ShoWest Day Two: Independent Spirit

By Kevin Lally

For several years now, ShoWest has programmed a very successful Monday night evening of independent film, at which attendees could choose two movies from a menu of as many as seven new films from the specialty film companies. This year, the Las Vegas show has for the first time coordinated a special lunchtime event to acknowledge the growing clout of this sector of the moviegoing universe, which was especially well-represented in last month's Oscar race.

Ted Mundorff, CEO of leading art-house circuit Landmark Theatres, very ably moderated the program, which honored three Oscar winners and two acclaimed writer-directors. The biggest coup of the day was the appearance of screen icon Robert Redford, who accepted the inaugural ShoWest Visionary Award for his championing of new filmmakers and independent cinema via his Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival and their many offshoots.

Redford seemed genuinely humble as he asked, "Are you sure you've got the right guy?"--noting that he's sometimes confused with that fellow who makes the salad dressing. "What was once specialized is becoming the norm," he declared, "and we're all the better for it." Redford insisted that he's not anti-Hollywood, that he's happily worked in mainstream films along with more specialized projects, and the only reason he created Sundance in the mountains of Utah was because it was land he could afford. Still, he surmised that there's something to be said for a creative process situated in "a pure nature environment free from the sturm und drang of the marketplace."

In closing, Redford urged the industry "to continue to invest in new voices, and stories well told, told in new ways" and to "always move past what is acceptable and known."

The convention also presented its first ShoWest/NATO Freedom of Expression Award to director Ang Lee and his writing-producing partner James Schamus (also a co-founder of Focus Features) for sending out their film Lust, Caution with the NC-17 rating, an option NATO has been encouraging. NATO president John Fithian contends that the majority of cinema owners do not shun the rating, and declared in his introduction, "Serious filmmakers need to take the NC-17 rating seriously," while praising Lee and Schamus as "men of courage, imagination and genius."

Schamus mischievously took his opportunity at the podium to recount his experience dealing with the ratings board on the subversive Todd Solondz film Happiness, insisting that each of the board members at the time resembled Margaret Thatcher. Asked why they were giving Happiness an NC-17, their response was succinct: "It's obvious."

Honoree David Mamet, whose film Redbelt (with a charismatic lead performance by rising star Chiwetel Ejiofor) screened in the Monday indie showcase, also spoke in praise of freedom of expression: "It's fortunate that our forefathers insisted on a country where it's nobody's business who expresses what."

ShoWest also honored debuting directors Helen Hunt and Alan Ball (Oscar winner for American Beauty), whose films Then She Found Me and Towelhead also screened Monday night.

Late Night Star Power

I'm writing this last item at 2:30 a.m., all because ShoWest co-managing director Mitch Neuhauser talked me into going to the midnight screening of Fox's comedy What Happens in Vegas, hinting there would be a very special guest. Turns out it was star Cameron Diaz, looking great and very happy to be in Vegas, despite a 7 a.m. call on the movie she's currently shooting. The film is unfinished and therefore not reviewable, but suffice it to say Fox chairman Tom Rothman told the crowd it's the studio's best-testing comedy since There's Something About Mary, and the Vegas audience's response was strong.

Diaz's surprise appearance came just a few hours after another surprise at the 9:30 screening of Kung Fu Panda: Jeffrey Katzenberg introducing his Shrek good-luck charm Mike Myers, who appeared with Jessica Alba to unveil some scenes from his zany new comedy The Love Guru. Where else but at ShoWest can you see Mike Myers kiss Jeffrey Katzenberg on the lips?

As for Kung Fu Panda, also shown in incomplete form, don't be surprised if it and What Happens in Vegas wind up on next year's honor roll of $100 million films.