Entries Tagged 'SDCC' ↓

Post-SDCC wrap-up extravaganza

So the 4.5-day nerd prom known as "San Diego Comic-Con" has come and gone for another year. I was there the entire time, and now I'd like to give you a glimpse into all that transpired. There were hundreds of thousands of people in attendance, celebrities galore, panels and previews of upcoming films and shows, and more nerdy crap to buy than could ever be wished for by someone who loves to buy nerdy crap. Pull up your pants and hang on, kids, 'cause here's my big post-show rundown! It's all the very definition of EXCITEMENT.
  • I ate gelato
  • I attended no panels
  • I saw Ron Moore going into a restaurant and I had to contain my geekery
  • What do you mean, you don't know who Ron Moore is?
  • I foisted Ludlow on my friends
  • Said friends are still talking to me, so I suppose that's good
  • I attended no parties
  • I did some work, shooting footage for a something something that will be announced soon
  • I really didn't do much except hang out with my friends I only see at SDCC, as they live on the other side of the country
  • Two of said friends got married on Sunday and it was really nice and I was totally crying like a baby
  • This display was most unexpected and embarrassing
  • Wait, I didn't cry- I didn't mean that. I am a cynical and jaded horror fan and being happy for your friends is dumb
  • I ate more gelato
  • I got a sunburn on the ride home because I'm still not used to living somewhere that requires the use of sunblock 360 days a year
  • I miss gelato
And there you go. Aren't you sad you weren't there? It's alright, friend. The rock star life isn't for everyone.

talk amongst yourselves!

I don't know what my problem is lately, but I've been having difficulty making up my mind about...everything. Maybe it's the onset of summer's scorching heat, which leaves one feeling as if one resides within a tramp's tube sock. Maybe it's my brain shutting down to reserve energy in anticipation of the coming weeks, which will be busy busy biz-ZAY. Whatever the cause, it's resulted in my spending a lot more time than usual staring off into space. It all goes something like this:
  1. I look at my movies, trying to figure out what to watch
  2. I can't decide between A, B, C and so on through ZZZ
  3. Thinking becomes too much work
  4. Brain go MEHHHH
  5. Sit down
  6. Stare off into space trying to try to decide to decide
Blah blah blah. I did manage to make it to a press screening of Orphan, however, and I really dug it...so, you know, whatevs. Go see it! It's fun with a capital no really it was. Speaking of orphans, I did manage to recently watch Safe Harbor starring Tracey Gold, wherein she portrays a tough-as-nails-but-totally-vulnerable-underneath-said-tough-veneer detective tracking a serial killer who targets former residents of a children's home. I hate to say it, but not even the idea of Tracey Gold as a tough-as-nails-but-totally-vulnerable-underneath-said-tough-veneer detective could save that stinker. I knew who the killer was the first time the killer appeared onscreen, and it was all a bit rote. Sigh. 'Twas a disappointment, but such is life.

Anyishouldwatchfaceofeviltomakeupforthatsafeharborshit, I'm only telling you all this because I'm sitting here trying to decide when to depart for San Diego Comic Con. I can't make up my mind, although I need to rather soon since...you know, the con has already started. I may leave late tonight...or tomorrow...or tomorrow night...or..................brain go MEHHHH.

But! I know for a fact that no matter when I leave, I'm 99.9999992% positive that I won't be posting any more until I return next week. I hope to catch the screening of Trick R Treat while I'm there, so I'll come back and tell you allllllll about it. I have no idea what else I'll be doing at the con- that's just way too much planning in advance and THINKING for me right now.

I know you'll miss me so effing much you'll hardly be able to stand it (and I you, kids...and I you), but fret not, pretties! Here are some Dallas paper dolls you can print out and play with while I'm gone. They'll keep you company as only paper drawings of Dallas cast members can.

Savvy readers (ie all of you) will SURELY note that Sue Ellen's black and white dress is the number she was wearing the night she was arrested for shooting JR. I mean, a-DOY.

Savvy readers will also note that under all his tough talk and shady business practices, that JR is a true patriot.





