Category: Comic-Con (Page 9 of 14)

Comic-Con 2008: Day Three – Dollhouse

July 27, 2008 / Bob Westal

Of course, the “Dollhouse” event was a love fest. Actually, a mega-love fest.

That’s absolutely no surprise if you know anything at all about the kind of admiration (both lusty and talent-wise) aroused by star Eliza Dushku (“Tru Calling,” “Bring it On”) and the Bono-esque stature of multi-hyphenate series creator Joss Whedon (“Buffy, the Vampire Slayer,” “Firefly“) across a huge swath of Geektopia — a swath recently made even larger by the net-success of his second acclaimed genre-blending musical, “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.” Add to that the appearance of Dushku’s excessively handsome costar, Tahmoh Penikett of “Battlestar Galactica” (a show with a few gazillion ardent fans of its own) and you have fanboy and fangirl critical mass.

And, indeed, the first three quarters of the panel was loaded with silliness, over-the-top praise, jokey-silly putdowns (a Whedon trademark) and flirtatious asides between the three folks onstage as well as with the audience. Topics early on included the peripatetic Ms. Dushku’s trips to such locales as Iran, where she survived a “terrorist attack” from some errant Persian rugs.

Moving to a Q&A, the first question was about the source of the premise of “Dollhouse,” in which Dushku will play an “active,” a sort of human blank slate who is downloaded with a new personality and skill set for each new assignment, with jobs that range from from pre-tailored love/sex object to hyper-skilled operative. The show appears to take place in a world much like our own, and this sort of thing sure sounds highly illegal, not to mention extremely immoral, and BSG’s Pennikett will play a cop wondering just why this beautiful woman he keeps meeting never seems to be the same person twice. The show is currently set to premiere this January.

Actors, Actresses, Comic Con Blog 2008, Comic-Con, External Entertainment, External TV, Movies, New Media, News, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Comic-Con 2008: Day Three – The Simpsons

July 27, 2008 / Bob Westal

As mentioned near the start of this panel, “The Simpsons” has pretty much beat every other prime-time television show in terms of longevity, number of episodes, etc. — except for “Gunsmoke” and “Lassie,” which also makes it the all-time king of sitcoms with a reservoir of goodwill able to withstand more than one below-par season. This appearance by the show’s main creative team was a predictably relaxed and mirthful affair in which creator Matt Groening and writers Al Jean and Matt Selman did most of the talking — quieter panelists included director David Silverman, who helmed “The Simpsons Movie,” and writer Carolyn Omine.

Before the official start of the panel, Groening introduced some clips from next Fall’s “Treehouse of Horror” episode, including a brief segment involving Homer Simpson and a particularly violent form of vote rigging that goes well beyond the worst imagingings of Diebold-fearing liberals, as well as a spot on parody of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” with a Linus-like Milhouse accidentally tricking the supernatural pumpkin into a form of vegetarian cannibalism. (It’s complicated.)

Wasting no time, the event was immediately thrown open to questions. The first young questioner asked if the long-suffering Marge Simpson, tiring from her numerous attempts to get the permanently obese Homer to lose weight, would start gaining weight herself. The writers’
response was they would promptly steal the idea and that it would likely show up in a Simpsons comic book, if not the actual show.

Another question referred to a recent episode parodying the comic book world featuring an appearance by mad comic writing genius Alan Moore (“Watchmen,” “V for Vendetta,” “From Hell”) and a joke about an animated “Watchmen Babies” series. Writer Matt Selman expressed his own intimidation at working with the artistically and personally imposing Moore, who apparently got the joke but also stipulated that the gag itself was also an example of an evil corporation (this is Fox, after all) debasing one of Moore’s creations.

Comic Con Blog 2008, Comic-Con, External TV, Humor, TV, TV Comedies

Comic-Con 2008: Day Three – Disney

July 27, 2008 / Jason Zingale

Much like last year, the Disney panel wasn’t even remotely as entertaining as some of the others, but that’s mostly because they tend to look more at the technical side of the production process. Big names draw big crowds, and though the panel itself delivered plenty of first-look footage, it didn’t exactly do much in terms of wowing the crowd.

“Bolt” (guests: directors Chris Williams and Byron Howard)

When I first saw the poster for “Bolt,” I promptly rolled my eyes and thought, “John Travolta is voicing a dog in a Disney movie? Yep, this is going to be shit,” but after seeing about 20 minutes of footage from the film, I’m happy to say that it actually looks much, much better. Now, it isn’t quite Pixar-standard, or even Dreamworks-standard for that matter, but it does look like an entertaining kid’s movie with a nice blend of action and comedy. Most of that comedy comes from the basic concept of the film (about a canine TV star who believes he has superpowers just like the character he plays), but it also comes from the fine cast of voice talent they’ve wrangled up, including Susie Essman, Malcolm McDowell, James Lipton, Diedrich Bader and Nick Swardson.

