[Bryant:] Welcome back. So again, today`s "Entertainment Weekly" pop culture quiz. Which screen legend appeared with Olivia Newton-John in "Xanadu"? Was it, A, Bette Davis, B, Bing Crosby, C, Gene Kelly, or D, Fred Astaire? The answer is C, Gene Kelly.
[Hammer:] Now, you remember the movie "Xanadu"? All the characters were on roller skates. Well, Matthew McConaughey is on wheels of a different sort. Late this afternoon, we caught up with the actor in New York City, along with his souped-up Airstream trailer that you see right here, decked out with art from his upcoming movie, "Sahara," all part of a six-week cross-country tour. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT spoke to McConaughey, and we asked him what star drives across the country just to promote a movie?
[Matthew Mcconaughey, "sahara":] Nobody that I know of, man. And when I came up with the idea, it just made so much sense, when I went to Paramount and started trying to plan the trip and started telling people about it and making plans for it. But there obviously wasn`t a reference point for how it`s been done before, but it made so much sense. And it did take I had to keep repeating to people, No, I`m going, and whether you`re going to help me out or not, but we need to get this together and try and organize it somewhat, knowing that part of the adventure is the unexpected things are going to happen. But we started off with a lot of laughs, and then it turned into a lot of people going, Man, you can`t do that. And I was, like, Yes, I can. Watch.
[Hammer:] Well, in "Sahara," McConaughey plays a master explorer searching for a long-lost Civil War battleship and its secret treasure. The movie opens nationwide on April 8.
[Bryant:] Oh, yes, it`s 14 past the hour, and when you hear that music, you know things are going down in the "SHOWBIZ Showdown"! Now, when you go to the movie theater you expect to see a few trailers before the film, but how do you feel when 30 minutes of commercials unspool before those trailers? Well, it`s gotten one New York City councilwoman upset enough to introduce a bill that would make theaters print the actual start times of the movies without the ads. That is the focus of tonight`s "SHOWBIZ Showdown" and tonight`s hot topic, commercials before the movies. Is there anything wrong with that? Now, before we get to this, though, we want to take you out to the streets. We went to ask moviegoers today how they feel about the issue.
[Unidentified Male:] I hate them, passionately hate them. I wish I didn`t see them.
[Unidentified Female:] I don`t like the commercials at all. They`re very irritating. And I see enough of those on regular TV. I don`t pay for that when I go to the movies.
[Unidentified Male:] No, it`s fine. It`s no problem. Why don`t they bother you? Excuse me? Why don`t they bother you? Same as TV, regular TV. It just doesn`t bother me. It`s no problem.
[Bryant:] Well, there you go. That`s what people told us today. Joining us now to debate are Paul Cappelli, he is CEO and founder of The Ad Store, And Gale Brewer, the New York City Council member who introduced the bill that would make theaters print the actual start times of movies. Gale, I`m going to start with you. Why the need to turn this into a law?
[Gale Brewer, New York City Council Member:] We need to turn it into a law because it is expensive to go to the movies. With my family, it`s $40 plus the Coke and the soda. And the fact of the matter is, we want to go to the movies and not see the ads. We`re sitting there captive, not at home. At home, we can turn them off. So we want to go to the movies. We want to know when the ads start and when the movies start. We want to go to the movies.
[Bryant:] Paul, what do you have to say about the issue?
[Paul Cappelli, The Ad Store:] I think it`s just really a matter of the type of commercials that you`re seeing. I think it`s a public enterprise. People can have commerce wherever they want. I think it`s silly to ask for legislation. Common courtesy would dictate that, yes, maybe you can tell people what time actually the movie starts, but I also think that most New Yorkers certainly know what time the actual movie starts. There`s always some kind of a pre-show.
[Brewer:] People do not know what time the movies start. They get there and think that they`re going to see it. And it`s true, in the state of Connecticut, it`s got legislation. Illinois has a lawsuit. And they`re doing it in Paris and London. They`re listing the times of the ads and then the movies. So the fact of the matter is, it is irritating people. And the fact is, the amount of ads has gone way up, 45 percent between 2002 and 2003. And the fact of the matter is, we want to see the movies, and we want to go as a family. That`s what we`re spending our money on.
[Cappelli:] Again, I just think that it`s I have no problem with showing two different times, showing telling people what time the pre- show starts, what time the movie starts. But I hardly think this is something that is necessary for legislation. There are much more important issues in New York City for consumers, for the public, than making legislation about movie theaters. Come on.
[Bryant:] Now, Paul, how about this, though. I mean, you know, it is - there is the notion that, you know, some people pay upwards of $10 to go to the movie theaters. The last thing they want to do is watch a half an hour of commercials. What if they lowered the ticket price, and said, OK, if you come for the commercials, you only have it pay $7? Because I know it`s for revenue for the theaters, but it is a little irritating.
[Cappelli:] Well, it probably is irritating, but yet, I think some of it is because the types of commercials that they show. You know, you were mentioning earlier that in Europe, they have show times versus movie times. In Europe, a lot of theaters also don`t allow commercials in movie theaters that have been shown on television. So when people go there, they`re actually in for a treat because they get to see some entertainment that is different, something they haven`t seen at home. It actually becomes more entertainment. And I think that`s a much better solution, rather than trying to legislate what movie theaters, what private enterprises can do and can`t do in a public forum.
[Brewer:] Paul, if every single theater tomorrow decided that they were going to do the separate advertising of ads and then movies, we`d love it.
[Cappelli:] Yes, but you may not because, you know, it brings up another issue that you`re not going to be able to control, which is, if you know that the commercials start a half hour before the movie starts, so you also know that if you want to get a better seat, you have to get there a half hour early. So if you don`t want to see the commercials, you`re going to have to get...
[Bryant:] So in order...
[Cappelli:] ... a worse seat.
[Bryant:] ... to get a good seat to enjoy the movie that you really want, you have to bite the bullet and watch the commercials? Is that what you are saying?
[Cappelli:] Yes. Yes. And I don`t think it`s 30 minutes of commercials. I think that`s a bit of an exaggeration.
[Bryant:] All right, well...
[Cappelli:] I mean, there are previews, and previews aren`t really commercials.
[Bryant:] Well, you are in the ad business, though, so I guess that you know, obviously, we know where you stand on this one. Paul Cappelli, CEO and founder of The Ad Store, and Gale Brewer, New York councilwoman, thank you both for joining us. You know, it may not be the issue that you lose sleep over at night, but you know, people do talk about this one. We do want to know your thoughts, so let us know. It is our "SHOWBIZ Showdown" question of the day. Is it OK to show commercials in movie theaters? You can vote at cnn.comshowbiztonight. Or if you want to tell us more, e-mail us at showbiztonight@cnn.com. We`ll share some of what you had to say later in the show.
[Hammer:] I lose sleep over it. Well, here`s another question. Is it OK to wake up at the crack of dawn and stand out in the freezing cold in New York City? The answer for all of these fans is yes. So why did they show up? We`re going to tell you why coming up.
[Bryant:] Plus, Bebe On board. She`s on the new "Law & Order," which starts tonight. What she told me about how the show is dealing with death of one of its biggest stars, coming up.