Showest 2007 - Film and Loathing in Las Vegas!

"My opinion of Showest? Not nearly enough cowbell!"

Just back from Showest 07 – which due to a number of strange developments was something of a harrowing experience for the 3 intrepid reporters dispatched by the Bone - as well as our celebrated cyber-pals in arms. To call it Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is not an exaggeration, but this is business for later reports. Amid the cloaks, daggers and full cavity searches, there was much Hollywood biz to Babble-On about. As a favor to a friend I'm going to start with coverage of a cool press conference that took place Thursday night just before the gala awards banquet. And then lash the whole sordid saga together top to bottom. As always Showest offers beyond intimate access to junket junkies (if Shia Labeouf went poof in his panties – you could narrow down what he had for lunch to two or three possibilities – fortunately he's a young man with good control of his faculties).

The conference itself is set up to give the press the chance to chat up the winners of the years various Showest awards and as you'll see they're a varied and impressive lot. First up was the co-winners of the Animation Director of the Year which was presented to Shrek the Thirds Chris Miller and Raman Hui. The affable young duo discussed their past participation with the previous installments and their pleasure in being chosen to take the helm from Andrew Adamson who's moved onto other magical kingdoms near Narnia. They also fielded questions related to the teaser footage of this summer's ogre opus that we were treated to earlier in the week.

The omnipresent Shia Labeouf, honored as Male Star of Tomorrow, approached the stage in full-on polite-sincere (humbled by all the fuss) mode. He spoke mostly of his appreciation to Disney for giving him his start, but realized early on the need to take film roles that distanced him from the Disney mold. There was much being made of Shia being the next Sean Penn, which is not a terribly apt comparison. With his every-kid look, winning flash of a smile and his big sincere eyes, I look at him more as the next John Cusack. In any case he was the undisputed Prince of Showest 2007.

With a solid turn in the Rear Window-esque teen-hero thriller Disturbia (which was screened for SW attendees) the lead in the sure-fire summer blockbuster Transformers (the teaser reel courtesy of Paramount was a dazzler and transformed my expectations for this slam-bang E.T.-meets-Michael Bay) megamovie. And if that weren't enough his voice will fill theaters this summer as the lead penguin in the animated "Ocean Picture" epic Surf's Up. Time will tell if audiences penguin-tolerance levels have been maxed or if there's room for one more. Shia took the stage earlier in the week to introduce Columbia's generous featurette and again most seemed to be won over by its originality, humor and heart.

The funniest honoree to take the stage was hands down Producer of the Year Jerry Weintraub. The questioning started off with whether or not he filmed in Vegas or built the casinos on the studio – yawn . . . and then a question was posed that I'll try to paraphrase: "Mr. Weintraub, considering the fact that a lot of people didn't like Ocean's 12, do you think making 13 is such a good idea?" Again, not verbatim – but that's what came across. About this point Weintraub turned into a head football coach in the losing locker room. He remained civil and kept it funny, but that was the end of the questions. Weintraub pointed out that he knew of a lot of people who liked 12 and augmented that opinion with the box office stats. He then suggested that anyone who didn't enjoy the picture remain at home and, I don't know . . . paint the lawn. Good stuff.

Don Cheadle was having a fun evening. Picking up the Award for Male Star of the Year, he was in high spirits and would later be surprised by Adam Sandler (his co-star in the upcoming Reign on me) who brought down the house at the banquet. Don was asked if he found it strange to accept an award that he already knows he's won, to which he replied that he planned to fake surprise and delight and might throw in an emotional tear. As it turned out his moment would prove to be the most surprising of the evening.

Though it was a treat to get a chance to talk to a man who penned my favorite horror film of all time, it certainly seems odd to honor Bruce Joel Rubin with Screenwriter of the Year. You have to remember that these Showest awards are somewhat speculative. The theater owners (NATO) I love that, look as much to the future as the past when they cast their votes. Bruce Joel Rubin is the most extreme case of this crystal ball policy - other than the recently released The Last Mimsy, Stuart Little (2002) is the last Filmsy Ruben has penned. Even more odd is that Mimsy isn't likely to fill the box office coffers with a lot of cash and is not being treated terribly well by the critics. Still and all, the man wrote Jacob's Ladder and Ghost in the same year and I got to ask him about the alternate ending to Jacob's Ladder and he spoke of his disagreement with Adrian Lyne about how the movie should end. I'll say he was amazingly gracious and even admitted to getting the inspiration for Ghost from MacBeth.

