Venice Film Festival: Day Two

Day two in Venice and I woke up feeling a little worse for wear following the previous night's excitement but still feeling elated from my brief encounter with Mr. Clooney at the bar the previous evening.

Hurriedly got myself across the lagoon to the Lido in the early morning heat to catch the press screening of Burn After Reading before the press conference at noon.

Burn After Reading , Joel and Ethan Coens' much anticipated follow up to the Oscar winning No Country for Old Men opened this year's festival. The movie did not disappoint allowing both George Clooney and Brad Pitt an opportunity to flex their comedic muscles, and judging by the response at the press screenings - with great success too. Unlike No Country for Old Men, which showed a significantly darker side to the Coen brothers than previous films, Burn After Reading is a black comedy bordering on farce based around the confusion and chaos which ensues when a dim witted fitness instructor (Pitt) stumbles across what he believes to be misplaced intelligence files. Enlisting the help of a romance seeking female colleague who is desperate to raise enough finances for plastic surgery (McDormand) the hapless duo decide to first try and recover a reward for returning said files and when this doesn't work they resort to blackmail. Clooney plays a bearded womaniser who gets caught in the crossfire.

With such eye candy on display and some hilarious laugh out loud moments this film was exactly what I needed to set me up for a busy day! After the screening a very fresh looking Clooney and Pitt were joined at the press conference which followed by Tilda Swinton (who also stars), Frances McDormand and the creative duo behind the film - the Coen brothers themselves.

The conference was packed to capacity and even though I am lucky enough to have a priority pass I still couldn't find a seat! During the conference a reserved Pitt, dressed in white and sporting a panama hat, dodged questions about Angelina and the couples' new arrivals with brief and uninformative responses. But apparently they are doing well!

A hyper Spanish TV reporter dressed in teeny tiny gym-wear, and clearly determined to get the full attention of the gents, ambushed the panel with a bizarre question which I think may have lost something of its meaning in translation as the bemused stars looked on with a mixture of alarm and confusion. They weren't alone! After getting nowhere with Brad Pitt the insane woman turned her attention to George Clooney asking him if she 'could be on his team' and 'would you run after me?'. To which he replied with a smile.

''I don't know about that. The way you are going we will all be running away from you.''

Hi dry comment, although delivered politely and with that famous cheeky grin, caused an outburst of applause.Clooney also carefully deflected questions about whether he planned to settle down and have babies himself with a touch of sarcasm.

''I have never been asked that question before. Actually, I am getting married and having babies – today!''

After the conference a throng of normally professional female (and a few male) journalists surged forward to get autographs almost trampling me in the frenzied rush as I tried to get a picture of the silver fox.

After nipping back to my hotel for quick shower and change of clothes I high tailed it to the exclusive beachfront Excelsior Hotel to attend the post premiere sparkling opening gala dinner for the festival. The Burn After Reading cast were there but were guarded from other guests by security. I guess some people wouldn't have thought twice about bothering the stars while they tucked into their fresh salmon given half a chance. Tilda Swinton in particular looked striking in a flowing Grecian dress as she chatted to other guests near her table.

Also at the gala dinner was Claudia Schiffer who was spotted outside smoking a quick ciggie before taking her place at Alberta Ferretti's table for dinner.