Comic-Con 2012: Day Four

We had to get up early again, because even though I only wanted to see the Fringe panel at 10:00, there were Supernatural and Doctor Who panels scheduled after it, and never underestimate those fandoms.  I was geared up for what would surely be a bittersweet Fringe panel, as they were saying goodbye and are always soooo appreciative of the fans.

Tragically, I missed nearly the first half of the panel because those damn Comic-Con idiots didn’t open Hall H early enough.  Nerd rage!!!  So although I got a seat, it wasn’t until after the first video presentation, the Season 5 preview.  Though of course that’s online now.  But I got to see Lance Reddick cry and that was amazing.  He, Anna Torv, and Jasika Nicole were blubbering messes at one point; it was adorable.  Joshua Jackson and John Noble were their normal adorable, funny selves.  Noble said that a movie was a possibility, but I suppose it’s a possibility just like aliens are a possibility.  But I hope it happens!  They had a nice retrospective video thanking the fans too.  They all took a bow at the end.  Love it.  Excited for season 5!

After that, it was trolling the Exhibit Hall, snapping a photo of Nathan Fillion at the Marvel booth, and closing the place down at 5.  Below are some of my favorite cosplay pictures.  We had a great Comic-Con and looking forward to next year!



 

Mike’s Two Cents (the stuff he saw that I didn’t, while I was making sure to get into the Breaking Bad panel):  Total Recall was awesome as crap and looked really good.  Colin Farrell is always good on a panel.  The hover cars and the way the city is built are cool.  No Schwarzenegger one-liners, more like serious sci-fi.  Looper was awesome; it looks really fast-paced, interesting concept.  It’s not heavily focused on the time travel.  Emily Blunt is funny as shit.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt was cool and funny and grateful to be working.  Elysium footage was still rough but looks pretty good.  Matt Damon is jacked-up and Jodie Foster and Sharlto Copley were there too.  Resident Evil 127 - Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez were having fun and made for a really good panel.  They both enjoy being at Comic-Con and know how to work the crowd.

Finally, some photos of the happy nerds and their swag, including the much-coveted Django Unchained tee shirts.

Comic-Con 2012: Day Three

Saturday meant setting the alarm for 5:30.  After having missed the first couple panels on Friday, I couldn’t let that happen for panels I actually wanted to see -- starting with Quentin Tarantino and Django Unchained.  It was amazing to see Tarantino, and the panel also had Jamie Foxx, Don Johnson, Christoph Waltz (THE MAN), Walton Goggins (Boyd!), and Kerry Washington (who was awesomely articulate and very deep about this movie).  We saw 8 minutes of footage and it was amazing.  Definitely looks funny too.  It’s Jamie and Christoph off on adventures together and we barely even got to see the Leonardo DiCaprio plantation stuff.  The footage we saw was put together from the first half of the movie; they still have a week or 2 of shooting left.  I really can’t wait.  It’s simply going to be epic Tarantino, per usual.

Next up was a look at a Silent Hill film sequel.  I know nothing about that video game and movie series, other than that it’s creepy.  They did drop the nugget that there will be a Silent Hill maze at both Halloween Horror Nights locations this year.  Huzzah!  We also got a look at End of Watch, which looks to be a riveting cop drama.  A lot of it is shot in first person POV and ends up kind of looking like a video game.  Very realistic looking.  I’m in.

The Warner Brothers panel was nothing short of epic.  They unveiled 2 side screens down the walls of Hall H, which has never been done before, and was quite the spectacle.  We started with Pacific Rim – giant robots v. giant monsters, directed by Guillermo del Toro.  Can’t go wrong there.  And del Toro is always amazing at Comic-Con – funny, f-bomb-dropping.  Love.  The footage looked awesome.  We really only saw the robot parts, the monsters must take longer.

Next, we got a quick teaser and announcement of a new Godzilla movie.  Then Zach Galifianakis and Will Ferrell showed up to do a surprise panel for The Campaign.  They mostly made fun of audience members.  It was hysterical.



