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FILM FLAM FLUMMOX @ SHOWEST 2003
March 10, 2003
View the photo-enhanced version of this article
Another banner year at the box office and the promise of another stellar year to come was celebrated at ShoWest 2003, the 29th annual convention for the motion picture exhibition industry, held March 3-6 at the Bally's and Paris resorts in Las Vegas. The financial rebound of post-9/11 2001 spilled over into the 2002 calendar year, which not only marked another record year as far as dollar returns, but also the highest number of annual total admissions in nearly a half-century.
Despite the success of the recent past, as is always the case, the event's main concern was the future. Studios promoted their upcoming films through screenings, meals, exhibits and product reels. Companies peddling everything from new concession stand snack items to upholstery services and ticketing systems at the ShoWest trade show hoped to be the hot item featured at the multiplexes. Technology companies continued to give the hard sell to various state-of-the-art digital projection systems. And, last and certainly not least, a select group of on- and off-camera screen talent gave their careers some healthy promotion at the annual convention-capping glitz event known as the Final Night Awards Dinner and Banquet.
DAY 1 - Monday, March 3
Checking In
Although this was my third year covering the event, seeing the now-familiar lighted entryway at the Paris Centre de Conventions still instills a certain movie geek rush. But said excitement was tempered a bit by the rather depressing sight of this year's incarnation of the ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT screen, on which trailers and ET-produced segments produced exclusively for the event play on seamless, continuous loop. Two years ago, this screen was full Jumbotron size, occupying nearly an entire wall; last year's screen was roughly half the size; this year, it was a widescreen projection television with some dinky speakers on each side. At the current rate of shrinkage, next year's version will probably be a computer monitor.
Counteracting that disappointment, however, was the amusement provided by traditional multitude of movie posters and displays that lined the hallways. As usual, there were a number of one-sheets and standees that were already in theatres, such as those for a pair of major summer tentpole sequels, Fox's X2 and Warner Bros.' TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES--both of which got shockingly little promotion outside of these displays for the entire convention. Some studios staked out larger portions of real estate to tout titles. Columbia and MGM had lighted poster/still displays pushing more than one film, while Warner Bros. virtually had an entire hallway devoted to oversize versions of the entire THE MATRIX RELOADED teaser poster series. Size is no substitute for creativity, however, and Paramount earned points for its displays for THE CORE: mock newspaper machines "selling" a new "issue" each day of the convention.
Creativity isn't as intriguing as the new and unfamiliar, and as with every year the most intriguing posters were those that hadn't yet been released to theatres or preliminary teasers put together expressly for display at the convention. Universal was behind most of these posters while last year's champ, Miramax, only had two posters, both touting the same film. Perhaps it's my shameless bias talking, but both studios took top honors for having most interesting posters: Universal for its teaser series for the horribly-titled THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS sequel 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS; and the 'Max for its pair of teasers for JERSEY GIRL.
<2F2F posters - showest03-107.jpg>
The black JERSEY GIRL poster was situated right next to the door of the press room, which I found terribly appropriate since my affiliation with this site helped me get the elite "Passport" press status for the convention, without which made covering last year's event a bit of an ordeal. Thanks to a little brown booklet that resembles the passport one would use for international travel (hence the name), I was on level ground with the various delegates for the movie theatre chains, receiving priority access to all events for the week--not to mention all of the bags o' swag. So the check-in routine with the ever-helpful publicity crew from Rogers & Cowan was slightly different for me, as this time around I was given more than just the standard press badge: I was also given the passport, an envelope of tickets for all the major events of the week as well as a black briefcase emblazoned with the logos for sponsors CourtTV and everyone's favorite Sunday paper magazine, PARADE--and accordingly containing a CourtTV light pen and the latest issue of PARADE.
Having a passport this time around, I was also able to receive the ShoWest registration goody bag. Among the items contained in a black tote bearing the Pepsi and ShoWest logos were T-shirts for films such as Universal's AMERICAN PIE sequel AMERICAN WEDDING, MGM's Chow Yun-Fat starrer BULLETPROOF MONK and New Line's no-one-asked-for-it prequel DUMB AND DUMBERER: WHEN HARRY MET LLOYD; a Focus Features cap (no doubt to herald the recently-formed indie's first ShoWest); a Warner Bros. light pen; a Loews Cineplex Entertainment toy truck; and a bunch of candy, including a small pouch o' treats that would be the only signifier of Jelly Belly's existence for the entire week--please come back to the trade show, Jelly Belly folk!
IMAX
After meeting up with friend and fellow film writer Adam Mast of ZBoneman.com, it was off to the week's first major presentation. Monday is designated "International Day" at ShoWest, and as such most of the day's events are geared toward exhibitors outside of the United States. However, the "Hollywood Event Films at the IMAX Theatre" presentation by the IMAX Corporation was of interest to exhibitors from anywhere. Held off-campus at the large-format theatre at Luxor, the presentation centered around the announcement/launch of the IMAX MPX theatre system. This new system allows exhibitors to add an IMAX auditorium to a multiplex venue or retrofit two existing standard multiplex auditoriums into an IMAX 2-D and 3-D-ready screen at a lower cost.
To help sell the IMAX cause, Larry O'Reilly, the company's Senior Vice President of Theatre Development and Film Distribution, served up some hard statistics. Surveys showed that moviegoers would be willing to travel longer distances and pay higher ticket prices in order to catch the latest blockbuster film on a large format screen; box office figures support the survey's findings, as showings of Hollywood films on IMAX screens added an average of $20 million to the domestic box office take. They then recapped a successful 2002 for IMAX, during which there was a steady stream of revenue-generating product that played exclusively on the larger screens: the Tom Cruise-narrated documentary SPACE STATION 3-D; Touchstone's extreme sports doc ESPN'S ULTIMATE X; Steve Oedekerk's 3-D computer animated holiday comedy SANTA CLAUS VS. THE SNOWMAN; and a quartet of proven hits reformatted to fill the IMAX screen: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, APOLLO 13, STAR WARS: EPISODE II--ATTACK OF THE CLONES and THE LION KING. Conspicuously--though not exactly curiously--absent from this rundown was Disney's TREASURE PLANET. Granted, the film was a bust on all levels--particularly from a financial standpoint--but it was a glaring omission considering it was the first feature film to premiere day-and-date on both standard and large-format screens.
But, as they say, a picture speaks a thousand words, and when it comes to a picture as large and clear as IMAX's, no amount of hard sell can make up for a good ol' demonstration. Bookending the speeches were two demo reels. The program began with comparisons of key scenes from the original 35mm and digitally reformatted and remastered IMAX prints of APOLLO 13. Needless to say, the IMAX presentation was clearly the victor in sound and visuals--and would have been even if they didn't further stack the deck by showing a horribly scratched-up 35mm print with the sound quite obviously cranked to the lower end of the dial. IMAX's superiority well-established, this was followed by the coliseum battle climax from ATTACK OF THE CLONES: The IMAX Experience. The roughly hour-long-total program concluded with a demonstration of IMAX 3-D: the trailer for SANTA CLAUS VS. THE SNOWMAN and some early footage from Warner Bros.' forthcoming auto racing documentary NASCAR: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE 3-D, which began production on February 14 for a Spring 2004 release.
International Day Luncheon
The festivities shifted back to the Paris (specifically, the Champagne Ballroom) for the first major meal-centered event of the week, the International Day Luncheon. Due to a combination of scheduling conflicts with the IMAX presentation and limited seating availability, I was unable to attend. Fernando Meirelles, director of the brilliant, Oscar-nod-snubbed Brazilian crime saga CITY OF GOD, received ShoWest's International Achievement in Filmmaking award at the event; and Yoji Ikushima, managing director of Warner Mycal Corporation, was honored as ShoWest's International Exhibitor of the Year.
International Distribution, Marketing and Exhibition Presentations
The first of many events held at the Paris Théâtre des Arts for the week were the international distribution and marketing presentations--this year with the word "exhibition" appended to the official title, as this year's program went beyond distributors' previews of the coming year and beyond. That said, a look at forthcoming product was the reason to sit in, as these two hours were by far the most informative as far as what will be hitting screens around the world in the months to come.
The run-down:
Fox:
The studio's presentation got off to lively start with a briskly-edited montage of scenes from DAREDEVIL, MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD, LE DIVORCE, THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN, DOWN WITH LOVE and X2 scored to a dance remix of Jennifer Lopez's 1999 single "Feelin' So Good." Things quickly settled down as Twentieth Century Fox International Presidents Stephen Moore and Scott Neeson breezed through a large international slate (which includes films distributed domestically by MGM and Fox Searchlight) by way of slides, video, animations and/or any combination thereof. For the most part, there were only animated slides, trumpeting the likes of the Renée Zellweger/Ewan McGregor retro screwball comedy DOWN WITH LOVE; the upcoming John Grisham adaptation, THE RUNAWAY JURY, starring John Cusack; the Steve Martin comedy CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN; the Fox Searchlight releases ANTWONE FISHER, 28 DAYS LATER and LE DIVORCE (more on the latter two in Day 2); the Farrelly Brothers' conjoined twin epic STUCK ON YOU, starring Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear and Cher; the domestic MGM release LEGALLY BLONDE 2 (curiously promoted sans the RED, WHITE AND BLONDE subtitle); and the CGI/live action adaptation of GARFIELD. Moore and Neeson went on about the last title's marketability while curiously skirting the issue of who's starring in the thing--but then again, when the flesh-and-blood actors are Breckin Meyer and Jennifer Love Hewitt, perhaps it's best to keep such information underwraps.
Despite the volume of titles covered in the presentations, there was actually very little video footage shown, and what was shown was not new, such as the trailers for MGM's Frankie Muniz spy yarn AGENT CODY BANKS and the second trailer for the studio's biggest film of the year, Bryan Singer's X-MEN sequel X2. The only material that could be considered somewhat fresh were behind-the-scenes featurettes on Peter Weir's Russell Crowe starrer MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD (due out in November) and X2, but both segments had already appeared on Fox's "Movie Buzz" promo DVD that were attached to popcorn bags at certain theatre chains (Regal, Cinemark, Clearview, Century, Hoyts and Famous Players) at the end of January. Nonetheless, both mini-documentaries were welcome breaks from the animated slide shows, not to mention they did their job of whetting the viewers' appetites for both films.
