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San Diego Comic Con, part 3
Hollyfeld, here, for the final installment of his San Diego Comic Con Escapades. A bit of news about the pictures I had promised - it turns out it's going to be a couple of days. In order to get you guys the best picture quality possible, assuming they'll come out at all, I have gotten the "extra-special-super-duper" package at the developers. That will take at least a couple of days. I promise you that you will see that as soon as I do… maybe even before.
Okay, moving on!
SATURDAY
My last full day at The Con was mostly spent in the Grand Ballroom, surveying the advance footage shown by the various movie studios attending The Con. However, the first part of my day was spent participating (though not very heavily) in interviewing Cary Tagawa, an actor best known for his role as Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat, and appearing this weekend in Planet of the Apes. A very nice guy, if I do say so myself. I didn't pick up too many notes from the interview, although I did find out that he was initially cast as Attar, now played by The Green Mile's Michael Clarke Duncan. After a re-write, however, he was cast as Krall, one of Ari's (Helena Bonham Carter) servants. Concerned that his character was overly two-dimensional, he and Burton worked out a back story for the character that Tagawa feels comes across in the finished film (which he saw a few days ago and says he enjoyed): Krall was a general who was to be sentenced to death, but whom Ari's father took pity on and took as a servant. In the Human/Ape war, Krall finally sees the opportunity to be the man he once was. Sounds like a good subplot.
Also, he let slip that Charlton Heston's role is none other than that of General Thade's (Tim Roth) father. However, he only has one scene. Maybe Thade kills him a la Gladiator, but that's just my theory.
Tagawa also mentioned that although he was glad he worked on Planet of the Apes, that there was no way he would work on the sequel. Perhaps his character dies in the course of the film, but the way Tagawa said it implied that it was just too much work to undergo twice in one lifetime.
I left the Tagawa interview in time to catch the tail-end of the Warner Bros. presentation at the show. I had in fact rather planned this, accurately guessing that the much-touted Harry Potter footage would be saved for the end of the show. But before even that, I was treated to an advance look at the Powerpuff Girls movie. Not much to report, except that the film appears to look at the origin of the girls (made of "sugar, spice, everything nice" and a hearty dose of "Chemical X"), in order to make it more accessible to non-fans. The release date appears to be sometime in July, 2002.
After the Powerpuff presentation, a 3-4 minute preview of Smallville followed, and I have to admit that it looks pretty darn good. The extended trailer begins in 1989, and Smallville has just won a big sports game. The Kents are driving back to their farm when a huge meteor storm hits the city, accompanied by a certain, famous spacecraft. The town is heavily damaged by the meteors, which leave at least two casualties: Lana Lang's parents and Lex Luthor's bright red hair. (Luthor is seen running through a cornfield away from one of the meteors, and then laying on the ground, passed out, bald.) The Kent's truck is turned over in avoiding one of the rocks, and as they are trying to escape their wreckage, they see a young boy walking towards them. Although we don't see the classic image of young Clark actually lifting the car, are signs lead to it's inclusion.
Cut to the present day: Clark is in High School, coming to terms with his extra-ordinary abilities. He is a bit of a wallflower, and although desperately wishes to do normal things like join the football team, his father doesn't seem to allow it, for fear that he would let his abilities get away from him. But does Clark even know about his powers? He also has a large crush on Lana Lang, but like a typical nerd gets physically ill every time he gets near her… or does that have something to do with that strange green necklace she always wears?
The rest of the preview featured Clark becoming aware of his gifts, including getting hit by a speeding sports car at 80 miles per hour. The driver? An adult Lex Luthor, whose life Clark quickly saves from the aftermath of the crash. Judging from the rest of the footage shown, it would appear that Clark and Lex become fast friends, although Lex's more insidious side shows through in rather impressive fencing match. Clark finally confronts his father about his past, proving that he knows of his powers by shoving his arm inside a thresher, and pulling it out completely unscathed.
