What are going to be the biggest surprises at this year's ComicCon? Can McG and Christian Bale make us care about Terminator: Salvation? Will the movie adaptation of Twilightplease fans, or alienate them? What's behind the venom being directed at Batman's detractors on-line? And does Meryl Streep's Mamma Mia! have a chance against The Dark Knight this weekend? Joining James this week to talk all things ComicCon is Cinematical's Editor-In-Chief Erik Davis. ... Cinematical's podcast is now available through iTunes; you can subscribe at this link. Also, you can listen directly here at Cinematical by clicking below:
As ever, you can download the entire podcast right here -- and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.
In honor of San Diego Comic Con (which starts next week -- OMG!), Entertainment Weekly has thrown together a pretty neat spread on a bunch of the films, TV shows and even comics. Yes, comics. I know, crazy for a comic convention, but what can you do. Although it's not technically part of their Con preview, up above you can see the first image of Jason from the upcoming Friday the 13thremake. The folks behind that flick will host a panel and debut the first trailer at Con.
Below, we've pulled out five of the 26 photos (not including their other First Look photo batch) for you to preview before heading over to EW's site. They also have up a pretty sweet Watchmen piece, which gives another nice look at The Comedian. Featured below: Images from The Spirit,Terminator Salvation, Land of the Lost, Ninja Assassin and Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell.
And do I even need to ask twice? Seriously, this party is so hip, rad and ultra cool ... I'm surprised even I was invited! Like, maybe there was a mistake somewhere and they meant to invite Eric Davis the baseball player instead of Erik Davis the movie blogger. Who knows. I ain't saying a thing. Yes, The Wrath of Con party is upon us ... and not only do I have a list of celebs attending, but also info on how you folks can join the fun.
First off, here are some of the peeps you can hang out with at the party:
Jason Statham (Death Race), Rhona Mitra (Doomsday), David Goyer (writer of The Dark Knight), Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes, Rocky Balboa), Derek Mears (Friday the 13th), Bill Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean, Hot Fuzz), John Cho (Star Trek, Harold & Kumar), Simon Pegg (Star Trek), Sophie Monk (The Hills Run Red), Efren Ramirez (Napoleon Dynamite), Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), Lena Headey (300, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Thomas Dekker (Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, Heroes), Jamie King (The Spirit, Sin City), Kyle Newman (director of Fanboys), Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor (directors of The Game), Corey Haim (Lost Boys: The Tribe), Corey Feldman (Lost Boys: The Tribe), Bai Ling, Edgar Wright (Spaced, Hot Fuzz), Kal Penn (Harold & Kumar) ... and many more.
I've been to a few conventions before, here in Philly, a couple in New York, and one hazy weekend in legendary Mesquite, Texas. Horror, sci-fi, comic books, and tons of awesome geeks enjoying their own personal flavor of colorful nerd-dom. I enjoy these events, even though my own style of fandom prohibits me from dressing up like Bib Fortuna or Jayne Cobb. (I like to be amicably cynical at these events, so if I happen to make fun of your Buffy costume, please understand it's all in good fun.)
So this past weekend I spent a little while perusing through the San Diego Comic-Con schedule, and here's what I've got a red circle on:
-- First off, I will try to interview the female lead of Fox's The Day the Earth Stood Stillremake. I'll be bringing a pair of defibrillator paddles just in case she smiles while I'm in the room.
-- There's an event focusing on the new thriller Mirrors, which I wasn't that psyched for -- until I remembered who the director was. Plus if you don't like Kiefer Sutherland I suspect you're an evil communist robot.
-- The Masters of the Web Panel is either going to be hilarious or it's going to devolve into the geekiest bar brawl you've ever seen. Our own Erik Davis will be discussing the state of internet movie nerd-dom with guys from JoBlo's, CHUD, AICN, IESB, Bloody-Dee, The Movie Blog, Movieweb, Latino Review, and (of course!) Dark Horizons. And since I know most of those lunatics, this should be one amusing little discussion panel.