As soon as Actress of the Year recipient Kristen Dunst floated on stage, questions regarding the Future of Spiderman came fast and furious. Dunst was quick to fuel the controversy by firmly denying that any further installments were even being considered. Which turned out to be an emotional response based upon her desire to protect Sam Raimi from working himself to death. She claimed that neither her or Tobey Mcguire would take part in a fourth, despite reassurance by the studio (even on stage during the convention) that another installment would soon be in the works. Dunst even facetiously suggested that the fourth should be shot on an indie budget Evil Dead style and work its way back up from a grassroots base. Which got a respectful chuckle from hard-core Raimi fans. The consensus of opinion is that the franchise will continue to spin even if Raimi is relegated to Exec Producer status.

The next four honorees to take the stage was like a staff meeting. It started when Freddy Rodriguez started old home week when he humbly hopped up with his Supporting Actor of the Year award. Freddy was self-effacing and soft spoken expressing his gratitude to the members of NATO for their faith in him, particularly as he is really just begun in terms of his Career. Of course much of his gratitude was meted out to the gentleman who would take the stage next. It really is an amazing vote of confidence for R-Rod to entrust F-Rod with the lead in his half of the hotly anticipated Grindhouse. Like all of the winners, Freddy expressed his gratitude to the nations theater owners for their confidence because it is ultimately multiplex owners who determine which films they have faith in to get people off the couch and into their theaters. Amusingly one of the members of the press near the front must have been a newcomer to the English language, because as each celebrity took the stage, up would go his baseball glove sized hand and because of the eclipsing effect of his shoulders, arms and meat hook his question would pretty much invariably he would read the following question from a script on his knee. "Could you tell us what it means to you to be recognized in this way by an organization representing the nations theater owners?" The rest of us could only sneak smiles back and forth. The answer each gave to this question was remarkably uniform.

As advertised the Two Amigos from Austin were up next sharing the honor of Director of the Year. Rodriguez topped by his trademark cowboy hat and Quentin preceded by his juggernaut of a jawbone, came riding in on a wave of hubris that is just too justifiable and genuine to begrudge. Tarantino, while lively, was not quite as over-the-top with his trademark manic motor-mouth M.O. Still their energy and love for every kind of movie-going experience was as palpable and inspiring as ever. They fielded a host of Grindhouse related questions. They were asked if they were ever concerned about the double feature format causing problems at cineplexes whose schedules are geared for maximum profit. They confessed that originally it was something they worried about, but that they've been surprised at how easy its been and how accommodating and enthusiastic most owners have been. "They mostly grew up going to Grindhouses like we did and are excited by the nostalgic side of it as anyone."

They also spoke to questions about Sin City 2 promising everyone it would be nothing like the original. They likened their creative process to building bridges and then burning them as soon as they cross. As they were leaving Tarantino was asked when he was going to get started on Vainglorious Bastards, to which he replied "about 6 months."

Speaking of Sin City, next to the podium was the winner of Supporting Actress of the year the vivacious Rosario Dawson. She was as stunning and full of juice as ever and considering her trooper-like stand in stint covering for Kevin Smith at Comic-con last year, as she was taking the mic I got a chuckle out of her by telling her we were expecting Kevin Smith. By this time everybody was getting antsy because we were getting late for the Awards Banquet, but Rosario talked about how much she likes to dress up for things like this after growing up in Converse in the Bronx. She also was asked about what was up with her Comic book, OCT (which if I recall stands for Occult Crimes Task Force) anyway she happily reported that it had been optioned for film. She actually offered more info about Sin City 2 than the director, letting it out that rather than involving interwoven storylines, it's a pretty simple straight forward narrative. Our good friend Judy Thorburn of theflickchicks.com asked her if she planned on taking on more roles that utilized her considerable singing and dancing skills, to which she answered yes, but then got off on a tangent about something else.

Anyway that's a start. Look forward to reports from the many studio presentations, tons of news about upcoming films, 2007 the Summer of Sequel, Press in Distress, The Awards Banquet, Reviews of Hot Fuzz, Disturbia, Mr. Brooks, El Cantante, Away From Her, Goodbye Baby, and several more. All of which courtesy of myself and Mr. Adam Mast.