The final image of the teaser was a haunting one, guaranteeing my television will be tuned in to Smallville for at least the first few weeks: Clark Kent, tied to a scarecrow, all but crucified, in the middle of field, with Lana's kryptonite necklace hanging from his neck. Dying, and praying for help…
After Smallville came the long-awaited Harry Potter footage, and although I am a self-confessed anti-fan of the books, I must admit that the movie looks pretty damned good. I have long been of the opinion that all the best children's books/movies have a rather large degree of darkness to them, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (still mad they didn't go with "Philosopher's Stone" and this side of sea, but oh well) has it in spades. I didn't take many notes, not expecting to be impressed, but it looks reminiscent of something Neil Jordan, Terry Gilliam and Roald Dahl would do if they teamed up for a film. I really can't go into much detail, for as I am not a reader of the books I didn't always know what was going on, but it's got my ticket in November. They gave out t-shirts afterwards, which I wasn't too excited about. I later became pleased that the school that's t-shirt I received, Slytherin, was "the evil one." That put a smile on my face. I think I might even wear it now.
And at some point there came a preview for 13 Ghosts, a film mentioned in my James Gunn interview from a few weeks back. The film looks great, and though less campy than the remake of House On Haunted Hill, seems to look very similar, from visual effects to production design to plot. I have a feeling that everyone but me may hate this film, but I'm looking forward to it anyway. For those unaware, the film features a group of people who inherit a house that unbeknownst to them, is actually a machine… powered by the dead. Throughout the film, the characters find themselves trapped in the house with not one, but (you guessed it) thirteen ghosts.
Then came the Lord of the Rings presentation, which was easily the most disappointing presentation of The Con. Not only was the event set back by HALF AN HOUR in order to let everyone in who wanted in, in, but they showed us, more or less, NOTHING. After the premiere of thirty minutes of footage at the Cannes Film Festival, I thought that the least they would do is show us a scene or two, but no, instead we get "treated" to a couple of "Making Of" segments, each about three minutes in length, that will be on the internet in a couple of weeks anyway. I wasn't alone in feeling really gypped, frankly. To their credit, however, Christopher Lee, Sir Ian McKellen and Ian Holm took time out of their schedules to do a personalized introduction, as did all four of the hobbits featured in the film.
For those interested, the two segments were entitled "Hobbiton Comes Alive" and "The Fallen Kings," respectively. The first one focused on the scope and scale of creating a real life Hobbiton, which to be fair looked really nice, and the latter on the creation of the Ringwraiths, which was easily the more interesting of the two, but even then only gave us a little bit of new information. One of the visual effects that director Peter Jackson is using for the effect of the Ringwraiths has "all of nature" being afraid of them, resulting in all manner of flora and fauna reacting to their presence. Sounds cool, but apart from a single spider crawling down on of the hobbit's tunics, we didn't see it happen.
Again, I felt gypped.
After the New Line presentation came the Joss Whedon (creator of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer") Q&A session, which yielding a quite lot of information, but mostly for Buffy fans. The rest of you, I suppose, can skip ahead a bit.
Dark Horse will be doing a mini-series based on the heretofore-unknown adventures of Oz (Austin Power's Seth Green) in the Himalayas, where he learned to control his inner werewolf.
Although he has no particular objections to inter-show crossovers now that Buffy and Angel are on different networks, it won't happen for a while. Joss plans to use this mutual exclusivity to prove Angel's mettle as a standalone show, mentioning that, up till now, it has often been in Buffy's shadow.
His biggest regret about Buffy? That they "never had enough money to make The Initiative look cool." Good point there - what was meant to be a huge government operation looked more like, in Joss's words, "a couple of guys hiding in the bushes with guns."
On the Buffy animated series: "As of (Friday), the animated series is finally a go." He also stated that the show will be produced (at least in part) by comics giant Jeph Loeb (Batman: The Long Halloween, The Fantastic Four and Daredevil: Yellow).
How will Buffy change because of the change in network? "It's gonna get more 'Wrestle-y'" Joss quips. Then he confirmed that, "Nothing about the show will change because of the network." Any changes in the show, in tone or story wise, will be the sole result of the writers' plans.
