Hero Complex Home | August 2008 »
Overheard on the red carpet: A car decked out to look like the vehicle in "Pineapple Express" has been driving around San Diego to promote the pot film, and the guys inside had bongs with lots of smoke coming out of them. It wasn't real pot being smoked, but police pulled the car over and impounded it anyway.
It may be a myth, but they say where there's smoke there's fire. We'll try to find out.
-- Geoff Boucher
If you sit in on a Joss Whedon panel, you're sure to be entertained.
Whedon brought along Faith-ful "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" companion Eliza Dushku and "Battlestar Galactica" captain Tahmoh Penikett to a panel introducing the world to "Dollhouse," which is set to debut in early 2009 on Fox. The character, Echo, who can have personalities imprinted on her to be whatever/whoever the mysterious agency known as 'the Dollhouse' needs, is based in part on the craziness and the randomness of Dushku's own life.
"Some of the things I might bring [to the part] are feist, fun and fury," says a pumped Dushku. She was elk hunting when he wrote the pilot ("Sorry PETA, it's part of life") and defers everything to Joss, and supportingly describes him as a "career brassiere" who "makes the words party on the page."
After the "Terminator Salvation" panel, filmmaker McG was praised backstage for his smooth and enthusiastic stage manner.
But he winced a bit at the compliment.
"I'm just trying to keep my lips shut these days, really, I want to let my films speak for themselves," he said. "I want to take me out of it. I need to do less talking. I don't want to be 'McG the cheerleader.' I'm just trying to grow as a filmmaker and let the films be judged."
It's a mature and savvy attitude for the director, whose nickname and public enthusiasm have sometimes made him a target for people who tagged him as more flash than substance. You can sense that he's a man on a mission.
That was very clear to me when I was on the "Terminator" set recently in New Mexico, where the director and his team are making an intensely grim reboot of the franchise. They were shooting until 3 a.m. the night before arriving here in San Diego.
"And Sam [Worthington, one of the stars] cut the hell out of his hand. We only snoozed for about two hours but, hey, we wouldn't have traded it for the world," he said. "This is what we want to do, bring this movie here and then bring it to the world."
-- Geoff Boucher
Photo: Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times
Viewership may have fallen, and audience support may have waned, but at Comic-Con, NBC's "Heroes" is still as big as as it ever was. It's also still humble.
When the cast -- the entire cast -- came on stage to huge applause in Hall H, many of the actors were also filming the crowd with personal cameras. Greg Grunberg was one, and he also visited with a few fans at the back of the line for the panel, many of whom weren't getting in.
And speaking of growth, one of the first things moderator and executive producer Jeph Loeb said to the assemblage was that the show was in "236 territories around the world," and that it was popular because of the Comic-Con fans. "And we came here to thank you."
Loeb, being the cheerleader that he is, then led a section-by-section cheering contest. Then he offered this promise for the new season: "Each and every one of you ... you will want to talk about it."
After the cast filled the stage, Loeb jabbed at other ensembles, making sure the audience knew that everybody from the cast showed up, not just one or two stars.
There's a surge in interest among the American comic book companies in taking their graphic-minded entertainments into mobile devices. Marvel has just announced a Stephen King project, for instance, that was first reported by the Wall Street Journal:
...A previously unpublished story by Mr. King has been transformed by Marvel Comics into an animated video. The 25 episodes will be distributed in a variety of online and mobile channels ahead of the book's publication Nov. 11. Starting Monday, new episodes will be released daily, five times a week, through Aug. 29.
The willingness of Mr. King and publisher Scribner, an imprint of CBS Corp.'s Simon & Schuster book-publishing arm, to remix the story, "N.," into bite-size video vignettes underscores how eager publishers are to come up with new marketing techniques at a time when book sales are flat or slumping. Five years ago, Mr. King's publisher might have taken the creepy short story and offered it to a literary publication like "The New Yorker" in expectation that a first serial sale would create interest in "Just After Sunset." The story focuses on an unlucky psychiatrist whose latest patient is "infectious."
