Showest Young Man Where Hollywood Meets Vegas

"Oh sweet mystery of life............... At long last.................................... Lord be praised ................................ I have met Adam Mast."

Sorry about the delay on our latest batch of ShoWest reports. There was a lot to see and a shit load of notes to transcribe, and in the midst of all that, I've been hitting a ton of movies. I've managed to get most of those up save for Shooter and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which should be up soon. Anyway, on with more ShoWest Beau Geste.

SHOWEST DAY 2

Reeling from all the excitement that was getting accosted by fascist security and following that up with a spectacular evening of independent film, I somehow forgot to mention one of the most exciting moments of that first day. Bumping into the gorgeous Elisabeth Shue. The radiant actress was on hand to promote a new film called Gracie (which also happens to feature her brother Andrew). I've had a massive crush on Ms. Shue for years, and it goes much farther back than her masterful turn as a sympathetic hooker in the brilliant Leaving Las Vegas. My cinematic love affair with this stunning beauty dates back to my teenage years when I first got a glimpse of her in The Karate Kid. Back then, she was the perfect cure for a raging case of hormones. That cure would continue for many years with films like Adventures in Babysitting and, yes, even that silly killer monkey movie Link.

So, naturally, it was a thrill getting to meet Elisabeth after all these years, even if it was only for about thirty seconds (actually, it was more like fifteen seconds). No, I didn't start the conversation by verbally whipping out some lame ass Karate Kid reference, although Jeff (who happened to be with me) both admitted afterward that we thought about it. Instead, I pussed out and went with a pretentious – "I'm a huge fan of your work. You were absolutely incredible in Leaving Las Vegas". Following this, I told her I was looking forward to Gracie (which I didn't end up seeing) and wondered what she was up to now. She said; "Raising three kids." I took that opportunity to tell her that my wife and I are expecting our third child in July. She smiled and told me congratulations. I even got a little hug out of the deal. Not too shabby. Anyway, Elisabeth (we're on a first name basis now) still looks amazing, and in the infamous words of Karl "Madman" Mundt, if things ever get "all balled-up at the head office" I can always pop Karate Kid in my DVD player.

Back to the festivities.

A SALUTE TO 2006s NINE FIGURE MOVIES AND A SPECIAL LOOK AT
RATATOUILLE AND PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN: AT WORLD'S END!

Each year, ShoWest presents a special tribute to all the year's films that exceeded the 100 million dollar mark. This year, it was a rather large handful; Over the Hedge, Click, Talladega Nights, Devil Wears Prada, X-Men: The Last Stand, Borat, Mission: Impossible 3, Superman Returns, The Departed, Casino Royale, The Pursuit of Happyness, The Break-Up, DaVinci Code, Night At The Museum, Happy Feet, Dreamgirls, Cars, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. The last two titles would ease us into the next portion of this awesome presentation.

As the 100 million dollar reel closed with a bang and a cheer, out comes uber producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Say what you will about Jerry, but the enthusiastic ovation he received was one of sincere gratitude. To a house comprised largely of theater owners, Bruckheimer is the consummate master of "putting butts in seats." And the movie he had stepped up to promote, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, is undoubtedly going to keep the butts coming. At the time, the trailer he would excitedly introduce was a world premiere, unfortunately because of my relentlessly busy schedule, the Pirates trailer is no longer newsworthy. There's really no point in me doing a play by play of the trailer now, because by the time you read this, you can see the damn thing in it's entirety on the internet. Consider me officially excited about this movie. I know there are only a precious few who liked the second installment more than the first, and I'm one of those people. If At World's End is half as cool as it looks, I'm going to love it.

Following the Pirates trailer, director Brad Bird was introduced to the stage to give the audience a special treat. More specifically, ten minutes of his new Pixar feature Ratatouille. Now I've read up on this flick, and I've seen the trailer, and while I was looking forward to it, I wouldn't say I was waiting for it with bated breath. After seeing a ten minute sequence, I can safely say, I'm convinced that Pixar has knocked it out of the park, yet again.

Ratatouille tells the story of Remy, a young rat with aspirations of becoming a world renowned chef. There's only one problem with his dream – he's a rat. An unfortunate mishap (akin to the adventures that occur in last year's surprisingly charming Flushed Away) lands Remy smack dab in the middle of Paris where he finds himself shacked up in a famous bistro. Before long, the eager rat befriends a bus boy, and the two quickly form a most unusual bond.

The ten minute sequence we were witness to, features Remy's first encounter with the bus boy. Remy becomes dismayed when he observes the young servant taking it upon himself to mess with the chef's soup when the cook isn't looking. Being the connoisseur of fine cuisine that Remy is by nature, he notices that the ingredients this young man is adding to the soup, will almost certainly ruin the meal, so he sets out to set things right. He does fix the soup, but unfortunately, in doing so, he is ultimately spotted by a member of the kitchen staff and chased through the dining hall. The sequence is jam packed with action, with the resourceful Remy improvising a harrowing escape in an odd way, it sort of reminded me a bit of Indiana Jones. Remy is ultimately caught, and to make matters worse, the bus boy is praised for the wonderful soup that the rat was responsible for preparing. There is a bit more to the sequence, but it was enough to hint at where the premise of the film was heading. A French twist on a time honored theme.