With about a week and half left before myself, Scott Weinberg and Elisabeth Rappe head out to sunny San Diego for this year's Comic Con, organizers have finally unveiled the full line-up of acitivities .. and there's an insane amount of stuff to see and do. Here are some film-related highlights from Friday, Saturday and Sunday; you can check out the entire sched over on the official Comic Con website (Note: We covered Thursday here, and don't say anything, but I've heard there may be a certain fanboy-ish screening that night as well. Hmmm ...)
Friday:
11:55-1:00 Warner Bros.: Watchmen- A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the "Doomsday Clock"- which charts the USA's tension with the Soviet Union-is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed-up -- but no less determined -- masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion-a ragtag group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers -- Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity...but who watches the Watchmen? Guest appearances TBA. Hall H
2:00-2:30 Universal: The Wolfman- For its upcoming action-horror film The Wolfman, Universal will showcase new footage and a presentation from the title monster's creator, six-time Oscar-winning special effects artist Rick Baker. Hall H
2:45-3:45 Lionsgate and Odd Lot Entertainment: The Spirit- Writer/director Frank Miller and producer Deborah Del Prete are joined by film stars Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, and Eva Mendes in unveiling an exclusive preview of the new film based on the classic comic by Will Eisner. Hall H
6:30-8:00 Kevin Smith Makes a "Porno"- Well, not really, but for the umpteenth time, Smith is back at Comic-Con to talk movies, comics, and whatever else the audience wants to talk about. This year, he'll be highlighting his fall film, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks. Expect some special guests. Hall H
Not long ago I gave Sony Pictures Classics props for the way they handled promotion on The Wackness, and I'm about to do the same for Focus Features, who've been pimping out Hamlet 2 like there's no tomorrow. Not only will Hamlet 2 have a major presence at this year's San Diego Comic Con (we're still giving away tickets to that private screening, by the way), but they're also sending around these sweet Hamlet 2 goodie bags and have put together a sing-a-long video for the film's hit song, Rock Me Sexy Jesus.
You can check out that video above, and below we put together a gallery of photos from the film, as well as of the official 2008 Comic Con Survival Kit, with a Hamlet 2 bag, a couple t-shirts, some wristbands, coffee, a book called Reading Comics and a whole bunch of candy (including these really addictive Bazooka bubble gum nuggets). I'm not sure what me lady will say when she arrives home and I'm wearing a Rock Me Sexy Jesus t-shirt (especially since I'm Jewish), but I like to keep her guessing; relationships are more fun that way.
Though we're still a couple weeks away, you can't deny a certain level of excitement in the air right now. It kinda smells like chicken ... with a twist of kick ass! The 2008 San Diego Comic Con will slowly release their schedule over the next couple days, and up first is Thursday. We'll run through a few special, must-see events, and you can see the film-related schedule after the jump and the entire Thursday sched on the official Con website. Thursday, July 24:
10:00-11:00 Masters of the Web-For the second year in a row the biggest genre and movie websites are coming together to discuss how new media have affected movie making, what it takes to run a popular site, and much more in a panel discussion and Q&A session. Participants include Robert Sanchez (IESB.net), Garth Franklin (Darkhorizons.com), Mike Sampson (Joblo.com), Erik Davis (Cinematical.com), John Campea (TheMovieBlog.com), Brad Miska (Bloody-Disgusting.com), Eric "Quint" Vespe (Aintitcool.com), Devin Faraci (CHUD.com), Paul Christensen (Movieweb.com), and Kellvin Chavez (Latinoreview.com). Moderated by directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank 2, The Game). Room 32AB
11:30-1:00 20th Century Fox: The Day The Earth Stood Still and Max Payne- Stars Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly, plus director Scott Derrickson and producer Erwin Stoff, present an exclusive look at The Day The Earth Stood Still, Fox's contemporary reinvention of its 1951 classic. "Max Payne" himself-Mark Wahlberg-will be on hand with Mila Kunis, Ludacris, and director John Moore to discuss turning the game's noirish, hard-hitting, and complex world and characters into a movie event.
