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  • Comic-Con 2008: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Pineapple Express, Quarantine

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    Under discussion:

    28 Days Later  (2002)

    Underworld  (2003)

    REC  (2007)

    9:00 - Q: “Will William and Marcus be in this movie?”

    A: “Well, we talk about them. They won’t be actively part of the story, but they are the roots of it.”

    People are starting to get bored, and new folks are filing in. We keep getting asked, “Has the Pineapple Express part started yet?!”

    8:58 - Rhona Mitra is going on and on about how strong her character Celine is. She’s been talking for quite awhile now, and someone shouts “YOU’RE HOT!”

    Rhona explains that she wears an extremely skimpy outfit in this movie, “I think you’ll all be satisfied… I know the crew were.”

    8:55 - Bill Nighy is being praised for all of his work, including The Girl in the Cafe… nice! I sincerely suspect that hardly anyone in this massive hall has even seen that movie. If you haven’t, go out and rent it right now.”

    The little kid from earlier today is back… seriously, did Comic-Con hire this guy? He wants to know if the movie is all story, or all action, or a balance of both.

    Director Patrick Tatopoulos said “It’ll have a good, strong story, but you’ll also see armies of werewolves attacking.”

    8:52 - According to Rhona Mitra, it’s a bit “Rome and Juliet-esque.”

    Bill: “I’m a vampire, I’m a zombie, and I’m a squid. How many people do you know who can make that claim?”

    BIll: “I was very lucky to be in the first film, which we made for a modest financial amount. It was a hit in America, and just look at us now.”

    Kevin Grevioux has a voice that sounds like Barry White gargling glass, literally. It’s almost like pure evil.

    8:49 - Rhona Mitra, Bill Nighy, and Kevin Grevioux take the stage to talk about the flick.

    Kate Beckinsale is suspiciously absent, although she’s been a Comic-Con mainstay for the first two Underworld films and Whiteout, so maybe she’s earned a break.

    8:48 - Now they’re showing us footage from Underworld, which is a prequel to the other films.

    The footage isn’t quite done, the effects are extremely rough, and it looks a hell of a lot like… Underworld 1, and Underworld 2.

    Seriously, I haven’t seen any of these Underworld flicks. Am I missing out?

    8:45 - Quarantine is based on the Spanish film Rec, as in the “Rec” that appears in the viewfinder when you use a video camera, and it actually looks fairly good. Think The Blair Witch Project, with zombies, in a 28 Days Later kind of fast-cut movie. Creepy.

    8:41 - Here we go… Eddie Ibrahim from Comic-Con is back out front to introduce “One more great panel for you guys tonight!”

    So here’s…. oh, Jeff Walker. Also from Comic-Con. Here’s the Quarantine trailer… the edgier version.


    Originally posted on:SpoutBlog

  • Comic-Con 2008 - niversal: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and Death Race

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    Under discussion:

    3:54 - Eric: “Maria, you’re known for your work in indie film, what was it like working in this?”
    Maria: “Well, I’m not naked in this film!”
    Guy near me: “Wow, that was the wrong thing to say. They just lost my ticket.”

    3:50 - Here comes everyone from The Mummy, including Maria Bello, John Hannah, Brendan Fraser, Michelle Yeoh, and Jet Li. The crowd goes insane for Jet Li, and someone shouts TAKE IT OFF! Wow. You stay classy, San Diego.


    Originally posted on:SpoutBlog

  • Comic-Con 2008: Disney/Pixar, BOLT & UP

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. [What do you think?]
    Under discussion:

    Bolt  (2008)

    The filmmakers behind two upcoming animated epics, Bolt and UP, present footage.

    2:53 - Wow, ANOTHER clip, and a bye-bye from Chris and Byron, they’re heading out because this is a very long clip in which Bolt thinks that styrofoam is his kryptonite.

    2:51 - So, the premise is that Bolt, the dog, never leaves the set, and he thinks he’s actually this super-powered dog. However, after five years, Bolt gets shipped off to New York City, and thinks that all cats that he encounters are the evil minions of Dr. Calico. Bolt tries to drag Penny back to Hollywood, to rescue her, and hijinx ensue as Bolt starts to “face the facts about who he actually is.”

    2:48 - And we’re back. It actually looks pretty darn cute. The footage isn’t finished completely, we saw plenty of storyboard shots and unfinished CGI, and…we’re now seeing another clip.

