I've decided to post ShoWest Report #4 before #2 and #3. When you read it, you'll understand why. Don't worry though. Reports #2 and #3 will be up shortly.

20th CENTURY FOX PRODUCT REEL AND LUNCHEON

Fox really knows how to throw a party. This was completely evident while attending their impressive product reel. The Ballroom where the presentation was held (at the Paris) was, as Buddy the Elf would call it, GINORMOUS! There was over one thousand excited people in attendance.

EPISODE III

Not surprisingly, the big buzz in the air was focused on Episode III. Would George Lucas be there? Would the secretive director show any footage from the final installment of the beloved saga? If he was here, one thing was certain - Fox would save him for last. Or so I thought. In a complete mind scrambler, Fox decided to open the presentation with it's big gun!

As the lights dimmed, the heads of Fox Distribution hit the stage to talk about their upcoming slate. As they were mid speech, the lights began to flicker, and rumbling began to occur. Was the Paris Hotel under some kind of attack? Suddenly, The Imperial March began to blare from the amazing sound system. Then, several Storm Troopers began to appear, each marching towards the large stage. But it didn't stop there. Quickly after the Storm Troopers assumed a military stance in front of the massive audience, another familiar face appeared from the middle of the ballroom - DARTH VADER! Mr. Dark Side of the Force himself. He too hit the stage where he engaged in a surprisingly funny comedy act. He commented on all the evil, money grubbing producers in the room and quipped that, "These are my kind of people." After discussing the Star Wars mythology, Lord Vader then introduced another familiar face to the stage. With that, out walked George Lucas. The crowd went nuts.

Once settled in at the podium, Mr. Lucas also gave a brief overview of the Star Wars mythology, followed by an introduction to a clip he's brought along to show us. Immediately, the audience is silenced as the lights begin to dim. Are we about to see new footage from Episode III?

The footage begins. DAMN IT!!!! It's just that same old trailer that I've seen about two hundred times, thanks to the miracle that is the VCR. The house lights come up.

Amazingly, there are several people cheering. I suppose seeing Episode III footage is better than no footage at all.

Once again, Mr. Lucas hits the podium and has some interesting words to say. I'm paraphrasing here (I was too damn excited to take down notes), but this is the gist of it; "Well, I guess you've all seen that trailer already. But I do have some interesting news for you. I've brought the whole film with me today..."

The entire crowd goes ballistic!

Lucas: "...But I can't cut into Brad and Angelina's time (they're here to promote Mr. and Mrs. Smith), so I can't show it to you."

Loud boos are heard throughout the ballroom.

Lucas: "I will however, show you part of the first reel."

Once again, the crowd goes ballistic, no one louder than myself.

The lights dim and I can barely contain myself. While I haven't been a huge fan of the prequels, Star Wars remains an important part of my life, and I'm sure many share the same sentiment.

The 20th Century Fox logo appears, followed by the "A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away..." title card, followed by the all important paragraph crawl.

Now I absolutely hate spoilers. Can't stand them. So I'm not going to go into detail as to what the first eight minutes of Episode III consist of, but I will say that there is a huge, operatic space battle involved, something that should make many of the fans happy, given that space battles have been pretty scarce in the prequels.

I can also tell you that what I saw was breathtaking, colorful and vibrant. Finally, I can say that I got a feeling while watching this that I never felt while watching Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. A good feeling. Nearly the same feeling I had when I watched the original trilogy for the first time. I'm sure a lot of that feeling had to do with the hype and buzz associated with being able to see the first eight minutes 2 and 1/2 months before release, but mostly, this good feeling is intuition. I think Lucas has nailed it. Come May, we're all going to find out. But if this footage was any indication, Episode III is gonna be a perfect ending to what is, perhaps, the most beloved series of all time.

After the footage was over, the crowd gave Mr. Lucas a standing ovation. It was all quite overwhelming.

