Category: Comic-Con (Page 12 of 14)

Comic-Con: Day Three – Rogue/Focus

July 30, 2007 /

One of my favorite up-and-coming studios in the business, Rogue/Focus is directly responsible for importing “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” to American theaters, and as such, I’m willing to listen to anything they have to say about projects in the works. And over the course of the next year, they’ve got some pretty cool stuff coming out, including the often-rescheduled “Balls of Fury” (more on why later), the new Liv Tyler thriller “The Strangers,” and Neil Marshall’s latest.

“Coraline” (guests: Neil Gaiman and Henry Selick)

I can’t remember if anything related to this movie was originally scheduled for presentation during the panel, but Neil Gaiman made a quick visit to announce that his graphic novel is indeed receiving the big screen treatment, it’s going to all be done in stop-motion (and by the guy who did “Nightmare Before Christmas,” no less), and that the soundtrack will feature They Might Be Giants. Sounds pretty cool to me, and I’ll be sure to add this to my radar. No release date was announce, but I’m thinking it will be ready no later than Christmas 2008.

“Balls of Fury” (guests: Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon, Dan Fogler and James Hong)

“Iron Man” may have had the most exciting presentation, and “Midnight Meat Train” the most fucked up on, but it was the guys from “Balls of Fury” who provided the most entertaining panel of the weekend. Here to show off some footage from their new film were “Reno 911” and “The State” alum Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon (in full costume and makeup), and star Dan Fogler. But before I get to any specifics on the panel, it’s probably important to address the film’s constant rescheduling issues. Apparently, the CGI effects for the film took longer than anticipated (seven months), but now that they’ve finally finished, the movie is coming out… for real.

The Comic-Con attendees were treated to a clip from the film, and I have to say, this could surprise a lot of people when it’s released in theaters. The clip in question featured Dan Fogler’s character’s first competition in the tournament (against Freddy Fingers, played by Terry Crews), and between the taunting before the match, the over-the-top “Matrix”-style effects during the match and, well, Christopher Walken as the “Enter the Dragon”-esque villain of the film, I couldn’t stop laughing. Regrettably, I’ve been disappointed by both Garant and Lennon in the past, and so I don’t want to get my expectations too high until I see the completed project. Here are some other highlights from the panel:

* Lennon was the only of three panelists to appear on stage in costume, and later attacked Garant for tricking him into wearing it all day long on the showroom floor: “Dude, I was getting made fun of by a guy dressed like Daredevil. Some asswipe dressed like Daredevil – and I mean new Affleck Daredevil – was pointing at me like I was a douche. I’m sorry, this might be gay (pointing to costume), but it’s not new Affleck Daredevil.”

* After a kid dressed like Superman asked Dan Fogler how it felt working with Christopher Walken (in a horrible Walken impression, by the way), Fogler fired back with a spot-on impersonation. It’s too bad so many people were laughing when it happened, because my audio recording of the moment is completely ruined.

* Cedric Yarbrough (of “Reno 911”) sneaked into the Q&A line to ask Ben and Thomas why he wasn’t cast in the Freddy Fingers role, while Comic-Con staple Bob Stencil (“That’s Stencil with a dollar sign”) came to the mic to ask why Ben and Thomas weren’t rocking their mustaches. “They’re owned by 20th Century Fox,” Garant said, while Lennon claimed they were taken to the Smithsonian.

* Late into the presentation, “Big Trouble in Little China” baddie James Hong appeared on stage to fool around with the other panelists. It was a bit weird at moments – as he was literally stroking Dan Fogler’s hair – but there’s nothing cooler than seeing the dude flash the Lo Pan sign. I’m kinda mad about not thinking about it later in the day when I sat down to talk with “Iron Man” director Jon Favreau, but if a second film is ever greenlit, Hong would make the perfect Mandarin.

* Lennon and the rest of the guys shared a hilarious anecdote about Christopher Walken that you have to hear to believe. Apparently, the guy likes to pretend it’s his birthday. So much so that he did it three times just during the production of “Balls of Fury,” and this isn’t the only film it’s happened on. Some people know about it and others don’t, but what he does is buy himself a birthday cake, sets it down by him in the makeup trailer, and looks really sad. He waits for someone to ask him what’s wrong, and he tells them that it’s his birthday, and so everyone gathers around him to sing… while he just sits there smiling and enjoying every minute of it.

