Category: External Movies (Page 246 of 336)

Comic-Con treats and tricks

I’ll be writing a little bit more about the unwisely dropped direct-to-DVD festival hit, “Trick ‘r Treat,” after I return from the con. That particularly includes what I gleaned from a trio of round robin interview things with writer-director Michael Dougherty and co-stars Lauren Lee Smith (“CSI”) and Brian Cox, definitely one of the toppermost of the poppermost, acting wise. Including Mr. Cox, all very personable folks, which never hurts in show bidness.

My reaction to the film was muted by my own tiredness, but I do think there is something there. Dougherty, a co-writer on the last couple of Bryan Singer superhero projects, has an outstanding eye for creepy beauty and he certainly brings human values and humor to his horror. However, the muddy acoustics of the hall drowned out much of the dialogue for me, and the impossibility of obtaining coffee at the convention centerĀ  in the evening dulled out much of my brain. (Why, oh why, Mrs. Fields, have you abandoned me this year?) The audience reaction was, as far as I could tell, divided between wild enthusiasm and muted nitpicking. More to come.

And now, a few other more high-profile movie related con related matters live from my horrifyingly small shoe box hotel room. Also, I wonder how long I can hold out without ever setting foot in the dreaded Hall H.

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Comic-Con in the morning and the “Dead of Night”

This morning started out movie-ish, as I arrived just a couple of minutes late for the annual “Master of the Web” panel devoted to online geek film blogging and reportage, this year featuring such occasional or frequent guest stars here as Devin Faraci of CHUD fame and ex-Moriarity Drew McWeeney, now of HitFix. After answering many of the usual questions — no, they don’t allow advertising to influence reviews, if you’re want to start a career writing about movies, expect years of hard unpaid labor, to be followed by severely under-paid harder labor, etc — the movie stars arrived.

Brandon Routh and Sam Huntington, pals in real life, will be reprising their winning hero/sidekick act from “Superman Returns” with a darker but comedic, action/supernatural edge in the upcoming “Dead of Night.” An adaptation of theĀ  “Dylan Dog” comics series from Italy’s Tiziano Sclavi. After some semi-rough clips from the upcoming film, Routh and Huntington were accompanied onto the very crowded podium by lovely co-star Anita Briem (“Journey to the Center of the Earth,” “The Tudors”), who had to put up with a question about a supposed liaison with Megan Fox. (I couldn’t find any links to back this one up. My apologies to pervs and gossip hounds alike.)

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AskMen’s Great Male Survey names the summer’s best movie: “None.”

It’s that time of year again, fellas — yes, AskMen.com has compiled the data for its annual Great Male Survey, crunched the numbers, and published the results. If you want to put your finger on the pulse of what dudes are thinking, look no further — and if you’ve been feeling like this year’s crop of summer blockbusters is one of the least exciting to come out of Hollywood in recent memory, you can at least take solace in the knowledge that most of the guys who responded to the survey agree with you. Yes, it’s sad but true: When asked to name the movie of the summer so far, 39 percent of respondents answered “None.” Here’s how it all broke down:

Q. What has been the best summer movie of 2009 to date?
39% – None
28% – Star Trek
21% – Transformers II
08% – X-Men Origins: Wolverine
04% – Terminator Salvation

Not exactly good news for the folks who depend on cash registers ringing at the cineplex — and it doesn’t get any better for the rest of the summer, either. When asked to identify the film they were most eagerly anticipating, 26 percent of respondents answered “Public Enemies,” whose generally lukewarm reviews and good-but-not-great box office returns have been something of a letdown for Universal. In second place, with 22 percent? That bastard “None.”

Q. Which forthcoming summer 2009 movie are you most looking forward to?
26% – Public Enemies
22% – None
18% – Bruno
18% – G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
16% – Inglourious Basterds

So guys aren’t happy with what has been in theaters this summer, and they aren’t happy about what’s going to be in theaters — so where’s the silver lining for Hollywood? Well, if you’re in the network business, or worried about warding off the TV ratings drift toward streaming Web content, you’ll be happy to know that although 75 percent of respondents listed their computer monitor as the screen they spend the most time in front of, 49 percent of them still watch their favorite TV series the old-fashioned way: Episode by episode, as it’s broadcast live. You might be hearing about TiVo, Hulu, and TV on DVD all the time, but if the jump away from live TV is happening, it’s occurring more slowly than you might think.

The worst news, as it turns out, is for the PR flacks that work for Barack Obama and Paris Hilton — the male and female celebs that respondents named as the public figures they’re most tired of hearing about (although, to be fair, Obama tied with — you guessed it — “None”). Overexposure, plain old dislike, or blind button pushing? You decide — and make sure you check out the rest of the Great Male Survey to see what guys are thinking about cars, sports, and entertainment!

In which I arrive at Comic-Con

After a couple of days getting crap out of the way, packing, and the most crowded Amtrak train I’ve ever seen (though it’s still a highly civilized way to travel), I’m a bit out of it. Also, with the “Industry Lounge” not yet open, I’ve got no place to blog with access to a outlet, and my power is 55% and rapidly dwindling…so let me just say that — yeah, it’s a zoo here.

That also means that tonight, it’s just quick-ass short astericky stuff. And no pics either. Sorry.

* Via Anne Thompson @ AICN. 250 “very lucky” fans will get to see “Inglourious Basterds” here after all. And, as per Ms. Thompson, after “Spiderman 4,” Sam Raimi may do a movie version of the “World of Warcraft” game. If anyone can make the first good video game-derived movie, it would be Raimi.

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Some travelling music…

Just a few quick thoughts to keep you busy as I make my way on the long, long journey from Orange County to San Diego for Comic-Con (well, it can feel long).

* Lars von Trier is enjoying the hub-bub around “Antichrist” (soon to have it’s second coming). What part of “provocateur” didn’t we understand?

* Karina has only one thing she’ll miss about the con. (Warning — don’t click while eating unless you find a fake ultra-bloodied Lloyd Kaufman palatable.)

* Also from THR: Michael Jackson’s flirtations with filmmaking. The big surprise — it could have been weirder. Even his meeting with Mel Gibson was apparently not incredibly strange, though Mel hugged a pillow.

* I’ve been reading articles like this for decades. The fact that they’re more or less true doesn’t make them less their inaccuracies/shallowness less annoying. Women have been getting more interested in geek stuff for a very long time. That’s a good thing. Personally, I didn’t notice a humongous “Twilight” contingent last year, but perhaps I’m sheltered.

* And now a clip that will be running through my mind as I approach the convention center.

I’ve never been good at avoiding silly places, obviously.

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