In typical Pixar fashion, the animation is picture perfect, and just by what I've seen it appears to have plenty to appeal to juniors and seniors alike. In discussing the film, Brad Bird stated that he was most intrigued by the story, because of it's obvious challenges. How can a rat, of all creatures, achieve his goal of becoming a chef? Bird is convinced, he and the magicians at Pixar have found a way to make this unique tale work. Given Pixar's track record, I gotta believe he knows what he's talking about. I really can't wait to see the rest of the film.

RED CARPET LUNCHEON EVENT

To quote Steve Carell's Brick in Anchorman; "I love carpet." The Red Carpet is a luncheon event aimed at giving exhibitors and studio folk a chance to mingle and schmooze. And in fact, this particular event used to be called the Schmooz-O-Rama. For whatever reason they decided to change the name. Anyway, after sitting down for a nice lunch (consisting of sub sandwiches and delicious wraps), The Boneman, Sheldon, and I walked around the ballroom floor checking out the various exhibition booths the major studios had to offer up. These booths highlighted many of the major movies we can expect to see in the coming months. Over at Disney, they had an amazing wax Jack Sparrow sculpture. Incredibly life like. In fact, when I first arrived at the booth, I though Johnny Depp actually showed up in costume to make an appearance. Then, it was on to After Dark. That's the little distribution company that pulled that Horror-Fest stunt back in November. You may remember it. Over the course of a weekend, After Dark screened eight films considered too shocking for the general public, yet the general public were more than welcome to plunk down seven bucks to see these movies. In all fairness, a couple of the films were halfway decent, and I champion any studio willing to stick their neck out on the block in hopes of finding the next horror auteur. As for the After Dark booth, they were giving away posters and giving out free Bloody Marys (actually, they were She Devils - a Bloody Mary with an extra kick in the highballs). My favorite booth at the Red Carpet event came courtesy of the folks at 20th Century Fox. They set up a massive re- creation of Moe's tavern from The Simpsons complete with free Duff beer and donuts. I even had my picture taken with Bart and Homer. Fox really went all out on this one.

After about two hours of mingling and checking out all the cool sites, I made my way towards the exit to receive a complimentary goodie bag. Actually, it was more like a goodie back pack. The pack had a Spider-Man 3 logo on it, and it was loaded with all kinds of goodies including candy, t-shirts, and hats all representing the various studios that sponsored the luncheon. All in all, a great get together.

MR. BROOKS

So, Mr. Brooks was screened at ShoWest. This new thriller starring Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, and Dane Cook doesn't open until June, but exhibitors got a special screening. Unfortunately the affair was strictly off-limits to the press. Don't even ask "No Press Allowed." Just how bad could Mr. Brooks be? In any case with such definitive and repeated strictures prohibiting the press from setting foot inside the theater, I decided to take a temporary leave of absence from the Fourth Estate and with my new found Freedom from the Press, Sheldon and I needed only use our wicked charm (mostly, it was Sheldon's ingenuity) to get into the screening. Don't get me wrong, we didn't bust into the movie to talk trash on it though. We went to see it because we're film fanatics, and film fanatics watch movies. Out of respect to ShoWest and MGM pictures (not to mention the fact that we want to be invited back to the convention next year) we've opted to respect their wishes and not run a review. But then how could we write a review for a film we weren't even invited to. Watch for a Mr. Brooks review in late May.

SONY RECEPTION

Sony's dinner reception featured an Asian theme. Great Chinese cuisine and open bar. A special shout out to our bartender for being really generous with the rum portion in our rum and cokes. Unfortunately, we weren't able to hang out at the reception for too long, because we had to make our way over to the Jubilee Theater at Bally's Hotel for a special screening of Paramount's upcoming thriller Disturbia.

DISTURBIA

Man, how I adore the Jubilee Theater! Not only does it feature massive, plush couches, but the sound is simply amazing. Fortunately, when we got inside of the theater, a few of the couches were empty, so we snagged one up. We were there a good thirty-five minutes early, so we had plenty of time to kick our feet up and chat. After about five minutes who should show up but Quint of Aint-It-Cool-News.com fame. I've never hidden the fact that I'm a huge fan of the site (as are several movie fans out there). And in fact, Harry Knowles' site served as a major inspiration for Zboneman.com. I've bumped into Quint at various events through the years (including Comic-Con and CineVegas) and it's always fun to chat with him because he's totally easy going and unpretentious as well as a walking, talking cinematic encyclopedia. Anyway, we talked for a good half hour about everything from rumors revolving around the upcoming Indiana Jones film to a Monster Squad screening Quint and the Aint-it-cool-news crew threw at the Alamo Drafthouse last year. I also told him how badly I wanted to attend a Butt-Numb-A-Thon. I'm sure I'm not the first guy to plant that seed. So, after talking for around an hour (the screening started extremely late–but for good reason), who should hit the stage but director Michael Bay. Michael Bay! What the hell was he doing here? He didn't direct Disturbia. But then it occurred to me. Bay was in the midst of finishing up a big summer movie that would feature Disturbia star Shia LaBeouf. Not but a minute later, Bay revealed that we were about to see fifteen minutes of a little film opening in July. Maybe you've heard of it. It's called Transformers! Now I've never been a huge fan of director Michael Bay and I wasn't a big time collector of Transformer toys, but I'm always down for a big summer movie, and Transformers looks to be huge!