Lena Headey is my number one Top Friend

As you may or may not remember, the season finale of Ghostella's Haunted Tomb, "Top Friends", featured a Person You May Have Heard Of, one Lena Headey of 300 and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. After the episode aired, I really dug reading speculation on a couple of websites regarding how I possibly could have gotten her on my show. Blackmail? Did someone owe me a favor? Was it a mafia thing?

Alright, so I fueled that last rumor myself. But still, people wondered about it...but the answer is quite simple: I got her in Ghostella the way I've gotten everyone who's been in Ghostella in Ghostella. We're friends, and I thought it would be fun so I asked. Mystery solved- rest easy, internet! See, a mutual friend introduced us at San Diego Comic-Con and that was that.

LH: Quite sober, I think. We laughed, I remember, Ponder, and I was feeling very fond of you immediately.

SP: You made fun of my drink.

She did, and since I spent the night drinking whatever candy apple red thing it was they were giving away free, I probably deserved it.

We watch horror movies, we play video games, we both like Dallas, she gives me Toblerone, and neither of us can resist a photo booth. It's like having anyone else for a friend, except my mom gets excited because she'll go to Best Buy and, like, see Terminator: TSCC on the shelf.

Believe it or not, there's a point to all this, I swear! That point is, Lena stars in The Broken, one of After Dark's 8 Films to Die For, hitting a store shelf NEAR YOU on Tuesday, March 31. For my AMC column this week, I attempted to sit down with her for an interview. Upon transcription, however, I realized that what I'd recorded was an hour of...of...well, not quite madness, I suppose, but certainly nonsense. I cobbled together what I could and you can read it now at AMC.

But...AMC has, like, rules and stuff about length and format, you know? And there's an editor. All those ellipsis? That's where they made with the chop chop...which is fine, that's their bag. However, I think people (myself included) like to read interviews that aren't so TV Guide, Q & A boring. Cutting out quirky speech patterns or whatever makes everyone sound the same, and it's strictly dullsville. Take the last question, for example, where I ask her about being paprazzied; I think her full answer gives her a little more, you know, personality, and I think it makes the whole affair more interesting for someone who might want to learn more about the actor.

LH: I think I’ve been paparazzied twice in my life since I’ve been out here and it was sort of…horrendous, do you know what I mean? I don’t go anywhere. You know me. I’m such a big spaz, I’m happy to sit here with my dogs and hang out with people I like. All that doesn’t appeal to me. I do think it is a conscious effort of keeping your head down so you can remain anonymous. It’s very funny, I feel like I have this thing where they’re like, “She’s Sarah Connor!” Nobody knows what else I do or what else I’ve done. It’s funny to me, and it couldn’t be farther from me. But I do love shooting stuff!

Or maybe the question where I ask about The Sophisticates, the short film that marked Lena's writing/directing debut, the film she hopes to expand into a feature:

LH: As you know, directing is a long road and I’ve got many ideas and the movie that I’ve written, The Sophisticates, which is a comedy. Yeah, all these other things are exciting, but you know, I’ve never directed before so I need to make sure that people know that I can do it. In terms of that, The Sophisticates is a small ensemble comedy and I hope it’s charming and funny. I think female directors, first timers, always seem to set out and do a drama, a two-person drama. I think, oh fuck it, I wanna make a goofy movie. And I think making people laugh is really fucking difficult. Part of the reason for me writing The Sophisticates was sort of that Wizard of Oz element. I want people to go in and have a treat, be uplifted and charmed, and have a colorful thing to stare at for a minute. And not to please this sort of short memory we’ve got. But you know, I get into trouble for that, for saying no to things.


But anyway, I'm not going to go back and forth, comparing and contrasting. Rather, I'm going to post here what didn't make the cut...the ridiculous nonsense. Why? I don't know. It's like DVD special features or something.

SP: So if life was like The Broken, what would you do if you were out on the street and you saw someone drive by and it was, like, kind of…you? What would you do?

LH: I would just punch her in the face.