“The Strangers” (guests: Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman and Brian Bertino)

As I’ve mentioned here several times before, I’m not a really big fan of horror movies. Nevertheless, I’d like to say that I’m really looking forward to Brian Bertino’s “The Strangers.” Of course, the movie isn’t really horror in the conventional sense, but is rather more of a suspense movie about a newlywed couple who are stalked and terrorized by a trio of would-be killers. These are real people facing off against a very real threat. Stars Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler joined first-time writer/director Bertino on stage to show a few clips from the film (including a slick teaser trailer) and answer questions from the audience. The panel wasn’t quite as revealing as others – they just showed a few clips, answered a few questions (including the mandatory “Can you say something in Elvish, Liv?”) and left the stage – but it’s nice to see that every horror/suspense movie that comes out these days isn’t rooted in torture porn.

“Doomsday” (guests: Neil Marshall)

Director Neil Marshall has made some pretty unique movies over the last few years. “Dog Soldiers” is the ultimate in B-movie camp, while “The Descent” reinvented the horror/suspense genre from the days of “Alien.” His newest film, “Doomsday,” will be released sometime in the first half of 2008, and for fans of films like “Mad Max” and “The Warriors,” well, they’re in for one helluva treat. Marshall didn’t bring any footage with him other than a short teaser trailer (narrated by Malcom McDowell, no less), and though it certainly reeks of been-there-done-that material, the last time it was done was 20 years ago, and so, it’s just as good of time as any to bring it back.

Comic-Con, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movies

Comic-Con: Roundtable with Ed Burns

July 30, 2007 /

While waiting to speak with director Zack Snyder during the series of Warner Bros. roundtables on Friday, my table was given a bonus: a brief chat with Ed Burns. Of course, unlike our incredibly limited time with Snyder, Mr. Burns was more than happy to answer our questions about, among other things, his return to acting in “One Missed Call” and the future of filmmaking.

Reporter: So is this your first Comic-Con?

Ed Burns: It is, yeah.

Reporter: And was it everything that it had been hyped up to be?

EB: I thought it was a lukewarm reaction, honestly. But I’m not really the guy who, you know, we just had a little clip reel, I’ve never done a horror film or sci-fi, so, I don’t know how many “[Brothers] McMullen” fans were in the audience. They really weren’t giving it up for the Irish guys from Queens.

Reporter: What do you think it is about Japanese horror that – because the torture porn thing has kind of come and gone – but for whatever reason Japanese horror has continued to hold a major interest internationally. Why do you think that is?

EB: Quite honestly, I don’t know. I think the reason the genre is popular in the States for so long is, you know, there are so many different options people have now in terms of their entertainment. You know, theatergoing has changed in a big way. You talk about “McMullen,” like, people use to go see small movies at small theaters, and that’s basically over, and I think the reason like comedies to such big business and power and, you know, big special effects movies is… you can watch a small drama on your flatscreen and it’s a similar experience. Sitting in a theater with 400 people and getting the shit scared out of you is a fun experience. That’s why I go, and it’s like, there are certain films that you wanna see in a theater to have the community type of experience with a certain genre of film.

Bullz-Eye: Is this the first horror movie that was pitched to you, or the first one that you’ve wanted to do?

EB: The first one that was pitched. It’s kinda weird. My career periodically, I go through these stages were I don’t wanna act anymore, I’m just gonna focus on making a few small movies, and then after I do two or three of those, like I did with this, I don’t wanna make another small movie, I wanna go act, so this was – I had just finished shooting something – and this was the first script that came up and I was like ‘You know, I like the genre, I’ve never done one, let me give it a shot and see. The director was an interesting guy. His whole thing was that he wanted to make it more suspenseful and atmospheric, more like a “Rosemary’s Baby” or – remember that Donald Sutherland film…

Reporter: “Don’t Look Now.”

EB: “Don’t Look Now,” okay. “Don’t Look Now” was the other film that he referenced a lot, so, and I think it is, it’s just a little bit more keeping with that style than it is sort of more traditional, sort of blood and guts horror movie.

Reporter: “Purple Violets” was very well received at Sundance. What’s going on with that film, when is it going to come out?