He has no news about the long, LONG-awaited DVD release of Season 1, although I heard elsewhere that it is due out in Region 1 this fall. He hypothesized about the delay for a moment, stating that he feels the wait probably has something to do with the fact that the show goes into syndication next year, and that someone doesn't want the two releases to harm one another's business.
On whether or not the series will last more than the contractually obliged two seasons on UPN: "I treat every year as if it were our last… just in case." He deals with the show's future on a year-to-year basis.
On when The Host will become a regular cast member on Angel: "I'll only answer that question if it's phrased as a song." And then the questioner belts out a note like only The Host can, and it's revealed that it was none other than the cast member himself. He quickly ran out of the room, however, so I didn't get his picture. Damn. Love that guy, though. It brought the house down.
On next season's announced "Musical Episode" of Buffy: "They're all terrified, and it makes me laugh."
On future feature films: Joss said that he is "looking to make a feature." He has "an original in mind and something that I am probably not supposed to talk about." While, yes, that's an interesting news tidbit, I confess that it pissed me off. I wanna know NOW, dammit! Sigh… moving on…
On the rumored Anthony Stewart Head BBC series: It's still in the developmental stage… but I think it's going to happen." He added that if it goes through, the pilot will shoot in early spring, so it will be at least a year before we see a series premiere.
On Lindsey's, Angel's nemesis, potential return: He has "no idea when" we will see him again. Probably next year, but the reason he left is because he is busy with other projects.
Did UPN give Buffy's writers creative freedom? "Absolutely. In fact we wouldn't be there if we didn't (have it)."
On whether or not Buffy's death in the season finale will result in a new Slayer being chosen: "I'm working on the assumption now that the line runs through Faith (the other Slayer)… but if we get a good idea (forget I ever said that)."
On making the heartbreak of the 100th episode, which shattered my fragile mind for several hours after having watched it: "Our mandate was, 'Make them cry! Make them cry!'"
On the direction of BBC show: "More like classic ghost stories," as opposed to kickboxing demons.
On the theme of the upcoming show: "If I had to choose the word, it would be Loneliness."
On the UPN 2-hour premiere this fall: "Marti Noxon and David Fury wrote it together." It started filming last Thursday. (Yay!)
And finally, the question we've all been asking for three years: "Will Amy EVER be de-ratted?"
(For those of you scratching your heads about this one, back in the Buffy high school years a recurring character named Amy, a witch, was about be burned at the stake by the parents of Sunnydale when she turned herself into a rat and escaped. Willow found her and was seen trying to "de-rat" her several times, but this entire sub-plot seemed dropped in the last season and a half. And now, the answer.)
YES!
Joss doesn't know when or even how, but Amy will be de-ratted sometime in the next year. He figures he "owes it" to the actress to bring her back. Now my question, will she have aged in rat years or people years when she returns? I mean, will she be in her fifties, or early twenties, or what?
Up next came the Planet of the Apes presentation, which didn't show anything new but did feature Cary Tagawa answering some questions about the production. The only thing big that I didn't mention before was that the movie is, in fact, done, and the rumors of it being rushed are just a little bit exaggerated.
Then the special stuff - before the PotA presentation I notice Eddie Campbell, the artist behind such comics as Bacchus, Birth Caul and, you guessed it, From Hell, lingering backstage. So it comes as no surprise, to ME at least, that afterwards comes the premiere of the trailer to From Hell. This trailer will be attached to Planet of the Apes this weekend, and although I have some minor issues with the way the film is being marketed, it looks mighty fine.