FANTASTIC FOUR

As hard as it is to believe, the presentation was just beginning. Up next was a preview of Fantastic Four. Truth be told, I haven't been terribly impressed by what I've seen thus far, which in all fairness, hasn't been a whole hell of a lot. I've seen the teaser and a featurette.

The cast of Fantastic Four was brought to the stage to speak to the crowd. And may I just say, these actors are perfect for their roles, most notably Michael Chiklis who looks great as Ben Grimm (aka The Thing). And for the record, Jessica Alba is even more stunning in person.

Then the cast introduced the new trailer.

How is the trailer? Let's put it this way. I'm now pretty damn excited about the movie. The effects work looks stunning, and the look of the film is much bigger than I initially thought it would be. It looks sort of reminiscent of Hellboy and X-Men. The stuff with Doctor Doom causing destruction was particularly dazzling.

While I had reservations with Tim Story serving as director (Barbershop is a terrific movie-but I couldn't see him going from that to this), that opinion quickly changed after I saw the trailer. I'll even forgive him for Taxi.

FEVER PITCH
Fever Pitch is a spring release from the rambunctious Farrelly Brothers (based on a book by High Fidelity scribe Nick Hornby). It's a comedy starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon set to the backdrop of a turbulent Boston Red Sox season.

Drew and Jimmy were on hand to introduce the trailer. Fallon was truly wired and Barrymore was a tad upstaged by the ex-Saturday Night Live comedian. Whether I would be able to forgive him for Taxi still remains to be seen.

The trailer is decent, but I'm most excited to see the movie because the Red Sox actually won the world series while they were shooting the film. And in fact, they shot during that big win and it's in the movie. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the energy of that miracle translates to the screen. I love the underdog, and there's never been a bigger Cinderella story in the history of professional sports, than the one involving the 2004 Red Sox team.

MR. AND MRS. SMITH
This is one of those pictures I just can't get excited about. The first trailer makes it look like a rather boring fusion of True Lies and War of the Roses. The big draw will, no doubt, be the pairing of the gorgeous Angelina Jolie and superstar Brad Pitt. All the hoopla surrounding these stars and the recent break up of Pitt and Jennifer Aniston will most likely fuel the box office reciepts..

Pitt and Jolie were actually there to introduce the trailer, although there did seem to be a kind of uncomfortable feeling in the air. Jolie and Pitt were noticeably distant during their appearance, but both were gracious in the way they carried themselves. Of all the stars at the presentation, their appearance was the shortest.

As for the new trailer, I'm still not entirely sold on the movie. This new look was definitely more detailed than the first. In fact, it was a little too detailed. It practically outlined the whole movie.

I really enjoy director Doug Liman's work (Go, Bourne Identity, Swingers etc.), but I'm a little worried about this one.

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
May I just say that I love Ridley Scott. What an amazing film maker. He could shoot a film about the life of a dung beetle and I'd pay to see it. His new picture Kingdom of Heaven is the story of Balian of Ibelin (played by Orlando Bloom) who would go on to spark a revolution during the Crusades of the 12th century.

Ridley Scott was on hand to talk about the making of the film. He's very articulate and extremely passionate about what he does and it was an honor getting to be in the same room with him. He presented an extended clip of the movie. As usual, it has that amazing Scott flair to it. The battle sequences are breathtaking. My only concern is Orlando Bloom, whose involvement in the rather silly Troy, really hindered the effectiveness of that movie. Still, I enjoyed him in Lord of the Rings, and he looks really solid in Cameron Crowe's upcoming Elizabethtown as well.

At any rate, Kingdom of Heaven is in good hands. With Ridley Scott at the helm, I'm expecting a pretty good movie.

CLOSING REMARKS
There were other movies discussed and previewed including Rebound (what can I say-it looks pretty stupid). The Fox team talked a bit about the Johnny Cash bio pic starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, but unfortunately, there was no footage.

At the end of the presentation, attendees were invited to enjoy a buffet lunch featuring Greek food.