As with last year, the studio also offered vague looks at a few projects in the more distant future: Roland Emmerich's TOMORROW (summer 2004); the Will Smith-starring Isaac Asimov adaptation I, ROBOT (summer 2004); the long-in-the-coming Mel Gibson sequel MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (summer 2004); the big-budget big screen take on FANTASTIC FOUR, directed by Peyton Reed (targeted for early 2005); ROBOTS director Chris Wedge's follow-up to the smash ICE AGE (spring 2005); and the sequel to said surprise blockbuster, ICE AGE II (2006). The presentation closed with a look at the studio's extensive marketing campaign on behalf of X2, including dressing up commercial airplanes with full-body paint jobs featuring the motley crew of mutants.
United International Pictures:
Andrew Cripps, President and Chief Operating Officer of the international distributor for DreamWorks, Paramount and Universal releases, began his preview of UIP's release slate by acknowledging the very bad 2002 the company suffered. There was no time to dwell on that fact, however, considering the upswing UIP is currently enjoying with the healthy runs of THE RING, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN and 8 MILE; this triumphant trio was trumpeted with a quick-cut montage scored to, of all things, Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head."
Another trio of titles were given special spotlight at the top of the presentation: Ang Lee's eagerly-anticipated Marvel Comics adaptation THE HULK; the not-so-eagerly-awaited return adventure of "the first supermodel of the digital age," LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER--THE CRADLE OF LIFE; and Richard Curtis's all-star British romantic comedy LOVE ACTUALLY. Video was shown for the first and the third title, specifically the disappointing HULK Super Bowl spot and a haphazard (though, from my perspective, seemingly spoiler-heavy) montage of LOVE ACTUALLY scenes set to a choral cover of "All You Need Is Love." Only a handful of still images were available for THE CRADLE OF LIFE, including a much-lingered-on shot of star Angelina Jolie wearing a silver wet suit. As pleasing as that image was, perhaps most amusing was a slide listing a number of bullet points about the film--one of which was the wonderfully vague "Raising the stakes," whatever that's supposed to mean.
As with the Fox presentation, the UIP program mostly featured slides, with the extra boost of full-motion video only given to a handful of titles; trailers were shown for THE CORE and the Rowan Atkinson spy spoof JOHNNY ENGLISH; a few electronic press kit-style interviews were shown for the Coen brothers' promising new film INTOLERABLE CRUELTY, starring the sickeningly attractive pair of George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones; and a taped conversation with Stephen Sommers was shown to promote the writer-director's latest update of classic Universal monster properties, the Hugh Jackman starrer VAN HELSING. The latter pits the vampire hunter of Bram Stoker's novels against Frankenstein and the Werewolf in addition to Dracula, but any geeked-up excitement generated by the cool production sketches, animatics and make-up tests was deflated by a simple assurance by Sommers: "Don't worry; it will be a PG-13"--music to exhibitors' ears, no doubt; but film buffs? Not so much.
Receiving simple slide mentions were many 2003-and-beyond titles: Paramount's remake of THE ITALIAN JOB, directed by F. Gary Gray and starring Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton and Charlize Theron; the DreamWorks animated feature SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS, featuring the voices of Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones; Universal's youth sex comedy sequel AMERICAN WEDDING; Paramount's Michael Crichton-based time travel yarn TIMELINE, starring Paul Walker and directed by Richard Donner; Universal's latest Dr. Seuss desecration--er, adaptation--THE CAT IN THE HAT, starring Mike Myers in a bunch of makeup; Tom Cruise's Paramount spy sequel M:I-3; Universal's live action remake of the beloved '60s "Supermarionation" TV show THUNDERBIRDS; and DreamWorks's computer animated sequel SHREK 2. Going curiously unmentioned in any way, shape, or form was 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS, the sequel to THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS.
United Cinemas International:
The first of the afternoon's exhibition-related presentations was given by Steve Knibbs, Senior Vice President of Northern Europe for United Cinemas International. He compared three distinct European markets--the United Kingdom, Poland and Germany--and the various promotional strategies used to drum up or maintain interest in burgeoning, consistently strong, or faltering moviegoing territories. Most amusing was a look at costumed character appearances at German theatres. While it isn't exactly unusual to see someone dressed up as Spider-Man at a theatre to promote that film, it's quite another thing to see people done up as New England state troopers to promote the indie comedy SUPER TROOPERS.
Major Cineplex:
My and Adam's jaws were on the floor throughout the presentation by Vicha Poolvaraluck, Chief Executive Officer of the Thailand chain Major Cineplex. Major's philosophy in theatre construction is quite radical from a western standpoint; instead of targeting young moviegoers by building no-frills multiplexes, Major thinks more long-term, keeping the older moviegoer in mind with their luxurious, hotel-like theatres. The plush screening rooms and ornately decorated lobbies shown in Poolvaraluck's slide and video presentation were enough to make me want to seriously consider taking a trip to Bangkok just to see a film; even the highest capacity auditoriums have large, comfortable seating. Major's screens are also often tied to other attractions such as bowling alleys with--no joke--karaoke set-ups at each lane. If only U.S. theatre chains had such vision.
Industry Address: "Digital Cinema Initiatives: A Worldwide Perspective"
Chuck Goldwater, Chief Executive Officer of NDC (the entity formed by the major studios to develop technical specifications for digital cinema) wrapped up the afternoon with this presentation, whose title is self-explanatory. With the program already running far overtime, Goldwater promised his speech would be brief, and indeed it was--clocking in at perhaps two minutes at the most. Brevity is indeed a good thing, but in this case, it made any solid points he had to make fly clear over the audience's heads.
ShoWest Showcase
"The next MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING." That phrase was the one bandied about most frequently at the annual ShoWest Showcase evening of independent film, which took place at the traditional off-site location of Century's Orleans 18 Theatres at the Orleans Hotel and Casino. After all, the seeds of the startling box office success of Nia Vardalos's semi-autobiographical romantic comedy can be traced back to last year's Showcase, where Vardalos, co-star John Corbett and producer Rita Wilson appeared for a rapturously-received screening of the film. I would be majorly surprised, however, if any of this year's selections achieved even a respectable fraction of that film's success. Five films were screened twice each at 7:30 and 10:00: Newmarket's WHALE RIDER, which won the audience award at Sundance this year; the Oscar-nominated documentary WINGED MIGRATION, from Sony Pictures Classics; First Look's psychological thriller HYPNOTIC, starring Goran Visnjic; IFC's ensemble comedy CAMP, written and directed by Todd Graff; and Lions Gate's THE COOLER, starring William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin.
First I checked out CAMP, which enjoyed some positive buzz after premiering at Sundance. The film, which follows the goings-on at a summer performing arts camp for teens, is perhaps best described as a cross between FAME and youth summer camp movies such as MEATBALLS or WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER. However, to call it that is to imply a certain sense of narrative cohesion that Todd Graff's script simply doesn't have--not to mention that description too accurately illustrates the earnestness versus wackiness tension that adds to the general messiness. The film follows a few of these adolescent aspirants to the Great White Way, in particular a young stud (Daniel Letterle) and the girl (Joanna Chilcoat) and guy (Robin DeJesus) who pine over him. That storyline, and another central thread involving a once-brilliant composer turned hard-drinking camp instructor (Don Dixon), fail to engage as much as more peripheral concerns, such as a deliciously catty feud between a slutty diva (blonde Katie Holmes clone Tiffany Taylor) and the mousy girl (Anna Kendrick) whom she makes her "assistant" (read: slave).
Perhaps not surprisingly (after all, I am the guy who practically begs for the indifference of most of his meager readership by writing a regular Bollywood feature), the highlights of the film are when the ostensible plotlines are dropped, and the truly talented kids get a chance to perform. Familiar tunes from famous shows are staged (such as the IT'S SHOWTIME AT THE APOLLO/AMERICAN IDOL staple "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from DREAMGIRLS), often with a somewhat wry twist, but as fun as those are, the numbers with the most staying power are built around original songs by Stephen Trask of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH fame. In fact, the only two scenes that achieve any degree of emotional profundity can credited less to Graff's efforts than Trask's, particularly a soaring climactic number (performed, notably, by a background character).
Between films was the traditional buffet-like reception in the lobby of the theatre; drinks were served as was an assortment of foods ranging from pasta to turkey to hors d'oeuvres. There were no in-person appearances by anyone involved in any of the films, so as was the case two years ago, few people paid much attention to the brief on-stage presentation/remarks. Those of us who did pay attention (yes, count me among them) saw the presentation of the first annual Movie Exhibitor Partnership Award to AMC Entertainment as well as event sponsor awards given to representatives of Dolby Labs and the Newspaper Association of America. Thus began an ongoing mystery: the sponsor awards given throughout the week were aqua gift boxes tied with a white bow, and there was no clues as to exactly what each box contained.
For the 10:00 show, I saw THE COOLER, which apparently got a word-of-mouth boost during the reception, for this screening was quite nearly capacity. It would be easy to attribute the audience's enthusiastic reception to the novelty of watching a Vegas-set movie in Sin City itself, but Wayne Kramer's gritty little film delivers. William H. Macy plays the title character, Bernie, a man whose job is to stop gamblers' winning streaks by simply standing next to them at the table. When sad sack Bernie's own personal fortunes start to turn when he starts romancing a cocktail waitress (Maria Bello), things take a turn for the worse for his boss, ruthless casino owner Shelly (Alec Baldwin). Baldwin hasn't been this good since GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, stealing the picture with his oily, acidic slickness--not that the perfectly cast Macy doesn't do a commendable job of carrying the picture; in fact, everyone in the ensemble (which also includes Shawn Hatosy, Estella Warren, Paul Sorvino and--yes--Joey Fatone) makes positive impressions. The biggest star that emerges, however, is Kramer, who (with the help of co-writer Frank Hannah) tells a smart, engrossing story with the right balance of down-and-dirty grit and tongue-in-cheek wit.