    2:39 - We’re about to see an episode of Bolt’s television show. For the folks who don’t know “Bolt is the star of this Michael Bay over the top TV show, where Bolt has all sorts of superpowers.. Bolt has literally grown up on the set, so you get to see what he’s had to go through every day.”

    2:37 - Eric: “So people probably already know from the teaser that John Travolta and Miley Cyrus play the two main voices in this thing, but you guys have some other stars too…”

    Chris, “That’s true, we have Susie Essman from Curb Your Enthusiasm playing this cat named Mittens… and she doesn’t swear quite so much. Malcolm McDowell playing the evil Dr. Calico, James Lipton from Inside the Actor’s Studio, and Randy “The Macho Man” Savage… who is here somewhere.”

    2:36 - Eric: “So you guys had to create some new technology for this movie and you have some patents pending?”

    Byron: “Yes! Patents ‘pending.’ Some software was developed that actually could put brush strokes into CGI animation.”

    2:34 - Eric Morrow from IGN is mderating, and wants to know what it’s like working with John Lasseter.

    Chris Williams: “Well, John has been running the animation studio, and he’s everything you would hope he’d be. He’s been very hands-on with Bolt. And he does this thing where, by just being around, it makes you feel good.”

    2:33 - Chris Williams and Byron Howard from Disney Animation Studios’ upcoming animated film Bolt take the stage. They’re going to be showing us 20 minutes of footage from the movie. Wahoo!


    Originally posted on:SpoutBlog

  • Comic-Con 2008: Watchmen dir. Zack Snyder Attempts to Assuage My Fear that the Movie Will Suck

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. [What do you think?]
    Under discussion:

    The Godfather  (1972)

    Dawn of the Dead  (2004)

    300  (2007)

    Watchmen  (2009)

    Zack Snyder

    When the trailer for Watchmen hit the web a few weeks ago, I was as pumped as anyone. I’ve always been a fan of comics, but when I finished reading Alan Moore’s opus for the first time, I closed the back cover, starred into space, and solemnly said, “This changes everything.” Seriously, it’s that good. And the trailer looks good, it appears to be a faithful adaptation of the source material.

    The key word here is appears. The visuals are stunning, some sites even took the time to do shot by shot comparisons with the book. But I’m not worried at all about that, I’m more concerned with how the film will be edited. Like most comics/graphic novels, Watchmen is practically a story board waiting to be transformed into a film. But what made the book so revolutionary was not the art, it was the story, and the way the story was told. Watchmen is a dense web of complicated interconnected stories. Multiple generations of characters deal with epic personal, philosophical, and political struggles, all woven into one masterwork.

    Watchmen, the book, excels at the graphic novel version of cross-cutting. Several pages contain nine panels that are set up like a checkerboard, alternating between two separate stories that intimately inform one another, albeit across expanses of space and time. On the one hand, this seems like source material for a final-scene-of-The Godfather level of powerhouse editing. But on the other hand, it could just be a huge mess.

    After the jump, Snyder says why he feels up to the challenge…

    I asked director Zack Snyder to talk about the differences between adapting a work like 300, whose achievement is primarily visual, with Watchmen and its emphasis on narrative. He said, ”I feel like for me, movies are about perspective and point of view. When we did 300 I was trying to get at Frank [Miller]’s point of view, like what does he think, how does he feel?”

    He went on to say, “I love this idea of self awareness, you know, that all my movies have. I think there are some people that take 300 super heart attack serious … If you’ve seen Dawn of the Dead, and once you see Watchmen, I think if you go back and look at 300 it will change your point of view on that movie … I love 300, and it’s exactly the movie I wanted to make, but when people see it without understanding me, they feel like it’s purely visual. Which, you know, makes sense, but I feel like what I try to do is get at Frank, you know, get at what makes Frank tick, and what he’s about. And I think that was also true of Dawn of the Dead, for whatever reason, I’m a fan of George [Romero]’s and I wanted the movie to be a love letter to him more than a remake of his movie. So when we came to do Watchmen it was that same experience again. I was trying to figure out, what is it about Alan [Moore]’s work, what is it about this work that is individual. What is that perspective, what is that point of view?”

    I’m assuming what Snyder is talking about is the way Watchmen critiques the tropes of super hero mythology. Earlier in the same press conference he talked about how the world is finally ready for the film because so many other comic book films have been so successful, thereby building a set of assumptions about super heros that can now be critiqued. That’s great. But what still worries me is that the real key to Alan Moore’s “point of view” is that he’s just a freaking incredible story teller. And, as reported earlier, Moore has absolutely nothing to do with this film. I wish Zack Snyder the best of luck in editing the film, he’s going to need it.