SP: “There’s only room for one Headey in this town!”

LH: “Stop trying to be so pretty!” Actually, I’d probably just ask her where she got her hair done. But if she had a better car than me I’d fucking steal that. If it was a Volvo PS 1800 I would kill the person that looked like me and I’d take it.

SP: I don’t even know what that is.

LH: It’s the coolest car ever made. Just that.

SP: I’m sorry, I thought The Love Bug was the coolest car ever made.

LH: No, not Bernie. What’s his name?

SP: Herbie.

LH: Ernie. Barbara!

SP: It should’ve been Barbara!

LH: Yes! “Love Bug 2: Barbara’s Revenge”. She kills Herbie. She makes Herbie go bananas, is what she does.

SP: Well played. Let’s get Hollywood on the phone. Lindsay can star in it again…

LH: Johnny Depp can play the car…

SP: You’re very much…umm…

LH: Kind.

SP: Very kind. You have a certain grace about you.

LH: Like a kindly swan.

SP: What’s your historical disease of choice: consumption, the plague, or the vapors?

LH: That…but do you die from the vapors?

SP: No, just…people fan you and then you’re fine.

LH: Well, it’s not really a disease, is it? Just attention seeking. A narcissistic disease.

SP: Mental illness and corsets…

LH: I’ve done a few movies in a corset, and let me tell you: no. You can’t eat a Fatburger, you can’t have a pint of beer.

SP: Let’s talk about The Cave!

LH: Alright, let’s do it, Ponder. Is that your favorite film of mine? Or of all time?

SP: It is. I’m not gonna lie.

LH: It’s got amazing power.

SP: Yeah, it really spoke to me.

LH: It changes lives. It does.

SP: They play it in children’s sick wards…

LH: When people do charity walks, they play it at the beginning to get everyone pumped up. I think they play it on Romania’s travel website…


SP: The impression I have of you…you know, you go on your first press junket and you listen to all the actors and you think, “Wow, this is so interesting!” Then you go on your second press junket and you realize that they’re all saying the exact same things that everyone on the first junket said. It’s all these standard answers, and it’s so boring. But knowing you beyond a press junket, it does honestly seem to be about the work with you. You’re always talking about ideas, we’re always talking about ideas, you’re up for anything, you know what I mean? So it’s cool to know that you’re out there.

LH: It’s a strange thing about acting- people almost think it’s some bestowed sort of honor, but it’s like, you’re fucking human. The fact is, it’s happened for us and there are many more talented people out there who haven’t gotten the work. But yeah, I don’t ever want to stop being curious about it, because when I do it’ll be over for me and I’ll go make cakes or something. Really shit cakes. But I love it. I love actors, I think there’s obviously and element of narcissism involved with being an actor, but I think there’s a bravery to it. The cinema for me is such a therapy. Even a silly movie- the lights go down and for that hour and a half you’re kind of lost. I love that. And to give people that experience- movies that move you, or make you laugh, or scare you, it’s just such a joy. And to come out of a movie, having really had an experience, that’s part of what makes me really want to direct. Working with actors, it’s a privilege to direct. Some directors don’t feel that- it’s just an excuse to yell and seek revenge for a playground experience.

We talked a bit about the internet and how there's up-to-the-minute, behind-the-scenes this and sneak peek that, how there's no waiting for a movie anymore, no real anticipation...you know, just general old people vs the internet bitchery.

LH: I have such a hard time on the TV show because they want me to do publicity for every single thing, speak to everybody, and I can’t- for me, it takes away everything that acting’s about. Why can’t we have mystery anymore? Why can’t people go and watch it and decide for themselves? But actors aren’t the advertisers, and I don’t think we should have to go and do all that. If I can sit like this and talk about everything, you know, that makes sense to me. But the sort of generic repetition…

SP: Well, you’re supposed to want the attention.

LH: Maybe that’s it. I have no interest in that.

SP: Alright, I think we're done.

LH: Are we? Did you get enough? We didn’t talk about anything, did we?