DAY 2 - Tuesday, March 4
Opening Ceremony
The week's festivities officially kicked off at the Paris's Théatre des Arts with the opening ceremony. Last year, I was able to enhance my recap of this and various other events with photos. However, at this year's events cameras of any kind--still or video--were forbidden from the theatres due to piracy concerns. It's a good idea in theory, but with deeper thought it makes little sense. First of all, what good is a still photo of something being projected onto a screen? Second of all, this is a convention for movie exhibitors; why would anyone in attendance be interested in shooting their own business in the foot by making pirated advance copies of films--at a convention attended by the president of the Motion Picture Association of America, no less? Ultimately, it just hinders coverage and publicity of the convention as a whole. Granted, there were one or two designated photographers around to take pictures of the key speakers and presentations, but most outlets would opt to not run photos at all, or, in the worst cases, decide to simply not cover events. The no-photo policy also could not have pleased the theatre chain delegates, as I imagine the photos they were once allowed to take were a subtle, but definitely important, morale booster of sorts. If you ask me, the one object they should have searched for and confiscated are cell phones, for ringing could be heard throughout the week at screenings and presentations. One would think theatre owners, of all people, would know to turn off their phones during such things.
But enough ranting and on with the show. This year's designated presenter of the 2002 edition of $100-million-plus grosser reel was Neal H. Moritz, who produced two of the 26 films to cross that barrier last year: SWEET HOME ALABAMA and xXx. The other films featured in the fast-paced reel edited by Kevin Irvine and presented in Texas Instruments' DLP Cinema projection were A BEAUTIFUL MIND, BLACK HAWK DOWN, THE BOURNE IDENTITY, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, DIE ANOTHER DAY, 8 MILE, HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS, ICE AGE, LILO & STITCH, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, MEN IN BLACK II, MINORITY REPORT, MR. DEEDS (which screened at last year's ShoWest), MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (another ShoWest '02 graduate), THE RING, ROAD TO PERDITION, THE SANTA CLAUSE 2, SCOOBY-DOO, SIGNS, SPIDER-MAN, STAR WARS: EPISODE II--ATTACK OF THE CLONES, THE SUM OF ALL FEARS and VANILLA SKY. Moritz concluded his portion of the program by unveiling a preliminary teaser for one of his $100-million-plus hopefuls for this summer, the big screen adaptation of S.W.A.T. It was hard to draw any conclusions about the film from the quick-cut, action-heavy spot except what was already known: the film's cast is impressive--Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, LL Cool J, Michelle Rodriguez. (We'll kindly ignore Olivier Martinez's presence as the baddie for argument's sake.) The last shot of the teaser featured the S.W.A.T. guys at dinner singing the TV show's famously rockin' theme song. One hopes that the actual song is amply used by director Clark Johnson in the final product.
Hype made way for business as MPAA president Jack Valenti made his annual address. Valenti's characteristically metaphor-heavy (and, consequently, often murky) oration did cover a few noteworthy points, particularly the fact that while 2002 was another record box office year, such gains were offset by the rises in costs of making and promoting motion pictures. However, the good news outweighed the bad as the record box office take was generated by the highest number of movie theatre admissions in over forty years. But Valenti's speech wasn't all about hard financial statistics; after all, what speech of his would be complete without some indulgent back-patting over the much-embattled ratings system--though, in all fairness, his remarks weren't entirely self-serving, for he complimented exhibitors for successfully enforcing the system.
I couldn't help but think how much more forcefully Valenti's points would have been made had they been delivered by National Association of Theatre Owners president John Fithian. As has become annual tradition, Fithian followed Valenti with his own address--and some self-deprecating remarks about how difficult it is to follow Valenti's speech. Note to Mr. Fithian: I, for one, consider Valenti's annual speech as a mere warm-up to yours. I've always found Fithian to me a far more engaging and, hence, effective speaker, and his address this year just reinforced my opinion. He reiterated some points made by Valenti, such as the high admissions in 2002 (biggest since 1957) and ratings system enforcement, in a clearer, more concise manner. Foremost on Fithian's mind, however, was the issue of digital cinema, and he commended exhibitors for not rushing headlong into purchasing systems--especially after George Lucas threatened to release STAR WARS: EPISODE II--ATTACK OF THE CLONES only on digitally-equipped screens. In fact, Fithian's strong stance against such a rushed transition not so surprisingly and rather amusingly prompted a flood of hate e-mails from Lucas fanboys. Not that Fithian is dead set against such a transition; he reported that NATO is closely working with Digital Cinema Initiatives on developing a working standard for digital projection and a slow, organized transition to the system, and by the end of the year they are expected to have all the proper technical specifications as well as a workable business model.
With business matters squared away, it was time to present the big exhibitors award of the event: ShoWester of the Year, and this year's recipient was Phil Harris of Signature Theatres. Unlike most award winners, Harris gave an amusing, tongue-in-cheek acceptance speech that described the physiological symptoms of having to speak following Fithian and Valenti.
Fox Searchlight/Opening Day Luncheon
I am dismayed, though not terribly surprised, to report that nearly half of the audience did not stay in the theatre for the screening of Fox Searchlight's IN AMERICA. Their loss, I say--not only did they miss a terrific film, they missed an appearance by the film's director, Jim Sheridan, who entertained the remaining audience members by anecdotes about filming and his past with a generous dollop of dry Irish wit.
I will go into more detail about the film when it sees domestic release in November, but let it be known that the studio's apparent awards bait positioning of the film is well-deserved. The film, loosely based on Sheridan's own experiences, tells of an Irish actor (Paddy Considine) who moves his wife (Samantha Morton) and two young daughters (real life sisters Sarah and Emma Bolger) to a less-than-glamorous part of New York City. The reality check of the American dream that ensues--and the reinforcement of those family ties that bind--may not exactly be the most original or unpredictable of stories, but Sheridan's sensitive direction and, above all, the impassioned performances more than sell the material. Even more hackneyed plot elements, such as a surly neighbor (Djimon Hounsou) whose silence is broken by the charming young girls, is lent a level of touching emotional authenticity by Sheridan and the performers.
Immediately following the screening, the action shifted to the Paris Ballroom for the Searchlight co-sponsored opening day luncheon, the first such ShoWest luncheon to be sponsored by a studio's specialty division. Not so shockingly, all of those who apparently skipped out on the screening were back in force for the free meal--and who can blame them, for the convention can always be counted on to provide a classy meal. "Classy" doesn't necessarily equate to "filling," however, as this afternoon's menu was decidedly on the very light (and, hence, very California) side. First, a medley of fruit (including grapes, blueberries, strawberries and cantaloupe and pineapple chunks) was served in martini glasses. Then came a tasty chicken caesar salad. But just when you were expecting a main course, suddenly came dessert--a nice, rich tiramisu. It almost seemed like a ploy to quasi-starve people to attend that night's not-so-glamorous dinner (though, if that was the case, the organizers were far less than successful, as I will mention later).
Of course, it being a luncheon sponsored by both a studio division and technology company--Christie--some business had to be taken care of alongside the basic human need for nourishment. The program got underway prior to the meal with an introduction by Paul Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Landmark Theatres, who presented a couple of those mysterious aqua-boxed sponsor awards to Jack Kline, President of Christie USA; and Craig Sholder, Director of Sales for Christie USA. The company then unveiled a new 35mm film projector model called the CineX35.
Stephen Gilula, President of Distribution for Searchlight, later picked up the program reins, and proceeded to introduce Jim Sheridan to the stage. While Sheridan was relaxed and seemed to quite enjoy speaking to the audience earlier in the day, he seemed a bit more nervous and uncomfortable. Perhaps that was because he was brought onstage without a clear idea of what he was supposed to do. At the Théatre des Arts, he was introducing the film; at the luncheon, he seemed to be more or less forced on stage with orders to "tell stories." Nonetheless, as distracted as he appeared to be, Sheridan was still quite likable and entertaining as he related some anecdotes, including one involving his youth with fellow filmmaker Neil Jordan.
Jordan's BOB LE FLAMBEUR remake THE GOOD THIEF and Sheridan's IN AMERICA were among the films spotlighted in Searchlight's product reel, which offered a mix of trailers, preliminary teasers and scene snippets from their 2003 slate. A number of the trailers were ones that had already received play prior to the convention; the films promoted in these spots were THE GOOD THIEF; the worldwide sensation BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM; John Malkovich's rather blah directorial debut THE DANCER UPSTAIRS, starring Javier Bardem; the Merchant Ivory romantic comedy LE DIVORCE, starring Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts; and Danny Boyle's virus thriller (not Sandra Bullock sequel) 28 DAYS LATER.
The more noteworthy new clips/titles:
L'AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE: Multilingual comedy in which a French exchange student in Spain learns about life and love while sharing an apartment with a cross-section of Europeans. The film, which co-stars AMÉLIE herself, Audrey Tautou, looks to be frothy fromage, but perhaps the most distinctive thing about the spot is that it's one of the rare trailers from a major studio (albeit a boutique division, but still rare) to employ subtitles.
GARAGE DAYS: On paper, this film seems an odd fit for the visionary imagination of director Alex Proyas since it is about an Australian garage band striving for success. The clip that was screened, however, proved that perception wrong. The scene, set primarily at a dinner table, is a bit hard to describe, particularly since it was divorced from context, but it made hilarious use of some startling and inventive visual effects.
THE CANNIBAL'S DAUGHTER: Unlike the one for L'AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE, this spot for this Spanish-language drama went the typical studio route of hiding the spoken tongue, instead employing on-screen text to summarize this drama about a woman (Cecilia Roth) who finds spiritual liberation when her husband is kidnapped.
THIRTEEN: The scene screened from this Sundance buzz magnet pretty well summed up the film's story about the struggles between a mother (Holly Hunter) and her growing-up-too-fast 13-year-old daughter (Evan Rachel Wood)--even if the sound quality of the clip was less than ideal.
CLUB DREAD: More muddy sound plagued the raunchy, slapsticky excerpt from the latest wacky comedy by the comedy troupe Broken Lizard, set at a beach resort. The scene, involving bedroom shenanigans with a gymnast, is the type of silliness one would expect from the guys who brought you SUPER TROOPERS--though with the awful trailer for that actually rather entertaining film in mind, one hopes that there are far better gags awaiting in the final film.
THE CLEARING: A brief, stage-setting scene was shown for this prestige project in which a well-to-do man is kidnapped by an average joe and held for ransom. With Robert Redford (as the victim), Willem Dafoe (as the kidnapper) and Helen Mirren (as Redford's wife) leading the cast, this looks like it could be serious awards bait.
JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION: No footage was available for this self-explanatory road comedy starring Cedric the Entertainer, so instead a little animated segment featuring a Cedric caricature travelling along a map was shown.
