Hey Folks Harry here with a Comic Con report from SmugBug of some of what was shown. Not an overage of details, but hey... Quint's at work in his San Diego Room hacking away at his volumish reports... So chew on this in the meanwhile....
Harry! Hi!
Was hoping to spot ya at the Con? I was there to see what I needed to do to break into the business of comic art....and from what I heard - not much more. Hopefully, will be a comic professional VERY soon.....
I wanted to add my comments on what I heard at the Lord of the Rings/ Joss Whedon Q&A/Planet of the Apes/ John Carpenter ( I left before the Sam Raimi, Spider-Man panel began..) conferences.
First off: Lord of the Rings/Fellowship looked amazing. Ian McKellan could not be there, like last year. However, a nice presentation had been created specifically for the Comic-Con with an intro by McKellan, Ian Holm, and Christopher Lee. Which was great. There was a beautiful behind the scenes "making of" short presentation. We (in the audience) got to see first-hand what Peter Jackson's version of "Hobbit Town" looks like. I must say, it's practically perfect. I say 'practically' because it's fine with me, but maybe others in the audience would disagree. BUT, many had a tear in their eye when the presentation was over. I honestly believe that Peter Jackson is on course with his vision, reason being that during the presentation he had stated that particalur scenes where important to be set up according to match the descriptions in the books. All in all, the audience agreed - and went crazy! There was a very impressive section about the developement of the Ringwraiths (costumes, their backgrounds). What was great was how the actors all knew WHO the Ringwraiths were! They ALL knew the story! I'm sorry, but that impressed me......... (Ringwraiths are all fallen kings who are doomed to search for the Ring and bring it back to Mordor....).
Joss Whedon Q&A: What can I say? Joss was witty, entertaining, so appreciative of the many fans there. Example:
Question: Joss, could you perform for us the 'dance of joy'?
Joss: ".....it'd be the 'dance of shame'....."
OR
Audience member: "......did the current version of the slayer (via Sarah Michelle Gellar) fit what you had in mind originally?"
Joss Whedon: "...well I had originally envisioned the slayer as a heavy set asian guy....and Sarah just didn't fit that mold....."
Well, not the best example.......
What thing that he did mention, was that he has always believe that "Angel" could stand on it's own as a show. And this was a chance to prove that, therefore he wasn't really big on "BTVS" cross overs. Another thing? The chick that got turned into a rat by Willow? She ain't gonna be a rat no more this coming season. Oh, and the cast is a little nervous about the big muciscal episode and Joss is all a thrilled about that ( he followed that with a very sinister giggle....). As for Faith, Oz, Riley and anyone else that is moving to movies - "it's difficult" to create a story arch around those characters when you don't know what their schedule to be like (due to making films), therefore when their schedule allows them to be available, they'll work with it accordingly (if story line allows). Oh, the highlight had to have been when the actor who is "The Host" on Angel came up to the mike to ask a question (incognito at first, but most in the audience figured it out by voice alone REAL quick!). THAT was absolutely the best!
Okay, Planet of the Apes. Looks good. The mini-documentary was great! Highlights: segment on 'ape school': Where everyone is trained to move like apes, chimps, etc. Cary Takagawa (Showdown in Little Tokyo, Rising Sun, Pearl Harbor) was a surprise guest and demonstrated for the audience the "ape movements". He is a surprisingly charming presence. He was very gracious and answered with honesty the questions. Especially when someone presented to him a piece of artwork (?). While the audience booed at this shameful self-promotion, Cary was extremely gracious! While I've read the negative reviews on this site, due to this presentation, I will go see POTA on opening day.
John Carpenter: Not too good. The audience had just seen, LOTR, Joss Whedon, POTA. And then "Ghost of Mars". First of all, John Carpenter was late. So Joanna Cassidy and the dude who plays "Big Daddy Mars" were there to answer questions until Mr. Carpenter got there.
Joanna Cassidy to audience: "Hey....how did you like it?"
Audience: "...grown.......sigh....silence......'spider-man!'...........
Joanna Cassidy: ".......thanks........." (not looking all happy....)
I have to honestly say that it did not look impressive. OR worth my money. BUT, what did look good?
"From Hell": After Planet of the Apes we were shown a VERY rough cut of the trailer for this movie with Johnny Depp based on the Alan Moore graphic novel/mini story. Oh my god! It looked very good! AND the finished trailer will be shown BEFORE Planet of the Apes! Wow!
Other notables: "Osmosis Jones" - making of and trailer. Never interested me until now. Was surprisingly impressed with what I saw. Hey, William Shatner, Lawrence Fishburne, Chris Rock provide voices for the characters - can you go wrong with this group?
Rush Hour 2 - yep, looks real good!
Jason X: Uh, the audience broke out in laughter. Jason...."upgraded"?
The trailer looked more like a spoof than a serious thriller/horror flick. Sorry for not sticking around for Spider-Man. I had to go to the Dark Horse Portfolio 101 panel and also EAT. I also felt that I had seen what I had to see via film conferences - and had to go on and do what I had come there to do, break into the businesss (as a penciller).
Harry, take care!
Smugbug