SP: It’s fine. I can weave some magic.

LH: You can. I don’t care what you say.

SP: Don’t worry, I won’t make you look any worse than you actually are.

Then we had pizza and watched Session 9. Holla!

tiny awesome movie poster friday- the SDCC 08 edition!

Despite the fact that I walked around with a camera for 5 days, I took nary a photo at this year's San Diego Comic-Con. Now, looking at other websites which have posted all manner of cool pics, I wonder what the hell I was thinking. No matter! I'll simply pinch a few photos from Shock Till You Drop of posters that I like. Nevermind photographing these posters- I didn't even see them at the show. SDCC is insanity.

I love Eric Powell's The Goon. It's funny, there are monsters, and the art is so delectable I frequently have to stop myself from licking the pages of every issue. So- a CGI movie directed by David Fincher? Uh, yes, please. NOW.

3 MPAA-rejected posters for that movie I really ought to be more excited about, Alexandre Aja's Mirrors. I can see why these posters wouldn't fly with censors or with a marketing team, but I think they're purdy and quite unlike most of the movie poster crap unleashed upon the world nowadays.




Yes, a Saw videogame. I have a friend who's working on it, but the bastard has been mum from the get-go; stupid lousy non-disclosure secret-keeping crap! I have no idea what the game will entail, but I have to admit I'm incredibly curious to see how they pull it off. As for the poster, I understand they need to keep it sort of generic with regards to consoles, but that's about the worst game controller I've ever seen. At least the generic controller on the Stay Alive poster had some fucking buttons on it! This Saw controller looks as if it's been microwaved on high for 90 seconds.


Again I say, no matter. I'm just thankful the folks at Shock Till You Drop have their shit together more than I do and they remembered to take some pictures.

Late-breaking non-poster news! I've got a bonus column up at AMC this week, although it's sneakily published in their SciFi Scanner blog. How ninja-like of me! In The Future's So Bleak, I Gotta Wear Crazy Eye Makeup, I give my thoughts on our post-apocalyptic futures using info I've gleaned from all manner of dystopian flicks. It's so enlightening!

Don't forget, Monday is Film Club Day, so set your peepers on The Car (honk...honkhonkhonnnnnnk)! I think the whole wide world is excited about this month's pick. I'm hoping that "By Brolin's beard!" earns its rightful place in society's vernacular when all is said and done.

the wednesday wipeout

Jabba works his bitches hard, y'all!

That's the last picture I took at Comic-Con- I only took about 15 altogether, despite going into it thinking I'd get all Jimmy Olsen up in that shit. Instead, I took about 3 pictures of my friends, 3 pictures of myself with friends, and 10 pictures of Star Wars statues because I am a NERD.

As if you didn't know that already.

It's weird, though- there's something about digital photography that makes me less likely to actually take pictures. I'm a luddite crone.

As if you didn't know that already.

(edited to add a decidedly NERDish photo of life-size BSG Centurion that had a red eye light that went back and forth)


The Powers That Be decided to run the newest Ghostella episode until Monday; sorry about that- I know you've all been wringing your hands and peeing your pants in anticipation!

The AMC train is running right on schedule, though, and they've posted my column lamenting the loss of the drive-in and coming up with some double features I'd like to see.

Omigod, I am a crone!

Shock Till You Drop has got a gallery of photos from Resident Evil: Degeneration, the forthcoming CGI feature based on the Konami video games. You know, the movie I'm salivating over (because I am a NERD) but learned nothing about at Comic-Con because I got shut out of the panel because of all the effing peoplekdjkdjdkjhkja;sASD;fCXCDJK...............

In other wow, I missed the panel but I'm not at all bitter about it- okay, who am I kidding, I'm totally fucking bitter about it news, SciFi.com has the whole hour long shebang up at their website. No, I have not watched it yet because I am a big lame currently embroiled in a...in a...err, something something danger and intrigue.