THE DREAMERS: No film on the Searchlight slate got quite as strong of a push (unintended or not) as the latest film from Bernardo Bertolucci. Before this two-minute teaser was shown, there was a brief intermission so children or other sensitive viewers could leave due to the graphic, potentially offensive content. Nothing, or should I say very little, could live up to such build up, and, indeed, this teaser didn't. Paris in 1968 is the setting, and the players are an American student (Michael Pitt) and a pair of French sibling students who become erotically entangled. While the clip didn't shy away from nudity or strong suggestions of incestuous ménage-à-trois action, my warped self found it all to be a rather tame letdown; that said, I am sufficiently intrigued to want to see the entire film when it reaches screens late this year.
At each place setting, there was a free Fox Searchlight light pen and a Fox/Fox Searchlight 2003 desk calendar.
Trade Show
Further proof that the economy is in rough shape came at the annual trade show. Freebies would traditionally fly around liberally as the various companies pimping their snack foods, sound systems, upholstery services and other products related to film exhibition would be generous with samples and other goodies in an attempt to woo the exhibitor investment dollar. However, this year, a new air of stinginess filled the Grand Ballroom and Events Center at Bally's. Not that the many plastic bags being given away at various booths were necessarily going to waste; there just wasn't as much stuff to put in them as numerous candy companies didn't offer many samples. The fresh edibles were also given in smaller portions; for the first day, leading hot dog supplier Eisenberg's (which apparently scared away all the competition of previous years, for they were the only hot dog company on the floor this year) cut each hot dog in thirds rather than halves. That said, certain companies could be counted on to be just as generous as they'd always been--namely Just Born, Inc., manufacturers of Hot Tamales, Jolly Joes and the various Mike and Ike flavors; and Icee, which served everything from their eponymous frozen drink to cookies and stuffed pretzels at their considerably expanded display.
A look at some of the more noteworthy trade show booths:
Paramount: With Universal directing their dollars toward the closing day luncheon, this year Paramount was once again the only studio holding real estate on the trade show floor. Given the sensation caused by their LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER themed booth two years ago, it's not at all surprising that the film's sequel, THE CRADLE OF LIFE, was at the center of this year's display. But after the green-screen video fun of the original TOMB RAIDER booth and last year's bizarre interactive theater piece in support of K-19 THE WIDOWMAKER, this year's booth was dismayingly unimaginative. Inside a faux cavern, props and costumes from the film were on display and the fairly enticing new teaser trailer for the film--and taped shout-outs to ShoWest patrons from director Jan DeBont and star Angelina Jolie--played on a screen. Similar lack of imagination went into this year's Paramount goody bag, which I was able to receive for the first time due to my passport status. The black CRADLE OF LIFE tote bag was extremely heavy, but not because it was filled with tons of promo items; in fact, there were only two: a large plastic, baby bottle-shaped bank for the Nickelodeon franchise crossover film RUGRATS GO WILD; and--the cause of the weight problem--a 16-inch replica of one of those terracotta statues Lara fights in the film. It's an undeniably neat item, but a terribly impractical one since patrons had to lug that heavy bag all around the trade show. Perhaps the studio should have made them half the size (and then come up with other promo items for other films)?
Coca-Cola/Pepsi: The dueling soft drink giants didn't radically change their displays from the previous year--nor, thankfully, did they change their policy of offering unlimited free drinks. Coke basically trotted out its large, shiny display from the previous year, but with new promotional tie-in posters for THE MATRIX sequels to go alongside the displays and video screens trumpeting their annual Refreshing Filmmaker Award (more on that in Day 4). Pepsi, on the other hand, did boast a larger set-up complete with upstairs private conference room, but the basic design and color scheme of the place remained the same, albeit with up-to-the-minute displays trumpeting tie-in campaigns with Universal releases THE HULK and 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS replacing last year's oversize images of the company's now-former commercial starlet, Britney Spears.
BurgerPipe: New and interesting food items weren't in short supply this year, however. After a one-year absence, the hot dog alternative known as the BurgerPipe was back, and in a big way--promoted alongside the original beef model was (drumroll please)... the ChickenPipe. If that weren't enough, there's a whole line of more "upscale" items called Gourmet Grillers.
Tornados: Ruiz Foods introduced a non-hot dog alternative for concession stand roller grills: Tornados, which are mini burritos and tamales that come in a variety of flavors. It's surprising that no one ever thought of this before.
Banana Bits: I love BonBons as much as the next guy, but I must honestly say that Triton International's Banana Bits are poised to give them a run for their money. Banana Bits are frozen dark chocolate or white chocolate-coated banana slices that come either with or without nuts. Here's hoping these tasty treats catch on.
Funsonic: Of all the companies pushing in-theatre technologies, Deterministic Systems, Inc. stood out with its Funsonic system, which uses specially equipped seats to make patrons feel low frequency vibrations while watching films. To demonstrate the process, the company had a mini-theatre set-up where excerpts of BLACK HAWK DOWN were shown--and, needless to say, such a loud film was ideal application for the technology. The shaking seats do offer an intriguing added dimension to the moviegoing experience, but the system seems more suited to not so much actual theatres than home ones--though it would perhaps be a fit for the more immersive experience of large format cinemas.
DLP/Opening Night Dinner
Digital projection lorded over the opening night dinner at the Paris Ballroom, as DLP Cinema, who provided ShoWest with a new prototype projector for all of the convention's digital programs throughout the week; and Boeing Digital Cinema were the event's official sponsors. After Doug Darrow, DLP's Business Manager of Commercial Entertainment; and Frank Stirling, Executive Director of Boeing Digital Cinema, were presented with a pair of those mysterious aqua gift boxes known as Sponsor Awards, the theatrical trailer for the 75th Academy Awards, featuring Marilyn Monroe, was "premiered"--that word in quotations since the spot had aired on ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT and the like the week before.
This being a fairly low profile event on the convention scale (read: no glitz or glamour), the dinner was understandably though nonetheless stunningly unpopulated. I sat at a table near the 15 to 20 VIP tables near the main stage, and maybe all but two or three sat completely empty--allowing a number of people who were there free to claim the complimentary DLP logo portable hard drives that were left at every place setting. It wasn't long before security guards told people to back off and the unclaimed pen drives were collected by Paris staff, presumably to return the units to DLP.
The dinner menu:
- A salad of greens, tomatoes and cheese with a vinaigrette dressing
- Grilled chicken breast with asparagus, mashed potatoes and a mix of corn, carrots and cucumber
- Lemon meringue with peaches, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries
Disney/Pixar
Walt Disney Pictures brought the first full day of action to a dramatic close with a special screening of the latest feature from Pixar Animation Studios, FINDING NEMO. Given Pixar's stellar, heretofore infallible track record--TOY STORY; A BUG'S LIFE; TOY STORY 2; MONSTERS, INC.--there was considerable anticipation for what appeared to be just a simple screening: a plain slide with the NEMO logo was projected onto a standard screen and Randy Newman's tunes from previous Pixar films played over the sound system as patrons quickly filled the seats of the Paris Théâtre des Arts.
But this is Disney, after all, and Disney in Vegas, for crying out loud, so what happened once the lights dimmed shouldn't have been as shocking as it was. The screen was lifted and curtains parted to reveal a live orchestra, which was promptly joined by a line of showgirls done up in stereotypically gaudy Sin City sequins and feathers. Then la pièce de résistance: Robert Goulet, crooning TOY STORY's "You've Got a Friend in Me" with maximum lounge-ready slickness. Some would substitute that last word with "smarm," but the performance was damn near irresistible, especially with Goulet joining the showgirls for an exuberant kickline finale that culminated with the audience being doused with an explosion fish-shaped confetti. Moments like these were practically designed to be photographed--and so continued the frustration with the no-camera policy.
The glitz didn't end with the song number, however. While there was the usual rigamarole of speeches before the feature presentation--by Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook, Pixar CEO Steve Jobs, leading Pixar director John Lasseter and NEMO helmer Andrew Stanton--Disney maintained the Vegas flourishes by having a showgirl escort each speaker on and off the stage to to an orchestral interlude, much like an awards show. Not that the speeches weren't interesting on their own. Cook introduced a clip package that trumpeted the whopping $1.734 billion worldwide box office of the computer animation studio's first four releases. Jobs gave a thumbnail outline of Pixar's plan to have a film released every year. Lasseter, who confessed that his favorite movie snack is drinking root beer through a Red Vine, expressed his pride that all of the Pixar features are rated G. Stanton's remarks were the briefest, and he told the audience that the film was being shown in a work-in-progress format.
However, unlike DreamWorks's screening of SHREK two years ago, which featured one key sequence still in storyboard format and scattered sequences in various states of progress, this cut of NEMO was, I'd say, about 95% finished, with only a handful of shots shown in animatic form, and these unfinished pieces were all in the final act. Since the film was unfinished, I won't give a full-blown review, but it's quite obvious that the Pixar box office win streak will continue with this funny and touching underwater tale of a fish named Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) who teams up with one (Ellen DeGeneres) with short-term memory loss (no joke) to find his lost son Nemo (Alexander Gould). This is the most visually stunning Pixar feature yet; the deep-sea settings explode with vibrant color and stunning detail, and the latter quality also applies to the expressive character designs. Of course, the voice cast also plays a large part in creating indelible characters, and Brooks and especially DeGeneres are ideally cast, with the former's nebbishy neuroses playing hilariously against the latter's motormouthed exuberance.
That all said, NEMO is easily my least favorite of the Pixar oeuvre. After an opening scene that is shockingly, poignantly dark, the film becomes the most overly "kiddie" and family-friendly Pixar project yet. The sharp Pixar wit is still very much in evidence, and again they've come up with a film that will satisfy every audience demographic, but there's a certain diminished sophistication when compared to, say, the TOY STORY features. Nonetheless, film is undeniably fun and big-hearted without becoming syrupy.
Playing prior to the film (and will presumably also be shown with NEMO when it is released on May 30) was Lasseter's 1989 short KNICK KNACK. Despite being well over a decade old, this short holds up on a technical level; granted, computer animation has grown in leaps and bounds since then, but the animation is very fluid and the visuals remain impressively expressive. Of course, nothing stands the test of time better than a funny, well-rounded story, and this clever tale of a snowman desperate to escape his snowglobe to join his fellow knick knacks' party certainly fits that bill.