EB: “Purple Violets” is probably the best film that I’ve ever made. It’s a small, talky drama, dramedy, and there’s absolutely no audience for the film, theatrically, I’m sad to say. We got a couple of half-assed theatrical offers, but the last couple films I’ve done I’ve done that and, you know you do all this publicity and then the movie’s released in New York and LA, and maybe Chicago and San Francisco, and if you’re anywhere outside of those four major cities, your audience can’t find it. So, we’re gambling and we’re gonna be the first film that is released exclusively through iTunes. It’ll be available for four weeks exclusively, and the idea is we’ll promote it the same as you would a theatrical release and we’ll see what the numbers are. If the attendance, if the downloads, which we expect to be a much higher numbers than the attendance, I think it’ll be the way I would go in the future for small movies like this. You know, and then we’ll do more festivals than you might normally, so you can hit kinda smaller markets for the theatrical experience, but for everyone else it’s available, kinda like what people do…

Reporter: When did you say it would be available?

EB: Um, October 9th.

Reporter: Is iTunes promising you a huge amount of promotion for doing this?

EB: Huge is a relative term. We’ll have to see, but they’re promising promotion. I hope it’s huge.

Bullz-Eye: With the future of moviegoing moving closer and closer to a Pay-Per-View business model – where you’re paying a larger flat fee than you would in a movie theater, but in the comfort of your own home – how do you think this affects the industry?

EB: I think it’s changing so dramatically, I mean, just two years ago none of us were talking about YouTube – now it’s part of everybody’s daily life. Who knows what technology is going to come out in six months from now, or two years from now. That’s going to revolutionize the way we think about watching films. You know, the idea that people watch a movie on an iPod for someone my age, that’s insane, yet I recognize if you’ve grown up watching small images on your laptop or you’ve been downloading via friends to your phone, an iPod is a pretty good invention. So, I think it’s changing and you have to embrace it. You know, digital cinema is coming at us fast and furiously, film will die, day and dark releases are here already, and like I said, people go to movies for different things. And I mean, even a guy like me that always thought I wanted to make small, talky dramas, that business is a dead business. So the thing that I’m doing right now – that I just announced today – is developed a graphic novel with Virgin Comics called… I had an idea for a movie, a 1920s gangster story – again, New York City, Irish-Americans, kinda my milieu – but I thought, ‘Well, why not sort of look into giving these gangsters slightly hyper-human abilities and strengths. Pitched Virgin Comics on it, they loved it, and a guy named Jimmy Palmetti I think is how you pronounce it, he’s writing it based on my outline, comes out in November, and I’m writing the screenplay while he’s doing the books. And it’s a film we’ll make hopefully next year. So it’s like, I think you’ve got to look at how it’s changing and you’ve got to embrace it.

Reporter: So the way you approached directing… what you’re basically saying is that other than family movies and comedies, it’s going from a larger than life experience to get a smaller than life experience?

EB: Yeah, I think that’s what you have to do. I became an indie filmmaker more out of necessity than – and I certainly loved those films – but I’ve always been a fan of mainstream Hollywood moviemaking, whether it’s something like Scorsese or Spielberg, or “Star Wars.” But I think you have to recognize it’s changing… so one thing I’m looking forward to is how do you take what I do – and take these characters and voices – and put them on a bigger canvas.

Reporter: I just can’t imagine watching “The Godfather” on iTunes for the first time.

EB: But you know what? I think it’s analogous, in a way, to music. You know, you have to embrace the change because I know, like, our parents did not buy albums, they only listened to the radio. And then in the ’60s, albums came out and people were obsessed with the LP. And then when CDs came out, all the purists were like ‘What the fuck is this? I’m never going to listen to a CD,’ and CDs are over now, and nobody buys full length albums when they download it digitally anymore, so it’s almost like we come back to the way your guys’ grandparents listened to music where it was an individual song by an individual artists that was playing on the radio as opposed to the computer. So it’s that thing that happened in 70 years of music that I think is happening now for us in movies, and we’ll just have to see where it goes.

Actors, Comic-Con, External Entertainment, External Movies, Interviews, Movies

Comic-Con: Day Three – Disney/Pixar

July 29, 2007 /

I’m not really sure why I dreaded this presentation so much (perhaps it had something to do with the fact that I just sat through four hours of entertaining panels knowing this one would be a snoozefest in comparison), but the Disney/Pixar panel just wasn’t up to par. They didn’t have a whole lot to show, and of the three films represented, there wasn’t a single one that interested me in the way projects from every other panel have this weekend.

“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” (guests: Andrew Adamson – via satellite)

This was a split panel, in a sense, because many of the film’s crewmembers appeared in person to discuss their work on the second installment, but director Andrew Adamson was unable to get away from the set long enough to pop in. He was, however, able to appear via satellite video (along with a two second delay, ugh) so that he could intro a never-before-seen trailer for the new film and show off the Boy That Would Be Caspian, Ben Barnes (who’ll also appear in the fantasy film “Stardust” this August). Though he didn’t stay for very long, Adamson was the only interesting thing about the presentation.

