X-Men First Class: The Trailers
In lieu of a super awesome X-Men: First Class review, please humbly accept a short amusing breakdown of the trailers attached to the film instead. Full review by Wednesday!
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THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
I’ve read the book and seen the Swedish version of the flick, so of course I’m drooling over the trailer, Daniel Craig, the soundtrack of the trailer. Pretty much everything. Dan hasn’t heard anything about the Millenium Trilogy of books and plans on watching it. He has no fucking idea what the movie is even about, but that trailer completely sold him.
Led Zeppelin Immigrant Song? You are bad-ass.
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Yet another film logged in the “work-a-holic Dad needs to pay attention to their kid” file. Egh. Even the lovable if slightly bonkers and freakishly thin Jim Carrey can’t salvage this crap heap. Apparently the children’s book is delightful but everything about this film screams “soul-less.” At least it’s not a major Hollywood studio shitting all over the childhood cartoons or Television series I loved. Thanks?
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Free Comic Book Day 2011: Portland Preview
Some of youse out there might know already, but Saturday is the national and annual Free Comic Book Day 2011. The DH and I have charge of two nephews (their dad is off in Tennessee processing insurance claims from the Southern Tornado devastation last week). Therefore, our activities might be much more muted than last year, but I’m pretty excited about the prospect of introducing one of my nephews to his first comic book shop (ESPECIALLY on FCBD).
They are extra lucky, because we’re also taking them to Thor on Friday night. I don’t doubt there will be a free comic there (as there was for Iron Man 2 last year).
So what’s going down in Stumptown that is kid friendly at our comic shops? I’ll divulge all right here.
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-From 10am to 6pm FREE COMICS while supplies last
– No in-store artists or signings or other special events are advertised. You should stop by anyway if you’re in the neighborhood!
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– I’ll assume 10am or 11am-6pm FREE COMICS while supplies last (as most stores are doing) no times are indicated.
– Didn’t have much posted on their webpage and only a small blurb on their Facebook profile mentioning two artists will be available for signings, with no time frames included.
- Zachary Baldus (New Mutants, American Splendor)
- Shannon Wheeler (artist/writer, Too Much Coffee Man)
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– From 10am to 7pm FREE COMICS while supplies last, $2 Doorbuster graphic novels, 60% off hundred of sale items, TFAW bucks, signings, stormtroopers and pirates.
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Comic Con 2010: Day Three
Day 3 was another early rise – and it was COSTUME DAY! We donned our BSG gear and headed out around 8am fully prepared to snag the Trolley. We lucked into a shuttle ride over and plopped ourselves down in the Hall H line for the Green Lantern, Harry Potter and Sucker Punch panel.
BSG in line for Hall H
The line was pretty comparable at that point (at least, we thought) to where we were at on Thursday, but we ended up in the last five rows of the auditorium despite our early rising and pre-planning. The WB swag for this panel was incredible – a reasonably sized tote bag, a “Wanted” HP shirt, a limited edition Green Lantern comic book and a Sucker Punch bracelet.
The Green Lantern panel itself was pretty exciting. Ryan Reynolds is a bright and terribly funny dude, and the clips they showed had some pretty wicked cool CGI. They will feature a lot of the Lantern Corps characters (none of which I know, but the audience seemed pretty excited) and even had the scribe Geoff Johns on the panel confirming that the movie will be bad-ass. They skirted the issue of a Justice League film in the future…but clearly this film is a jumping off point for that.
Ryan Reynolds had a delightful exchange with a young questioner who asked him how it felt to recite the Green Lantern oath (which he promptly did to the delight of the audience) and signed a free comic book for the boy, who was wearing a green lantern ring. Then Reynolds handed off his own ring to one lucky con-goer.
Look closely at his hands - you can see the ring!
The Harry Potter panel was next – and Tom Felton aka Draco Malfoy arrived to show us the clip, which was an extended trailer rather than a chunk of the film itself (which many of us were hoping for). It all looks very stunning, but honestly the 3D didn’t add much to my experience, so I don’t think I’ll be plunking down an extra $3 in November. It was a little under-whelming and half of the Hall bolted out the door (including Smalls, on her way to a Vampire Diaries signing) immediately after.
