Comic-Con International (Thursday, July 26)

First of all, I just have to say that I’m disappointed that I was unable to get one of the free giveaways, which was promoting the release of the 300 DVD in the form of a shield, like those in the film. Everyone was walking around with them, and even though it’s just a piece of cardboard, probably 2 feet in diameter, and could be easily recreated at home, I was just a tad bummed. Anywho, after waiting for an hour in the longest ass line of my life (distance-wise) just to get my tickets, which I pre-registered for, I finally made my way to yet another long line; Hall H. For those who are unfamiliar with Comic-Con (I don’t know who, because the 3 people who read this blog I’m sure have all been there) Hall H is the biggest exhibition hall with a 6,500 seating capacity. Luckily, I was able to get pretty close to the front for the Paramount Pictures panel. I also managed to see the Lost Season 4 panel later in the day. Here is a recap of who came and what I saw…

First up for the Paramount panel was Hot Rod, bringing star Andy Samberg (SNL) and his two writing partners (their website can be found here), including director of Hot Rod, Akiva Schaffer. When they came out they clearly did not know what to do, so they awkwardly rambled about things, which I found completely entertaining. They showed a hilarious clip of the movie. It just looks ridiculous, which of course means that I’ll be seeing it. Then there was a short Q&A and inevitably someone asked about the SNL digital shorts that the three of them make, such as “Lazy Sunday” and “D*** in a Box” (which, by the way, just got an Emmy nomination!). Then Andy kept saying dick, dick, dick and then fornicated with the microphone in front of him. It was amusing. And I have video footage of it, although you can’t really tell since I’m clearly inept when it comes to technology and I didn’t zoom in.

Then there was a panel about the new movies Stardust and The Spiderwick Chronicles, which are a bit more targeted at kids, and then a panel about Beowulf, which will be released in 3D and 2D, depending on your fancy. It looked good, but very strange as it’s working with the live-action CGI format. So it’s really good animation and the characters look almost exactly like the actors playing them, but yet it is obviously animated. I don’t know, it’s weird. Plus, Angelina Jolie plays Grendel’s mother, and practically appears naked (again, weird because it’s animated) which is not a surprise at all. I never remembered Grendel’s mother being described as “hot,” nor a human for that matter. I guess people (read: men) will take any chance they get to cast her in a movie where they can have an excuse to have her drop her drawers.

Judd Apatow and some guy who’s name I can’t remember introduced a preview (but not in person) for their new comedy Drillbit Taylor, starring Owen Wilson. It looks mildly entertaining (a bit more kid-like, thus a stray from raunchy adult themes such as Knocked Up), but the best part was Judd Apatow setting up the clip specifically for a Comic-Con audience by claiming the film takes place at a school of magic and Owen Wilson plays an evil-fighting ninja. I guess you needed to be there to actually get the joke.

There was a bit on the next Star Trek movie, announcing casting stuff, but I’m not a Trekkie (my loyalty rests with another franchise) and didn’t have much interest, even if Leonard Nimoy made a surprise visit.

Jon Favreau, director of Iron Man, came out to tell people to come to the actual panel on Saturday, but got everyone excited when he announced he would show a sneak peek of the movie anyway. So we got to see a rather long preview – and it looks like it won’t disappoint. Although I have to admit, I don’t know anything about Iron Man, superheroes, or comics in general.

JJ Abrams (creator of Lost and Alias) quickly came out to talk about his new, highly secretive movie coming out in January, currently known as “Cloverfield.” The trailer is out, and they showed it again here. He announced that Godzilla was certainly an influence on him, but claims that he feels “we” (I’m guessing America? Or maybe this generation? Not sure…) need a monster movie. That’s pretty much all he said, and then a teaser poster was revealed...which I caught on tape.

Via satellite, Steven Spielberg appeared live from the Indiana Jones 4 set, with, wait for it, Shia LaBeouf, Ray Winstone, Karen Allen (who will reprise her role from Raiders), aaaaaand Harrison Ford. Although I wished he was there in person, I’m completely satisfied with seeing him in his uniform. It may seem creepy that I’m so in love with a 65 year old man, but come on, it’s Harrison Ford for crying out loud. Those who know me well know that he was basically my first ever crush on any human being.

Lastly, the Lost panel brought writers and producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse doing a mostly Q&A, which worked really well, and certainly was entertaining, as Damon stated that he feared there was a special someone out there who would just lash out at him and tell him how much he hated the show. Meanwhile, because of the intricacies of the show limited how much they could actually say, Damon and Carlton had a failsafe way of getting around this; each had a bell that they would ring if the other began giving too much away. You can imagine that the bell was ringing quite often. Some big announcements included the return of Michael (Harold Perrineau, who appeared in person) for Season 4 as a series regular, an eventual exploration into the backgrounds of Danielle Rousseau and Libby, and news that both flash-backs AND flash-forwards will be incorporated into the show. They also played an interesting clip of a Darma Initiative training video gone wrong – I’m still trying to figure that one out and what exactly it all means.