For those uninitiated, Wednesday night at San Diego Comic-Con is "Preview Night", which started out as a rather exclusive opportunity for industry professionals to see what each other has coming up, and pick up some cool goodies the rest of the crowd would never see. Unfortunately "Preview Night" is now open to anyone and everyone, and as a result has become a madhouse evening that serves only as a not-so-gentle reminder of the hell exhibitors are going to face over the next four days. After spending the night in Bernie Wrightson's studio (wish I could say it was haunted or something :P), I woke up at 5am to get dressed and ready, and Bernie and Liz picked me up right about 6am to get on the road. We drove pretty much straight there, parking downstairs and unloading Bernie's booth display. Earlier this year, shortly before his unfortunate death, ROCKETEER creator Dave Stevens had a yard sale, and Bernie and Liz bought his backdrop booth display that Dave had used year after year in San Diego. This year Dave's spirit would be back at the show, courtesy of Bernie and Liz. Upon arriving and unloading, we wasted no time getting the booth put together. Bernie and I assmbled the snap-together pieces, and despite what appeared to be a rocky start, eventually got that thing together with style. I told Bernie and Liz that somewhere up there Dave was looking down at us and laughing. There were six overhead lights, all connected, that we affixed to the top of the display. When we plugged them in and turned them on, the last light on the right came on for a second... then burned out. The rest stayed on. One light out. Now I'm not saying it has to mean anything, but maybe... just maybe... that was Dave saying goodbye. Passing the torch as it were.
I claim this ship (right out of THE WATCHMEN) to be bad-ass!After walking the floor briefly, I stumbled across an unmistakable vessel. Leaping from the pages of WATCHMEN, it was Nite Owl's ship, just sitting comfortably at the Warner Bros. Animation booth. I walked around it, drooled a little, walked around it again... I had to tell someone, share this with someone. As I walked to the front I noticed my buddy Adam Hughes setting up an aisle away. So I stopped by to say hi, and quickly asked if he had seen Nite Owl's ship yet. Adam replied, "No" so I said "You have to come with me." We proceeded over to the beautifully realized piece of comic book history, and began taking photos, inside and out. See, this ship had a fully articulated interior cabin as well, complete with pilot chairs and control monitors. It was quite simply awesome. I think Adam and I both let loose a little pee.
The incredible 1/4 scale Indiana Jones statue from SideshowAfter Adam and I hosed ourselves off from the excitement, I met up with Cat Staggs and walked over to Sideshow, where we marveled at the awesome product they had coming up. The 1/4 scale Indiana Jones was even more stunning in person than the online pics could've ever conveyed. There was so much stuff to see, and before long the doors opened to the general public. Holy crap! There were SO MANY people bustling around you would've thought it was Saturday already. At one point while in front of the Paramount booth, there was such a frenzy with folks trying to get the new STAR TREK posters that a kid (roughly 7 years old) got knocked onto the floor in front of me. I picked him up and bitched out the guy who put him there. The guy showed little to no remorse. He was more concerned with getting his stupid poster. This attitude pretty much reflected the rest of the crowd, sad to say.
That night I was supposed to stay with my buddy Jim Daly, but plans changed a bit, and I ended up crashing at a beach house with Ludon Lee, my buddy Tom Jane's business partner. Ludon was nice enough to open his home to me in a pinch, and it was a relaxing way to spend the first evening of the show. Since I had just come back from Japan the day before, my fatigue was beginning to take its toll on me. Despite that, I maybe got 5 off and on hours of sleep... ugh.
I began my Thursday by waking up EARLY and catching a cab with Ludon to the show. It was cool to have a chance to talk one on one with Ludon in the cab, as most of our previous conversations were always in the midst of others. He's a smart cat, and has some great ideas brewing. I arrived at the show and met up with my good buddy Paul Salfen, who somehow snuck out to the press balcony upstairs... where he wasn't supposed to be. I mean Paul is press, like myself, but that balcony was supposed to be invitation only, and only for the highest ranking members of the press. So naturally, I snuck out there to join him. Heh. Of course the joke ended up being on us, as once out there we really couldn't do anything. All of the interviews were by appointment only, so after standing outside for about 10 minutes, I convinced Paul we were wasting time and we went back in. After a quick bite to eat, we proceeded to my first invited press junket, which was interviewing the ladies of sci-fi... Lucy Lawless (XENA herself), Jaime King (star of THE SPIRIT), and Pia Guerra (artist of Y THE LAST MAN). Kevin Smith had moderated their panel, but unfortunately wasn't able to make it to the junket. I'm happy to say that Lucy Lawless has aged beautifully. I dare say she's more sexy now that she's ever been. Jaime King arrived a little late, allowing me to announce a rather amusing "Hi Jaime!" in the middle of our interviews. Pia Guerra talked quite a bit about working in the comic industry, and her thoughts on comics becoming Hollywood films. It was a fun Q&A, and hopefully I'll have video up here shortly.
