25 Sep 08
Look for the full details of my 1st trip to NYC in upcoming posts. I’ll also be adding photos as I get them edited and captioned.
Nights in Rodanthe World Premier
The Ziegfeld Theatre, built in 1969 just steps from the original Ziegfeld Theatre, is said to be one of the last real movie houses built in America. It’s located on 54th street in Manhattan and has recently been the location of many movie premiers including Mama Mia, Dreamgirls, National Treasure – Book of Secrets, Made of Honor just to name a few. On Tuesday, 23 Sep 08, the Ziegfeld Theatre hosted the world premier of Nights of Rodanthe, starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane.
We arrived on site about 6pm, running late from our dinner at Carmines. There was a HUGE line and I was sort of freaking out thinking we would be late getting inside on time. My mom without skipping a beat walked up to the front to say “We are guests of Warner Bros” and we were quickly taken care of. Who knew!?? How strange to say “we are quests of WB??”.
We walked by the red carpet, who my mom would later say, “what red carpet, I don’t remember seeing any red carpet?” I told her, yes mom….you walked right by it! ha! Anyway, we entered the theater that was decorated in velvet red carpet and chandeliers. We were treated to complimentary popcorn, soda and water. The staff was so friendly and the New Yorkers in attendance were also friendly. We found our seats, row H. That is row 8 people. Row 8! Thank you Andrea!
We sat for sometime wondering just were the stars might be coming in or where they might sit. In the end we hear the crowd rustling and discovered they are sitting behind us about 3/4 of the way up. My pictures are pretty dark, so I won’t post all of them here. Instead I’ll link to the “professionals” here, here and here to let you get a good look at all the stars which included Richard Gere, whose hair was “white white” and Diane Lane, whose about as big around as my wrist and author Nicholas Sparks who surprisingly was wearing a button up shirt with a simple leather jacket.
When the lights dimmed everyone took their seats. There were no previews to watch or commercials, the movie just started. Something I thought different and unique; when an actors name came on screen the audience clapped for their favorites, including for the director and of course the author of the book the movie was based on. This also happened with Richard Gere came on screen, the audience went crazy.
I have to say going into this movie I was ready to be disappointed. I enjoyed the book, but I’m not the biggest fan of Richard Gere. Frankly, I was nervous on whether Diane Lane would keep her clothes on. I had seen Tuscan Sun and really liked that movie, so I tried to have an open mind.
Let me just say this movie really does sweep you away. I felt the entire audience was lost in the movie and at certain scenes there was not a dry eye in the house, classic Nicholas Sparks. How does he continue to tug at our heart strings and make us fall in love with the story and his characters….it’s amazing really. I do have to say the not-so-nice part of this movie is that in fact Diane Lane’s character is still married when she has this affair with Richard Gere’s character. There is one scene where her wedding ring is clearly visable as they are cozying up to one another which I found awkward.
It’s important to note, this is the fourth of Nicholas Sparks novels to be made into films. Message in a Bottle in 1999 (with Kevin Costner, Robin Wright Penn and Paul Newman), A Walk to Remember in 2002 (Mandy Moore), and The Notebook in 2004 (Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams).
Diane Lane does an amazing job and I think should be nominated for her performance.
This movie is so visually beautiful, it made me miss the coast even more than I already do!
I’m sure there were lots of things I missed so I plan on seeing it again this weekend.
Nights in Rodanthe is the next Notebook.
Hope you go to see it and let me know what you think!
Look for the latest Nicholas Sparks book The Lucky One to be released Tuesday, 30 Sep 08!
