Friday, 13 March 1998

SHOWEST: DAY FOUR
Once again, I am writing in the middle of the day. This morning there was supposed to be a press conference by 20th Century Fox, which is not otherwise participating at ShoWest this year. The rumor was that it would either be Warren Beatty selling this summer's long-delayed Bulworth, or the official announcement that Fox has secured the distribution rights to Star Wars: Chapter One. It was neither, because it was canceled at the very last minute. Was it wacky Warren deciding he didn't feel like facing the press, or a legal snare in the Star Wars deal? I don't know. But that was the irritating start of my day.

An hour or so later, it was the line-up for the Miramax luncheon. No press conference, just a press row, which always makes life hard for print journalists. TV folks can ask the stupidest questions to air in the smallest countries, but if they have a video rig, they are more valued than we, ink- stained wretches. The line-up was Matt Damon, Minnie Driver and the cast of 54, the studio's film about the very real, ultra-hip Studio 54 of the '70s (newly re-opened). Matt and Minnie were actually separated by the 54 cast, with Matt leading and Minnie taking up the tail end. But in some form of revenge, Minnie got off the best line of the day when asked about whether she would miss all the press attention when the Oscar buzz calmed. She said, "Oh yes. But I'll be looking for all of you huddled out by my garbage cans." The only insight from "I'm not talking to the press"-Matt came when he was asked how he felt about the upcoming night at the Academy. "I don't know," he said with a multi-million dollar grin. The man is a genius!

Miramax's product reel featured a new Matt Damon movie that has our boy Matt as a genius card player who gets in with the wrong crowd. It wasn't called "Good Will Gambling," but it should have been. 54 looks like it caught the feel of the era. It stars Ryan Phillipe (I Know What You Did Last Summer), Neve Campbell (Scream), Salma Hayek (she is so gorgeous) and Mike Meyers as a very funny Steve Rubell. Lots of nudity, drugs and homosexuality in the footage they showed. In a Mike Myers movie! I'm looking forward to the 54/The Last Days of Disco double feature. Also up was Nightwatch, the Ewan McGregor thriller that was promoted at last year's ShoWest. They must be holding it up because it's really, really good (tee-hee). Plus, we got the word (there's no footage yet) on Scream 3 and the next Halloween sequel, H2O. Miramax's copy promised that "blood is much thicker than water." The writing in the movie had better top that or there'll be trouble. One small bit of news is that Jamie Lee Curtis' mother, Janet "Psycho" Leigh, will be joining her daughter in this one. Also, Killing Mrs. Tingle is now known as "The Kevin Williamson/Robert Rodriquez Project." Can't wait to get the album.

Now, a quick word on the DreamWorks event. Cool. The product reel was made up of Paulie (a Babe-like film about a talking bird who really says what he thinks), Small Soldiers (a Joe Dante film that kind of combines Toy Story and Gremlins as toy soldiers get a computer chip that was meant for real war. Explosions ensue.), Steven Spielberg's WWII drama, Saving Private Ryan (almost no footage here, but the "saving" is an attempt to keep Ryan (Damon), alive after three of his brothers have been killed in the war already), Neil Jordan's In Dreams (a psychological thriller with a creepy Robert Downey Jr., invading Annette Bening's dream world), and the animated bible flick, The Prince of Egypt.

The lowdown is that everyone expects Spielberg to make a good movie, but without footage, Pvt. Ryan was a non-issue. Paulie got some smiles and some groans. In Dreams wasn't a big hit as a preview, but it could be a great movie. Prince of Egypt was impressive and beautiful, but theater owners I talked to still wondered if audiences would sit down to an animated drama. And the smash hit was Small Soldiers, which looks like a big fat money machine. Lots of merchandising and incredibly clever. And best of all, if the dialogue is flat, it can be redone without reshoots. So, while Prince was all the buzz going in, Small Soldiers had the king as we exited.

The DreamWorks party that I've been raving about was an open house at Spielberg's GameWorks, the ultra-up-to-date, ultra-cool video game haven that will soon turn up in a city near you. Everything was open and everything was free. Alcohol, fried foods, women in short skirts, and all the video games you could play. An 8-year-old boy's dream. And if you looked at the faces of most of the men, you could see that the dream had come true. More on this, including photos, in next week's ShoWest feature.

Tomorrow, the ShoWest Awards and a wrap up on the week in Vegas. Or go back in time and read Day One, Day Two or Day Three.