The WSJ piece by Jeffrey Trachtenberg has a clip from the video, which is called "N." Marvel is hardly alone in trying to ring up the future by squeezing its adventures into mobile devices. Paul Levitz, president of DC Comics, said his company is looking hard at the success in Japan of comics as phone-tainment but said the marketplace there has several advantages over the U.S., such as the general simplicity of images in manga and an audience that has more cutting-edge electronics. "There's things that need to happen here that haven't happened yet," Levitz said, suggesting that it may take a while before the idea of Superman on a cellphone will fly with a significant audience.
After the jump you can find the full announcement about King's "N" and details on accessing it.
-- Geoff Boucher
image from "N," courtesy Marvel Comics
"It's the only movie I don't appear naked in." -- Maria Bello, describing her work in "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor."
- Denise Martin
Credit: Martin
Fans of director Henry Selick and writer Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" got an up-close look at Selick's upcoming stop-motion animated feature "Coraline" on the Comic-Con show floor.
Adapted by Selick from Neil Gaiman’s international best-selling book of the same name, "Coraline" follows a young girl (Dakota Fanning) who walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. The parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life – only much better. Except when Coraline's fantastical adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit parents (including Other Mother, voiced by Teri Hatcher) try to keep her forever.
Georgina Hayns, head of "Coraline" puppet department, accompanied the movie's maquettes to San Diego where they are displayed in the NECA booth. Selick allowed the models to journey from Laika headquarters in Portland, Oregon where he has been recording the stop-mo animation in native 3-D. "Coraline" is due in theaters February 6, 2009.
See a "Coraline" clip here and a trailer here. Character descriptions and another photo after the jump.
Photos: Ian Shive, courtesy Focus Features
I could try and describe the breathtaking five minutes of never-before-seen footage from Pixar's next film "UP" -- out May 29, mark your calendars -- but it's better if I just point you to the new teaser for you to check out on your own. (I'll admit, I teared up.)
Note: The site just went up today and when I tried to log on during the Pixar session it seemed backed up. Be patient. It will be worth the wait. (Update: Teaser embedded below.)
-- Denise Martin
Original Video- More videos at TinyPic
Photo: Screen shot, courtesy www.disney.com/up
Audiences won't see anything as cool or slick as the T-800 of 2029, or the more advanced T-1000 model showcased in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day."
Rather, you'll see John Connor doing battle with older, muscle-models -- the machines that gave rise to Skynet -- in the McG-directed "Terminator Salvation," the fourth film in the "Terminator" franchise. "Salvation," which is set to be released in May 2009, takes off from a place in which "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" doesn't exist, a future referred to in the first and second films where Skynet is coming into power.
"This is a reinvention. We’re starting over. It’s incredible that it’s post Judgment Day' and it’s a completely different thing," said Bryce Dallas Howard, who plays the wife of John.
"You get to see the original machines, greasy, brutal," McG says. "Ours is not a clean comfortable future, and you see these giant machines stomping through people for their nefarious purposes. There will be lots of hardware worship."
Before screening some exclusive Comic-Con footage for the packed crowd, McG tried phoning Christian Bale, who plays John and is currently promoting “The Dark Knight” in Japan. The call went to voice mail. "Bale, we’re here at Comic-Con. They want to congratulate you on 'Dark Knight' -- the crowd roared -- and now we’re about to show world premiere footage from our new movie. I give you 'Terminator: Salvation.'”
Lots of explosion ensued.
We saw the first interaction between John and his eventual father Kyle Reese, this time played by 19-year-old Anton Yelchin (remember, John will send Kyle back in time to protect John's mom Sarah -- just go with the time-jumping mythology.)
The action takes place in 2018. "Skynet’s not there yet," McG explained. "The machines haven’t come to a place of proficiency that we’re accustomed to. We see the becoming of Skynet and what it means to have dominance in a post-apocalyptic world."
One fan asked if Arnold Schwarzenneger will be back, and McG didn't confirm or deny. "Hopefully that statement in itself answers that question.... The T-800 is indeed part of the mythology of 'Terminator.'"
-- Denise Martin
Credit: Denise Martin
Those who asked a question during the "Lost" standing-room-only session were well-rewarded.
