Monsters, Robots and Tom Cruise: Inside the 'Pacific Rim' Premiere

From left: Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Hunnam and Charlie Day
Pacific Rim, Legendary and Warner Bros.’ monsters vs. mechs tentpole directed by Guillermo del Toro, stomped into Hollywood on Tuesday night with a premiere screening at the Dolby Theatre.

The movie brought out del Toro collaborators such as director Alfonso Cuaron and Lost co-creator Carlton Cuse as well as Tom Cruise, who graciously allowed himself to be mobbed by fans in the Dolby’s lobby.

PHOTOS: 'Pacific Rim' Premiere: Big Robots Bring Out the Big Stars

Cruise's appearance, coupled with news breaking that Legendary was signing a term deal with Universal, fueled speculation among geeks that del Toro could once again try mounting his passion project, At the Mountains of Madness. (Cruise was in talks to star in the project before it was killed by Universal in 2011.)

Rim played extremely well in the theater, which was filled with not only Hollywood types but members of the general public, who were no doubt unaware of the hand-wringing going on among studio execs over the movie’s low tracking numbers and certain media reports discounting the movie’s box-office chances.

At the premiere's afterparty, held in a nearby parking lot converted to look like a setting from the movie, del Toro told The Hollywood Reporter that he tries to focus on his job as a filmmaker and push any swirling speculation to the side.

“To me, the duties as a filmmaker, from Cronos [his first feature] to now, are the same,” he said. “Does it look bigger than its budget? Yes. Did I put all the production value on the screen? Yes. Does it have original visual ideas and a new way of looking at a mythology? Yes. Was I fiscally responsible? Yes. That’s it. After that, it’s inside baseball. And I don't play inside baseball.”

On another side of the party, beyond glass cases filled with the movie’s armored costumes and hosts peddling Patron-infused ice cream sandwiches, star Charlie Hunnam mingled with new Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara and newly named Warner Bros. Pictures president Greg Silverman.

FILM REVIEW: Pacific Rim

Hunnam noted the movie goes against the grain in a summer filled with sequels, reboots and branded entertainment.

“In this landscape of filmmaking, I feel that to have something original is really refreshing,” he said. “It’s a lot harder to sell, and here you have to explain the whole breadth of this world. Word of mouth is the holy grail of advertising, and hopefully word of mouth will be really good and get people coming in.”

Rim is del Toro’s first movie since 2008’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army, but for not for lack of trying. The filmmaker was at one time set to direct The Hobbit, then Madness, but he wound up doing neither, for different reasons, which he called “the most fortuitous accidents in my life.”

His movies until now have ranged from low-budget to moderate, and Rim, on a technical and budgetary (between $175 million to $200 million) scale, marks a big jump for him.

“Logistically, prepping to do The Hobbit and prepping to do At the Mountains of Madness strangely enough were like cardio preparing for weightlifting," he said. "I got in shape.”

Pacific Rim opens in theaters Friday.

Twitter: @sajilpl

Deep inside Windows 8.1's hidden new features

After months of teasing and torture, the Windows 8.1 Developer Preview is finally here, ready to deliver us from many of Windows 8’s glaring flaws. You’ve no doubt already heard about Windows 8.1’s biggest new features: The Start button is back, Bing owns the Search charm, the split-screen Snap feature is customizable, yada yada yada. You know the drill.

 

What hasn’t been talked about much are the subtler changes—the hidden secrets tucked away in the dark corners of Windows 8.1, whispering and waiting for a turn to shine rather than shouting their proverbial presence from the proverbial rooftops.

 

No, these gems aren’t as flashy as Windows 8’s newfound ability to sync apps and Internet Explorer 11 tabs across multiple devices, but they’re arguably just as (if not more) handy. And there’s no way you’ll find them unless you dig deep...or read this enlightening guide.



Let’s start with something basic, but far from obvious.

 

Yes, the Start button is back...but the Start menu isn’t. So you still need to swipe through a multiclick process involving the charm bar if you want to shut down your PC—if you don’t know about the Start button’s secret menu, that is.

 

Right-clicking the Start button that appears when you hover your mouse cursor in the lower-left corner of the screen brings up a bevy of powerful options, including quick links to deep stuff like Disk Management and Command Prompt tools.

 

Now, the menu itself isn’t new to Windows 8.1. What is new is the addition of a Shut Down option to said menu. Hovering over it for a second gives you options to shut down or restart your PC right then and there, no fiddling with hidden menus required.



