Roll Out the Red Carpet

The following takes place between 7 and 9pm. Events occur in real-time.

Tonight I went to a screening of 24: Redemption. It was a 2hr movie they filmed in South Africa when the writer’s strike prevented work on the TV show. I’ll admit, I haven’t watched 24 since season 1 (season 7 starts in January), but I was still pretty excited to go. It’s not every day I get invited to a movie screening with actual famous people!

It was freezing today, making it impossible to get a taxi. When I did finally find one, I went as far as 47th and 6th in bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic before I decided to hop out and hoof it to the theater on 42nd. I should never forget that the fastest way around town above ground is on two legs.

When I arrived and met my friend, G, the first thing we noticed was that the theater was super huge and really nice. After taking several escalators high above Times Square to screen #13, we came upon the red carpet where lots of news crews were interviewing people I didn’t really know. I was all ready to tell them I was wearing Ann Taylor LOFT, but nobody asked.

We were quickly directed to a table where we had to surrender all cell phones, PDAs, and cameras – that could have been a zoo, but it was all pretty well-organized. We were then ushered into the theater, but not before picking up our buttery popcorn and choice of Coke, Diet Coke, or Sprite (sorry, Steve). Free movie treats? Score! The popcorn bags were even branded with the 24 logo. The marketer in me was secretly jealous of the promotion budgets that movie studios have.

Inside, the theater was pretty crowded. We headed up the stairs to a row that looked empty, only to find out that it was reserved for some VIPs. Eventually, we found seats down in the 4th row, and settled into our red oversized chairs. Soon, the lights dimmed to get our attention, then came on again for the head writer and executive producer to each take a turn speaking. I couldn’t help but notice that standing in the wings was Jack Bauer himself, Kiefer Sutherland! He was pretty cute in a dark suit with a yellow tie, but he looked quite short (I always think famous people are taller than they actually are). The wool overcoat he wore told me he wasn’t staying for the show, and he didn’t. As soon as his name appeared on the screen he ducked right out.

You know, action/adventure really isn’t my thing, but the movie kept my attention the whole time. The story was pretty interesting and intense, the characters were believable, and I enjoyed a few casting surprises, like Gil Bellows and Peter MacNicol, both formerly of Ally McBeal. I remember Billy being so cute back in the day, but let me tell you, he has not aged well. Who would have thought “The Biscuit” would be the better looking alum?

Anyway, FOX is airing 24: Redemption this Sunday night at 8pm, so you can see it too! You can even hire a short guy, dress him in a yellow tie, and call him Kiefer.

Check out the trailer:



And thanks for inviting me, G!