Microwaved Comic Con Bites

Some random bits to wrap up last weekend's "adventure" and I use the term lightly. If you missed anything we already talked about super women as cheap whores, The Incredible Hulk's collateral damage and enticing Wall•E footage.


* The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian panel didn't skimp on the film's stars but it did skimp on footage. We were shown only the trailer, twice...not that it mattered. The only way to watch it if you hope to suss out anything about how anybody looks or what's happening is to watch it on your PC or Mac and pause it every third frame. Edited with a blender it is although I always appreciate a good shot of a centaur. William Moseley who plays the big ego'ed Peter Pevensie (currently King of Narnia right? I barely remember that movie) is either a total natural or he's been very well groomed for the job of talking about headlining movies. He looked completely comfortable, was well spoken, and he even jumped up from his seat to hug a needy fan. I'm actually surprised he wasn't trampled to death by stampeding horny fangirls after that one. Peter Dinklage was also in top soundbite form.


And the poster doesn't lie. Prince Caspian (aka Ben Barnes) is this gorgeous in real life. If that's possible. Well done Mr & Mrs. Barnes. The Q & A with the fans was hilarious. There's obviously going to be a lot of slash fanfic about Peter and Caspian's "rivalry" --almost every question seemed to circle back to their boys-to-men tussling.

* Lightsaber toy technology has really come a long way. When I was a kid they were like huge plastic fake looking things that vaguely lit up. This was back in the mesozoic era.

* Why would anyone... and I do mean anyone... want a miniature sculpture of the vampires from 30 Days of Night? It comes complete with severed body parts and heads strewn about their feet. I mean it's totally gross AND the movie was terrible. Terrible. T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E. I'm still mad about how inept that movie was considering the strong concept it sprung from. In truth I don't understand a lot of merchandise for movies. Although I deeply covet that Fargo snow globe from the 90s. And though I can't imagine springing for a life size anime statue of Princess Leia (previous post), I understand it. I mean, if I could buy a lifesize reclining Michelle Pfeiffer to keep on top of the piano, money would be no object (except for the piano part. How much $ do grands go for these days?)

* I love it when 'superheroes' seem totally bored.


You never see that in the movies and fighting evil probably gets old. All work being drudgery and whatnot.

* The much buzzed about unscheduled screening of a new The Dark Knight trailer was not as exciting as you've read elsewhere. It's a commercial for crying out loud and we've already seen a couple. I'm not trying to be the cranky hard-to-please type . I totally feel the thrill of the first teasers of anything... but once you've seen several clips and you're on the second full trailer? calm down! It's basically a lot of the same footage as the first trailer, remixed, with more about the plot thrown in (Ledger's Joker convincing crime bosses to kill Batman). There's also more Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes and the strong hint that she might be dying, or at least dropped like some Green Goblin/Gwen Stacey well-worn hero's nightmare. We also get our first moving images of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. People were excited: 'OMG a guy in a suit!' He does get to utter what will surely be an important underlined line o' dialogue (if I know my Christopher Nolan) and it goes a little something like this

You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

Have I mentioned I enjoy a little Eckhart?

* I went to one panel on fan-made films that was kind of fun. They talked about Green Goblin's Last Stand (made all the way back in 1992 for only $400. Pretty cool/funny for 1992 ... long before the days of YouTube), Iron Fist: The Dragon Unleashed and the brilliant mashup Run Leia Run. Apparently others have now ripped off this idea for newer films but it's awesome if you're a fan of the über fun German movie Run Lola Run starring the wonderful Franka Potente.

* Sometimes fan costumes border on the obscene.


Civilians.. they just don't wear cups.

* We saw the teaser to Will Eisner's The Spirit --hardly a scoop as it was on YouTube that very day and The Spirit panelists assembled including lovely Eva Mendes (for whom the crowd whooped and whistled) all kissed comic-legend-turned-director Frank Miller's (Sin City/300) ass with precision and purpose. But I'm not convinced. Now I turn you over to the blog Forces of Good who express their Spirit concerns with greater pinpoint comedy than I can muster.

And now I must take a break from the spandex & tights crowd.


Only a 10 day break mind you. Iron Man will be rocketing into box office history very soon. I shall gladly part with a little green for Tony Stark's hot rod red.
*

We Can't Wait #14 "300"

Butler readies his army for battle. Haven't you heard? Swank is his next co-star.