    Originally posted on:SpoutBlog

  • Comic-Con 2008: Terminator: Salvation (AKA T4)

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    Under discussion:

    Batman Begins  (2005)

    The Dark Knight  (2008)

    1:58 - Moon Bloodgood, who plays a pilot in the movie, is talking about the connections between the characters, and she connects with “This guy over here…” indicating Sam Worthington. “… not in real life, though.”

    Bryce Dallas Howard plays Kate Connor, and McG wanted to know “What attracted you to being in this, other than the fact that you get to make out with Bale?”

    Bryce: “It was just that.”

    1:55 - They’re talking about the new robot created for this film, the T-600s, the T-800s, and so on. It’s a lot of numbers.

    McG: “The idea for these was always ‘Soviet tank, soviet tank, soviet, tank.’ and that’s what they did. Arnold, how do you feel about that?”

    Asianegger: “It looks fantastic.”

    *cheers*

    1:51 - Wow, Asianegger is now running the panel.

    He wants to know how involved Cameron and Schwazenegger are in this project. And he’s literally growling every syllable out in an Austrian accent.

    McG didn’t really answer the question, so now McG is talking about the legacy of Stan Winston, and the degree that the Stan Winston Studios are involved in the production.

    Guy from Stan Winston Studios: “Well, the first movie that we worked with Stan on was in 1983… the original Terminator. It’s wonderful and terrific to still be working on this.”

    1:49 - Now there’s someone talking like Arnold Schwarzenegger…. and he’s Asian.

    McG: “That was awesome. And if you’re Asian, that was fuckin’ amazing.”
    They’re bringing Sarah, the T-1000, and Asian-zenegger up on stage. McG appears to be easily impressed.

    1:48 - A woman dressed as Sarah Connor gets up and asks “Why did you bring that machine here and put it up in front of thousands of people when you know the kind of damage it can do?”

    McG gives an incredibly geeky answer, talking about T-600s and their rubbery skin, and Sarah Connor’s time in the psychiatric ward.” He definitely knows his stuff.

    1:47 - McG: “We see the becoming of Kyle Reese. He’s a crafty guy, he definitely knows his way around a gun. The irony is, in this picture, some of the best moves that Kyle Reese learned, he learned from machines.”

    1:46 - Remarkably, Anton is still talking, about “fighting Skynet”.

    1:44 - Anton: “Michael Biehn in the first Terminator movie is fuckin’ awesome. What we see in this film is the development of the hero… the guy that everyone knows.”

    1:43 - McG: “We release disinformation from time to time, so some of what you’re reading online is manipulated by the studios. Part of the joys in going to the movies is not knowing what happens, and we’re trying to preserve that.”

    1:42 - McG: “We’re already living in a science fiction world. You’re texting people on your Blackberries, they spell check you as you go. Instead of people wanting to talk to you about your mother and father, they want to manipulate your seratonin and L-DOPA levels.”

    McG: “We’ve tried to follow what Christopher Nolan did with Batman Begins. You don’t watch that movie and see it as “Batman 5.”

    1:40 - Q: “Will Arnold be back?”

    McG: “Answering both of those questions would deprive everyone from the pleasure of watching the film. But in answering that, I think you’ll understand the direction in which we’re going. But, the T-101 model is very much a part of the Terminator mythology.”

    I think we just got a pretty decent indication that we’ll see Arnold Schwarzenegger in some form in this movie.

    1:39 - Sam: “I didn’t want to sign off if they were changing what James Cameron had done in his movies, because I love those.”

    1:38 - Bryce Dallas Howard is showing how “fate” works…. by using a plastic cup. It’s not really Stephen Hawking stuff.

    1:36 - First question from a nervous fan, “What’s it like working with Christian Bale?”

    Sam Worthington: “Awesome. I mean, you’re going toe to toe with fuckin’ Batman. We’ve got a movie that kicks you in the balls here.”

    McG: “I think you see why Sam got the job.”

    McG: “You get to see machines we call Harvesters, aerodrones, and all of these Russian-inspired designs. There’s one shot in that footage where you see a claw come in and grab someone out of the gas station, and that speaks to the size of the Harvester robot.”

    1:33 - McG: “We’ve shot this on this on color film, but we’re treating the film stock with as much silver as you’d treat a black and white movie to wash it out.”

    Josh is asking if this follows the other films from the Terminator trilogy. “Is this a war picture?”

    McG: “This is very much a war film… the Schwarzenegger Terminator model comes from 2029, and our film is set in 2018. We see the state of the war and the genesis of Skynet.”