DLP 3-D DIGITAL PRESENTATION
I thought ShoWest 2005 peaked with the 20th Century Fox Presentation. Boy was I wrong. Shortly after the big Fox bash, there was an amazing 3-D digital presentation (put on by DLP and Christie Projectors) featuring a panel that I still can't believe I was witness to. I'm still shaking from it. GEORGE LUCAS, JAMES CAMERON, ROBERT ZEMECKIS, AND ROBERT RODRIGUEZ all on the same stage and only a few feet away from me (Randal Kleiser of Disneyland's "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" fame was also on hand). Because of my involvement with Zboneman.com, I was fortunate enough to stick around for an exclusive press conference immediately following the amazing presentation, but I'll get to that in a minute. As everyone is already well aware, George Lucas has always been about pushing forward when it comes to technology. Look what he's done with the evolution of movie theater sound (I'm referring of course to THX). In addition to creating the beloved Star Wars series, Lucas has always been heavily involved in making sure that his movies are presented in the best possible way. So along with James Cameron and the previously mentioned film making heavy weights, Lucas is on a crusade to bring 3-D to theaters everywhere, and not just in a "Comin' At Ya" novelty sort of way. We're talking quality movies presented in 3-D through digital projection.

Now this could be a tricky proposition as the theater industry is perfectly content with the way things are, and there are plenty out there who aren't too fond of the whole 3-D gimmick. Hell, even Roger Ebert has said in the past that he isn't really into the 3-D thing (although he did give a very favorable review to James Cameron's recent Ghosts of the Abyss). If Ebert were able to see what we saw at this presentation, I guarantee his opinion would be greatly altered. This wasn't the colored lens style that many audiences are accustomed to. This is the polarized style. The glasses feature clear lenses (making for much brighter images) and are quite comfortable.

Not only is Lucas interested in the future of this technology, but he's also hoping to tinker with pre-existing films such as Star Wars. I can hear fans scoffing already, but they shouldn't be. This was an impressive demonstration and it was where the true highlight of ShoWest 2005 came into play. Lucas and Cameron presented a couple of promo reels demonstrating digital 3-D. Included--the first eight minutes of A New Hope transferred into the 3-D format. What can I tell you? No words can describe it. The quality of what we saw was staggering. In many ways, it looked better than the standard 2-D print. In addition, we were treated to numerous 3-D transferred scenes including Attack of the Clones, Lilo and Stitch, and a couple of quick scenes from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings. It was absolute breathtaking, and I'm still sort of reeling from it.

What's more, George Lucas let the audience in on his big master plan. This isn't official, but Lucas did say what he hopes to do is re-release Star Wars in theaters yet again. He would do so in the year 2007 for the 30th anniversary, but this time, the film will be in 3-D. Then, he'll re-release one installment each year starting the following year, until we've seen the entire series in 3-D. WOW! This guy is a madman. But a brilliant mad man. After this presentation was over, I was completely sold on the entire idea. Listening to these icons talk about the process and their pure love for movies and the future of film presentation, was incredibly infectious, and after the press conference was over, I was even more excited about the idea.

What made the press conference so amazing was the intimacy of it. There were only about twenty-five of us. It was a small scale affair to be sure. I was able to get a couple of questions in. Nothing major, but still worth mentioning. I asked Lucas about the status of Indiana Jones even though I'm sure he's tired of being asked that question. Not surprisingly, he was vague and would only say that they're still working on the script. I also asked if there was any chance that we might get trilogy screenings in theaters when Episode III opens this May (like New Line did with Lord of the Rings series), and unfortunately, it doesn't look like it. Cameron was asked about his new film Battle Angel (which will be shot in 3-D), and while he appeared very excited about the project, he wouldn't release very many details. He just mentioned it was a futuristic sci-fi flick in 3-D with tons of effects. Pretty much stuff we already know. Rodriguez was delighted (as was the audience) to see Spy Kids 3 footage in the polarized 3-D style as opposed to that colored lens style that audiences saw it in when it was first released. He also joked that it would be fun to go back and change the vampire portion of From Dusk to Dawn to 3-D. That received a huge round of applause. I suggested a possible Sin City 3-D upgrade and he was quick to point out how cool that would be, especially given that it's based on a graphic novel.