DAY 3 - Wednesday, March 5
The Hollywood Reporter Showmanship Awards
More than just Hollywood stars and corporate bigwigs take home awards at ShoWest--managers and employees of local multiplexes also get their due at The Hollywood Reporter Showmanship Awards ceremony. In its 22nd year, the Showmanship Awards recognize local theatres' often extraordinary efforts to draw attention to films and their theatres to sell tickets.
Case in point: the winners of this year's Best Media/Stunts Award--Brent Lynch of one of my local theatres, the Edwards Long Beach Stadium 26 in Long Beach, California. To promote the opening of BLACK HAWK DOWN, actual Black Hawk helicopters flew over the theatre and landed in the parking lot. Needless to say, this elaborate stunt generated a lot of media coverage, word-of-mouth and, hence, ticket sales.
But the Showmanship Awards don't just reward flamboyance and--rather literally in the above case--firepower. In fact, the winner of the top award, Best Showmanship, went to Jennifer Plowman of Cinemark Hollywood USA in College Station, Texas for a more low-key but no less creative SPIDER-MAN tie-in promotion. The theatre set up a website linking to the theatres' various promotional partners and numerous contest opportunities. On top of that, for opening weekend the promotional partners set up tables in the theatre lobby as part of the opening weekend festivities. Their efforts also earned them the Best Cross-Promotion Award.
A complete run-down of the other winners, including summaries of their campaigns:
- Best Presentation Binder: Jerri Wells, Cinemark Tinseltown 17, Grapevine, TX
The theatre worked with local businesses and community groups to create elaborate SPIDER-MAN-themed in-theatre displays.
- Best In-Theatre Display: Kendra Sparrow, Wehrenberg Theatres, Springfield, MO
The theatre lobby was literally transformed into a castle to promote HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS.
- Best Community Outreach: Reynee Scofield, Regal Avenues 13, Rolling Hills Estates, CA
The theatre worked with the YMCA, schools, day care centers and sponsored birthday parties in conjunction with the release of JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS.
- Best Use of Newspaper: Dale Hurst, Carmike Cinemas 9, Dalton, GA
The theatre placed JIMMY NEUTRON-themed quiz contests in newspapers, in whose classified sections the answers were hidden.
- Gold Heart Award for Outstanding Philanthropy: Reynee Scofield, Regal Avenues, 13, Rolling Hills Estates, CA
To help promote JIMMY NEUTRON, the theatre held a coloring contest that tied in with the annual Gold Heart campaign for Variety Children's Charities.
Schmooze-a-Rama Luncheon
As with every year, most of the studios only made their presence known the entire week at the Schmooze-a-Rama luncheon at the Paris Ballroom. Given that, the general lack of creativity with this year's lot of booths was especially disappointing. Last year, the most buzzed-about displays were those by Universal and Artisan, and each had an enticing gimmick; in the case of the former, a photo-op with scantily clad models to promote THE SCORPION KING; in the case of the latter, free unlimited beer on tap to promote VAN WILDER. And so, the prevailing philosophy this year was to ape both of those angles: pictures with hot women or free alcohol--or, better yet, both.
Artisan: The indie threw its "2nd Annual ShoWest Kegger," with the beer this time being served in commemorative BOAT TRIP cups. (I know; I know; VAN WILDER, BOAT TRIP--same difference, no?) But not content to rest on its laurels, also prominently featured was the Artisan Bikini Team. If that wasn't enough, those especially soused on suds could have a photo of their face superimposed onto the BOAT TRIP standee.
Buena Vista: The Mouse didn't sell out like other companies, instead keeping with the no-frills approach of the previous year. On one side of the booth was a FINDING NEMO photo-op display; on the other, a variety of posters and pictures from the theme park attraction-inspired PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL.
DreamWorks: The SKG also didn't follow trends as its display, centering around the upcoming Barry Levinson-directed Ben Stiller/Jack Black starrer ENVY actually had some originality. In the film, Black's character wins fame and fortune by inventing a spray can pet waste cleaning product called Vapoorizer. DreamWorks's booth resembled a cheesy infomercial set, full of (empty) Vapoorizer cans, and one could take a photo "endorsing" the product.
Focus: The former USA Films enjoyed its first ShoWest with a fairly modest booth featuring one-sheets from its most recent releases and a large metal sign with the company logo. It was all nice, but the real draw had to have been the free champagne.
Fox Searchlight: Fox proper remained curiously absent as the studio's boutique division commandeered this year's booth--or, should I say, the guys of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe, who were on hand for photo ops at the CLUB DREAD-themed display. For a little bit of insurance, though, Searchlight also served free booze in tropical-themed cups, and joining the Broken Lizard guys for the photo ops were--yes--swimsuit models. I briefly spoke with the director of the group, Jay Chandrasekhar, and being the View Askew fan that he is pointed out to me the subversive brilliance that was having an official ShoWest press pass with "MoviePoopShoot.com" printed on it. Honestly, I'd never given it a second thought before.
IFC: A no-frills set-up for the indie: trailers for their upcoming releases and programming on its cable network counterpart played on a monitor as free drinks were served and DVDs of their trailer reel were given out.
Lions Gate: The distributor earns points for originality--and generosity--for its CONFIDENCE game: visitors spun a wheel from the Twister board game, and if you landed on blue or green, you won an actual dollar bill with "CONFIDENCE. It's not about the money. It's about the money." stamped on it. On my first try, I came out empty handed, but later in the hour I returned and won one of those dollars.
MGM: The Lion resorted photo op with a babe gimmick to push LEGALLY BLONDE 2: RED, WHITE & BLONDE, but with a twist: the models were considerably more modest than at other places, wearing conservative business suits--that is, as conservative as pink business suits come. The color scheme of the booth was in the same garish shade, and while the idea was cute, it became a bit of an eyesore if you looked at it for an extended period of time. Given away free at the booth were bottles of OPI nail polish.
New Line: The mock "Class of 2003" high school set-up primarily focused on the upcoming prequel DUMB AND DUMBERER: WHEN HARRY MET LLOYD, but other titles on New Line and Fine Line's slate got token mentions on pennants that hung from the top of the booth. And, yes, there was an open bar.
Sony: Columbia TriStar took honors for the most boring display: a mere collection of posters and standees for their upcoming releases, with a gargantuan poster for BAD BOYS II taking center stage.
Warner Bros.: The studio didn't resort to any of the attention-grabbing gimmicks because it didn't have to, it being "The Year of THE MATRIX" and all. Proving that nothing draws people like simple anticipation for a film, crowds routinely gathered around the booth's pair of monitors just to watch the Super Bowl teaser for THE MATRIX RELOADED, the trailer for the direct-to-video animated anthology THE ANIMATRIX, and a spot for the elaborate tie-in video game ENTER THE MATRIX--even long after the supply of free MATRIX notepads was exhausted.
Deluxe Labs: The one non-studio exhibitor (aside from the usual Hollywood Reporter Showmanship Awards booth) was Deluxe Labs, which failed to drum up much attention with its mini putting green; if you made the shot, you won a golf ball with the Deluxe logo. More popular at this booth was, not surprisingly, the open bar.
Universal: Universal definitely upped the ante as far as photo ops and carrying out a theme. The featured title was the third installment in the PIE franchise, AMERICAN WEDDING, and in keeping with the theme there was a huge tiered wedding cake and various hors d'oeuvres and pastries were available for the taking. As could be expected, one could have a photo op with a "bride" or "groom," but the studio went the extra mile, as there was an entire cast of characters with whom one could pose: a blond or dark-haired groom (alas, there was only one bride variety), a wacky priest, a woman in a vinyl (!) police uniform and a woman in a skimpy robe. It goes without saying that the lines remained consistently long at this display--even when the other places were starting the pack-up process--making Universal this year's Schmooze-a-Rama winner.
The Goodie Bag: This year's Schmooze-a-Rama goodie bag was actually a very sturdy tan luggage/duffle bag with the United Parcel Service logo. In it were a variety of promotional items, including:
- Buena Vista: a PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN T-shirt
- DreamWorks: a SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS coloring mug
- Focus: a 21 GRAMS T-shirt, packed in a heart shape
- Fox: a FoxExhibitor.com computer mouse
- MGM: a LEGALLY BLONDE 2 pink tote bag
- New Line: a HOW TO DEAL coin purse
- Paramount: THE CORE cap
- Sony: a beat-up ANGER MANAGEMENT teddy bear
- Warner Bros.: a TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES cap (which would go down as the film's only real push at the entire convention)
Seminars
A variety of seminars filled out the afternoon schedule: "The State of Film Marketing,""Digital Cinema--Today and Tomorrow" and "Great Promotional Ideas for Movie Exhibitors and Studios." I attended the last one, hosted by the Newspaper Association of America at Bally's Skyview Room 5. No less than thirteen representatives from newspapers across the country described recent successful theatre tie-in promotional campaigns. These ranged from fairly standard ideas, such as drawing and coloring contests; to more sober ideas, such as charity benefit screenings and use of the newspaper in the classroom; to more outré ideas, such as a "Mel sightings" contest in conjunction with the Philadelphia shoot of SIGNS and in-theatre hula parties where the "grass" skirts were made of newspapers. After each presentation, each speaker drew a business card from those collected by audience members, and winners won a prize from the corresponding speaker's newspaper as well as a large goody bag from the Newspaper Association of America.
Sony/Revolution
After last ShoWest's successful screening of the eventual summer hit MR. DEEDS, Adam Sandler and Sony Pictures returned to unveil their latest, ANGER MANAGEMENT, at both the Paris Théâtre des Arts and Bally's Jubilee Theatre. This event, however, was more of a showcase for Revolution Studios, with head Joe Roth using his stage time to push other upcoming releases under their distribution agreement with Sony--but not without first getting in a little dig at his former employer, Disney. After giving shout-outs to the various Revolution employees in attendance and making mention of the Eddie Murphy family comedy DADDY DAY CARE (whose trailer was played prior to the feature presentation), Martin Brest's long-delayed Ben Affleck-Jennifer Lopez crime comedy GIGLI, the Julia Roberts period chick flick MONA LISA SMILE and the live-action PETER PAN (which will be distributed domestically by Universal), Roth introduced the evening's big draw, Sandler. Sandler, whose films I generally do not particularly care for (to put it mildly) gave a profane, unpredictable and downright hilarious speech, at one point playing the audience for fools by introducing Jack Nicholson--only to admit, after some very loud cheers for his ANGER co-star, that he "was just fuckin' with ya."