We got a look at Man of Steel, which looks like it’s trying to be a realistic superhero movie in the way of the new Batman movies.  Does dark work for Superman?  Superman always seems a little ridiculous and campy to me.  But it looked good.  Last up for the presentation was The Hobbit.  Honestly, I was underwhelmed by the footage, just in terms of -- haven’t we already done this?  I think I liked The Lord of the Rings movies, but who can remember?  They were all too long and ran together.  And now we get even more.  OK, sure, why not.  We got Peter Jackson, Sir Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis, and Elijah Wood.  I got to hear Gollum drop the f-bomb a few times.  Only at Comic-Con!






The final panel of the day was Marvel.  They opened with a big thank-you/Con-retrospective video showing them talking about maybe one day doing The Avengers, announcing Thor, etc.  I was there for all of them (except the Avengers cast unveiling) so that was cool to see.  Edgar Wright came out and showed us test footage he had shot for Ant-Man, which was very cool.  Not sure how an Ant-Man movie would play out, but Wright is awesome so it will be cool if it happens.  They announced the titles and release dates for the Thor and Captain America sequels.  They they announced Guardians of the Galaxy for 2014.  I know nothing about this, other than that there is literally a raccoon with a big gun in the group, and what appears to be a walking, talking tree.  Looks pretty far out there.  Not sure how it’ll fit in with the other Marvel movies.  We’ll see; they seem to know what they're doing.  But a raccoon?  Finally, Robert Downey, Jr. came out as only he (or Tony Stark) would – through the back of the room, dancing down the aisle to Luther Vandross, giving high-fives.  He’s a god here too.  Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau, and director Shane Black were there, and all hilarious.  The Iron Man 3 footage was quite amazing too.  Marvel knows how to get Hall H psyched.

Comic-Con 2012: Day Two

Friday’s line was freaking nuts, as there is apparently a TV show called The Big Bang Theory, and it is apparently very popular.  We didn’t make it in to see the first couple panels, but we got in for The Walking Dead.  It was a really cool panel and we saw awesome footage from Season 3.  It holds a lot of promise, but that show tends to shit all over promise, so that remains to be seen.  On a related note, on Preview Night, Robert Kirkman (creator of the comic and show) was unveiling a Walking Dead-themed car and I got a picture with him.  He’s so adorable and super nice!!

Game of Thrones is a great show.  George R.R. Martin must be a genius for thinking all of that up.  But he’s boring as shit.  And he moderated the panel.  OMG he’s awkward and painfully unfunny – so he’s a typical socially-awkward nerd then.  They didn’t have new footage and I could tell that it was going to be dull, so I headed upstairs to hopefully not miss Breaking Bad.

And I got right in to Ballroom 20.  I saw an Entertainment Weekly panel about “Women Who Kick Ass” featuring Anna Torv, who does indeed kick ass.  Plus Lucy Lawless!  It was cool. Joss Whedon was up next, and he’s pretty much a Comic-Con god.  It was just him and a microphone on stage, answering questions from the audience.  He’s hysterical and I love him.

The panel I was really there for was Breaking Bad.  And I got way up front!! They didn’t show the premiere like I had heard they would, but really that’s OK because we got to hear the cast talk for an hour – Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Betsy Brandt, Dean Norris (in a warrior princess costume), Jonathan Banks and creator/god Vince Gilligan.  And they are A. May. Zing.  And they were very appreciate and awesome about the fans.  So cool to have them at Comic-Con!!!

Here’s what I learned from the Breaking Bad panel:
•    The season premiere will be one of the funniest episodes, and not violent like last year’s
•    The opening segment will say a lot and yet leave you with a lot of questions.  Have patience – all will be revealed.  From the teaser we saw, it looks like Future!Walt putting something in a trunk.
•    You will likely lose any remaining sympathy you might have had for Walt – full bad guy mode now
•    The season feels “creepy” with Aaron Paul comparing it to the Crawl Space episode in tone
•    We’ll have some more Skinny Pete and Badger and Grey Matter
•    Madrigal Electromotive and Germany will be featured this season
•    Episode 5 is the opposite of a bottle episode, with them actually filming outside of Albuquerque.

Comic-Con 2012: Day One

This past-its-prime, no-longer-relevant report on Comic-Con 2012 is brought to you by Hilton Hotels, and the fact that our otherwise-awesome, expensive-ass hotel room didn't have wireless.  And I didn't feel like going down to the lobby every night just to blog.  FAIL.