1:15-2:45 Summit Pictures-Summit Entertainment presents a sneak peek of exclusive footage of some of its upcoming major film releases: Push (Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Djimon Hounsou, Camilla Belle and director Paul McGuigan), Knowing (Alex Proyas), Twilight (Director Catherine Hardwicke, author Stephenie Meyer, and the cast-including Robert Pattinson (Edward), Kristen Stewart (Bella), Cam Gigandet (James), Rachelle LaFevre (Victoria), Edi Gathegi (Laurant), and Taylor Lautner (Jacob))
2:00-3:00 Red Sonja: One-on-One-Robert Rodriguez (Sin City), Rose McGowan (Grindhouse), Doug Aarniokoski (2nd unit director, Resident Evil 3) and David White.
Will you be attending San Diego Comic Con later this month? Would you like to check out a super secret screening of Hamlet 2AND take home a bunch of groovy movie merch? Cinematical is happy to officially launch this Hamlet 2 Comic Con Contest where ten lucky fans will win a pair of tickets to the aforementioned sneak screening of Hamlet 2, as well as the t-shirt pictured above, Hamlet 2 wrist bands and a Rock Me Sexy Jesus doll ... for those times when, well, you really need a Rock Me Sexy Jesus doll.
The actual screening will take place on Saturday July 26th in San Diego, and the only way to get in is to either win tickets or by finding a Sexy Jesus walking around at Comic Con. (Note to self: Get photo with Sexy Jesus while at Comic Con.) Please be aware that you will need to be in the immediate San Diego area on July 26th in order to win these tickets, so do not leave a comment on this post if you will not be in San Diego on the day of the screening. Your tickets, assuming you win a pair, will be mailed to you prior to the convention.
To enter, leave a comment telling us why you want to attend the Comic Con screening of Hamlet 2. Check out the official rules for this contest after the jump ... and good luck!
Hamlet 2 dances its way into theaters on August 22.
Repeat after me, in a drone-like voice if necessary: "I am very happy that my friends, colleagues, and thousands of complete strangers will be attending Comic-Con while I am stuck at home, pining away pitifully on my battered old laptop." Seriously, even though I won't be in attendance, I am eager to read all the cool movie news that should be emanating from San Diego starting on July 23.
Erik has already detailed the events arranged by 20th Century Fox, and now Cinematical has gotten a look at what Warner Brothers has planned -- and it looks pretty good, my friends. Panels have been scheduled for Watchmen, with director Zack Snyder, Terminator Salvation, with the always entertaining McG, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, with director Dave Filoni, producer Catherine Winder, and, I'll bet, a large army of Storm Troopers trampling the unwary.
Jeremy Piven, Ludacris (AKA Chris Bridges) and Mr. Madonna (AKA Guy Ritchie) will talk RocknRolla, while Rain (AKA Korean sensation Ji Hoon Jung) will excite fangirls -- though I can't guarantee he'll dress the part -- as Ninja Assassin, with director James McTeigue and fellow star Naomie Harris. The new version of Friday the 13th will also be spotlighted, with Jared Padalecki and Derek Meaks ready to talk Crystal Lake and hockey masks.
As always, film talent is tentative, but the Cinematical talent is confirmed and will be on hand to provide great coverage that should make us all wish we were there.
So, who's going to San Diego Comic Con this year? Are you excited? Pumped up? Mildly interested? Pretending you don't care in order to impress someone of the opposite sex, but deep inside really do care and, as such, are counting down the seconds? It's okay, we're friends -- we can talk. This year, myself, Scott Weinberg and Elisabeth Rappe will be on the ground at Con representing Cinematical, and I think I speak for all of us when I say we're ready to get our geek on.
Aside from the very cool Masters of the Web Panel on Thursday morning (7/24) at 10am (which yours truly will take part in), we've been anxiously waiting to see which studios show up and with what product. Looks like Fox was first out of the gate, as I've been told they'll be there with bells on ... along with panels for Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg, John Moore and Mila Kunis expected to attend so far) and The Day The Earth Stood Still(Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Scott Derickson and Erwin Stoff expected to attend so far). There will also be an advanced screening of The Rocker, with Rainn Wilson in attendance for a Q&A. Of course, this is all tentative until everything is finalized next month.
