the railing in time to see Ms. Sharon on her way out, posing for the paparazzi. She had a red dress on that she was probably too old for and was sporting a long, blonde ponytail which I believe was mostly extensions. She looked pretty good from what I could see - but it was like one of those movies where they're trying to convey that a celebrity is walking by, but they only show the person from a strategic rear-side angle so you know it's probably just a lookalike. I never saw her full-on. Not that I really care. I'm not a fan of hers by any means.

First of all, she's a bad actress. This was confirmed again by two of my co-workers who managed to score tickets to the screening. I guess they wanted to check it out because they were curious to see what other stars were in the theater, but I certainly had no interest in sitting through that mess. One of the girls said that people were actually laughing during the movie. Now, unless the director of this particular chapter of The Ice Pick Diaries decided to go for a comedic angle, I doubt that laughter was not the intended reaction he/she wanted from the audience. I'm guessing that's why Sharon skipped out early. She didn't want to sit there while the full horror of her sub-B movie unfolded around her. Probably a smart move.

Secondly, the woman is from Crawford County, Pennsylvania, a pretty rural area that's a few hours north of Allegheny County, where I'm from. She has always tried to pretend that she's not from such a place and has never really had anything nice to say about PA. Aside from that, I've heard numerous people say that she's a royal bitch to anyone who isn't "important". In other words, if you can help further her pathetic career, she loves you. If not, she'll probably throw you in a cage with a komodo dragon. Or maybe she only does that to her husbands.

Finally, she just seems like a nutbag. She walks around like she's got a gold-plated ass or something. She's just so damn fake. And I love how she tries to act like some kind of philanthropic angel of Hollywood. Like we all needed that stupid Katrina song of hers. My co-worker told me that before the movie last night, she spoke to the audience about how it was dedicated to (or somehow helping) children with AIDS...and then the first scene of the movie was a shot of some guy's hand down her pants. I'm sure that's very helpful. Sharon Stone, you are truly one of the greats.

Of course, now I'm left wondering how much longer until I get to be in a situation like this when there is a John Travolta movie premiere involved. I just hope I know about it beforehand. I'll have to make sure I'm wearing some Depends on that night.