The rest of the panel knew so little about the production as a whole (they’re experts in one field and one field only), that I felt a bit shortchanged. They showed off some pre-viz animation, finished creature effects and armor that was created especially for the film, and also fielded questions from the audience, but once Adamson and Barnes went to bed (no, seriously), the panel pretty much died right along with them. Nevertheless, while the first movie was a huge success, the second installment promises to be even bigger. Just think about how much better “The Two Towers” was than “The Fellowship of the Ring,” and you’ll get a good idea of what direction the film is going. Here’s a hint: It rhymes with “lots of schmaction.”

“National Treasure 2: The Book of Secrets” (guests: none)

Nicolas Cage was scheduled to appear on Sunday along with his son to pimp their new comic book, but he obviously wasn’t too concerned with stopping by to present the world premiere trailer of “National Treasure 2.” Hmm… could it be because it sucks? I won’t pass judgment too early, but I will say one thing. Helen Mirren as Benjamin Gates’ mother/father’s new girlfriend? Seriously? This is what she signs up for after winning every award imaginable? The plot itself sounds a bit farfetched – his great granddad is framed as the puppet master behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln – but this is just ridiculous.

“WALL*E” (guests: Andrew Stanton)

What if humans evacuated Earth but forgot to turn off the last robot? This is the story of “WALL*E,” a movie about a trash-compactor robot who continues to perform his one function even after everyone has left. Of course, WALL*E is eventually picked up by a spaceship where other (more advanced) robots roam, and it’s there that he falls in love. Now, from the footage that Andrew Stanton showed to the Comic-Con crowd, I have to say that Pixar is taking a HUGE risk with their latest film. Sure, the five-minute clipped that was shown was charming as hell, but will mainstream America be able to sit through a two-hour long film with almost no dialogue? Perhaps, but only because we don’t know all the details just yet. What we do know is that the robots can only say their own name (as well make a few reactionary noises), the humans have turned into lazy slobs (a la “Idiocracy”), and that there is a live-action element that plays into the film. Of course, Stanton wouldn’t get into specifics, and that’s the only reason why I haven’t completely condoned this movie. Well, and it’s Pixar.

Comic-Con, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movies

Comic-Con: Day Three – “The Simpsons”

July 29, 2007 /

Though “The Simpsons Movie” is already out in theaters, that didn’t stop Matt Groening and Co. from stopping by to share some news about the upcoming season, shamelessly plugging franchise tie-ins, and even answering a few questions from the audience. Because I’m not a diehard fan like others on the BE staff, it’s a bit difficult to elaborate on all the details of the panel without a solid background of the show, but I will offer up some nuggets of info that were discussed throughout the course of the presentation.

Groening started the panel off in grand fashion by introducing a never-before-seen deleted scene from the aforementioned “Simpsons” movie. The clip in question features Homer as he treks back to Springfield by way of a sausage truck. After letting Homer off at his stop, the driver (voiced by Hank Azaria) heads back to check on his sausages (and singing “checking my sausages”) only to discover that they’re all gone.

Later in the presentation, we were also treated to the opening few minutes of this season’s “Treehouse of Horror” episode, and while I’d really like to talk about it here, I’d rather not spoil it for anyone who may be reading this. Well, I’ll say just one thing: it has to do with those annoying advertisements that pop up on the corner of your TV screen while you’re watching a show, and it’s very, very funny.

The highlight of the panel? When an attendee requested that Groening sing the Spider-pig song and the entire cast/crew joined him in the jingle.

Spoiler Alert: If you don’t want to hear any details about the new season of the show, stop reading now.

* In this year’s new season, a rival comic book shop will open in Springfield, and the owner will be voiced by Jack Black. Comic book legend Alan Moore will also cameo as himself.

* Another episode will feature Ralph Wiggum running for a major political position when the people of Springfield write him onto the ballot, unknowingly causing a domino effect that makes him the election front-runner.

* Spider-pig will return in the season premiere, but only briefly.

* “The Simpsons” theme park ride is still in its early stages, but voice acting has already been recorded (Yeardley Smith even accidentally leaked some news about Sideshow Bob appearing), and will be replacing the “Back to the Future” ride at Universal Studios.

