The rain which marked the start of festival kept on falling today and a whole lot of damp filmgoers were seen scurrying from one venue to the next. Most people were still recovering after last night's excellent opening party, including several people who had been just a little too eager to get onto the stage to dance and are now nursing sore limbs. Nursing his ego was Nige from cult TV review show "Vidz" who was politely asked to leave the Odeon for lighting up in the foyer.
The highlight of today was the first in the series of Reel Life discussions, with Mark Kermode chatting with Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Jeunet proved to be as magical as his films and kept the audience entertained with his humour and continual insistence after each video clip that "the sound is better on the film".
His laid back Gallic charm certainly put the slighlty pretentious Kermode in his place, although Kermode did manage to sneak in a plug for his new Alien TV documentary. Afterwards, rather than heading down to the bar, Jeunet prefered to catch a screening of "Gabriel and Me" - who knows what he thought of the Big Yin?
The identity of the Surprise Movie is one of the hot topics of conversation around the Filmhouse Bar. Current favourite is David Lych's Mulholland Drive, although Moulin Rouge and Planet of the Apes have also been mentioned.
It's unusual for the film to be in the first week of the festival, leading to speculation that it's been done to fit in with a tight release schedule. We find out for certain on Wednesday - me, I'm hoping it's Harry Potter!