The Taskbar Properties option is another old friend with a subtle new look—and a crucial one for desktop diehards. Did you hear that Windows 8.1 lets you boot directly to the desktop on start up? It does, but Microsoft clearly doesn’t really want you to do it, since the option is buried in this obscure corner of the OS.

 

Head to the desktop, right-click the taskbar, select Properties, and then open the brand-spankin’-new Navigation tab. There, you’ll find new options for disabling the uppermost hot corners. Those options are also available in the modern-style PC Settings, but many Start screen options can only be found here.

 

And how handy-dandy they are! Want to boot directly to the desktop or the All Apps screen? Here’s your chance, and the other selections are just as useful. (Show the desktop background on the Start screen? Yessssssss.)



While you’re busy taking advantage of all the hot resizable Snap size action in Windows 8.1, don’t forget that you can now have a single app open in multiple Snapped windows—something you couldn’t do in the original Windows 8 release.

 

Well, kinda.

 

Despite a lot of effort, I haven’t been very successful in getting that feature to function in the Windows 8.1 Developer Preview. Trying to open an app twice—or Snapping an app to one side of the screen and attempting to open a second instance—simply doesn’t work.

(Click to enlarge.)

You can open multiple instances of the modern version of Internet Explorer 11, though. If you have multiple tabs open, you can long-press one of them and select Open tab in new window in the resulting pop-up box. Alternatively, long-pressing a link on a webpage brings up several options at the bottom of the screen, including that ‘Open tab in a new window’ dialog.

 

Selecting that option causes the page to appear in another IE 11 window, and Windows 8.1 helpfully Snaps both windows into a 50/50 split.

 

SkyDrive takes on a much bigger role in Windows 8.1, driving Microsoft’s vision of a seamless, cloud-connected world even further.

 

In fact, SkyDrive is so vital an underpinning to Windows 8.1 that Microsoft dedicates an entire section to it in the modern-style PC Settings. A vast number of settings now sync and follow you from device to device by default—including modern apps, woohoo! But if you really want to live in the cloud, you’ll need to enable some options buried three or four levels down.

(Click to enlarge.)

Open the charm bar, and select Settings > Change PC Settings. From there, open the SkyDrive options and select Files in the left-hand menu bar.

 

Here you can acquire the ability to save documents and snapshots from your Camera Roll folder to SkyDrive by default, a downright awesome new option if you want to be able to sit down at virtually any Windows 8 computer and have it feel like your own.



Relaxing ain’t easy if your gadget blasts alarms throughout the day. Windows 8 has joined Apple and Android in embracing notifications, which make sounds and light up your lock screen even if you’re not holding your tablet in your hand. Fortunately, Windows 8.1 lets you silence the cacophony with its new Quiet Hours setting.

 

This one’s buried, too. Open the Settings charm, and navigate to Change PC Settings > Search and apps > Notifications. Scroll down the page a bit until you reach Quiet Hours. By default, Windows 8.1 is set to go silent from midnight to 6 a.m., but you can change the window to any time frame you desire.

(Click to enlarge.)

Something really irked me about the modern apps in the vanilla version of Windows 8. No, I’m not talking about their seas of wasted space (Windows 8.1 didn’t fix that!). I mean the fact that they were incredibly pesky to manage from anywhere except the Start screen. Modern apps don’t show up anywhere obvious in the desktop File Explorer’s folder structure, and you can’t eliminate them from the Control Panel’s Programs & Features interface, either. Bleh.

 

Windows 8.1 changes that. Huzzah!

 

Navigate to the Search & Apps section once again, and select App sizes in the left-hand menu. The screen populates with a full listing of all your installed modern apps, complete with the file size of each app. If you’re looking to free up some hard drive space, you can click an app to bring up an uninstall option.

 

People don’t likes wires, and neither does Windows 8.1. Like Android 4.2, Microsoft’s OS update includes full support for the fledgling Miracast wireless display standard, which basically acts like Apple’s AirPlay technology. It’s your PC screen, beamed to your TV or monitor as if by telecommunications magic!



Miracast is so new that you might have trouble finding compatible television sets at stores near you, but you can pick up Miracast receiver dongles that transform any TV with an HDMI port into a Miracast-compatible display. Even better, when Microsoft’s Xbox One console lands in time for the holidays, it’ll be a fully capable Miracast receiver, further deepening the synergies between Windows 8 and Xbox.

 

If you want to connect your Windows 8.1 device to a Miracast receiver, you can dig deep into the modern-style PC Settings. But the easier option is to open the Devices charm and select Project > Add a display. If there’s a Miracast display nearby, Windows 8 should find it.