Executive producers Damon Lindelof (who was wearing a convention-appropriate "SAVE SNAPE" T-shirt) and Carlton Cuse bought a bottomless box of goodies for fans — think something like Mary Poppinsâ carpet bag -- all direct from the set of the ABC series.
But perhaps even more important than swag, the Comic-Con crowd was privy to a secret video — which will be available online soon, no doubt. The clip showed out-of-uniform Dharma Initiative scientist Marvin Candle (or Edgar Halliwax, depending on which of his videos you're watching) urging those watching the video to reconstitute the Dharma Initiative, but all was quickly cut off by an unknown video recorder.
Here's a rundown of "Lost" fans' burning questions and the prizes that went with them:
Q: When the hatch imploded and the sky turned purple did the island move then? Like it did when Ben moved it (more recently)?
Damon Lindelof: No. But something happened and that's an excellent question.
Prize: an Oceanic Airlines bottle of water
Q: Are Jin and Locke dead?
Carlton Cuse: Jin and Locke will still be on the show in some form. You've not seen the last of either of those characters. You know, dead is a relative term. In the timelines of those characters there's still a lot of story to be told.
Prize: Jin's panda bear doll.
Q: Is "Lost" coming back next year?
DL: Weâre doing 17 hours in February 2009 and 17 hours in 2010.
Prize: A 'Lost' calendar.
Q: Favorite episode and favorite season?
CC: 'The Constant' would be my favorite episode. I think in terms of favorite seasons, the first one was so amazing and we were trying to figure everything out; yeah, just the excitement and terror of it.
DL: The Season One finale with the raft launch and all of that stuff. It was back when the show could be hopeful before it degraded into despair. And for favorite season? Season Four; everyone worked really hard. You will be rewarded for hanging in until Season Six.
CC: For us it was a huge advantage to get an end date to the show; it really reinvigorated us.
Prize: Apollo bar and an Apollo T-shirt.
Q: I just wanted to slap you around for the Jin and Sun episode -- you guys are naughty.
DL: For slapping us around, here are some "Heroes" DVDs. It's a much better show than ours. Enjoy!
Prize: "Heroes" DVD box set
Q: Are we going to get a (Danielle Rousseau) flashback? Will you definitively say in front of 6,500 of us that there will be one?
CC: We will say this: You will see Rousseau's story. But to use the word flashback would be disingenuous. Weâre going to do flashbacks and flash-forwards next season, but weâll mostly be doing something different.
DL: Danielle Rousseau will be in Season Five.
Prize: âLostâ luggage tags
At this point, someone asked a question about whether production would continue under âthe new SAG contract,â to which Lindelof replied that he wasnât aware there was a new one yet -- there isnât -- but reassured shooting would continue regardless. For asking the question, the guy received the best worst prize of the lot: Photographs of the actors who played short-lived Nikki and Paulo. âWho wouldnât want that?â Lindeloff asked. âYes, two SAG actors,â said Cuse.
Q: Do your own mothers not know how the show will end?
CC: They like to be in the dark.
Prize: A life jacket signed by all the writers.
Q: Where is our special guest?
DL: The actors [are] scattered all over the world at the moment, so itâs almost a Herculean task to get any of them out here.
Prize: Signed box set of all seasons of the show.
Q: What happened to [the dog] Vincent?
DL: Vincent made it and will appear in season five. Safe to say heâll make it to the end of the show.
Prize: Polar bear doll
Q: Are Jack and Kate your one true pairing and will they end up together?
CC: There it is. Someone who asked a real question, a ballsy question that gets right to the heart of the story and the mythology -- we canât answer it.
DL: Sir, we can not tell you the answer to that question. Obviously weâre very invested in that relationship.
Prize: Jack Shepherd autographed doll ⦠delivered by surprise guest Matthew Fox.
Q: Will Kate ever see Sawyer again?
DL: Not if Jack has anything to say about it! No, yes, Kate will see Sawyer again
Prize: A signed âLostâ poster
Q: Now that the island has moved, what happened to the survivors and Daniel Faraday?
