Hey folks, Harry here... due to circumstances beyond AICN control, the scheduling of ShoWest this year didn't work out.... BUMMER... Moriarty and I were all set to go, but... well, it's a long story involving a restraining order on the old guy from a stripper named Viagra that we hope to clear up before next year.... Damn the Professor's probings! Well, luckily for us the legal affairs being what they are don't stop spies from going and contributing... I only wish we had shot for shot descriptions of like the battles in WINDTALKERS that were screened, or a full review of SHREK or SPY KIDS... or the other goodies that were shown! Here's Jason with the latest though...
Harry,
I'm a longtime fan and wanted to give you some additional lowdown on this year's ShoWest. Adam explained a little about ShoWest for your readers in his post, but I would have to add that if you really want to see some serious new-film volume, go to ShowEast in October. Crouching Tiger was shown there last year, as were many of the big releases of the last few months. ShoWest is much more of an exhibition industry show (lots of hot dog and popcorn machines).
Shrek, while still a work in progress, is really something special. Mike Meyers is great as the voice of Shrek. Eddie Murphy is funny as a wise-cracking donkey, although having seen him as the dragon in Mulan a few times I couldn't help but feel a twinge of "been there done that".
Heartbreakers (Sigourney Weaver, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Gene Hackman, Jason Lee) wasn't as mediocre as some have made it out to be. They had just made the first preview print of the film at the lab a day before and it was really good looking. Plus, if you liked Cameron Diaz's magical swirling ass in Charlie's Angels, you'll love (or is that "Jennifer Love") the ample assets in this picture....
At Wednesday's luncheon, Technicolor Digital Cinema demonstrated their end-to-end digital projection system. As part of the demo, we were treated to extended battle footage from John Woo's upcoming Windtalkers (starring Nicholas Cage). I was hoping for a little taste of the drama, but it was all explosions. By the way, the Monday MGM product reel had more info on Windtalkers, as well as Legally Blonde, Heartbreakers, Deuces Wild, and other upcoming MGM releases. We were also given digital presentations of a short portion of Shrek and some live entertainment by InTheater.
In the D-Cinema world, it looks like the industry is finally ready to talk about who's going to pay for these incredibly expensive digital projection systems. If Technicolor has its way, we may see 1000 digital screens by the middle of 2002. Stay tuned....
Thanks for indulging me, Harry. Hopefully we'll see you back at ShoWest next year....
Jason
