This report will take a look at the first ten minutes of Shrek 2, the
Paramount dinner (featuring their entire summer slate), the 20th Century Fox
Luncheon which, in addition to presenting trailers for all their upcoming
films, gave a lengthy look at The Day After Tomorrow.

DLP CINEMA PRESENTS THIS IS DREAMWORKS: A LOOK AT SHREK 2

This presentation promised to be interesting with an intimate look at
digital film making. And what better movie to showcase the technology then
Shrek 2.

The first part of the presentation gave a glimpse at the actual construction
of a scene from the film. I already had a basic knowledge on how these
incredible computer animated films are put together but it was exciting
nonetheless.

Following the five minute sequence, the audience was treated to something
really special; The first ten minutes of Shrek 2.

I was a huge fan of the original and in all honesty, I felt that the
trailer for Shrek 2 felt a bit flat. Needless to say, I was curious to see
where this sequel was headed.

Essentially, the plot revolves around Shrek meeting Fiona's parents for the
first time.

I'm not going to go into detail on what we saw, as it was only the first ten
minutes. I will say that Shrek 2 looks to be a very lively sequel, and if
what we saw was any indication, it will surpass the visual splendor on
display in the first movie.

Story wise Shrek 2 looks to have a similar tone to the first movie, throwing
jokes and visual gags at a fast pace. In the opening minutes alone, there
were hilarious odes to Spider-Man, Lord of the Rings, Paramount and Disney.

And finally, I can say having gotten a taste of Shrek 2, I'm now really
excited to see the movie. I can't say that I was all that jazzed about it
going in.

As far as the digital presentation, it was impressive. While I do consider
myself a purist of sorts, I have to admit, this footage looked amazing. The
images were sharp, vibrant and colorful. Of course animation lends itself
beautifully to this technology.

I can't wait to see this movie in it's entirety. It opens this May.

PARAMOUNT DINNER, PRODUCT REEL, AND CELEB EXTRAVAGANZA

The minute we sat at our table, it was obvious that Paramount had spared no
expense. Each dinner table seat had a Gift Bag sitting on top of it and it
was filled to the brim with all kinds of Paramount promotional items
including a Spongebob Backpack, A Series of Unfortunate Events, a Paramount
Paperweight, and several other goodies.

After sitting for a few moments and eating our salads, Paramount unveiled
it's product reel, projected on great big screens attached to each wall in
the enormous ballroom.

THE PRINCE AND ME
I just can't get excited about this one at all. I like Julia Stiles to
certain extent, but this movie looks like another Princess Diaries. It
features a prince mascarading as a commoner in the states and falling in
love with a local. The Prince and Me looks extremely cheesy and all too
familiar.

MEAN GIRLS
I'm a huge fan of Tina Fey so if anything, the new film Mean Girls has that
going for it. The teenage comedy features Lindsay Lohan (Freaky Friday) as a
young girl trying to fit in with the popular kids at school. Before long,
all hell breaks loose. The film also stars the beautiful Rachel McAdams who
appeared in The Notebook.

THE STEPFORD WIVES
There have been reports that this remake of the campy 70's film has been a
trouble plagued set. Clearly, director Frank Oz is going for intentional
comedy in this updated version of a story about a town where the local woman
don't at all act like themselves, they act more like robots controlled by
the men in their lives. The film stars Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick,
Faith Hill, Bette Midler and Jon Lovitz. The trailer offers up some funny
moments, but overall, it felt a little flat.

SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW
This is one of Paramount's big summer titles and I have to tell you, it
looks really cool. I don't know much about the plot, but the film takes
place in the 1930's and uses a lot of blue screen and computer style effects
that bring to mind similar such visual techniques in 80's gems Tron and The
Last Starfighter.

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE
Another picture in the "Why the hell are they remaking this?" genre. This
one stars Denzel Washington. Adding insult to injury, the picture was
directed by Jonathan Demme who's last shot at updating an old movie
resulted in the awful Truth About Charlie. Still, the guy has made some
terrific films in his career (Silence of the Lambs, Something Wild, and
Married to the Mob) and I must admit, the trailer was effective. Meryl
Streep looks to be overplaying it a little bit but it's really interesting
seeing her as a villain.

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS THE MOVIE
I wish I had me kids with me when they unveiled the trailer for this one.
They're huge fans. What can I tell you. This film looks like an absolute
riot, but I'm sure it helps if you love the cartoon (I do). Scarlett
Johansson does a voice.

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
Jim Carrey stars in an adaptation of the famed stories. The film looks to
have a gothic sort of tone that brings to mind the works of Tim Burton,
while the story kind of evokes Harry Potter. Carrey looks to be doing his
typical Carrey thing. That's alright though, because after the brilliance
that is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, he's earned the right to be
goofy in a film again.

In addition to these notable titles we also got brief glimpses at Without a
Paddle with Seth Green (it looks horrid), Suspect Zero with Ben Kingsley,
Alfie with Jude Law, Coach Carter with Samuel L. Jackson, Weather Man with
Nicolas Cage, and a movie called Sahara.

One of the heads at Paramount also announced future projects currently in
production including; Mission: Impossible 3, John Carter of Mars, Aeon Flux,
Elizabeth Town, and a remake of The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler of all
people. Sadly, no mention of the on again off again Indiana Jones sequel.

After a splendid dinner, Paramount marched out the stars of their summer
slate. Jim Carrey, Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Matthew
Broderick, Bette Midler, Faith Hill, Samuel L. Jackson, Jude Law, Gwyneth
Paltrow and several others were on hand to support their pictures and
Paramount Studios.