DL: You refer to the Zodiac boat and the non-line speakers, right? Sadly, there is a monsoon a cominâ for some...
Prize: An authentic Faraday tie. âFor those of you wondering why Faraday is wearing a tie on the island, stay tuned,â Lindeloff said.
Q: Flash-forwards, how are you going to limit yourselves?
DL: When Season Five starts, you wonât know where and when you are. The way weâre gonna tell stories is gonna be different too.
CC: We organized a bit differently; if we were constrained by FF and FB that that was not gonna be the best way to tell our stories.
Prize: Hanso foundation hat.
Q: How does this show end?
CC: It ends well, we hope -- we canât answer that.
Prize: A six pack of Dharma drinks
Q: Do you ever come up with stuff like, letâs make Kate a dude, or do you have it all planned out from the beginning?
CC: You canât have It all planned out. We actually try to write ourselves into corners every day. What we try to avoid is filming that without knowing the answers. We try to puzzle our way out of situations.
Prize: DryErase eraser signed by CC and DL
Q: How old is Richard Alpert and how many toes does he have?
CC: Thatâs a really good question. He is quite old. Weâve hinted that people age differently on the island and people heal. That is hopefully an engaging mystery that will keep you tuning in. You will learn more about Richard Alpert.
DL: Youâre gonna see his toes too.
Prize: A T-shirt that says: âI asked a Richard Alpert a question and all I got what this lousy T-shirt.â
-- Denise Martin
Photo: Carlton Cuse, from left, and Damon Lindelof. Credit: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times
Correction: Danielle Russo was misspelled. It has been corrected to read Rousseau.
The Universal panel begins at 3:45 p.m. in Hall H and one of the films that will be featured is "Land of the Lost," the $100-million Will Ferrell comedy due next summer (and, after visiting the set, I can tell you it looks like it could a great popcorn movie).
Ferrell won't be here (he's sent a taped message) but two of the panelists will be Sid and Marty Krofft, the brother team behind the old Saturday morning shows "H.R. Pufnstuf," "Land of the Lost," "Lidsville" and others. I have a front-page story in The Times today about the Kroffts and their quirky show-biz story, unexpected comeback and a family secret they've been keeping for decades.
The piece is getting a lot of reader response. One industry veteran who wrote in said the brothers were "monsters" to employees and collaborators during their peak years in the 1970s, but most of the e-mails were like this one:
H. R. Pufnstuf! My favorite show of all time. My best friend and I
were huge fans with a bigger crush on Jack Wild, of course. It was and
remains the only fan letter I have ever penned (no reply, but we kept
hoping for one ). Your article took me back to the days when we would
wait all week for the show and time stopped while it aired. 'H. R.
Pufnstuf' is a classic in so many ways and I remember it well even though
I have not seen an episode in decades, gosh, many decades. My regards
to the Kroffts. Thanks for publishing your story. Patty Montbriand,
Pasadena, CA.
-- Geoff Boucher
Vinatge photo of Sid Krofft, Jack Wild and Marty Krofft on the set of '"H.R. Pufnstuf;"; courtesy of Krofft Picture Archive.
Who is the greatest living comic book artist?
As I’ve said before, my vote is for Neal Adams, so it was a real treat to join him and his family for a big pasta dinner at Buca di Beppo in downtown San Diego last night. Before we even got to the table, I had to ask him if he had seen “The Dark Knight.” “I did and I thought it was great,” Adams told me. But he did have some reservations about the body count in the Christopher Nolan film and the fact that, in his view, the villains seem to triumph in the film. “Batman fails and fails and fails,” said the artist who drew the Batman so definitively in 1970s.
Adams is a champion of artist rights through the decades and we talked a lot about the wear and tear of the comics industry on creators through the years. Adams, who is a portrait of clean living, also talked about the casualties of drinking and drugs in the business, such as the late Marshall Rogers, who “just got eaten up” by his addictions. A brighter note was a great yarn he told me about a trip to Spain with his wife, Marilyn, and sitting watching the setting sun with the late Will Eisner. “It was such a great moment, a great day.” Adams talked about a book he wants to do with Batman, Deadman and the Joker crossing paths in an intriguing way. After way too much food, we walked over to the DC Comics party, where I got to introduce Adams and his son, Josh, to filmmaker Zack Snyder. The two immediately hit it off and talked intently about motion-capture technologies and the state of CG special effects in Hollywood. It was a real treat to listen in and inspiring to hear two guys so passionate about their crafts. The brawny Adams is a locomotive guy and he expects others to keep up. The last thing he said as he headed back to his hotel: “Work hard.”