The trailer begins with Inspector Abberline (Johhny Depp) being interviewed by some off-screen voice, which explains Abberline's uncanny ability to "dream" the solutions to his cases. This, of course, is a bit of a departure from the novel - it appears that the writers have somewhat combined Abberline's character and that of noted psychic Robert Lees (who in the book admits to being a fraud, although the real Lees admitted no such thing). In any case, the trailer then shows a series of establishing shots of London, which I have to admit looks amazing (I confess having been skeptical that a color film could capture the look of the book, but no longer), some reaction shots to the murders, and even a few scattered action shots, including a high-speed carriage scene that is reminiscent of the early draft I reviewed in The Untitled Deadpool Column. I also caught a very brief shot of the Elephant Man sequence from the book, which I am glad made it into the final film. The most interesting aspect of the trailer is that the actor playing the Ripper was never shown, implying that his identity will be kept a secret in the film, as well. This is an interesting decision, especially in lieu of the fact that he is the main character of the book. The final scene of the trailer, which I confess is genuinely haunting, shows Abberline confronting an off-screen Ripper, who says, "One day, men will look back and say that I gave birth to the 20th century." Abberline then looks him right in the eyes and says, paraphrasing, "You won't live to see the 20th century."
The bulk of the trailer has a somewhat MTV-styled pace to it that concerns me a bit - either that will be the style of the film, which could be a mistake, or it's just being marketed that way, which could also be a mistake. Either way, Campbell walked up to the podium afterwards, got a big round of applause (I think I was one of maybe two or three people hollering, as well), and said, in regards Jack's line in the film, that it "sounded like Alan Moore's voice there." (Moore, arguably the most acclaimed writer in comics history, wrote the original book.) Earlier, I had Campbell sign a copy of his latest book for me, and I overheard him confirm that the filmmakers indeed did film two endings, and that Johnny Depp did in fact act as badly as possibly in the happier one, in order to make sure they used the right one. He did not say anything, however, about Heather Graham doing likewise, nor did he mention that they got stinking drunk as well (as also rumored).
While waiting for the next panel to begin, I noticed that I was sitting next to a representative from www.comicscontinuum.com He mentioned to me that his site will have a scoop in the next day or two about Tobey Maguire's reaction to the original trailer, but seemed worried that I would steal the story, and thus wouldn't go into any further detail. Oh ye of little faith, sir. In any case, the story is probably up by now, so head on over to Comics Continuum to check it out.
We were coming up on most eagerly awaited presentation of The Con, namely the Spider-Man panel with Sam Raimi. Unfortunately, this was where things kind of got shot to Hell. Naturally, the studio had a few more movies they wanted to plug other than Spider-Man, so they put them first. However, the room was filled with assholes who only came to see Spider-Man, and thusly yelled at whoever else was on screen to leave, or just show Spider-Man, or what have you. And considering who else they had up there, I could have killed them.
Up first was the trailer for Jet Li's latest film, The One. And I have got to tell you, it looks AWESOME!!! This is the fanboy in me talking, folks - this is quite possibly the best action trailer I have ever seen, throughout which my jaw was held completely agape, and after which I had the biggest shit-eating grin on my face that you could imagine. A while ago we had a review of the script up on The Untitled Deadpool Column, so I will just lead you there. But this trailer kicks ass. They didn't mention what movie it would be in front of, but look for it whenever you can.
After the trailer, Glen Morgan and James Wong, the writers/directors of the film, took the stage, but again had to deal with a crowd that only wanted one thing, Spider-Man. Not much news in the Q&A session, except that they have a television deal at NBC, but aren't sure what they're going to do yet.
Glen Morgan seemed particularly understanding about the crowd's single-mindedness, stating that he's anxious to see Spider-Man, too, but things really didn't fall apart until the Ghosts of Mars preview. After Morgan and Wong left the stage, they showed a new teaser for the film, quite inferior to the last one, I thought, then said that John Carpenter was running late for the panel, and asked if we wanted to see it again. The response? "NO! SHOW SPIDER-MAN!!!" In order to appease the crowd, cast members Joanna Cassidy and "Big Daddy Mars," in FULL COSTUME no less, came on-stage in order to fill the time. Cassidy seemed very nice on-stage, but also daunted by the blatant rudeness of the fans, who again shouted for Spider-Man. As she was talking, I began to realize why Kevin Smith's Q&A sessions are so popular - he doesn't ever let an awkward pause slip by him, filling every moment with some kind of conversation. Not so with this panel. "Big Daddy Mars," however, seemed nice, and even tried to stay in character, even though no one would let him. On his involvement, he said that "(John Carpenter) came to my planet and said he wanted to tell my story." But everyone else kept asking him about how long it took to put his make-up on, what his favorite Carpenter movie was, etc. Eventually he gave in, casually mentioning that it took 3 hours to put the make-up on TODAY (and, of course, afterwards someone yelled for them to put on Spider-Man - damn, those were some rude motherfuckers), and that his favorite Carpenter film was The Thing. Then, finally, Carpenter came in. He was a good sport about the whole thing, and people eventually settled down enough to ask him some real questions. The choicer bits follow here:
On the Escape From New York DVD: It will be out later this year, or early next, with the laserdisc commentary track imported over.