I hate spoilers, so I'll tap dance a bit here. We were shown a couple of scenes. The first one was rather lengthy and features a panic-stricken LaBeouf. Why is he in such distress? Because in his back yard he's trying to hide two gargantuan Transformers (in the form of Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee – robotic behemeths who stand about three stories and tip the scales at a lean 200 . . . tons. Physical attributes suited to their interstellar rescue mission, but which don't help them lay low in the backyard. You know the drill, he hasn't got time to explain the situation, and must "all at once" keep the child-like robots chilled out, while fending off his parents who are sick with worry about their son's sudden and odd change in behavior. He's doing his best to maintain his composure and convince the folks that everything's perfectly ducky. Not so easily convinced, they hound his every step intent upon getting to the bottom of things, oblivious to the eyes the size of diesel tires peering through the kitchen window. At one point, mom even asks the teenager if he's been masturbating. A notion that LeBeough dismisses out of hand.

This particular sequence was extremely effective because it showed a little bit of everything. We got to see the Transformers in all their glory (granted we never did get to see them transform from a vehicle to their robotic state) and we also got a peak at some more character driven stuff. The sequence was lively, but not exactly action packed. If anything, the tone sort of reminded me of E.T., and there was definitely a little bit of Iron Giant thrown in there.

We were witness to an action sequence as well. This other sequence featured a team of grunts (Marines, I believe) who arrive in the desert to investigate a Transformer disturbance. Upon arrival, they don't see anything suspicious, but their motion sensors suggest that there is an alien life form present. As a Marine stands there in attack position, he is completely unaware of the danger that awaits him. Directly behind the soldier, a strange mechanical force slowly begins to emerge from the sand. It's a massive robotic scorpion (forgive me for not knowing this particular Transformer's name. Megatron perhaps) and after skewering the Marine with his stinger, and whipping him back and forth in a violent manner, all hell breaks lose. The military team quickly break into action, firing unlimited ammo at the mechanical beast, but nothing seems to slow it down. From there, the action finds its way into a village, where the robotic scorpion continues to wreak havoc until it's finally driven back underground by means of an air strike.

Transformers looks to be everything you'd expect from a Michael Bay movie; Big and loud! The effects are nothing short of astonishing. Based upon what we saw, it's difficult to tell if the film will capture the spirit of the old Transformers cartoon, but it doesn't really matter. This flick is going to be a massive hit and will no doubt, send Shia LaBeouf's career into orbit.

Following the Transformers footage, Shia LaBeouf was introduced to the audience and talked a bit about the wild year he's had. Not only does Disturbia open in April, but he's got Transformers and Surf's Up (which you'll read about in a later report) due out this summer. And then there's a rumor suggesting that he might play the son of one Indiana Jones. LaBeouf didn't mention it, but it's been widely reported that he's still hammering out all the legal logistics with the studio. Hopefully a confirmation will be made soon.

LaBeouf talked a bit about Disturbia which he stated was the best time he's ever had on a movie set and he attributed that mostly to director D.J. Caruso. He then thanked ShoWest and everyone in attendance for making him feel so welcome.

On with the show.

I'm not going to write an entire review for Disturbia as The Boneman already has his up, and I'm pretty much with him all the way on this one. Many of the movie geek sites are talking Disturbia up big time, and while I wasn't overwhelmed by the movie, it has enough thrills worth a recommendation. The biggest shocker in the flick occurs in the first act, and this particular shock (reminiscent of something that takes place in the early goings on of Neil Marshall's The Descent) sort of took the wind out me. What follows is tame by comparison. The movie really works because of LaBeouf who has enough charm and affability to fill five movies. He's simply a natural, and the movie is watchable because of him. The film itself is a big time nod to Rear Window, but aside from being a thriller, director D.J, Caruso throws in other various genres. It's a teen angst picture, a movie about friendship, and a romance. David Morse has a lot of fun as the evil neighbor and Carrie Ann Moss (of The Matrix fame) is perfectly domestic as LaBeouf's mother. Disturbia isn't without it's generic, been-there-done-that contrivances, but the performances and Caruso's lively direction make this much better than your average, run of the mill thriller (i.e. last year's insipid When a Stranger Calls remake). My biggest gripe with the picture is the climax. I wanted a bigger ending. Morse does a great job creating a menacing creep, and I for one really hoped for a more grandiose ending. Still, a pretty entertaining movie even if I knew where it was headed.

Grade: B-

Still two reports to go. Don't worry. We won't make you wait two weeks for the next one. Watch for presentations on Hairspray, Lion's Gate's slate, and Surf's Up.