SDCC 08: Friday the 13th

Oh Comic-Con, you've left me but a shell of the woman I once was. 5 days of walking, shouting, looking, and jostling is enough to break even the most enthusiastic geek. The show is so huge and so packed it's practically impossible to actually enjoy it at times. Sure, the film companies have sweet booth setups, but you can't check it out for all the people swarming around it. The panels are great, but if you can hit two popular panels in two different locations, you must be some sort of ninja. People queue up hours in advance like they're waiting for tickets to a Samantha Fox concert or something! I had too many obligations and couldn't spend time standing around in line, and therefore I ended up shut out of a few panels (a press pass, unfortunately, counts for total squat), including the only two I really wanted to see: Resident Evil: Degeneration and Battlestar Galactica. Douchey times! I still did some wicked (wicked as in squee!) cool stuff, though, and I'll have articles and the whatnot trickling in over the next week or two.

I caught the panel for the Platinum Dunes reimaginariumination of Friday the 13th- I know the footage shown was leaked online; maybe you snagged a peek before it was quickly pulled. If you didn't, I bet you wanna know what it was all about, huh? Don't you? And you want to know what producers Andrew Form and Brad Puller and stars Derek Mears, Jared Padalecki, and some chick who only spoke about three words had to say, don't you? Sigh, fine!

First off, here's the teaser poster, unveiled for the very first time, not at all unlike a virgin:

Me like! Simple, spooky, and iconic. Well played, Platinum Dunes...well played.

The footage shown featured a couple of supermodelesque teens wandering into Jason's deluxe shanty during a trip to Camp Crystal Lake; they come across a big pile of lit candles as well as...a wrinkled old head, presumably that of Mrs Voorhees. Eeeeyagggh! The guitars start to whale, supermodels start to scream, Jason finds the hockey mask, Jason busts through a window just like he did at the end of Part 2, Jason starts to make with the chop chop. And yes, there is some "ki ki ki ma ma ma"- if they'd done away with that, the fury of the legions of horror nerds (myself included) would burn with such intensity that the world would suddenly go supernova, then suck in the rest of the solar system as the supernova reversed direction and turned into a black hole.

What? It would. I know my science.

According to the producers, this film isn't going to be a strict remake of Friday the 13th, but rather an amalgamation of parts 2-4. Nowadays one seems to think a broad like Pamela Voorhees couldn't take down a hunky hunk like Jared Padalecki, and besides, no one cares about a broad like Pamela Voorhees anymore- horror fans want Jason. So what is Platinum Dunes doing with Jason?

Well, they ain't doing an origin movie. Apparently we'll briefly learn only a bit about his past, and he's going to be "rooted in reality" as they move away from super zombie Jason of the later Friday films. Derek Mears claims this Jason is smart, sympathetic, and "just a guy". I claim that a few shots in the teaser footage make me think Mears is going to kick ass.

Wait, "kick ass"? Yeah, I have to admit, I kinda liked the footage- a surprising reaction I attribute to the intensity displayed by Mears. The rest looked like your typical loud, brash horror movie fare (this is Platinum Dunes, after all)- ridiculously attractive "regular" teens covered in dirt, a soundtrack turned up to eleven, blah blah blah. But Jason's the star of this show, and he looked pretty fucking cool.

While the film apparently has a finite ending, the producers said they'd love to do a sequel. They also briefly mentioned the imminent retooling of The Birds and how there are so many horror properties out there they're simply itching to remake- one, in particular, is A Nightmare on Elm Street. This immediately made me wonder why the production company doesn't seem to be interested in making anything...well, new and original; it seems they're only going to plunder the past. I felt my righteous horror indignation flare up a bit, but then it quickly dissipated- I had to bolt to make it across the Comic-Con compound to catch something else, and I simply didn't have time to think.

Have no fear, I'm sure you'll be inundated with Friday the 13th news items all over The Internet in the months to come- the film won't be released until Friday, February 13, 2009. As for me, eh. I'll see it- in fact, it might even be pretty effing cool to see Jason on the big screen again.

Ack, what am I saying?? I can't be optimistic about this- damn, Comic-Con fried my fucking brain!