-- Geoff Boucher
Neal Adams cover for "Batman" No. 241 (1972), courtesy of DC Comics.
Guy Ritchie came to Comic-Con International to promote his crackling London crime film "RocknRolla" (which, he told me, reflects the shifting cultural definitions in the U.K. these days and "the changing meaning in just the past five years of what it means to be British), but I really wanted to hear about his Sherlock Holmes project, which will star Robert Downey Jr. as Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic sleuth.
"I'm very excited about it, Robert is brilliant," Ritchie said. "I came to the character through the books when I was young and what the film will reflect is the intelligence on the page and also the action. There's quite a lot of intense action sequences in the stories; sometimes that hasn't been reflected in the movies. it's been a relatively long time since there's been a film version that people embraced. I want to make a very contemporary film as far as the tone and texture. It's exciting for me to do a period piece, that's a departure."
Ritchie said his Holmes will be a man of adventure in a gritty world, not a prim thinker in staid parlor play. "There's a darkness to the movie we want to make," said Ritchie, who will be adapting Lionel Wigram's upcoming comic book tale about Holmes as opposed to the classic canon.
And what about "The Gamekeeper," Ritchie's foray into comic books? "I still plan to make that a film but, well, I'm quite busy right now."
I interviewed the filmmaker last year about "The Gamekeeper." You can find that after the jump.
-- Geoff Boucher
Photo: Basil Rathbone left, as Sherlock Holmes, and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson in 1939's "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." (Los Angeles Times archival photo)
"You're like the Miley Cyrus of porn!"
-- Kevin Smith, after finding out Traci Lords made her first porno when she was 15.
Lords just completed filming on Smith's latest "Zack and Miri Make A Porno" which the the two are promoting at Comic-Con.
Photo: Traci Lords, center, with the cast of "Zack and Miri." Photo via Kevin Smith's Myspace.
Batman, aka Aaron Blossom of Fontana, bravely steps up to the microphone to ask the cast of "Watchmen" a question during the Q&A session that followed a presentation in Hall H at the Comic-Con Convention in San Diego. Hey, where's Robin?
Photo: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times
Samuel L. Jackson explains what "BadMoFoKos" are, pays homage to L.A. comics haven Golden Apple, and decides who would win in a battle between the Octopus and Jedi Mace Windu.
-- Denise Martin
Samuel L. Jackson just delivered the best line of the day at Comic-Con:
"Aw c'mon, toilets are always funny!"
That was the payoff line in the wild fight scene from "The Spirit," which for a few minutes at least, appears to meld the physics of Wile E. Coyote with the vivid noir of "Sin City."
The fight scene is in a junk-strewn mud flat between Jackson's character, the villain called The Octopus, and the title hero, portrayed by newcomer Gabriel Macht.
They whack each other with cinder blocks, then a crow bar and then the hero takes a savage blow to the crotch from a giant spanner wrench. Then, in a scene that looks better than it sounds, the Octopus slams a toilet down over the hero's head, pinning his arms to his side.
The movie, by the way, is not based on a true story.
The Christmas Day release will be watched closely by comic-book purists because it adapts the most beloved and enduring character of the late Will Eisner, an anointed figure in comics (he is so revered as the "grandfather of the graphic novel" that the industry awards are called the Eisners).
His Spirit is coming to the screen in the solo directorial debut of Frank Miller, the graphic novelist behind "Sin City," "300" and "The Dark Knight Returns." The problem might be the Spirit losing his comic and sentimental edges in the gritty hyper-reality that has marked Miller's work when it reaches the screen. (He was co-director of "Sin City" with Robert Rodriguez.)
