Sunday, February 08, 2009
Year Four: Done
Thanks for reading!
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Fringe is Not An Easy Title For Puns
The panel didn't spill many secrets, other than the presence of a visual clue in each episode that foretells the next show's subject, and the fact that the bumpers have a code that reveals the show's secrets. Instead, it focused more on the actors' experiences, like Jackson's flowchart of the series plot or Reddick's personally touching his set (which is the biggest of the cast, in case you were wondering.) The most interesting item involved the character of the Observer (whom they got on the sidelines of the recent Giants play-offs game (much to Jackson's chagrin, as he sat in the nosebleeds.)) Apparently Fox tried really hard to get the character onto the platform for President Obama's inauguration. Also, there's other Observers, one of which will be seen soon.
The first third of the next episode was shown, and yeah, I definitely have to check this show out.
A favorite part for non-Fringe followers: a guy in the audience kept yelling out Mighty Ducks references, and Jackson played along. I don't think he's the greatest actor, but he seems like a good guy in real life.
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Kids Day
It will still be a long time before I bring my daughter.
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What I Learned from Joss W.
"Locations are the new special effects": Joss' wife's thought after watching Slumdog Millionaire
"I'm a genius": Joss' joking explanation when asked why people are so willing to work with him
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Inside the Dollhouse
The main room was packed with fans of the mercurial creator's prior series, who gave a great primer on the creation of the show
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Chuck vs. NY ComicCon
The room was packed beyond capacity, likely to check out the lovely Aussie Strahovski (who lost geek cred for saying she didn't get the show's pop-culture references,) and the crowd was definitely entertained by the funny trio, though the constant requests and invitations during the Q&A session got a bit annoying (and led to the new catch-phrase "Throw it up!")
Among the topics touched upon were the effect of the economy on Buy More (something we'll see coming up, guest casting (Fedak lives to cast Star Trek actors), Jeff and Lester's band "Jeffster," and the introduction of new spies in the lives of Chuck and company, including a British agent who takes a shining to our favorite lady agent.
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The Diversity of Nerds
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Back for Day Three
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Saturday, February 07, 2009
Krod Mandoon (Not an Ethnic Meal Break)
The story about how Lucas became a part of the show was especially a crowd pleaser, as he sort of fell in their laps. "We got Matt Lucas to tape an audition." "Wow!...Who's Matt Lucas?" Seriously, this might have been the most entertaining panel all weekend.
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Summit Brings Us Knowing & The Hurt Locker
Knowing has been a movie I've been interested in since Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) was attached, and in seeing the trailer and two scenes selected by director Alex Proyas (who couldn't make it due to post-production,) it probably is better Kelly didn't make this movie. The story of a dad who finds a note in a time capsule that predicted every catastrophe in the 50 years since it was buried, and a few more to come, was probably too "big" an action film for Kelly at this point in his career. That said, I don't know how well it will do, because the topic (global disasters) and the terrifying way they are presented is probably just too harrowing for most people, especially NY'ers. It's just relentless in how destructive the events are and how detailed the events are depicted.
The Hurt Locker is similarly intense and similarly possibly too raw, as it depicts a bomb squad working in what looks like Iraq. The 12 minutes of footage shown nearly made me crap myself. It definitely doesn't look like a feel-good movie. Per one of the stars who did a Q&A, it's not an Iraq movie, but a movie about guys with an interesting job.
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Dead Like Me: The Movie
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Wolverine and the X-Men DVD Update
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Super Hero Squad
We also got to see the world premiere of the fourth episode of the upcoming NickToons show Iron Man: Armored Adventures, which features a young Iron Man (like school-age.) Rock band Rooney did an excellent theme song, the animation looks pretty sweet (almost anime like,) and the story is hardly kiddie, mixing action and a sense of humor that's well written (one Star Trek joke is particularly hilarious.)
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Make My Animation Marvel
The panel, hosted by executives from Marvel Animation, kicked off with info on the ridiculous success of the new NickToons series Wolverine and the X-Men (over 1000% ratings improvement) and the new Hulk vs. DVD. A glance over the new BET series, Black Panther, based on Reggie Hudlin's story and John Romita Jr's art, is followed by what could be either a huge failure or massive win: Marvel Super Hero Squad, which airs this fall.
Bringing together all the Marvel characters in super-deformed designs (almost Kirby-esque in a way,) it's a comedy action series for the entire family
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McG on Sarah Connor and Arnold T-800
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Saturday the 7th
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We have a (New) Winner
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McG on Terminator: Salvation
At one point, McG called Christian Bale at home, but got his wife, who thanked the crowd for their enthusiasm. After that, he unveiled the world premiere of the unfinished trailer (yelling as the lights went down "It better be loud.") Have to say, it looks pretty fantastic, like a mix of a war movie and Transformers, done inside the Terminator mythology.
Funny moment: the mic gave some feedback, and someone in the crowd yelled "That's F'n unprofessional!" His response: "I don't get it" with a smile. Funnier moment: McG puts three fans on the panel to back him up. Funniest moment: McG berates a woman who asks about the Bale rant, Bale-style. Good stuff.
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Gibbons on Watchmen
On the possibility of a sequel: If one happens, Gibbons and Snyder will have nothing to do with it. He hopes they don't even think about it, because it's a complete story, not just characters.
On previous attempts: Gibbons talked a bit about Joel Silver's idea of having Arnold Schwartzenegger as Dr. Manhattan, and Terry Gilliams' interest (or as Gibbons' mom put it, "The Monty Python man is going to make a movie from your comic book. That ought to be funny."
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Who Watches the Watchmen. We're Watching the Watchmen
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Day Two
Here's video of the flow of people heading toward the convention. I tried to come up with some witty variation of Trail of Tears, but failed. Sorry.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Takashi Miike's Spy Kids
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Little Plastic Scientists
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Sexy Science
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And the award for oddest swag...
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Heading Back Home
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It's Meerkat Manor Mixed with 300
Dark Days in Monkey City premieres Feb. 24th on the Animal Channel.
Check it out here:
http://animal.discovery.com/tv/dark-days-monkey-city/
Ghostbusters on Wii
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Hands-On: House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii)
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Hands-On: MadWorld (Wii)
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Hands On: GTA: Chinatown Wars (DS)
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Hands-On: Tenchu Shadow Assassins (Wii)
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Sensory Overload
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"The Japanese Shaun of the Dead"
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The Ink-(or Pixel)-Stained Wretches
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Irony Lives
On the right...
(This may not really be irony, but it's still early.)
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Better Off Ted
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Chinatown Wars at NYCC
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Mixing with the Straights
The Gateway to Geekdom
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The Main Room
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Heading to NYC
That it's dark in the picture is the biggest issue with a February show date (which won't be an issue anymore, as the show is moving to October for 2010.) It is crazy cold out (for NY) and the walk from MSG to the comiccon will be a bitch.
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