Stars, theater owners collide at CinemaCon
Keanu Reeves was just standing there in Gordon Ramsay’s pub in Caesars Palace, posing for photos with excited movie theater managers from across America.
“He seemed very nice. It was just a few seconds, but it was fantastic,” said Sergio Contreras, of Village Centre Cinemas in Washington state, after standing in the long Keanu line.
In another part of the pub, a certain Las Vegas illusionist was just standing there, saying hello to Barbara Contreras, a manager for a 10-screen theater for the same Village Centre Cinemas.
“I got to meet David Copperfield. Magic!” she told me afterward. “I was waiting for him to disappear or something, but that didn’t happen.”
These celebrity meet-and-greets are a big hook for this week’s CinemaCon, the annual pilgrimage in which movie theater people meet Hollywood stars and execs and watch extended clips of upcoming films.
The star power leads to gossip. So one big story here has been Jennifer Lawrence, not just because she was standing on a promotional stage when co-star Chris Pratt dropped a microphone on her foot, but because she wasn’t wearing a bra under her tank top.
Her bralessness spawned America’s continuing juvenile saga which I refer to as, “How much more demeaning can the media be with Jennifer Lawrence?”
“Entertainment Tonight” led with her bralessness online: “but she didn’t expose too much — she was actually wearing nipple covers!”
There were headlines in the Daily Mail (“Jennifer Lawrence goes bra-less”); US Weekly (“Jennifer Lawrence Goes Braless, Flashes Toned Legs in Sheer Skirt”); Reveal.com (“Jennifer Lawrence gives her bra the elbow”); Cosmopolitan (“Jennifer Lawrence Free-Boobs for Days in Skintight Sheer Top”); Yahoo (“Jennifer Lawrence Went Braless and the Internet Is Losing Its Mind”); Look (“All Eyes Were On J-Law’s Underwear”); and TheBlemish.com (“Jennifer Lawrence, Braless. Now Give Me Those Pageviews”).
We are a nation of 12-year-olds. More evidence of that hypothesis?
An R-rated “Baywatch” flick was announced at CinemaCon, along with more news about how DC comics will have 10 comic book films in the next four years, plus more news about how Warren Beatty (one of our greatest living filmmakers) will spend his 80th year filming a sequel to “Dick Tracy,” as well as more news about about a LEGO movie.
CinemaCon is marketing overload to the point that one of the biggest search results on Facebook for “CinemaCon” is people posting the logo from “Men in Black”/”21 Jump Street.” Everyone knew those franchises were being turned into a mashup film. But the logo was released at CinemaCon. OMG, logos, hurray!
It was so much marketing, even Amelia Rockcastle, marketing coordinator for the Village Centre Cinemas, was overwhelmed by the awesomeness of CinemaCon, which she was thoroughly enjoying, as were most people.
“There’s just so much to see, and there are so many people to meet and talk to,” Rockcastle said.
But don’t take my humor for cynicism. CinemaCon keeps the Hollywood grease gooey.
When I was leaving the convention Wednesday night, I ran into Christian Meoli, a self-described “disruptor” and “cinema hacker” who operates the 100-seat indie-film theater Arena Cinema Hollywood.
Even this indie guy was thrilled to be there, saying CinemaCon is a “must-attend” for someone like him to get face time with everyone in the movie industry.
As a comic book nerd, he also got to see some civil war movie, before his friends did.
“To be honest, that was one of the incentives for coming. But don’t tell my wife,” he cracked.
What was his favorite part of CinemaCon?
A truck-like thing he could buy. It’s the Cinetransformer, a pop-up theater.
“This is (like) a food truck. This is essentially a movie theater truck” with 91 seats, and Meoli was told he could own one for roughly $800,000.
“You get a projector, popcorn, box office. It’s the whole theater!” he said, earning an exclamation point.
Is there anyone at CinemaCon he would stand in line for?
“I would stand in line to meet the CEO of AMC, Cinemark, Regal,” he said, naming the theater chains.
“They are the rock stars of this conference. That’s a great headline.”
Doug Elfman can be reached at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman. On Twitter: @VegasAnonymous