“Up” (guest: director Peter Doctor)

The second part of Disney’s presentation was dedicated to Pixar’s new film, “Up,” a “coming of old age” story about a curmudgeonly widow who transforms his home into a makeshift air balloon and travels the world. If that description scares you a little bit, well, you’re not alone. Pixar movies are notorious for sounding so simplistic that they couldn’t possibly work as full length features, but as both “Ratatouille” and “Wall*E” have proven, it’s just not worth doubting these guys any more. Does “Up” scare me? You bet, but director Pete Doctor’s latest will probably be just as good as the others. Aside from the two clips shown, the only other nuggets revealed were the cast (which includes Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer and, of course, John Ratzenberger) and the fact that the movie will be jam-packed with plenty of Pixar Easter eggs.

Comic Con Blog 2008, Comic-Con, External Movies, Movies, News

Comic-Con 2008: Day Three – Heroes & Lost

July 26, 2008 / Jason Zingale

Guests: Creator Tim Kring and cast / Co-creators Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof and star Matthew Fox

I’ve already mentioned several times that Paramount’s decision to not bring anything to Comic-Con this year left many fanboys upset, but if there’s any good that came out of it, it’s that, for the first time ever, Hall H campers were treated to panels for two of the geekiest shows on television: NBC’s “Heroes” and ABC’s “Lost.” Though my colleague Will Harris already blogged about Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof’s visit to the annual TCA event last week, they still disclosed a few nuggets about the new season that I figured were worth mentioning here.

* The island didnt’ travel when the hatch imploded in season two.

* Fans will definitely see more of Rousseau’s story in the coming years, but not necessarily in flashback form.

* Kate will see Sawyer again, and while Cuse would prefer that Kate end up with Jack when all is said and done, he admits that the love triangle is far more dynamic.

* Faraday’s notebook will play a big part in the new season.

Unfortunately, the “Heroes” panel wasn’t quite as enlightening, but that’s more to do with them running out of time than the cast members being willing to speak. In fact, unlike Matthew Fox’s solo appearance with Cuse and Lindelof, every single series regular from “Heroes” made the trip down to San Diego, and the occasion was made even more special with a screening of the entire first episode of the third season. I’d like to talk more about what I saw, but I simply don’t want to ruin the experience. All I’ll say for now is that it is mind-blowing, and it’s exactly what the series needs after season two was interrupted by the strike. Some cliffhangers are explained and others aren’t. New characters with powers are introduced, while older characters reveal new powers of their own. And perhaps most importantly, it’s all done with a comic flair that was sorely missing from last year’s mini-season.

Comic Con Blog 2008, Comic-Con, External TV, Heroes, Lost, TV

Comic-Con 2008: Day Two – Zack & Miri Make a Porno

July 26, 2008 / Jason Zingale

Guests: Writer/director Kevin Smith, producer Scott Mosier, and stars Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Justin Long, Jason Mewes, Traci Lords and Katie Morgan

It probably goes without saying that Kevin Smith is a major draw at Comic-Con. Most fanboys relate to the filmmaker’s innate geekiness, and as a result, they’re treated to a very special episode of “A Night with Kevin Smith” each and every year. The dude’s pretty much given free reign to talk about whatever he wants, and this time around, he actually had a film to promote. Bringing along most of the cast of “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” Smith also treated those in attendance with an extended clip from the film in which Miri (Elizabeth Banks) attempts to hit on an old crush (Brandon Routh, AKA Superman) at a high school reunion, while Zack (Seth Rogen) gets to know said crush’s gay porn star boyfriend (Justin Long) in another part of the room.

Now, I wouldn’t say that the clip reminded be of classic Smith fare (his writing doesn’t sound as clever coming out of Seth Rogen’s mouth), but it does look like he’s trying to take his career in a slightly different direction. For starters, the visuals themselves look sharper (something even Smith admitted to being interested in getting better at), while the basic structure of the story looks to be more inspired by Judd Apatow’s recent work than his own. As for the rating, well, it has already been slapped with an NC-17 (twice), and now Smith is in the process of appealing the decision before its October 31st release. He went on to add that he’s contractually obligated to deliver an R-rated film, so if the appeal doesn’t overturn the original decision, he’ll have to go in and make some cuts – particularly with a scene that Smith claims the MPAA simply does not want in the film.

The rest of the night was filled with plenty of banter between the guests on stage, and though Smith and Rogen had their share of funny comments, it was porn star Katie Morgan who ultimately stole the show. Traci Lords, on the other hand, couldn’t have looked any more serious, and though it seemed like she might cry when an audience member brought up her past as an underage performer in the porn business, Smith brought down the house when he replied, “You’re like the Miley Cyrus of porn!”

Click here for more from Kevin Smith, courtesy of NBC.