On his involvement in Vampires 2: "Only collecting a check."
Someone, somewhat incongruously, asked about the presence of spirituality in Ghosts of Mars (probably something to do with the word "Ghosts" in the title): "If you're looking for spirituality when going to see this movie, then you are going to be REAL disappointed."
On his next project after Ghosts: He has no specific plans, but is inclined to do another "balls-out horror film like Halloween." He was quick to add, however, that he has no specific story in mind, just the inclination to do a horror film.
Will there be a Prince Of Darkness 2? "No, I don't think there will be." It didn't make enough money, apparently.
On the rumor that Big Trouble in Little China was originally adapted from the unused Buckaroo Bonzai sequel: No. It was adapted from a period western that the studio felt would work better set in modern day.
On what he felt is his most under-rated film: In The Mouth of Madness. (Some scattered applause - I was the only one hollering… I love that film.)
On the chances of him doing another H.P. Lovecraft film: "I can't convince anyone to make Lovecraft." He did, however, mention that he has tried to do several stories, including The Colour Out of Space (which would have been interesting), and a few more that I didn't catch, but "no one gets it."
John Carpenter was as real good sport about the whole audience rudeness thing, but I could tell that everyone was relieved when they left. The poor guys.
And now, Spider-Man:
In preparation for the Q&A, they start playing the kickass trailer currently floating around theaters, but the sound system seems to be off, only playing the dialogue track, and the already disgruntled crowd almost looks like they're about to riot. For a moment I almost decide to give up and get out of here before something bad happens, but then Sam Raimi finally enters the room and of course, everyone goes nuts. He goofs around for a little bit, doing his Sam Raimi-stuff, then finally answers some questions.
On the state of the shooting: "We've shot the film." 90% of it is in the can, leaving room for some re-shoots and added material to be done later. There are about two more weeks of filming left. 10% more of the visual effects are done everyday, he added, although this may be an exaggeration (seems like quite a lot, doesn't it?). The very first cut of the film will be shown later this week.
On how much influence Sony has had on the production: "They say 'Jump,' and I say, 'What color?'" (I'm not sure what that means, either.) According to Raimi, Sony has been pretty hands off, and has just let him make the movie.
On the length: Expect the film to come in at around 110 minutes.
On whether or not he uses his crazy-ass visual style in the film: Raimi didn't want his "own personality" to get in the way of the story, stating, "I feel like I'm in the service of Spider-Man." He finished the question off by saying, "It's not going to be like my previous movies. It's just Spider-Man."
On where Peter Parker is at the beginning of the film: In high school, unmarried (a lot of applause), already friends with Harry Osborn, and been admiring Mary Jane from afar, never having talked to her.
On Ted Raimi's role in the film: "My mother made me give him a part."
And then, of course, the big surprise - that we would be the first people, EVER, to see a completed scene from the film. Then the riot begins. The studio execs hand out baseball bats, and the people in the back start tearing up the stage. Garth Franklin's in front of me, giving Ain't It Cool's Quint the wedgie of a lifetime…
No wait. Sorry. I think the acid just kicked in. Give me a moment.
