ShoWest: The Finale

By Kevin Lally

Seth Rogen, ShoWest Comedy Star of Year, stole the show at the closing-night banquet and awards ceremony Thursday night, emceed by Nancy O'Dell and Billy Bush of "Access Hollywood." "It's like a thousand bar mitzvahs at once!" the portly star of Knocked Up enthused as he gazed out at the sea of tables in the Paris Hotel ballroom.

"How hot does Nancy O'Dell look?" Rogen said, seemingly still in character from his raunchy comedies. "Many childhood memories are reaching fruition."

After praising exhibitors for being "crazy enough to play my movies," he noted that this was his first award, but said he was a little miffed that he didn't have to compete for it. So he would just have to pretend: "Sorry, Jim Carrey, Jack Black, Adam Sandler, Sacha Baron Cohen..."

Star of Tomorrow Emile Hirsch, acclaimed for Sean Penn's Into the Wild and starring in the Wachowski Brothers' upcoming Speed Racer, was celebrating his 23rd birthday Thursday, and thanked the audience for a very special present. He also revealed that the rigors of Into the Wild prepared him well for the Wachowskis, whose painstaking direction requires "the patience of a lifetime."

Brendan Fraser, honored for a "Distinguised Decade of Achievement," noted that he'd been in films since 1992, so "there's probably ten good years in there." The star and co-producer of the upcoming Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D urged exhibitors to "get in on the ground floor" and convert their theatres to digital 3D.

Christopher Nolan, named Director of the Year in anticipation of this summer's The Dark Knight, marveled at "how many people you're dependent on" after seeing the "cavalcade of imagery" in his clip reel. Saluting exhibitors, he declared, "Your screens are the reason I do what I do."

Male Star of the Year Robert Downey, Jr., who appears later this year in Iron Man and Tropic Thunder, seemed less than thrilled to be at ShoWest, but got in one good self-deprecating joke about his clip reel: "It left out a whole year of guest spots on Court TV."

Finally, radiant Female Star of the Year Anne Hathaway, who appears as Agent 99 in this summer's Get Smart, said she was "humbled and overwhelmed" by her award. "I love being a storyteller," she declared, telling exhibitors, "Without places to play in, we're just dreamers. We really need you!"