Watching Sandler working a crowd live made me realize just how stymied he is by the watered-down PG-13 (and inexplicably popular) formula of the typical Happy Madison production--and, indeed, the pre-ordained blockbuster ANGER MANAGEMENT is one of them. Get past the stunt casting of Nicholson, and what you have is another silly trifle of a film with Sandler once again playing a character prone to angry outbursts, which then leads to some court-ordered anger management with a kooky therapist (Nicholson) who apparently has some mental issues of his own. And, by film's end, the Sandler character is once again encouraged with a random cry of "You can do it!" (though this time it is not by Rob Schneider but a "very special" guest star).
Nicholson wears his devilish, ear-to-ear grin from his first scene to last, and one has to assume that's his reaction to the presumably enormous size of his paycheck and not the material, which never elicits anything more than a slight guffaw--and most of those just come from the early shock value trippiness of seeing Sandler and Nicholson share the same screen. The numerous celebrity cameos are amusing at first, but they become increasingly tiresome and distracting. That some of the scenes involving the easily recognizable bit players are painfully unfunny (such as a downright baffling sequence set at a monastery, with John C. Reilly sporring the Least Convincing Skullcap Job in Cinema History) just adds to the cringe-worthy embarrassment--though not as much as the highly forced attempts at "heart." As hard as director Peter Segal tries to convince us that this is a film ultimately about the relationship between chemistry-free pair of Sandler and Marisa Tomei, in the end it instead confirms that it's truly about how far formula and shallow stunt casting can go to win the lowest common denominator box office buck.
After the screening, it was off to the Paris Champagne Ballroom for the reception. Before entering the room itself, one passed by a table set up just outside where one could claim the ANGER MANAGEMENT gift bag, which contained a white logo T-shirt, black logo cap and black logo stress ball. Inside the main room, a DJ spun records (all of the dance club remix variety, including a techno'ed-up take on Corey Hart's '80s relic "Sunglasses at Night"--they'll remix anything nowadays, won't they?) against a striking white wall emblazoned with Sony Pictures Entertainment, Revolution Studios, Columbia Pictures and Screen Gems logos. Patrons seemed more interested in mingling, drinking and eating than dancing, though--particularly eating, though some questionable decisions curtailed that activity to a certain degree. While there were plenty of desserts available, from cakes and various pastries to an attended ice cream bar, those looking for something a little more substantial were out of luck--that is, after the first thirty minutes, which is how long it took for the pan of delicious hibachi chicken skewers to be emptied. Many people waited for it to be refilled, but that was never to happen.
Hanging on the non-logo'ed walls were giant still displays from Sony's release slate for the rest of the year. Some of these images were familiar as they came from their hyped-up summer releases: BAD BOYS II, CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE, DADDY DAY CARE and S.W.A.T. So, needless to say, the most intriguing displays were for films whose release dates were farther in the distance, namely Tim Burton's fantasy BIG FISH, starring Billy Crudup and Ewan McGregor; the Kate Beckinsale vampire action epic UNDERWORLD; Jane Campion's erotic thriller IN THE CUT, starring Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo; and ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO, the long-awaited (and long-ago shot) final installment of Robert Rodriguez's EL MARIACHI trilogy.
Miramax
ShoWest's post-10pm programming generally is a rerun of something that had taken place earlier in the evening; for example, a second FINDING NEMO screening on Monday night at 10:30pm. However, Miramax made the bold move of scheduling a screening exclusively at 11pm, an hour when surely most convention-goers would rather be doing anything but attending to more business--on top of the fact that this is Vegas, after all. But given all the talk during about enforcing the ratings system and whatnot, the late hour was probably the only way the studio could get away with screening the comedy concert film DYSFUNKTIONAL FAMILY and trotting out its star, Eddie Griffin. Although the turnout was expectedly low (the Paris Théâtre des Arts was maybe 25% capacity at best), that did not faze Griffin, who, instead of just providing an introduction to the film, energetically launched into a characteristically profane and quite hilarious mini-stand-up set before the movie.
A live taste of Griffin's act pointed up the flaws in DYSFUNKTIONAL FAMILY. It's not that his charisma doesn't translate to film; as in the otherwise awful Master P production of a few years back, the quasi-stand-up feature FOOLISH, Griffin's exuberance is still infectious on the filmed stage. It's not that the material in the film was any weaker, either; while definitely pushing a number of people's boundaries of crassness and vulgarity (including his mother, who is shown looking a wee bit embarrassed in the audience), his wit and frank honesty shine through. The intercut off-stage segments with Griffin and various family members provide further illumination rather distraction, reinforcing his on-stage points and offering gently, surprisingly touching insight into how his various obsessions and interests were molded. Where director George Gallo goes wrong is in his apparent lack of faith in Griffin's talents, resorting to cheap film school tactics where they're wholly unnecessary. For example, an impression of a person on drugs is needlessly embellished with a dazed, out-of-focus camera and similarly woozy music and hence made less funny. But no matter what wrongheaded trick Gallo pulls out of his hat, he cannot hide nor blunt Griffin's edgy comic gifts or genuine heart--to which he once again treated those in attendance after the film ended.
DAY 4 - Thursday, March 6
Universal
Universal got the final day's proceedings of glitz and glamour off to a lively start with the presentation of their 2003 product reel at the Paris Théâtre des Arts and Bally's Jubilee Theatre. While some of the material was recycled from the United International Pictures presentation earlier in the week (namely, the trailer for JOHNNY ENGLISH; the scene montage from LOVE ACTUALLY; and the behind-the-scenes featurette on VAN HELSING, which was shown here in slightly elongated form), most of the footage was new to the audience and the convention.
BRUCE ALMIGHTY (May 23): The second trailer for the film reveals more of the plot, answering a bit more of the "why" Jim Carrey's everyman becomes endowed with God's (Morgan Freeman) powers. Of course, plot has always been secondary in Carrey's collabrations with director Tom Shadyac, and after both enduring some unsuccessful stabs at "respectability" and awards, both seem back in their rightful element with this wacky comedy--and it appears certain that the box office returns will support that.
2 FAST 2 FURIOUS (June 6): No new footage from the poorly-titled THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS follow-up was shown, only the already-in-theatres teaser, but even though it had already been running in movie houses since January, the high-octane trailer still elicited quite the positive response. So much for concerns about star Paul Walker returning without Vin Diesel--new F&F franchise co-star Tyrese Gibson, who receives quite a bit more emphasis in this trailer than Walker, seems to be more than able to fill the shoes of the departed star.
THE HULK (June 20): Like many, I was a bit underwhelmed by the Super Bowl teaser for Ang Lee's eagerly anticipated adaptation of the Marvel comic. The CGI incarnation of the mean, green machine looked like both a blessing and a curse; it remarkably resembled his comic look, but at the same time that meant a certain level of unreality. In the new, full trailer that was unveiled in the reel, certain issues with the CGI still remain--the Hulk looks better but still not as convincing as he should be--but any issues with the treatment of the material do not. The teaser's action-cliché rock score is replaced with an orchestral one more befitting the decidedly more dramatic feel. All of the Ang Lee traces that were curiously absent from that teaser are in this trailer full-force, as the heart of the film is revealed to be (as it should be) the Bruce Banner (Eric Bana)/Hulk dichotomy and Banner's relationship with Betty Ross (Jennifer Connelly). That said, there's no shortage of kick-ass Hulk action, either. What once looked like a disappointment-in-the-making now looks to be a comic flick classic.
SEABISCUIT (July 25): Doubts about the mid-summer release date sprang into mind while watching this very long (pushing five minutes--at least) preview for Gary Ross's fact-based horse racing drama. Not that the preview was bad--far from it, actually; it looks visually spectacular and rather emotionally resonant, and in this brief taste alone star Tobey Maguire (as a jockey) reminds that he's a dramatic actor to be reckoned with outside of spider tights. While the studio is obviously going for ROAD TO PERDITION-style prestige counterprogramming, that film had a time-proven box office superstar above its title, and Maguire, however heftly those SPIDER-MAN grosses are, has yet to prove his commercial worth without the superhero baggage. Furthermore, the film appears to be full of award-potential performances (those by Maguire, Chris Cooper and Jeff Bridges), and the release date will more than likely not help that campaign. That all said, the film, should it deliver on the promise of the preview, has all the earmarks of a sleeper word-of-mouth success. Stay tuned.
AMERICAN WEDDING (August 1): Screening in lieu of a formal trailer was what appeared to be the opening scene from the third film in the AMERICAN PIE franchise, and it is raunchy as one would expect (there's no way this preview will run in theatres in its current state)--and, perhaps, funnier than one would expect. I was skeptical when a first sequel was made, but I ended up enjoying that film; I was even more skeptical when another was on the drawing board. Based on this preview, there may be more fuel left in the tank for one more go-round. The scene, in which Jim (Jason Biggs) attempts to pop the question to Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), highlights what is now a well-oiled, impeccably timed comic machine consisting of Hannigan's lack of inhibition, Biggs's ease with humiliation and Eugene Levy's (as Jim's dad) embarrassing cluelessness and unusual level of understanding.
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE (September 26): The Rock and Seann William Scott in a buddy action film (formerly titled HELLDORADO) set in--duh--the jungle. After making an auspicious feature directing debut with the insta-cult fave VERY BAD THINGS, Peter Berg appears to be slumming (to say the least) for a hit, and other talented folk being dragged down with what looks to be an especially excruciating would-be thrill ride are Christopher Walken and Rosario Dawson. The rough video-projected trailer did nothing to dispel any bad thoughts.
HONEY (Fall): Jessica Alba absolutely lights up any screen on which she appears, and big-time movie stardom seems to be an inevitability. However, I don't think it'll come with this SAVE THE LAST DANCE-resembling drama in which she plays a choreographer/dancer who teaches kids as she continues her pursuit of fame and fortune. With stars as magnetic as Alba and Mekhi Phifer, I'm hoping the final result will at at least be watchable.
INTOLERABLE CRUELTY (October 10): If you ask me, this was the highlight of the entire reel. The disgustingly attractive pair of George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones smolder from their first second of shared screen time in this trailer for the latest from the brothers Coen. Clooney's a divorce attorney; Zeta-Jones is a notoriously gold digging temptress; Billy Bob Thornton is her latest cuckold of a matrimonial mark. Looks and sounds like a deliciously dark time is to be had.