The rest of the day consisted of walking around the show floor, and trying not to let my Japan jet lag get to me. Not an easy feat. That night myself, Cat Staggs, and her friend Zach headed back to my hotel for room service, and got ready to start the Thursday night Bigfanboy Livecast. We did the show with ease, then walked to Cat's hotel for reason's I forget. At that point Tim Bradstreet called me from having dinner with Frank Darabont, and told us we could crash their group if we wanted to. So Cat and I hopped in a cab and headed to the restaurant (I ain't telling where). Upon arriving we met up with Steve Niles, Sarah Wilkinson, Bernie Wrightson, Liz Wrightson, Tom Jane, Tim Bradstreet, Adam Hughes, Todd Farmer, and of course Frank Darabont. We proceeded to have several drinks... and several more... and several more. William Stout and Mike Mignola left early... they were smart. All in all it was a fun way to end the day.
I started off the day by sleeping in. I had to. I was so incredibly tired I thought I was going to die. But sadly my sleeping in meant I had to skip a breakfast hosted by 20th Century Fox for the upcoming movie MIRRORS. Talent on hand included Kiefer Sutherland, Amy Smart, and Alexander Aja. Yes, I skipped having breakfast with Kiefer Sutherland because I was tired. I know. You're thinking "WHY?!?!" Trust me, this was the kind of tired that the human body can't ignore. I really would've liked to be there. But all was not lost, as I arrived in time for my interviews with the cast (and director Zack Snyder) of WATCHMEN. We're talking just about everyone here - Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Comedian), Jackie Earl Haley (Rorschach), Billy Crudup (Dr. Manhattan), Carla Gugino (Silk Spectre), Malin Akerman (Silk Spectre II), Patrick Wilson (Nite Owl II), Matthew Goode (Ozymandias), and last but certainly not least, the artist who illustrated the original masterpiece, Dave Gibbons. This was the coolest moment of the show for me, as WATCHMEN has always been my favorite comic book storyline, and I'm so glad to see this getting the treatment it has always deserved. Interviews will be posted soon.
One of my favorite comic book creators - Dave Gibbons, artist of WATCHMEN
After the show, I high-tailed it over to the Pacific Gaslamp Theater for an advance screening of PINEAPPLE EXPRESS. I needed to see it that night, because I was interviewing the cast and crew the next day. Now normally the last thing I want to do during San Diego Comic-Con is go watch a movie. During this show I did that twice, and I'm happy to say both times were pleasurable experiences. PINEAPPLE EXPRESS is very funny, and we were treated to a Q&A with the cast following the movie. It was so much fun I stuck around for the Q&A, despite knowing I was going to talk to these guys on Saturday anyway. After the screening I met Jud Apatow (you gotta respect a guy wearing a GHOSTBUSTERS shirt) and his beautiful wife Leslie Mann. It was a great start to a big evening.
Immediately following the screening I walked over to The U.S. Grant Hotel for the Raw Entertainment party. This year was terrific, featuring a nice mix of people, and a larger hotel room with considerably more space that the 2007 chapter. Jim Daly had run into Samuel L. Jackson in the lobby, and invited him to come up. We all wondered if he would. He never did, sad to say. However, all of us (the Dallas crew) ran into Casper Van Dien at one point when riding the elevator, and extended the invitation for him to join the party as well. He was at Comic-Con to promote STARSHIP TROOPERS 3. And guess what... he showed up! As more and more folks came to the party, hotel security showed up twice asking us to keep the noise down. It wasn't looking good, especially since despite Tom and I barking at people repeatedly to keep it down, everyone maintained their obnoxious volume of conversation. Around midnight Tom comes up to me and says "Let's get pizza!" So we assembled a group of aobut a dozen folks, and walked around the block to a late hours pizza place. There we proceeded to sit on the patio acting like idiots, eating pizza and just relaxing. Oddly enough, we never returned to the party. Ludon was left to close that down instead. Once we finished the pies, Tom and Tim and myself began walking back to our hotels. I remember telling Tim how surprised I was we got to our beds before 2am. All in all it was a fun night.
I AM IN THE PROCESS OF UPDATING THIS, SO PLEASE BEAR WITH ME. I'M FURIOUSLY TYPING NOW!
TO BE WRITTEN - Hayden Panetierre signing at Official Pix booth.
TO BE WRITTEN - TERMINATOR: SALVATION press conference
TO BE WRITTEN - PINEAPPLE EXPRESS interviews
TO BE WRITTEN - UNDERWORLD 3 interviews
TO BE WRITTEN - MUTANT CHRONICLES screening
TO BE WRITTEN - MUTANT CHRONICLES after-partyTO BE WRITTEN - Wind down
TO BE WRITTEN - Horton's
TO BE WRITTEN - Graffiti Party - Dave Stevens
No comments:
Post a Comment