 

Windows 8.1 brings a bevy of improvements to the way it handles the more exotic printers popping up these days. For one thing, Windows 8.1 packs 3D printer support in the form of a driver and a native API, and hopefully—hopefully—that will make the 3D printing process as simple as the traditional 2D printing process, rather than the complicated export-filled mess that it is now.

 

The idea is to allow you to kick 3D printers to life using the Print option under the Devices charm, so you can print from directly within that oh-so-fresh modern interface—assuming the printer’s software takes advantage of Microsoft’s support. Check out the image below to see Windows 8.1 printing to a MakerBot Replicator 2 3D printer.

Geekwire

But the cutting-edge printing action doesn’t stop there. Windows 8.1 also includes support for NFC printers. If both your Windows device and your printer are members of the (currently rare) NFC-enabled breed, simply tapping one against the other can automatically pair the two devices for hassle-free printing action.

 

And if NFC or 3D printers are just a bit too adventurous for you, you’ll be happy to hear that Windows 8.1 also includes Wi-Fi Direct printing capabilities. What does that mean? Simple: You can connect directly to a Wi-Fi Direct-enabled printer without having to jump on a Wi-Fi network or fuss with installing software, though the exact method will depend on your printer and device.

 

We’ve only just started to dig into Windows 8.1’s nooks and crannies. Did you find any particularly interesting gems hidden in Microsoft’s OS preview? Share ’em with your fellow geeks in the comments below!

 

Follow me on Twitter  @sajilpl

An Inside Look at How Toshiba’s KIRAbook Raises the Bar for Ultrabook Systems

Toshiba Kirabook i7 Touchscreen $2,000.00(Lowest Price) The Kirabook looks the part of a luxury laptop, and it’s the first Ultrabook to compete with Apple’s Retina lineup. But Toshiba made some disappointing decisions on the way to a $2000 price tag.

 



All Intel inspired Ultrabook™ systems offer slim designs, lightweight builds, productivity-boosting battery life, and so on. But with so much in common, some models end up getting lost in the crowd.  Toshiba engineered its KIRAbook to stand out. It’s slim and lightweight, yes, but goes beyond the Ultrabook basics by integrating state-of-the-art features in exciting new ways.

 

“KIRAbook is not about being first-to-market with new technologies,” says Carl Pinto, vice president of marketing, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. “Instead, it focuses on implementing these advanced technologies into the form factor in the best way possible.”



The KIRAbook features an Intel Core processor powering a damage-resistant Corning Concore Glass display with a 10-point multi-touch surface. Unlike many 13.3-inch Ultrabook systems, which keep screen resolution low and limit gesture capabilities to the touchpad, the KIRAbook employs a PixelPure touchscreen with a native 2,560 x 1,440-pixel resolution. With a pixel density of 221 pixels per inch, the razor-sharp screen excels at games, movies, photos, and other image-oriented activities. Indeed, for photo editing in particular, PixelPure allows for the kind of fine-detail work that would normally require a high-end desktop monitor.

 

“We color-calibrated each unit’s screen at the factory for optimal picture quality and a broad range of true-to-life colors, something no one else in the industry does,” notes Pinto. To help highlight the KIRAbook’s photo and video acumen, Toshiba bundles full versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 and Premiere Elements 11.



The KIRAbook incorporates several industry-leading design elements, including a magnesium-alloy lid and chassis, DTS Studio Sound-enhanced Harman Kardon speakers, and a roomy touchpad that supports all Windows 8 gestures, just like the screen.

 

The entire system weighs only 2.6 pounds, with a profile that’s a mere 0.7 inches. Despite these svelte specs, the KIRAbook packs a full-size HDMI output, three USB 3.0 ports (most Ultrabook systems have just two), and a backlit keyboard for easier typing in low-light environments. Intel® Wireless Display is on hand to allow wireless screen sharing with compatible TVs and projectors, and a 256GB solid-state drive allows for lightning-fast booting, shutdown, and overall performance.

 

Pinto sums it up thusly: “KIRAbook was designed to be the perfect union of elegant design, meticulous craftsmanship, and unparalleled performance—it is ultimately equipped with all the features and capabilities a user could ever need.”