DR. SEUSS' THE CAT IN THE HAT (November 21): Did we not learn anything from DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS? Of course not, since that fiasco made a veritable mint at the box office during the 2000 holiday season. And so we get another classic from the Theodore Geisel oeuvre that isn't so much Seuss as it is a heavily-made-up vanity project for an A-list comedy star--in this case, Mike Myers, who's not so much playing the Cat from the beloved book than simply Mike Myers in cat drag. To be fair, the behind-the-scenes featurette that was shown did have one big laugh--but one that had nothing to do with what was shown of the film itself: producer Brian Grazer's declaration at a press conference that Mike Myers was the only choice to play the Cat. Excuse me, did we not remember the years of development with Tim Allen in the role? As far as the actual footage from the film is concerned, there's no denying that it literally looks fantastic; after all, first-time director Bo Welch initially made a name for himself for his amazing production design work for Tim Burton. The compliments begin and end there, though--based on these early scenes, at least.
PETER PAN (December 25): Peter Pan as kick-ass, swashbuckling action hero? That seems to be the angle being pursued by this new live-action take of the venerable character, right down to the almost-comical "letter 'P' with blade-like stem in a circle" icon logo. As ridiculous and overblown as this all sounds, from this early preview the film looks at least watchable, no doubt due to Jason Isaacs's presence as Captain Hook.
After the presentation, it was time to trek over to the Paris Ballroom for Universal's luncheon, co-sponsored by Pepsi. Unlike in the heyday of studio-sponsored luncheons of yesteryear, this was not one of those star-studded affairs at which PREMIERE magazine got a lot of photo fodder for many a multi-page feature over the years; not one single person directly involved with any of the studio's releases put in an appearance. The event was more along the lines of what Sony Pictures did last year, which is simply let various prop displays do the shilling.
But first, this was a luncheon, after all, and I'd say that foremost on most people's minds was the food. A variety of delicious dishes were presented in buffet-like, self-serve style in aisles between tables: New York strip steak, chicken breast, salmon medallions in crème beurre, various salad fixings, among other things. This being a Pepsi-sponsored event, the company certainly didn't let the obvious promotional opportunity go to waste, and all of the beverages to go with the food (aside from the coffee, that is) were Pepsi products: Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Sierra Mist, Mountain Dew, Aquafina, SoBe, etc.
The beverage company took care of the formal "speaker at the podium" promotional presentations, as Pepsi representatives Brian Cornell (President, Foodservice Division, North America), Joe Juliano (Vice President, Entertainment Sales, North America) and Peter Leyh (Director, Entertainment Sales, North America) outlined Pepsi's tie-in campaigns with three Universal releases: THE HULK, THE CAT IN THE HAT and 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS. Or, rather, I should say, "outlined two of their three tie-in campaigns," as the last film went curiously unmentioned; a common phrase uttered was (paraphrasing) "tie-ins with three Universal releases including THE HULK and THE CAT AND THE HAT." Say what you will about the FAST AND THE FURIOUS sequel, but the second-class treatment could not help but leave a sour taste (particularly given its more ethnic dynamic). A trio of PepsiCo television spots (including a HULK-themed one for Sierra Mist) were screened and a drawing was held for all-expenses paid trips to the premieres of the three films before patrons were free to roam around the exhibits.
THE CAT IN THE HAT: The inflatable hat-with-Cat-hand may have been the largest item on display in the room, but it was by far the least interesting. Understandably more popular with attendees was the Cat's car, which, when seen in real life, just confirmed that the film features some awesome production design. I still remain more than a little worried about the film as a whole, though.
THE HULK: Of the three displays, the one for the eagerly awaited Ang Lee comic adaptation was by the cheesiest. While the "life size" statue of the Hulk was impressive, and there were kiosks where one can play the tie-in video game, the "Hulk-o-Meter" where one could assess one's physical strength was a bit on the corny side, not to mention cheap.
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2 FAST 2 FURIOUS: Attracting the most attention, ironically enough, was the display for the film that Pepsi seemed to go out of its way not to mention. The four key cars from the film were made available for photo ops: Brian O'Conner's (Paul Walker) yellow Mitsubishi EVO and silver Nissan Skyline; Suki's (Devon Aoki) pink convertible Honda S-2000; and the clear crowd favorite, Roman Pearce's (Tyrese Gibson) purple Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder, which was undoubtedly the one car everyone seemed to want to take a picture in. Near the car displays was one featuring a large black SoBe Adenaline Rush bus, which will be touring the country as part of a tie-in campaign with the film. How all the more curious, then, that the film went unmentioned in the stage presentations, considering it was the only one that had an elaborate display devoted exclusively to its soft drink campaign.
Warner Bros.
There was a certain level of anticipation going to Warner Bros.' screening of DREAMCATCHER. After all, it was the latest effort from director Lawrence Kasdan, starring a strong ensemble led by Morgan Freeman and based on a Stephen King bestseller. Word had it that Kasdan, at the very least, was going to be on hand to introduce the film, and, as it would during its theatrical run, the ANIMATRIX animated short FINAL FLIGHT OF THE OSIRIS would be screened prior to the feature presentation; in short, a par for the course ShoWest screening.
The red flags went up, however, when an anonymous WB representative appeared on stage to introduce the film, with no sign of Kasdan--or anyone else involved in the film, for that matter--in attendance. When the curtains parted and went straight into the feature presentation, with no trace of the MATRIX short, more sirens went off. Within a half-hour, all of the signs made sense: the lack of OSIRIS was a ploy to get people to pay for a ticket for the film when the film opened in theatres; the lack of in-person talent appearances was a way for the people to save face, for the film is a most astounding train wreck.
Not that DREAMCATCHER doesn't open without promise. The setting is the snow-blanketed Maine wilderness, where four childhood friends (Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Damian Lewis and Timothy Olyphant) have come for their annual hunting trip. Things quickly turn ugly, and no, alcohol has nothing to do with it--with the crash landing of a spacecraft comes the infestation of a decidedly less-than-friendly alien life form. How unfriendly, you may ask? These hyper-phallic, large-toothed creatures gestate in humans and are born into the world not through an ALIEN-style chest burst, but an even more messy and discomfiting delivery through the anus.
So far, so B-movie good, and Kasdan wisely doesn't skimp on the explicit gore. But after the (literally) killer set-up, the entire film falls apart in most spectacular fashion. Screenwriter William Goldman starts laying on the explanations, but, ironically the reasoning behind the events just ends up muddying the film beyond any sense. That their trip is rudely interrupted by an infestation of extraterrestrial proportions proves to be no accident, tying into the destiny that had been long-ago laid out when, as kids, they bonded--in most otherworldly ways--with a Down's Syndrome-afflicted boy named Duddits. Cover-up-minded military types (led by Morgan Freeman, in a rare bad performance), psychic abilities, split personalities, possession by evil forces, heavyhanded visual metaphors involving cabins and libraries, and--yes--SCOOBY-DOO-inspired battle cries (way to use that corporate synergy) are piled on to make something that is often incomprehensible and always just downright silly--best exemplified by the film's climax, which has to go down as one of the most laughable head-scratchers in recent cinema history.
ShoWest Awards Press Conference
At the official pre-awards ceremony press conference, the room was abuzz not with the impending celebrity arrivals but the lead balloon audience reaction to DREAMCATCHER. Those who wisely skipped out on the screening (or could not, for some reason, get a ticket) intently listened in on tales of walkouts, groans, and downright astonishment at the mess others witnessed. The major question left asked by viewers and non-viewers alike was "Why did the studio bother to screen it here?"
Alas, there was not too much time to linger on such quandaries as there was a star-studded gala event to attend to. As was the case last year, in the hours prior to the show award winners were ushered into the Paris Champagne Ballroom for quick five-minute (at most) sessions with the assembled press, moderated by ever-affable KTNV/Channel 13 weathercaster Bob Jeswald. Perhaps I should rephrase that as "attempted to be moderated," for one reporter in particular--from an obscure outlet called Hollywood Connection--rather brazenly and annoyingly did whatever he could to subvert Jeswald's authority. The press was instructed to limit whatever questions for any given person to one, but this guy would attempt to get into conversation mode with the talent, even going so far as to stubbornly step over Jeswald's attempts to give others a chance. Jeswald is as friendly a guy as anyone could meet, so it speaks a lot of this nameless reporter (*cough*RobPochlebnik*cough*) that he managed to visibly irk him.
But not even this guy's rude selfishness could ruin the proceedings, which were otherwise relaxed and, on the whole, entertaining. As something of a prelude to main attractions, the press conference began with a session with Nancy Robey, global brand director of the Couture Jewellery Collection & Conference. For the second year, Couture provided the gift bag for the award winners, presenters and emcee, and the jewelry the impressive (and very expensive) pieces featured in the bags, along with their designers, were also on hand. Not long after this presentation, the proverbial ball got rolling with the appearances by award winners and other talent.
While overlap with the start of the actual dinner and awards ceremony prevented me from staying for the entire duration of the press conference, I was able to stay for nine sessions: those for Producer of the Year David Heyman, with presenter Gary Oldman, who had just begun work earlier that week on Heyman's HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN; Female Star of Tomorrow Alison Lohman; Supporting Actor of the Year Christopher Walken; Actress of the Year Diane Lane; Lifetime Achievement Award winner Brian Grazer; Screenwriter of the Year Antwone Fisher, with presenter Todd Black, producer of Fisher's eponymous debut film; Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker Award winner Jordan Ross, with presenter, LivePlanet co-head/PROJECT GREENLIGHT executive producer Chris Moore; and show host Jamie Kennedy. Given the brief amount of time with each celebrity, nearly all of the questions fielded were of the softball variety--save for those by one reporter who dutifully performed the rather dubious assignment of trying to wring comments about the Iraq situation from the celebrities, who were uniformly, understandably tight-lipped. The rather routine back-patting nature of the event did not prevent some highlights from emerging, namely an impromptu dance given by Walken as he exited the room; the mere sight of Lane, who is--believe it or not--more stunning in person; and (on a completely selfish level) a pair of completely unsolicited personal shout-outs to me by Fisher and Kennedy.