Readers I didn't even need to ask my very smart 'we can't wait' pals why they so desperately await this movie. The answer was perfectly obvious...


History! I mean, who doesn't want to see it? Duh.
And what better way is there to learn about ancient Sparta and the Persians?


They should teach this stuff in schools.


You can see the trailer here. Zach Snyder is the man behind the wheel here and you may recall that he directed that superb remake of Dawn of the Dead a couple of years ago. Remember how dense and literate that was? This time he's adapting a wordy Frank Miller novel, so hit the books before seeing 300 on March 9th. The more you know going in the less likely you'll be confused by all those long talky political sequences.



UPDATE: New vlog footage with Gerard Butler for more 300 action. [src]

previously on "we can't wait"
#15 Hot Fuzz
#16 Stardust
#17 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
#18 Spider-Man 3
#19 Rendition
#20 The Bourne Ultimatum
Intro -films that didn't make the list

Movie Mashups 3

Frank Miller fever was rampant earlier this year (including on this here blog). It should re-explode next year with the Sin City sequel. But what if Sin City's aesthetic became super prevalent and Frank Miller could be everywhere at once? Oy. [click on the images to get the full posters.]

This is the final movie mashup post by yours truly --the new moviemixer polls and contests emerge tomorrow at the main site.

But here's an instant contest for the photo-shop happy readers. Send in your own MOVIE MASHUP POSTER --e-mail as jpeg or gif attachment to filmexperience(at)gmail(dot)com. Entries must be submitted by Thursday, December 22nd at Midnight. The winning entry will be posted here on Saturday December 24th along with your comments about its creation. i.e. what the hell were you thinking?

Previous Movie Mashups: Capote 2 and Crash: The Musical.

Miller @ the Movies

Sin City was the talk of April at the movie theater so where will Frank Miller's inky aesthetics strike next cinematically speaking ? The obvious choice would be in Sin City Volume 2. Robert Rodriguez (that films renegade force) works fast. And he could always finish the job of adapting Frank Miller's stories of the town without pity; Miller and Rodriguez didn't deplete all of the graphic novels in this first hit movie.

Despite the hype, the now well-known and of-the-moment Sin City was not actually the first Miller inspired movie. 2003's incredibly botched Daredevilfilm holds that disappointing and undeserved honor. The film used Miller's very famous Elektra/Bullseye arc that put both the comic (a B level character and seller) and Frank Miller the writer/artist on the map back in the day. Let's not speak of Elektra... I haven't seen it. Don't intend to. I doubt I could take it given my love of the real character. You know, the one made of ink who does not also happen to go by the moniker of 'Jennifer Garner'.

Whether or not Sin City gets a quick sequel, I expect that we'll see someone attempt Ronin before long as well. Ronin is like a mass collision of already familiar, easily marketable movie genres --Samurai / Apocalyptic Future-- most prevalent among them. The other major Miller work that we'll see adapted soon (though development hell is always a danger) is 300, a graphic novel about the Persian/Greek war and the battle of Thermopylae war.

Zach Snyder is currently set to helm. Yay! Snyder's debut was the generally impressive and tightly wound remake ofDawn of the Dead so maybe he does have what it takes to pull off the herculean task of a bloody action-packed period epic. Any guesses as to whether or not it will make it to the screen on time (2006) and with Snyder still in? Or will Hollywood execs, known for their disloyalty to those without clout if those higher on the foodchain suddenly get interested (and that could happen with Miller being suddenly a name that Hollywood types know) dump him and move on to a more boring choice. Or maybe you think he's the wrong choice to begin with? Not I.

Frank Miller's Town

I know that when the first "event movie" of the year comes out I should make a much bigger todo about it... but I don't have a lot to say. I grew up reading Frank Miller comics so it was a treat to see his aesthetic visualized --but as a film it didn't completely satisfy --too long. repetitive. gross. etc... Since it was so faithful to the source material I kept wondering why they just didn't animate it? But, yes, it looks hella cool.

Tarantino's section is best starring the always (and increasingly) magnetic Clive Owen. Is it just me or does he get better all the time even though he started out sensationally? *
*edited out comments about other actors since maybe Tarantino didn't direct this whole section I'm hearing.