Twitter: @sajilpl

Inside Audi's Push to Take Over Hollywood

Look to the Iron Man 3 premiere outside the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood in April. There's Robert Downey Jr. pulling up in a 2014 R8 Spyder he drove himself. Over there, it's Gwyneth Paltrow arriving in an A8L TDI clean diesel as are castmates Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce. There's Ben Kingsley pulling up in a A8L, Hayley Atwell arriving in a Q7 TDI and Chris Evans, Jon Favreau and Zachary Levi all in A8Ls. Audi had more than 40 chauffeur-driven cars on hand at the premiere, all part of its plan to take over Hollywood, or at least its driveways.

PHOTOS: How Audi Took Over Hollywood

Look at the parking queue for any recent high-profile Hollywood event -- the Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar viewing party, the Women in Film pre-Emmys and Oscars receptions, the Chrysalis Butterfly Ball, an Art of Elysium Golden Globes event, the Motion Picture & TV Fund's Reel Stories, Real Lives fund­raiser and the brand's own Golden Globes and Emmy preparties -- and you'll see an armada of Audi sedans and SUVs, drivers idling, waiting to whisk away Diane Keaton, Elizabeth Banks, Jessica Chastain, Michael Sheen, Joel McHale, Keira Knightley, Damian Lewis, Dustin Lance Black, Josh Lucas and Brian Grazer.

Audi has waged a full-frontal attack on the hearts, minds and wallets of Hollywood since 2006, displacing BMW and Mercedes-Benz as the Hollywood car du jour with a savvy combination of sponsorships, product placements and an expensive-to-maintain fleet of 35 VIP and 30 chauffeur-driven vehicles in Los Angeles and New York that, according to Audi, directly increase sales. "The entertainment community influences audiences around the world," says Audi of America president Scott Keogh via e-mail. "You can feel it when you speak to customers and dealers. They cite movies, TV shows and events that we have been involved with. It puts Audi in the conversation."

Audi's understated, form-follows-function designs also sync perfectly with Hollywood's post-recession aversion to unvarnished bling. "I wanted something that wasn't gaudy but comfortable and elegant," says Mauricio Umansky, CEO of high-end real estate firm The Agency. Adds Elektra Records president Jeff Castelaz, who drives an S5: "Audi has done an incredible job building rocket-fast cars that don't look ostentatious or lame. A friend who plays guitar in an arena rock band drives an A7. It looks tame, but when you get inside the car, it's like the cockpit of the space shuttle. But he can park it in Silver Lake and not look like the punch line of a joke on Entourage." Says Criminal Minds actor Shemar Moore, "When Iron Man came out and I saw the R8, I lost my mind. I said if and when CBS gives me a raise, I'm going to get one." Moore turned 40 and gave himself the car as a birthday present.

Other car companies reach out to the industry -- BMW, Ford and GM among them -- but Audi has been relentless. A beachhead was established during the 2009 awards season when Audi launched its first "influencer" program, designed to get Hollywood engaged with the brand and behind the wheel. Audi put in place an armada of 90 white Q7 TDI diesel SUVs to roam the streets of Los Angeles and New York and hosted a series of dinners and events in L.A., NYC and Aspen, where the chauffeur-driven vehicles ferried McHale, Zoe Saldana, Orlando Bloom, Lyor Cohen, Tory Burch, Diane von Furstenberg and Zac Efron.

PHOTOS: Behind the Wheels of Hollywood's Favorite Cars

Audi also created a loan program with the goal of reaching industry executives and celebrities. An industry source says some loans lasted a year or more. "They threw cars at pretty much anybody they deemed influential, oftentimes asking nothing explicit in return. They knew they needed to get people in their cars, people who hadn't driven an Audi. It was a really smart move. It was effective. People would walk away going, 'Oh my gosh. That is a really nice car.' "

Says Michael Patrick, Audi's manager of media and entertainment: "We look at a lot of different metrics and see a direct increase in sales from the loaner program by turning that dialogue into a test drive and that turning into a sale. It's also a great way to build word-of-mouth."

The push in Hollywood seems to be working. According to Loren Angelo, director of marketing at Audi of America, the brand went from selling 80,000 vehicles in 2008 to 139,000 last year and just completed its 28th consecutive month of sales increases. Through May, Audi sales in L.A. year-to-date stood at 5,205, up 20 percent from 2012.

Audi's Hollywood assault -- which no other automaker comes close to replicating in terms of size or commitment -- comes at a price. Audi often partly underwrites the cost of the events that showcase it cars. A leading Hollywood events planner says the pre-Golden Globes party thrown by and paid for by Audi each year at Cecconi's can cost upward of $200,000. (Audi also has sponsored events for The Hollywood Reporter.) According to the same events planner, Audi spends an estimated minimum of nearly $3 million a year on sponsorship fees: $150,000 for the AFI Film Fest, $75,000 on BAFTA tea events during Globe and Emmy weekends, $200,000 for John's Oscar party and about $25,000 for a Geffen Playhouse season sponsorship, to name a few. (Asked to comment, Patrick replied, "Audi does not disclose any financial figures for our national or regional programs.")