On the other hand, Anne Thompson brings us the unfortunate news that Paramount will not be hosting a panel or bringing any stars to this year's Con. Apparently, a Paramount spokesman told Thompson that "the timing was off this year." Thus, fans will miss out on potential presentations of G.I. Joe, Star Trek, Transformers 2 and The Last Airbender. Sucks. Though you never know ... plans may change and there could still be a surprise or two. Here's hoping we get something, anything, from one of these highly-anticipated films.
UPDATE: Paramount's fishin' around today, so I don't think they're out just yet. More when we know ...
While we're still over a month away from what is perhaps the Super Bowl of geekdom, early info on what to expect from this year's San Diego Comic Con has started to leak out. First off, I've been receiving tons of emails over the past couple days as other websites begin to mention this Masters of the Web panel, which, in case you haven't seen, includes Cinematical. Yes, I'm very happy to announce that yours truly will join the dudes from IESB, JoBlo, Dark Horizons, Ain't It Cool News, CHUD, Latino Review, Movie Web, The Movie Blog and Bloody-Disgusting for an in-depth discussion on how to make your own pizza at home! Not quite, but when you get all these folks in the same room, you'll definitely want to watch what happens next.
Wait, there's more! The panel itself will be moderated by directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank, Pathology), and those in attendance will get to see the first footage from Crank 2 and that Gerard Butler flick, Game. There's also a ridiculous invite-only party being thrown featuring all kinds of celebs, "dancers" and hot internet movie writers, and if you show up to the panel, you'll have a chance to win a ticket to said party as well. Long story short: If you're going to Comic Con, you'll most definitely want to clear your schedule on Thursday, July 24th at 10am for the Masters of the Web panel. Yeah, it's early -- but we're not going to Comic Con to sleep in, we're going to get our geek on. Start early, party late -- that's always our motto.
In addition to the panel, IESB has listed an early and somewhat tentative rundown of what each studio has planned for The Con. I'm seeing names like Watchmen, Terminator: Salvation, The Spirit, Twilight, Underworld 3, Kevin Smith ... and much, much more. God, I feel like I'm seven and going to Disney World. So excited. Stay tuned ...
Universal was out in full force over the weekend, hosting panels for The Incredible Hulk (see our report here), Wanted and Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Though less attention has been given to Wanted and Hellboy II so far, both films will provide, perhaps, some of this summer's most spectacular visuals.
We mentioned it the other day, but prior to the Wanted panel at NY Comic Con, Cinematical was invited to Universal's suite high on the 52nd floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel to hang with director Timur Bekmambetov and watch the Wanted Comic Con footage a drop early. Following the brief screening (on a monstrous flat screen TV), I caught up with Timur and spoke to him about the film. One thing, in particular, was whether he planned on a Wanted franchise, or if this would be a one-off film. Timur laughed when I asked, and said we'd have to wait to see if people go to see this one first. Also of note, when I asked if he planned to continue his very successful Night Watch/Day Watch series of films, Timur shot back: This [meaning Wanted] is it! This is the third film. Even though it has different story, the tone is the same from the other films."
After waiting on a very long line for about an hour, I finally made my way into the IGN Theater for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones panel. The festivities had already gotten underway, and so the theater was packed, dark and hard to navigate. Additionally, I had walked in while they were screening footage for the upcoming video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which hits shelves in September. The footage looked great (from what I could tell), and I'm looking forward to a game that's set in between Episodes III and Episodes IV as there's so much room to play with there. For more on the game, check out StarWars.com.
From there, Steve Sansweet introduced two guys who had just graduated with a doctorate in Star Wars from New York University. It's funny, too, because right before their names were announced the guy next to me leaned over to his girlfriend and said, "Holy crap, I didn't know you could get a doctorate in Star Wars! Why didn't I do that!? Then Sansweet played their senior thesis: a documentary that, in reality, turned out to be the trailer for Robot Chicken's Star Wars episode. Of course, the two guys were Seth Green and Matt Senreich. They, in turn, talked about how that episode is arriving on DVD in July. This will include all sorts of stuff, like the deleted scene they screened featuring George Lucas on a therapist's couch complaining about how other people messed up Star Wars when Lucas let them play in that world (ie: Robot Chicken). Funny stuff.