Tom Felton looking dashing, tan and decidedly un-angsty
Which leaves us with Sucker Punch. I’d seen a single image from it – featuring four scantily clad dangerous looking womens and some leering male ringleader, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this one. Clearly there is fighting and action as the title would seem to indicate, and the presence of Jenna Malone brings an element of respectability to the affair…though I am on the fence about Zack Snyder as a director. The premise is intriguing – a woman confined to an insane asylum creates a fantasy world along with three other ladies who can share in these adventures which centered around killing Nazi zombies, slaying dragons and fighting robots. So – count me in. Even if it lacks substance, the visuals alone were quite stunning.
A great shot of the panel for Sucker Punch
I was annoyed though by our proximity to the entrance doors, the constant stream of chatting and rustling during the panel made it hard to hear and concentrate on the women. Snyder kept referring to them as “the girls” as if they were one unit, and the majority of the audience questions were “did you know you’re a woman?” Ugh. It was frustrating.
We sacrificed our long wait for Hall H seats after that and dashed over to the Hilton for The Guild panel. We happened to arrive there just at the same time as Ryan Reynolds, so Dan was able to shake his hand and compliment his work as an actor. It was definitely a very cool moment.
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively entering the Hilton
Just a little over-shadowed by our complete inability to make it into the panel we wanted. We waited for an hour and then gave up once the announcement was made. But we got to hang out by the Bay, stare at a Dole boat and catch a glimpse of some crabs…so it wasn’t entirely wasted time.
This hand touched Ryan Reynolds.
Since we didn’t have anything else on the docket aside from potentially seeing Scott Pilgrim vs. The World in the evening, we wandered back towards the Convention Center and noticed that the Hall H line was nearly empty, so we decided to camp out and try to make it back in for the Marvel Panel.
San Diego Comic Con 2010: The Schedule
The entire schedule for San Diego Comic Con 2010 is now posted on the website, and Smalls and I frantically updated our Google Doc schedule all weekend until it’s in a relative semblance of order.
Diagnosis: Comic Con = Too Much Good.
There is no way humanly possible to do or see all that one would like at this event. Despite this setback, we have cobbled together what we’d like to see, and surprise, surprise, most of it isn’t about comic books at all.
No wait, why isn’t that surprising? Because Comic Con is almost not really about comic books anymore. It’s largely dominated by Film and TV, along with video games and whatever other popular culture elements I cannot fathom at the moment.
And that, sadly, is fine by me. I’ve got enough comic book goodness up here in the Pacific Northwest to sate me. What I want from SDCC, as honestly as I can describe it – is to see some celebrities up close and personal and watch exclusive clips and get some free shit and soak up some sun and record as much of it as I possibly can.
I’ll be updating often on this blog and the Tiny Heroes Twitter account for anyone who is interested.
You can also look at My Schedule (along with alternate panels) here.
Wednesday July 21, Preview Night
– Walking the exhibit floor, getting freebies from booths, etc.
Thursday July 22 – Hall H
– 10am-11am = Megamind
– 11:15-12:45 = Tron
– 1:00-2:00 = Battle Los Angeles/Salt
– 2:15-3:15 = Red
– 3:30-4:30 = Visionaries (Joss Whedon/JJ Abrams)
-4:45-5:45 = Expendables
– 6:00-7:00 = Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
– 7:30-8:30 = Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog
Friday July 23- Ballroom 20
– 11:30-12:30 = Caprica
– 3:00-4:00 = The Joss Whedon Experience
– 4:00-5:00 = Girls Who Kick Ass
– 5:15-6:15 = True Blood
To 3D or Not To Be?
We've come a long way from these nerdy-ass glasses.
That’s the entertainment question, for the ages…or this age at least. Or maybe just the last year. Yeah, probably just the last year.
Hollywood has decided that 3D is the only way to get your human meat in their theatre seats lately. And I get it – some of the 3D has been quite fun.
