ShoWest Wraps Up
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ShoWest 2006 threw itself a wrap party Thursday night, but not before Warner Bros. availed itself of the opportunity to brag on its upcoming slate of “event” movies. The company, which once was known for sponsoring the most star-studded of all ShoWest banquets, has been a no-show for the last few years. Instead, the “new” MGM – a company with more lives than a pride of big cats – paid for the luncheon, while WB honcho Alan Horn chipped in for dessert. It arrived in the form of extended clips from “Poseidon,” “Superman Returns,” “Lady in the Water” and “Happy Feet.”
Horn introduced director Wolfgang Petersen, who, in turn, rambled on about how “passionate” he was about his re-make of the 1972 disaster epic, “The Poseidon Adventure” (let’s hope someone thinks of dedicating it to the memory of Shelley Winters). If the clip didn’t appear to overwhelm folks in the audience, it probably was because they’d already seen something very much like it on NBC last fall. The ILM-rendered tidal wave looked pretty spectacular, but the B-list cast – Richard Dreyfuss, Emmy Rossum, Kurt Russell, Jacinda Barrett and Josh Logan – hardly inspired confidence. Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns” will be the no-brainer option for July 4 viewing, and M. Night Shayamalan’s “Lady in the Water” shows promise, if only because of the estimable presence of Paul Giamatti and a spooky Bryce Dallas Howard.
It would be interesting to know if WB green-lit “Happy Feet” before or after its arthouse division picked up “March of the Penguins.” George Miller’s cute-as-button computer-animated feature has all the trappings of a fictional sequel to the wildly popular documentary. In this case, however, the Emperor penguins are less interested in marching than dancing … tap dancing. Among the voice actors are Robin Williams, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Elijah Wood and Brittany Murphy, names the assembled exhibitors probably would have preferred to add to their marquees for “Poseidon.” Do penguins have legs? We’ll see.
Meanwhile, MGM execs showed clips from their first lineup: “Lucky Number Slevin,” “Harsh Times,” “I Could Never Be Your Woman,” “Fragile,” “Breaking and Entering,” “The Flock” and “Van Wilder Deux: The Rise of Taj.” Anyone feel like wagering on how long it will take for Kirk Kerkorian to buy back and then re-sell the company?
The Final Night Banquet finally provided attendees an opportunity to use their cellphone cameras. This year’s honor roll was odd, indeed, in that the committee seemed just as interested in anticipating stellar performances and box-office success, as it was in rewarding good work already in the books. For example, neither director of the year, Shayamalan, nor male star of year, Jackman, actually had a picture in release in 2005. Nor did “stars of tomorrow,” Brandon Routh or Jennifer Hudson. Laurence Fishburne is an excellent actor – better than most — but there are plenty of others who had better decades. Other winners were Dakota Fanning, Vince Vaughn and Consumer Choice-pick “The Chronicles of Narnia.”
I can tell you that Happy Feet went into production in 2003, Nicole Kidman recorded her voice for her role in December 2003.
josh logan? you mean josh lucas … mb