I was the panel's moderator and, looking out over 6,800 fans, I realized how nerve-wracking it is to be on that stage. Miller brought three clips plus a trailer, which is a LOT (that's why there were no questions from the audience) and the reason was Miller and his people wanted to show that the movie included romance and comedy (like the classic Eisner newspaper inserts and comics).
Jackson stole the show on the panel, which also included Miller, producer Deborah Del Prete, Macht and starlet Jaime King (Lorelei). He talked about his favorite action figure of himself during his long career in genre films (he loves Mace Windu figures and wonders why he didn't get an action figure of "Jurassic Park" when almost every else in the cast did) and commented on his upcoming portrayal of Nick Fury, originally a white character in the comics, by saying that America gives anyone the chance to "become a black man."
-- Geoff Boucher
Related:
The hair club for Sam (slideshow)
Photos: Top, Samuel L. Jackson hugs "The Spirit" writer/director Frank Miller before the start of the panel with producer Deborah Del Prete and stars Gabriel Macht and Jaime King, who gathered to show an exclusive preview of the new film based on the classic comic by Will Eisner at Comic-Con International in San Diego on July 25, 2008. Right, "The Spirit" panel moderated by Los Angeles Times writer Geoff Boucher, left. Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times.
UPDATE: An early version of this post had the name of Robert Rodriguez spelled wrong. Sorry for the mistake, that's what can happen when you write a post on your Blackberry backstage!
Faces on the floor of Comic-Con Intl. help tell a story about the character of the event, the people who frequent it, a bit of the history behind it, and where it could be headed.
-- video shot by Katy Newton
Unannounced star Benicio Del Toro introduced "The Wolf Man" trailer as he sat beside costar Emily Blunt and makeup/FX guru Rick Baker.
Baker enjoyed the experience, and let it be known that "Bene" is "a monster fan. Everytime we'd do the makeup, he'd come in with a different magazine" showcasing the Wolf Man or another monster movie. And for Del Toro, it was definitely a role he wanted.
"Becoming [the Wolf Man], putting it on and getting in character ... that was exciting," said Del Toro. "It was taking it off that was difficult."
Blunt, for her part, did not believe it was difficult to act in.
"When I heard they were doing a monster movie, I said 'Hey, I can run and I can scream," said Blunt. "The first time I saw it [Benicio in full makeup], it was really disconcerting. ... I really was running. In a corset!"
Many of the questions were directed toward Rick Baker, Here's a sampling:
Is the makeup harder to do on a movie like "Wolf Man" as opposed to "Norbit?"
Baker: The makeup, like a Mr. Wong, an older Asian man played by Eddie Murphy [in "Coming to America"], was actually harder to do than "The Wolf Man."
Practical makeup & effects versus CGI?
I think that if it's done right, they can actually work hand in hand. [For "The Wolf Man],
it's more of an old-fashioned gothic film.
Can you comment on Stan Winston's passing?
It's really so sad to lose Stan ... People always thought that we hated each other because we competed for the same jobs. And they're right. I hated him ... He was a bastard ... But really, it's a wonderful thing when you have someone [who's your rival] that cares about what you're doing so much, it helps you out.
-- Jevon Phillips
Photo: Del Toro, Blunt and Baker at Comic-Con. Credit: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times
Due to consecutive box office hits with "The Incredible Hulk," "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" and the upcoming "The Mummy 3: The Tomb of the Golden Emperor," Universal appears to be printing money with its summer tent poles.
And it looks like Universal would like to make its fantasy franchises a year-round success story. The studio is already priming the well for Spring 2009.
On Friday afternoon at Comic-Con, Universal unveiled a trailer for "The Wolf Man," starring Benicio del Toro as Lawrence Talbot and Anthony Hopkins as his father, Sir John, and Emily Blunt as Talbot's brother's fiancee, Gwen Conliffe. Special effects guru Rick Baker created the nightmarish beast that del Toro transforms into.
We'll have more on Benicio, the trailer, Blunt and the newest "Wolf Man" movie. But in the meantime, here's a look back at a history of werewolves in movies by Los Angeles Times reporter Patrick Kevin Day:
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