The mood was rather creepy however, as the stage was set up in a Jerry Lewis
telethon fashion, and if that weren't odd enough, all the celebs sat up
there facing the rest of us so we could watch them eat for an hour. It was
really strange, but I have to admit, I don't think I've been in the presence
of so many movie stars at one time. It was pretty cool!

20TH CENTURY FOX LUNCHEON

20TH Century Fox invited us all to take a look at their upcoming slate. In
fact, we got a pretty big look at their biggest summer entry.

THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW
One of the heads of Fox got up to introduce director Roland Emmerich. In
doing so, he proclaimed; "No one destroys the planet better than Roland
Emmerich." The director hit the stage and let everyone know that they were
about to see ten minutes of the film. This was met with a huge round of
applause.

This wasn't an entire sequence like the Shrek 2 or Spider-Man 2
presentations. This was just assembled footage from the movie, and while
there were some moments in which we actually got to see people talking, it
was mostly about destruction. If you've seen the trailer, then you've pretty
much seen what we saw; tidal waves crashing through New York and tornadoes
whipping through Los Angeles. The sound was good. The effects were good. The
cinematography was good. The dialogue was...Let's just say the dialogue was
everything I was expecting. No one really had anything too interesting to
say which is quite sad given the movie stars Dennis Quaid and Jake
Gyllenhaal. I don't know why I expected any different. Emmerich's pictures
don't exactly stand the test of time and that's because they're not
particularly well written (The Patriot at least made an attempt, but even it
was unable to rebound from an over the top sensibility). But then, I doubt
anyone will go to see The Day After Tomorrow to listen to characters talk.
Hopefully, the dialogue and development will be stronger than this clip
suggested, because I for one would really like to care about the characters
before they die.

ALIEN VS. PREDATOR
This is a film I'm more nervous about than excited. It's been rumored that
both Ridley Scott and James Cameron were interested in this project at some
point, but Fox ended up giving the reigns to Paul W.S. Anderson of Resident
Evil and Even Horizon fame (not to be confused with P.T. Anderson, who gave
us Boogie Nights and Magnolia). Anderson has yet to impress me with one of
his movies, therefore I find it increasingly difficult to get jazzed about
this flick. Anderson wasn't on hand, but Fox did show us a trailer (over
three minutes in length). The plot line involves a group of scientists
getting caught in the cross fire of a war between Predators and Aliens. The
footage was choppy and didn't really offer up any cool fight sequences
between the two foes. It was mostly shots of actors running around screaming
and firing weapons with occasional, brief shots of the two famed sci-fi
creatures. The trailer was decent, but I still find myself less than excited
although I will admit, the film's catch phrase is a scream; "Whoever
wins...We lose.", And it was cool to see that actor Lance Henricksen is
involved (he played Bishop in Aliens and Alien 3). I'd be lying if I said I
didn't plan on seeing the movie. Firstly, I try to see everything. Secondly,
the movie has Aliens and Predators in it. Of course I'll see it. I just wish
they got a stronger film maker on board. I hope Anderson proves us skeptics
wrong, because I really want Alien Vs. Predator to be good. While I'm not
one of these fans that has been waiting with great anticipation for this
movie (I just assume see Alien 4 or Predator 3) I am a little curious.
Particularly after seeing Sandy Collora's fanboy flick Batman: Dead End in
which the Caped Crusader dukes it out with Aliens and Predators.

GARFIELD
Boy does this movie look bad. I am a fan of Jim Davis' beloved comic, and it
was a thrill getting to meet Mr. Davis in person, but aside from the fact
that Bill Murray is voicing the famed feline, I don't think there's a single
reason I'm looking forward to seeing this movie. It doesn't look
particularly funny, and the CGI is on par with Scooby-Doo. Breckin Meyer and
Jennifer Love Hewitt (the live action stars of the movie) were on hand to
introduce the trailer. Meyer made a funny crack about Hewitt's sexy dress.
Aside from that, the two stars really didn't have much to add. The trailer
didn't do much to get me excited.

DODGEBALL
Now this movie looks like a riot but then on occasion, I'm really into low
brow humor (I worshipped Old School). Stars Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller
were on hand to tell jokes and introduce the trailer (as they entered the
stage, they nailed one of the heads of Fox with tiny dodgeballs). They were
hilarious and not at all afraid to make fun of themselves. In fact, Stiller
kept making jokes about how he seems to be in a new movie every week.
Following their little schtick, they introduced the preview to Dodgeball.
This goofy, slapstick sports film imagines a world in which Dodgeball is
just as popular as Basketball, Football and Baseball, and features Stiller
as the captain of the world's best Dodgeball team. On the other side of the
coin, we have Vaughn who assembles his own team of dopey misfits in hopes
that they might win the Dodgeball championship. Simply put, this movie looks
very stupid, but in a good way. I can't wait to see it.

Finally, at the very end of the 20th Century Fox Promo reel, we got a look
at Robots, a computer animated film due in 2005. It was very impressive,
using a style similar to the works of Pixar. The futuristic tale tells the
story of a group of mischievous robots who go on an incredible adventure.

One more report to go. In ShoWest Report #4 we'll take a look at the Lions
Gate Promo reel, the Fox Searchlight Promo Reel, Pixar's The Incredibles,
the Schmooze-A-Rama, and Jack Valenti's "Big Speech!" In addition, we'll
give you a look at the Fox press conference (with the likes of Will Smith
and Ben Stiller), and the Awards press conference (which featured everyone
from Jack Black to Jennifer Garner).