…
The first scene from Spider-Man, and it's a doozy (dialogue largely paraphrased - it's better in the actual scene):
Establishing Shot: Columbia University's Genetics Research Lab
Interior, Peter's high school class is in the middle of a field trip tour. If I recognized the actress correctly, Una Damon (Christof's personal assistant from The Truman Show) is leading the tour, talking about DNA. Someone, I assume Flash Thompson, has his arm around Mary Jane. Peter looks at her for a moment. Then he looks at Harry next to him.
PETER: You know that this is the world's largest electron microscope?
Harry either says nothing, or brushes him off. I forget. Either way, he's bored. Peter takes pictures, but just before he does, Flash Thompson (or one of his friends) shoves Peter, ruining his shot. MJ notices, and doesn't look too happy about it. The tour guide all through this the tour guide is pointing out several spiders on display, explaining their various attributes. Leaping abilities, web-spinning, and even, yes, a spider-sense. This sequence clearly serves as an introduction to all of Peter's future powers.
PETER: (After she points out the first spider) Can I take a picture? For the school paper?
TOUR GUIDE: Of course.
Peter takes a picture, again, Flash shoves him.
TOUR GUIDE: (Pointing to a rather large enclosure) These fifteen spiders are the result of gene-splicing, and have all of the attributes of the spiders I just described.
MARY JANE: Fourteen.
TOUR GUIDE: What?
MARY JANE: (Pointing out) There are fourteen spiders here.
TOUR GUIDE: (Confused) Oh. Well, they must have one in research.
Overhead shot: A blue and red spider has made a web just above them.
The class moves on a bit. Harry looks at a spider.
HARRY: Look at this one.
PETER: Yeah. Did you know that some spiders actually have the ability to blend in with their surroundings?
HARRY: Now, why did you think I would want to know that?
PETER: It's interesting.
They both look at MJ, who has lingered behind the class, looking at the 14 genetically engineered spiders.
HARRY: Why don't you go and talk to her, man?
PETER: No! Why don't you go and talk to her?
HARRY: (Pause) All right.
Harry walks over to Mary Jane.
HARRY: Hey.
MJ: Hey.
HARRY: Did you know that some spiders actually have the ability to blend in with their surroundings?
Peter stares at him. Harry doesn't notice.
MJ: Really? Cool.
HARRY: Yeah. You know, this is the world's largest electron microscope…
A moment. I forget what happens, but Harry leaves. MJ remains, alone at the display.
PETER: Hey, can I take a picture of you? For the paper.
MJ: Sure. But only if you promise not to make me look ugly.
PETER: That's not possible.
P.O.V. - Peter's camera lens. He takes a few shots of MJ. They turn out great.
Overhead shot: The spider starts to descend upon Peter as he's taking pictures. Peter compliments MJ as he continues to shoot. Soon the spider lands on his hand…
… and bites him.
PETER: Ow!
The field trip has moved on. MJ runs off to join them. The spider crawls away. Peter rubs his hand and walks after her. Behind him, a computer screen show a CGI DNA strand being added to. The screen reads, "DNA Mixture Complete."
The words on the screen behind probably aren't accurate, and I apologize for my above summarization, for although it is a good guideline as to what the scene is like, it is nowhere near as cool as the scene itself. My opinion of the scene? The film is in very, VERY good hands. Shot with understated panache, performances dead on, particularly Tobey Maguire as Peter, and a great iconic feeling all the way throughout. Though not an exact adaptation of the comic book, this is better than we probably could have hoped for.
I was excited before. Now, I am officially DYING to see this film.
Afterwards they gave out free Daily Bugle hats, which I wore proudly for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, the line to get said hats was long enough to make me miss the JLA presentation. It was worth it.
Sleep followed. Sunday I left early, having nothing of substance left to cover. I did, however, pick up a large number of bootlegs and hard to find films, many of which I will cover in the coming weeks. (I think my copy of Star Wars: The Phantom Edit is fucked up, however. Oh well.) Look for those reviews in Look Closer…, my reviews of The Duel and Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back in The Untitled Deadpool Column sometime in the next 24 hours, and the photo gallery as soon as it's finished. Thank you. Hollyfeld out.
San Diego Comic Con 2001, part 1
San Diego Comic Con 2001, part 2