Thursday we trolled the Exhibit Hall for swag we didn't get on Preview Night. After, we saw panels on Oz the Great and Powerful (looks cool) and Wreck-It Ralph (looks funny and geeky).  Jackie Chan showed up to promote some movie no one will watch, but it’s Jackie Chan and it was awesome to see him.  He’s hysterical and really adorable.  Next up was The Expendables 2 – because how can you resist seeing Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Dolph Lundgren all at once?  Pretty epic.  The only thing missing was Jean-Claude Van Damme.  Lundgren hasn't aged a day.  Schwarzenegger did Kindergarten Cop schtick.  Gotta love it.

We closed out the night at the Walking Dead Escape zombiepocalypse obstacle course they put on at Petco Park.  It was epic and everything I wanted it to be.  We ran through the park chased by zombies, and had to climb, crawl, run, and balance to escape.  I did my usual laugh-screaming and by the end I had red on me.

My Life Is Awesome

So they're doing a zombie apocalypse thing at Petco Park - The Walking Dead Escape - during Comic-Con.  Check it out.  More details to come, but I picture it like Halloween Horror Nights combined with an obstacle course.  I've got tickets for Thursday at 9 PM and I'm soooooo excited about it!!  I'm going to run from zombies!!!!

Then check out this casting news.  He'll always be Chase Edmunds to me!  Glad he's getting more good roles!

The latest addition to the cast of Shane Black‘s Iron Man 3 is James Badge Dale, who has signed on to play a villain called Savin. Despite the fact that the film starts shooting just weeks from now, Marvel has done a very good job keeping details of the plot quiet. There are rumors that Ben Kingsley is playing the Mandarin, and other rumors that the overall plot of the film involves nanotechnology and some version of the Extremis storyline from Marvel’s comic series.

source

Comic-Con 2011: Pictures

I just worked the pictures in to the blog posts from last week, but of course I have some Star Wars pictures for my nephew.




A dude's gotta fix his helmet....

Comic-Con 2011: Saturday

After spending Friday sitting on our asses, we decided to just walk around the Exhibit Hall Saturday morning. I attempted to get into the Community panel, but there was a huge line and I could tell that wasn't happening. So I lined up hoping to get into the Fringe panel later that afternoon.  I ended up getting a great seat at that panel, followed by a screening of the pilot for the new show, Alcatraz. 

Joshua Jackson wasn't scheduled to attend the panel (not surprising, given that he's always jet setting around the world with his fabulous girlfriend), but the rest of the cast was there. John Noble started things off really sweetly by thanking all of the fans for their support. He said that Comic-Con was like their Emmys. Such a cutie. Since Pacey wasn't there, they said the role of Peter was up for grabs and they showed a video of some auditions for the role.  Cue Zachary Quinto, Michael Emerson, Danny Pudi (with a huge gray mustache), and many others "auditioning" for the role. At the end, they featured an audition for the role of an Observer, and it was Pacey. When the lights came back on, Joshua Jackson came out in a suit and hat. The crowd went nuts!!!  He snuggled up next to John Noble. They were all adorable, as always, but of course didn't give away any secrets for next season, or what's going on with Peter. 











I was really looking forward to seeing Alcatraz, because that prison is simply my Favorite Place on Earth.  We took the night tour a couple years back and it's awesome.  I'd do it 100 times. Nothing like a prison at night. So anyway, I'd seriously watch the show just for the prison. The pilot was great (and not just as landmark porn); I'm excited to see what happens. According to the show, when the prison shut down in the 60s, it was because all of the prisoners and guards disappeared. Any transfer papers and death certificates have been forged. And now a prisoner has come back, he hasn't aged, and someone is instructing him to kill people.  I am looking forward to watching it - but it doesn't premiere until January!

Now Mike had been on the floor this whole time. As I walked down the Exhibit Hall to meet up with him, I passed by Anthony Head - Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And when I met up with Mike, he was taking pictures of Joss Whedon in the Marvel/Avengers booth. Double Buffy encounter!  So I show Mike the picture I took of Giles and he goes, "I was just talking to that dude about how crazy the crowds are!" The donk didn't realize who he was, but apparently the man has a nice watch - he scoped that out. 



A little more wandering about, and then dinner. Had a great time and we already have our tickets and hotel for next year, so we should be there!