* The script for “The Simpsons Movie” went through 166 drafts (and four years) before finally arriving at the final product. So if you’’e wondering why the movie was so darn good (and maybe it isn’t, but I haven’t had the chance to see it yet), that’s why.

Comic-Con, External Movies, External TV, Movies, TV

Comic-Con: Roundtable with Zack Snyder

July 29, 2007 /

Following the Warner Bros. panel on Friday afternoon, a select group of press were invited to take part in a series of roundtable discussions with various panelists from the presentation. Director Zack Snyder (of the upcoming “Watchmen” film) was kind enough to give me and seven other writers a few minutes of his time to discuss the film in a much more controlled environment. Unfortunately, Zack likes to talk an awful lot and we didn’t have much time to begin with (five minutes), so I was unable to ask any of the questions I had lined up (like whether Gerard Butler will be cast as Hooded Justice, or if he’s got any ideas on how to shoot the “Black Freighter” sequence). Of course, there’s a lot of people out there who’d like to know everything they possibly can about the production on this movie, and so I’ve posted the following tidbit for the pleasure of anyone who may be interested…

Zack Snyder: (continuing his conversation from the previous roundtable) One of the things that I think is important about “Watchmen” is that it have resonances of cinematic pop culture, as well as superhero culture, because I believe there’s a relationship between Rorschach and Travis Bickle in “”Taxi Driver.” I believe that there’s a relationship between the war room in “Doctor Strangelove” and NORAD. There are cinematic relationships in the graphic novel, and I really think that the movie, this movie, “Watchmen,” is able to comment on both things in a way that other movies can’t, because it really does observe pop culture all the time while it’s telling the story. And I think that part of the influence on the characters themselves is the culture that they’re in. And for that part it’s something hugely fun to explore and, just from a visual standpoint, is hugely fun to say ‘Well, what does that mean?.’ Like, when you’re in the war room, how do you make it “Doctor Strangelove,” without making it “Doctor Strangelove”?

Reporter: It’ll pull you too far out of the story…

ZS: Yeah, I mean, let’s be realistic. Probably 99.999% of the population has not seen “Doctor Strangelove,” so there’ll be minimal impact on them, but, you know, for those of us that have, you want it to have those kind of broad implications that that has about the Cold War, and about like satire, and all those things, so Alex and I have been having a lot of fun, I think, in trying to… because I always say, treat the graphic novel like it was written 2,000 years old and it is like an illuminated text, and that we are disciples of this religion and we have to make sure that it is somehow, you know… we won’t be burned at the stake, for heresy, after the movie comes out. I think that’s the fun we also have, like for instance even just the smallest things like when Rorschach burns the SWAT cops with the hairspray. We’re sitting around and they showed me some hairsprays – you know, cool ratty hairspray cans – and I was like ‘Oh, they’re cool, but the labels are wrong.’ And they’re like, ‘What do you mean?’ And I go ‘That’s Veidt for Men, it should be, hairspray.’ And I was like ‘See?’ (mocks opening a copy of “Watchmen”), and they’re like ‘Oh, fuck, okay, sorry.’ But it’s like that. You could do that with pretty much everything in the movie.

Reporter: Well, like “300,” you already have a visual template to draw from and reference. In that sense, is the movie – because you haven’t really started on it yet – is it kind already made?

ZS: You know, it’s a hugely, hugely difficult thing to take any work of, like a drawing, and say ‘Make that real.’ You know you have… well yeah, to some extent, you know? I think part of making “Watchmen” is deciding what not to have in the movie, not what is in the movie. That’s easy, you know? So we’re just trying to like, what stories don’t you have? That’s part of the problem. It’s awesome because it’s a six-hour movie if you shoot everything. Just about. What happened was we meet a guy – a very awesome guy – who had done an animatic of the first ten minutes of the graphic novel. Like the first three chapters. Well not three chapters, but first six pages of the book. And it timed out at about ten minutes. And it was each frame, alright? With cool little flash animation – awesome – and with art from the book. And he said ‘I’ve extrapolated that if you wanted to do the whole book and it would be six hours and twenty minutes’… And so it’s not as easy as saying ‘Oh, that shot, that shot, that shot.’

Studio Rep: (talking to Snyder) We have to go.

Reporter: Really quick. Do you have a timeframe for the movie?

ZS: I don’t have a timeframe right now. I think it’s running long right now. It’s about 140 page script, not including “The Black Freighter,” and so – and “The Black Freighter” is about 16 pages as a script – and so, I mean, it’s going to be long.

Comic-Con, External Movies, Interviews, Movies

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