The picture above takes place toward the very end of the scene they showed us yesterday at New York Comic Con, and it comes toward the end of a battle between armed forces and the Hulk. This scene is also predominantly featured in the new trailer which will play before Iron Man in about two weeks. Essentially, the military have Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) on the run. They chase him into this glass tunnel, lock both entrances on either side and launch two smoke-type bombs into the area. Outside, jeeps and a slew of troops gather awaiting Banner's transformation. They want this monster and they want him bad.
Suddenly, as the smoke builds up, we see Banner press his hands against the glass -- his eyes go green, his face fighting the beast within. Smoke fills the screen; it's quiet. Everyone waits. Then ... BOOM! -- the Hulk crashes out of the glass onto this huge field, running for his life. Several jeeps give chase, guns firing from every corner of the screen -- bullets ripping into Hulk's skin; he bumps one jeep and the vehicle rolls over. He gets to another one, picks it up and proceeds to smash it until the thing is in a million pieces. Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), who at this point has been given a few injections of that super serum, heads out to where Hulk is. Hulk tries to beat down Blonsky, but the latter has an extra bounce in his step. For some reason, he's not like the others -- he can move pretty fast. After a brief cat and mouse, the two approach each other (seen above). Blonsky says, "Is that all you got?" Hulk looks down, winds his leg back and goes to deliver a giant kick to Blonsky's stomach ... and we ... cut to black.
You know that room Willy Wonka takes everyone in -- the one full of candy, and then the fat kid gets sucked into the chocolate pipe? For a geek, Comic Con is that room. Actually, Comic Con is like visiting 60 or 70 of those rooms for an entire weekend. I'm not even what you'd call a geek, gamer or fanboy, and I get absolutely overwhelmed each and every time I attend one of these conventions. It's seriously like losing yourself in another universe for awhile -- and then you get to watch a really sick trailer ... or three. NY Comic Con blew the f*ck (pardon my French) up this year. Last year, they hosted Hostel II and The Hills Have Eyes 2. This year, they had Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Wanted, The Incredible Hulk, The X-Files: I Want to Believe, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, Speed Racer, The Dark Knight, The Spirit, Prince Caspian ... and much more. Yup. In one year, NYCC has seriously kicked things up a notch and I was happy to be a part of the fun.
I'll do a whole recap thingy tomorrow (the scene they showed from Hulk brought the house down -- huge highlight for me), but in the meantime check out all these pics I took throughout the day. They're not all perfect, but they give you a pretty good idea of what it was like walking around, oblivious and in desperate need of some lunch. (Photos include: Hellboy panel, Spirit panel, Star Wars, Wanted panel, Iron Man video game, Hulk video game, hottie girls with guns, stormtroopers, and lots and lots of action figures.)
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And do I even need to ask twice? Seriously, this party is so hip, rad and ultra cool ... I'm surprised even I was invited! Like, maybe there was a mistake somewhere and they meant to invite Eric Davis the baseball player instead of Erik Davis the movie blogger. Who knows. I ain't saying a thing. Yes, The Wrath of Con party is upon us ... and not only do I have a list of celebs attending, but also info on how you folks can join the fun. .jpg)
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With about a week and half left before myself, Scott Weinberg and Elisabeth Rappe head out to sunny San Diego for this year's Comic Con, organizers have finally unveiled the full line-up of acitivities .. and there's an insane amount of stuff to see and do. Here are some film-related highlights from Friday, Saturday and Sunday; you can check out the entire sched over on the 
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So, who's going to San Diego Comic Con this year? Are you excited? Pumped up? Mildly interested? Pretending you don't care in order to impress someone of the opposite sex, but deep inside really do care and, as such, are counting down the seconds? It's okay, we're friends -- we can talk. This year, myself, Scott Weinberg and Elisabeth Rappe will be on the ground at Con representing Cinematical, and I think I speak for all of us when I say we're ready to get our geek on. 
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