Being HUGE freaking movie nerds, the DH and I have had this discussion more than once…what makes a movie 3D worthy?
I’ll argue strongly that 3D only belongs in animated flicks and fantastical or horrifical worlds. Up, Avatar, Alice in Wonderland – in these places 3D makes sense, because you are already at a higher level of belief suspension. The world is funky enough for the slightly disorienting and blurry effect of 3D to barely go noticed.
My main concerns about the prevalence and rabid push for 3D in Hollywood lately is that somewhere along the line, a studio is going to insert it where it doesn’t belong. Like in a Martin Scorsese or Coen Brothers film. *shudder* Oh wait – Scorsese is looking to make one. Does anyone really need to see Leo DiCaprio protruding from the screen? It looks like the Coens are steering clear from the extra dimension, thus far.
I’m highly skeptical of how appropriate 3D is for horror movies that aren’t slashers like My Bloody Valentine. And honestly – I’ve never seen a horror movie in 3D. *gasp* But it’s true! Only really gimmicky horror movies are getting the extra dimension treatment, and those are the ones I generally avoid like the zombie plague. And from this list, you can see the general schlock-fest of 3D horror movies coming down the pike.
Now zombies in 3D, I would pay a little extra to see. What could be more horrifying than a 30 foot tall zombie horde lurching towards you? Wow – can Hollywood make this happen now-please-k-thanx? Ok, you already read my mind (a trick you really need to teach my DH) and set up Zombieland 2 in 2011 to take place in the third dimension. Amazing. Can I marry you Hollywood? I’ll do the dishes!
Another smart move studios have made on the 3D front is keeping it’s viewing entirely optional. So – you only have to pay $13.50 (in PDX anyways) to see a 3D movie if you really, really want to. But every time you do so, you are voting for more 3D…and with more 3D comes less of a choice. Honestly, in the future if most of the movies being released are in 3D, do you really think a movie theatre is going to support a non-3D version for which tickets cost less?
Movies I Will Most Likely See in 3D:
– Resident Evil: Afterlife (hello, Zombies!)
– Any other cartoony, computer-animated film my horde of nephews wants to see. I would prefer How to Train Your Dragon
3D Movies I’ll Watch in 2D (thank you very much):
– Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (1 and 2)
Actually – The Cabin in the Woods might be the catalyst for me to watch a slasher/horror film in 3D. Resident Evil movies don’t count because they’re not horror – it’s a video game adaptation. Totally different genre.
Check out this 2010/2011 list for more scheduled crapfest movies like Halloween 3, Step Up and JackAss. Quite a few on the list I haven’t seen media for, so they’re up for grabs as to quality.
So – should ALL movies be in 3D?
Interesting 3D related articles:
More Marvel Movie Mayhem
I’ll have to admit, after the Watchmen inspired frenzy the last few weeks – I’m surveying the rest of 2009’s movie playing field with only a few goals in mind – Wolverine: Origins and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
But fans are already shrilling that HPB is revolting, or at least revolt-worthy, sooo – what is a movie/fan-girl to do with all this idle screen time?
Plot her movie-going goals for the next three years, of course. Such a task is made imminently easier by this precious gem:
Marvel Studios Film Release Schedule. All the way through 2012, because you know our calendars run that long, and we all plan on being alive and financially solvent in time to catch The Avengers. But seriously, someone should tell IMDB to update to reflect these changes, you know, one of these days. 🙂
I can’t say I’m crying about the Avengers release date being pushed up, because it doesn’t feature any heroes I’m especially fanatical about, but it might make some folks cry and get up in arms. I just won’t be one of them. Plus, Marvel has been good to the nerd herd the last few years. They need a breather. It’s taxing to be that good.
And, it might give DC an opening to get their act in gear. And on that note – What’s up with the Green Lantern?
Apparently not much, but it would be nice to see DC offer up more from their catalog. The Dark Knight, while not my favorite, was a promising sign of things to come.
Anybody have interesting movies slated for 2009 so my fan heart can become inspired once again? I’d love to hear ’em.
Much Love, Mindy C
Dan
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