STORY: Bentley vs. Rolls Royce: Two New Super-Luxury Cars Tempt Hollywood

Audi has been just as aggressive in getting its cars into movies. Audi's placement in Iron Man 3 -- Downey's Tony Stark drives a custom Audi R8 e-tron and an A8L -- is typical. "While we didn't like seeing our cars destroyed, the last image of our car was Tony Stark getting a new car," says Arden Doss, CEO of Iconic Entertainment, which handles Audi's product placement.

The point of all of this marketing is as calculated as Iron Man's character arc: selling lots of cars. Last year, Audi announced it will spend $17 billion updating its vehicle lineup and manufacturing facilities and that it intends to become the world's leading luxury automaker by 2020. That's a lot of pipe to fill with product, and Audi will continue to look to Hollywood to help fill it.

"Look at what we did for The King's Speech," says Patrick. Audi hosted an event honoring the cast at the Chateau Marmont, sponsored the Oscar-night celebration, supported the film with a car-service program and helped to underwrite an Academy Awards campaign. "We couldn't have done that," he says, "without the trust and brand loyalty we've built in the industry."

?????

A4

SEDAN DU JOUR

Audi's volume leader and gateway to the brand. The A4 sits firmly in the entry-level luxury space and has supplanted the BMW 3 Series as the car of choice for young Hollywood. $32,500

A5

COUPE DE GRACE

With a recent refresh, the A5 is a sleek coupe with a seriously sexy interior that presents a sporty alternative to the Mercedes CLS. $37,850

Q5

CUTE UTE

Audi's flagship SUV packs a serious wallop with its three engine choices -- a turbocharged four-cylinder, a hybrid and a powerful V6 -- in a svelte package. $35,900

Inside the Big Business of Celebrity Tequilas

In the heady early days at MTV, the drink of choice was tequila, according to network co-founder Bob Pittman. At company celebrations, tradition dictated that employees congregate and drink a shot, flinging the glasses against whatever wall was convenient. This bit of controlled mayhem was a galvanizing force, even if, as Pittman says, "we had to stitch up a few bloodied feet in the process."

Rumbling behind the scenes at rock 'n' roll shows, tequila has inspired more than its share of monster jams and postgig revelry. But during the past half-decade, its allure has attracted public figures into brand partnerships and ownership.

This ever-expanding group includes rockers Carlos Santana (Casa Noble) and Motley Crue's Vince Neil (Tres Rios), country star Toby Keith (Wild Shot) and Justin Timberlake (901 Silver). This year, George Clooney and nightlife entrepreneur Rande Gerber (with real estate developer Mike Meldman) debuted Casamigos, named for Clooney's and Gerber's adjacent properties in Cabo San Lucas. In 2009, Pittman launched Casa Dragones, which at $275 a bottle ranks as the category's priciest. Travel to the Mexican state of Jalisco, and it's not uncommon to run into celebrity entourages at distilleries. Everyone from Shaquille O'Neal to Sean Combs is rumored to have interest in investing in a tequila brand.

PHOTOS: From George Clooney to Justin Timberlake: Celebrities With Tequila Labels

Whether it's the mysteries of the blue agave source plant, the exoticism, the inebriation or some combination, celebrity interest in tequila is at a high. So are profits: In the U.S., the biggest market, it's a multibillion-dollar business. Since the most recent recession, sales have grown 5 percent annually -- particularly among ultrapremium tequilas, the classification of many of these new brands. "Not only is it a fun drink, but the depletions (i.e. product turnover) are crazy," says former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar, credited with first hitching horses to this bandwagon during the '90s when he founded Cabo Wabo tequila. His competitors look with awe at his success: Campari Group purchased a controlling interest in 2007 and bought Hagar out three years later in deals said to total $100 million.