    1:32 - Common, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anton Yelchin “the young Kyle Reese”, and Sam Worthington take the stage.

    1:29 - Here comes the footage.

    Christian Bale in a post-apocalyptic world with dead Terminators on the ground. The radio crackles “How many survivors?” Bale barks out “ONE!”

    Trenchcoats, topless women, Terminators we’ve never seen before, and Christian Bale screaming “YOU SON OF A BITCH!” at a Terminator who is trying to take his eyes out.

    1:27 - “But first, I’m going to call our friend over in Japan, Christian Bale.” He whips out a cell phone and he’s dialing. Looks like McG is a Blackberry dude, and not an iPhone user.

    “Straight to voicemail, don’t let me down….”

    He’s leaving a message for him, “Let me first congratulate you on the Dark Knight“––crowd screams and yells––”And now we’re showing footage from our new movie, so let him hear it!”

    1:26 - “We’ve been shooting this always with the picture first.” (whatever that means). “We’ve heard rumors of a PG-13 version of this movie… but we’ve been told ‘Hey, if it’s a Rated R movie, it’s a Rated R movie.’”

    “We’re going to show you some footage that hasn’t been seen before. So get ready for that.”

    1:25 - “We knew we needed an actor, someone with credibility. I wanted to protect the movie and protect all of you by hiring the greatest actor of his generation… Christian Bale.”

    The crowd goes wild! I’ve noticed that all week people can just say “Batman!” and people go nuts.

    1:24 - McG: “Prior to making this pictures, I spoke to James Cameron, and Arnold Schwazenegger of course. We hired Stan Winston, may he rest in piece…”

    1:23 - Okay, finally we’re off and running. Josh Horowitz from MTV news (short, bespectacled) is introducing everyone.

    McG comes out to let us know they’re in the middle of shooting, “And we’ve brought some of the cast with us.” Think Christian Bale-man will make an appearance?

    1:15 - Music is still looping, building to a fever pitch…. and…. it loops again. “We’ll be starting soon, so please take your seats.” If the Terminator can time-travel, then why can’t they start their panel on time?

    1:13 - They’re playing the DA DUM DUM DA DUM Terminator theme loudly. We’re about to get Terminated.


    Originally posted on:SpoutBlog

  • Comic-Con 2008: Watchmen Artist Dave Gibbons on Writer Alan Moore

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    Under discussion:

    From Hell  (2001)

    Watchmen  (2009)

    dave gibbons

    Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons seems to have no trouble riding the wave of popularity his work has received thanks to Watch-Mania here at Comic-Con. In a press conference immediately following the panel discussion where clips of the film were shown, Gibbons and the cast seemed awestruck after seeing many of the images for the first time. One figure is notably absent from the frenzy surrounding the forthcoming film, the graphic novel’s author Alan Moore.

    When asked about the apparent schism between Moore and Hollywood, Gibbons said, “It is very simple. Alan doesn’t take the moral high ground on this at all. There’s been some implication that [Alan has said], ‘Hollywood is impure, you really shouldn’t go there, Dave.’ No, it’s nothing to do with that at all. The fact is that Alan has had some very bad experiences with Hollywood, and he doesn’t care to repeat them. Now Alan is not a man who does things in halves. You or I might go, ‘Oh, well, if they want to make a film, that’s alright.’ Alan said, ‘No, I don’t want my name on it, and I don’t want any income from it. I don’t want anything to do with it at all.’ So, consequently he asked me to ask the movie company to send him a piece of paper that he could sign that would make both of those things happen. Which I was happy to do. …That’s what he wanted. He was extremely happy, he said, ‘Now I’ve had the piece of paper signed, I don’t care, I’m indifferent.’ I do speak to him from time to time, and occasionally I’d start to talk about Watchmen, and he’d say, ‘Well, I’m pleased you’re enthusiastic Dave, but I can’t really share it.’”

    If Watchmen turns out to be as good as it seems to be (or as good as its source material), it would be a shame for Moore to not be a part of its success. Gibbons went on to say, “My personal feeling, and this is my first real involvement with Hollywood, [is that] it’s bad timing, because I think this is the one where they are going to do Alan justice, where they are going to give his work the respect and the reverence it deserves. And so I think that’s unfortunate. He may well have a change of heart about it. He’s a man of principle, and I admire him for that.”

    Previous Alan Moore graphic novels that have been adapted to the screen include From Hell, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.


    Originally posted on:SpoutBlog

 


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