Final Night Banquet and Awards Ceremony
Despite my premature exit from the press conference, I still somehow managed to miss what is the traditional pre-meal opener for the Final Night Banquet: the presentation of the Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker Award, which goes to a film student for a Coke promotional short that will be played as part of the pre-show program on screens nationwide. This year's winner, as touched on above, was Jordan Ross, an NYU graduate student, for his film "Mafia Movie Madness." As the title suggests, the short is about a movie theatre run by the mob, and while I was disappointed to miss it, I am certain I'll see the film so many times over the course of the year that I'll grow sick of it.
Speaking of courses (yes, this must be my lamest segue ever, which says a lot), the food for actual dinner was predictably top-notch, ending the week's culinary program on a high note. The menu, for those who have been keeping score with me: dinner rolls; an apple salad with walnut dressing; filet mignon; mashed potatoes; carrots; and, for dessert, a custard with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, chocolate and whipped cream. Perhaps I was getting a bit spoiled at this point, as more interesting than the food was meeting new people alongside whom I sat at assigned press dinner table, including USA TODAY's Andy Seiler, an avowed champion of online film writers; and ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY's Nicholas Fonseca, who became my partner-in-snarking throughout the evening.
And did the show ever provide its share of snark-worthy material, no more than whenever host Jamie Kennedy was front and center. A film montage featuring Kennedy as his TV series and MALIBU'S MOST WANTED character Brad Gluckman set the unfunny tone for his hosting job. To his credit, he did seem acutely aware of when his weak patter material was not working, particularly when he was called on to stall by going through the contents of one of those snazzy talent gift bags provided by Couture. So, if nothing else, Kennedy was a good, self-effacing sport though I wouldn't wait for the Oscar hosting call if I were him.
When Kennedy announced the first presenter to be "the man who singlehandedly revived the movie musical," Nicholas and I turned to each other and said, "Baz Luhrmann?" However, the myth that CHICAGO was the first live action musical to achieve any sort of success continued to be perpetuated, and the man in question was that film's director, Rob Marshall, giving the ShoWest Supporting Actress of the Year Award to Catherine Zeta-Jones. Prior to her taking the stage, there was a clip montage including footage from THE MASK OF ZORRO, ENTRAPMENT, HIGH FIDELITY, TRAFFIC, AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS, the upcoming SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS and INTOLERABLE CRUELTY, and, of course, CHICAGO. (Where were the clips from THE PHANTOM or THE HAUNTING?) Looking stunning in a black pant suit, red top, and--rather impossibly, given her advanced pregnancy--red stiletto heels, the ever-glamorous Zeta-Jones joked during her acceptance speech that she wanted to use the clip package as a screensaver.
Director Barry Levinson next presented the Supporting Actor of the Year award to the co-star of his upcoming comedy ENVY, Christopher Walken. Given Walken's lengthy career, there was no way for his clip montage to be comprehensive, so it was all the more interesting to see which works were deemed worthy to make the cut: ENVY, of course, along with THE DEER HUNTER, TRUE ROMANCE, ANNIE HALL, PULP FICTION, BATMAN RETURNS, AT CLOSE RANGE, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, his famous hoofing from PENNIES FROM HEAVEN and Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice" video, and... THE PROPHECY. The inclusion of the last film proved to be more amusing than Walken's gracious but routine acceptance speech, which he read off from notes.
The Director of the Year presentation proved to be a low point of the evening. The "G" in the DreamWorks lead triumvirate, David Geffen, was originally announced as the presenter of the award to Sam Mendes, but another exec at the SKG, former New Line head Mike DeLuca, instead turned up for the duties. The tribute montage gave equal time to both of Mendes's films, AMERICAN BEAUTY and ROAD TO PERDITION, and clips from both were augmented by interviews--all seemingly culled from the films' respective electronic press kits--with Kevin Spacey, Jude Law, Steven Spielberg, Alan Ball, Thomas Newman, and the late Conrad Hall. With such a classy introduction, it was more than a little disappointing to find out that the honoree was also not in attendance due to the raging snowstorms on the East Coast. Suddenly it made sense why Geffen did not bother to show up.
The most curious award of the night was that of Male Star of Tomorrow, which strangely went to the long-established James Todd Smith, a.k.a. LL Cool J. The clip montage, introduced by Smith's S.W.A.T. producer Neal Moritz, just raised even more questions, as it featured clips from no less than six films--S.W.A.T., ROLLERBALL, KINGDOM COME, DEEP BLUE SEA, IN TOO DEEP and ANY GIVEN SUNDAY--and still left a bit of ground uncovered (KRUSH GROOVE, CHARLIE'S ANGELS, DELIVER US FROM EVA, etc.). A glance at Universal's congratulations ad for all the award recipients in the ShoWest program catalog proved to be revealing as it named the more appropriate pick of Colin Farrell as this year's Male Star of Tomorrow honoree--and suddenly it all fell into place: maybe everything was in place for Farrell before it was determined that he had prior commitments that prevented him from attending, and so organizers rushed to replace him with one of his co-stars from S.W.A.T. In any event, it was nice to see Smith get some due for his screen work (and kudos for the montage editors for including IN TOO DEEP), and he gave perhaps the most gracious speech of the night, calling Moritz from the sidelines to give him proper thanks as well as having a good sense of humor about his acting name change and himself in general (he thanked his wife for "tolerating my breath in the morning").
The recipient of the Female Star of Tomorrow award was, indeed, given to a newcomer, Alison Lohman, coming off of her well-received but little-seen lead role in the otherwise all-star WHITE OLEANDER. Given her few credits, the montage introduced by her MATCHSTICK MEN co-star Nicolas Cage (another star of the Ridley Scott summer release, Sam Rockwell, was scheduled to co-present, but he was another casualty of the blizzards) was fairly brief, incorporating scenes from OLEANDER and MATCHSTICK as well as EPK-derived interview segments with OLEANDER collaborators Noah Wyle, Renée Zellweger, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robin Wright Penn and director Peter Kosminsky. Lohman was obviously overwhelmed by her honor; she almost walked off the stage without taking her trophy.
Fox animation president Chris Meledandri presented the Animation Director of the Year trophy--which was not awarded at last year's event--to ICE AGE's Chris Wedge. His montage reel was highlighted by early glimpses of scenes and sketch designs for his upcoming film, ROBOTS, due out in 2005. Wedge temporarily broke the "I would like to thank the theatre owners" monotony of many of the acceptance speeches by attempting to say a sentence in French.
Gary Oldman, presenter of the Producer of the Year award, began his speech with a personal aside: he expressed his pleasure at meeting Male Star of the Year winner Adam Sandler and major praise to his unfortunately little-seen PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE. Before long it was back to business at hand and a tribute to HARRY POTTER franchise producer David Heyman, whose montage consisted of footage from an OPRAH appearance during which he discussed the casting of HARRY star Daniel Radcliffe; scenes from the two HARRY POTTER films; and interviews and B-roll footage taken from the electronic press kit.
Perhaps I speak with shameless bias, but props go to Screenwriter of the Year winner Antwone Fisher for battling against the somber, almost comically self-important tone set by his montage, which incorporated various interviews and news clips along with scenes from the Denzel Washington-directed film bearing his name. The first words to come out of his mouth after accepting the trophy from presenter (and ANTWONE FISHER producer) Todd Black were, "I have a sense of humor, too!" Now there was the Fisher I had come to know--and, if the montage was good for anything, it was for the footage of him sitting at a computer wearing the thick black glasses he used to wear when I first met him.
Like Christopher Walken, Female Star of the Year winner Diane Lane has enjoyed a lengthy screen career, but the clip package introduced by Fox co-chairman Jim Gianopoulos was a little more extensive in its coverage of Lane's filmography: A LITTLE ROMANCE, CATTLE ANNIE AND LITTLE BRITCHES, RUMBLE FISH, THE OUTSIDERS, THE COTTON CLUB, STREETS OF FIRE, CHAPLIN, THE PERFECT STORM, A WALK ON THE MOON, UNFAITHFUL, the TV projects OLDEST LIVING CONFEDERATE WIDOW TELLS ALL and LONESOME DOVE, and the upcoming UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN. Even clips of Francis Ford Coppola's Robin Williams fiasco JACK were included, making me wonder why the montage didn't include any footage from JUDGE DREDD. Unlike those last two projects, Lane was the epitome of class, and after opening with a witty quip ("This is the first time I've ever won anything in Las Vegas") she gave the evening's most emotional speech, choking up while going through her long list of thanks.
Tears were followed by laughter when Kevin Nealon presented the Actor of the Year trophy to Adam Sandler. Nealon's hilarious and often good-naturedly teasing speech (he at one point said Sandler "made a lot of unwatchable crap") climaxed with a stretch of "subliminally" delivered (as he used to do in his SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE "Weekend Update" days) jabs which prompted the following response from Sandler once it was his turn onstage: "You big fuckin' asshole!" Sandler's acceptance speech and his clip montage (which included footage from ANGER MANAGEMENT, MR. DEEDS, THE WEDDING SINGER, PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE, BILLY MADISON, HAPPY GILMORE, THE WATERBOY, 8 CRAZY NIGHTS and BILLY MADISON--why no LITTLE NICKY, I wonder?) made of an intriguing study in contrasts. Just like at the ANGER MANAGEMENT screening earlier in the week, Sandler proves to be a far more funny, smart and electrifying performer when freed from the mind-numbing formula of most of his films. His lengthy, multi-page speech--a rambling and raunchy account of "a day in the life of the motherfuckin' Male Star of the Year" was far more hilarious than most of Sandler's screen oeuvre combined. The lesson learned about Sandler from the convention? He needs to be allowed to cut loose to reach his comic heights--or he is most effective in these small, strong doses.
Sandler's routine made the presentation of the night's final award, the Lifetime Achievement Award, an anticlimax. Universal chairman Ron Meyer presented the trophy to producer Brian Grazer after a back-patting clip piece narrated by his Imagine Entertainment partner Ron Howard. Even more tantalizing glimpses of the upcoming Coen Brothers comedy INTOLERABLE CRUELTY weren't enough to push this award presentation anywhere in the same sphere as the Sandler segment, and certainly not Grazer's polished but routine acceptance speech.
And with one final onstage appearance by Kennedy, so ended the show and another eventful ShoWest week in Vegas. 'Til 2004...
Many thanks to Vicky Eguia and everyone at Rogers & Cowan; Ruth Devlin; Robert Sunshine and everyone at the Sunshine Group/VNU Expo Group; and Adam Mast .
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