Business arrangements -- some of which are shepherded by top Hollywood agencies, such as CAA with the Casamigos trio -- run the gamut from full or significant ownership (Casamigos, Keith, Timberlake) to endorsements. In the latter case, a celebrity can be given a fee for services, a percentage of royalties or equity points. (Agents who specialize in these deals say they've seen ownership stakes ranging from 3 percent to nearly 50 percent and that celebrity endorser/owners rarely put in any of their own money.) The spirits category also has high margins: A bottle of tequila can cost $5 to $10 to produce; most of the brands discussed here retail for $40 to $50. Vodka has the potential for much greater profits though -- grain is much cheaper than agave -- and the vodka market is bigger. (It claimed 34 percent of sales in 2012 compared with tequila's 6 percent, according to Impact Spirits Databank.) Vodka has produced both major winners -- Combs' Ciroc endorsement deal with Diageo nets him eight-figure yearly payouts -- and losers, like the failed Trump Vodka.

The cost burden for spirits comes in marketing. Says Ken Austin, founder of Tequila Avion (a brand that gained broad recognition when it figured into a story arc during seasons seven and eight of HBO's Entourage): "Juice is just a fraction of the cost. The liquor business is a very expensive business; it costs millions of dollars to get in since you're competing with multinational brands." Stars, he adds, have a built-in advantage with the name recognition they bring. The potential downside is tarnishing a celebrity's reputation as a spokesperson, even if they don't personally lose money.

STORY: Bruce Willis Fights for Partial Payment for Vodka Endorsement

The upscale tequila trend began during the '80s. Before that, it was an acquired taste, a spirit known better for its fiery kick and honky-tonk cred than sophistication. In 1989, Paul Mitchell's John Paul DeJoria co-founded Patron (now the U.S.'s No. 2 seller behind Jose Cuervo), whose multiple distillations, smooth taste, luxe packaging and price tag vaulted tequila to a rarefied level. "Before them, the high-end market really didn't exist," says Brian Dow, head of branded lifestyle at the APA Agency. The goal quickly became: Start the next Patron.

That's clearly the target of Chris Brown, a Phoenix real estate developer who founded Bonita Platinum in 2010. It's sold in a crystal bottle set in a satin-lined black box. "We wanted to produce a luxury item that American consumers could embrace," says Brown. "No sombreros, no scorpions."

Early on, Brown sent a bottle to rap star Xzibit, whom he'd seen in a music video extolling the virtues of -- what else? -- Patron Silver. "A few days later," says Brown, "I got a tweet from Xzibit saying, 'This beats Patron hands-down, for real.' " Soon after, Xzibit became an active partner in Bonita Platinum. "If we didn't have the support of Xzibit, all I'd get is a slap in the face," says Brown. "Instead, I'm going to distribution meetings." Owning one's own clubs helps, too: Hagar featured Cabo Wabo in his nightclubs of the same name, and Gerber will sell Casamigos at his clubs and lounges.

Celebrities take various levels of involvement in developing their tequilas. There are more than 140 tequila distilleries in Jalisco, and collectively they produce nearly 1,500 brands. (Of all major spirits groups, tequila is the only one that has a denomination of origin -- it must be made in Jalisco.) This means, among other things, that a single distillery might be responsible for several brands that inevitably will compete in the U.S. market. It's possible simply to travel to a distillery and choose a blend -- or not to go to Mexico at all and do so. "They just sent me the bottles," Keith once said of the genesis of his brand. The Casamigos founders, on the other hand, trumpet that they sampled 800 blends before deciding on their spirit. (Tequila is broken down into categories depending on how long it is aged: Blanco rests a short period before bottling; reposado is aged from two months up to one year, usually in oak; and anejo sits one to three years.)

VIDEO: David Letterman Drinks Tequila, Bill Hader Dances on 'Late Show'

As tequila goes more upscale, its flavor profile continues to veer toward a highly refined spirit that goes through multiple distillations. "Everything we've done with the brand is geared toward making this a sipping tequila, like scotch," says Pittman of his remarkably silky Casa Dragones. Adds Kevin Ruder, Timberlake's partner in 901 Silver, "We didn't want to see people making that 'face' when they drink it." Ruder toured more than a dozen distilleries, settling on Tequilera Newton e Hijos because it could execute a style smooth enough to appeal to the pop star.

Some purists, however, bemoan this trend as relatively toothless, the bottlings sweeter and more innocuous than the real thing, which one spirits expert describes somewhat dismissively as "vodka with tequila flavoring."

Then again, for many, that hardly matters, as the celebrity upscale tequila juggernaut churns on. In July, when Timberlake launches a summer tour, 901 will be cross-promoted; consumers will have a chance to win tour tickets (where legal) through the 901 website. Timberlake also has promoted the brand to his 21 million Twitter followers. "We should all believe in something," he tweeted in the fall. "I believe it's time for another shot of tequila. … happy @901Silver day everybody!"