There was just so much to take in and I really haven't even scratched the surface in terms of what was covered, but you all get the basic idea. Lucas, Cameron, Rodriguez, and Zemeckis (whose Polar Express Imax 3-D experience must be seen to be believed) are clearly interested in changing the way we view films in a theater. With the growing popularity of home theaters, it's clear they want to keep things fresh and exciting, and with Imax starting to take off, and the possibility of this 3-D process, things are finally looking to change. It's all really exciting even if the purist in me is a little nervous. After what I saw though, I'm more exhilarated than anything else. 3-D won't be for everybody, but for a crazed movie fan like me, it's seems like the next perfect evolutionary step.

At the end of the press conference, I slipped Rodriguez a business card and told him that I was bummed Sin City wasn't screened at ShoWest. I told him I couldn't wait to see it to which he replied; "It kicks ass!" I don't doubt it. As for Lucas, he was very gracious and even took a couple of pictures with the fans.

In the end, I'd like to say thanks to the panel and to DLP and Christie projectors for one of the highlights of my film loving life. This was the thrill of a lifetime.

AWARDS BANQUET AND PRESS CONFERENCE
Each year, I attend the Awards Press conference. What I like most about it, is the fact that it's a small scale affair. This was even more intimate than the 3-D demonstration press conference. There was hardly anyone there, making it all the more exciting. Sadly, only seven or eight celebs showed up to the interview room. The highlight was George Lucas, who I had the opportunity to meet just one short hour earlier. He was on hand to accept the ShoWest Galactic Achievement Award. While answering questions, he mentioned that he's pretty confident that Episode III will get a PG-13 rating. He's also been suggesting to crowds that this new Star Wars film is quite the tear jerker. Folks he's screened it too have reportedly gotten teary eyed while watching it. Episode III: The Tear Jerker. Interesting.

The Awards Banquet itself was a grand time. It started off with an extravagant dinner featuring Filet Mignon as the main course. An amazing meal.

The Awards Ceremony was hosted by Billy Bush and Shaun Robinson of Access Hollywood.

Mel Gibson made a surprise appearance to collect a special honorary award. I really dug this, especially after seeing this gifted director virtually shut out in the awards circuit. Love it or hate it (I loved it), his Passion of the Christ is a skillfully crafted piece of art that I'll never forget.

Each award recipient was on hand to accept their honor following a promo reel featuring clips from their work. The winners were;

SHOWEST GALACTIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARD - George Lucas
DISTINGUISHED DECADE OF ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM - Drew Barrymore
SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR - Rachel McAdams (The Notebook) (she's going to be a big star)
MALE STAR OF TOMORROW - Hayden Christensen (Episode III) (if you haven't seen Shattered Glass, it's a must)
ANIMATION DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR - Brad Bird (The Incredibles)
FEMALE STAR OF TOMORROW - Jessica Biel (Stealth)
COMEDY STAR OF THE YEAR - Bernie Mac (Mr. 3000)
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR - Rob Cohen (Stealth) (I don't get this one at all)
MALE STAR OF THE YEAR - Matt Damon (Bourne Supremacy- watch the new season of Project Greenlight on Bravo-it's a scream)
FEMALE STAR OF THE YEAR - Jennifer Aniston

CLOSING REMARKS
Overall, ShoWest 2005 appeared smaller than year's past, but it still provided all the thrills I hoped for, particularly on the final day. I had a great time, and I'll certainly attend next year.

Finally, I'd like to offer up a special thanks to Press Coordinators Jason Padgitt, and Liane Mori. I wasn't blessed with All-Access this year, but I appreciated their hospitality. Thanks guys.

We'll see you next year.