musings of a comic-con virgin
Jul. 18th, 2005 02:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
verbicideI just got back. It's late, and I should NOT be doing this right now. But if I don't, I'll forget all the things I want to write down now and my memory is already crap. So here goes. Also, as it is now nearly 3am, I can't edit this monstrosity. But I promise to tomorrow. I know the formatting is sloppy and inconsistent. Ugh. Hopefully there isn't anything particularly mortifying.
Also, all my photos suck. Because I couldn't get close enough and my shots were zoomed to the max, the A/C was so high my hands were shaking with cold. But blurry though they may be, I'm linking the best of the worst here anyway.
Friday: Flight out of SeaTac was delayed (of course) so I got into SD around midnight. Straight to Stace's place to collapse.
The Good
It was fun! It was really interesting to see both cast and creators talk about the work they put so much passion into. All the panels I went to had members that seemed genuinely excited to be there, and still overwhelmed and humbled by the positive public reaction to their work. They all handled the full range of questions (from retarded to smart) with panache. Generally I'll say that I can like an actor's work and not need to like the actor. But it's a nice bonus when you find them to be down-to-earth and funny and smart. Big bonus.
There were a lot of interesting panels and events, I wish I could have made more of them but too much overlap! Since this was my first time, I can't say what they've improved, but I hear it was better organized and they fixed the A/C in the big hall. Apparently last year it was a giant sweat lodge.
And really, last but not least, it was so good to see![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
merhawk and desdenova again. Too much time spent in text, not enough in person. Must remedy that.
The Bad
I can't imagine how hard it must be to arrange such a humongous event without fuckups. And I haven't a clue how to do such a thing. But with that caveat in place, I'll say I thought parts of the Con were very poorly arranged.
- Sound quality kept fucking up, too. Intense feedback, no sound to mics so you miss half of what the panel member is saying. The Lost panel particularly sucked because of some sound problem, the people on stage couldn't hear the questions being asked. So everything had to be repeated 6 times and they still could only hear every other word. It was annoying.
- The sound quality on some of the previews was frustrating, too. Suddenly deafening with scratchy noise. And they wouldn't notice it until your ears started to bleed.
- As there were so many people attending, the lines outside the more popular events were crazy and windy--with no rope to really indicate where or how the fuck you were supposed to follow.
- Exhibition Hall was a giant traffic jam. I'm not sure how the booths could have been set up to better allow people to move through, but it was congested and aggravating.
- Speaking of Exhibition Hall, the Events Guide they handed out had a list of Exhibitions, but I couldn't always find things I needed as listed. I only found the Serenity Booth thanks to another fan who had found it. Stace and I both looked under Serenity, Firefly, Browncoats, and Whedon to no avail.
The Ugly
Half the panels we attended had no mediators, so the panel would walk out, crowd roared applause, line of stupid people pre-assembled to ask stupid questions without any useful information revealed. And then there were the lovely awkward pauses when no one knew what the hell to say. That was definitely one of the more aggravating parts. Details in panel sections below.
Saturday
We got up early and headed for the Con, aiming to be there by 8am. Parked, got our badges, and navigated our way to the auditorium where the Lost panel was to be.
We sat through a godawful, half-episode preview of Invasion. I like Shaun Cassidy and I can't exactly tell you why. So I wish I liked the show. But the dialogue was godawful, the preview was poorly edited, and the pacing was off. I've been wrong before, but I can't see this show doing very well with its cliché, one-dimensional relationships. On the panel were Shaun Cassidy, Ariel Gade (Rose, a young girl), and I think the director, whose name isn't listed in the guide, nor on IMDB. But he was a really nice guy. Wish their show wasn't so enh. Random trivia, the guy who plays the sheriff in this show was the un-credited voice of the marriage counselor in Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Huh.
The Lost Panel
With: Co-creator/executive produce Damon Lindelof, executive producers Bryan Burk and Carlton Cruse, and writer Javier Grillo-Marxauch (who apparently has a Live Journal that I'd like to find). Also: Josh Holloway (Sawyer) and Maggie Grace (Shannon). Harold Perrineau (Michael) was listed, but did not attend.
By the time season one ended, I wanted to garrote J.J. Abrams. What had started out as a spectacularly unique show had disintegrated into endless tangles and tease, with no payoff. I don't mind mystery, but I hate feeling like I'm being jerked around. Stace still loves the show, and I was curious what the creators would have to say. They were such earnest, excited, genuine people. They actually said at one point how they didn't want to frustrate fans and wouldn't just keep stringing us along with no resolutions. Gah. And I felt slightly suckered back in because they were so nice.
They did promise that episode 1 of season 2 will reveal what is inside the hatch--and it's not just another hatch.
They showed a featurette on the making of Lost, which I enjoyed watching. They also showed some deleted scenes, which weren't particularly memorable.
Maggie Grace was utterly beautiful and seemed very nice. Josh Holloway was a cut-up and damn charming. They both seemed slightly in awe of the size of the crowd and their enthusiasm. Which is understandable as I think this level of celebrity is still pretty new for them. It must be damn exciting to be on the 'hot new show' that's been driving people crazy. But they were very charming, particularly Josh. He wasn't smarmy like Sawyer, but funny and seemed to be enjoying himself up there, which is always nice to see.
This is the only shot of the panel that remotely came out, and poor Maggie Grace's face got cut off. I was hoping to get a decent shot of Josh fordtaylor! The guy in the hat next to Josh is Damon Lindelof.
Dumbest question asked, by some bint from Virginia: "How come that big fat guy isn't losing weight?"
After Lost, we left to go to Hall H, where all the big events were held. (Capacity 6500!)
The next event we really wanted to see was Serenity. It was, in fact, the biggest reason to be there. Nathan. Fillion. MEOW!
Even though the event wasn't until 2:15 (and it was only 11:30 at this point) we went immediately to Hall H and I'm very glad we did because motherfucker was it crowded. And the people that were there, stayed there. We managed seats that weren't horrible, but were about 9 million miles away from where I wanted to be. We hoped to jockey for position in the 2 panels before Serenity, but we really didn't move up a whole lot.
War of the Worlds
With: Pablo Helman, visual effects supervisor.
He was a sweet guy. He showed the clip. And answered mostly lame questions, as affably as possible.
Aeon Flux (live action version)
With: Peter Chung, creator of original animated series, director Karyn Kusama, Marton Csokas (Trevor Goodchild), and Charlize Theron (Aeon Flux). I think the producer was there and another person, but I don't remember now.
They showed a preview and some clips of Charlize training. The training was impressive to watch. I think I like Charlize Theron the person more than the stuff she chooses to do. I mean, Monster was horrifically amazing. But her roles in other movies (even ones I've liked such as Cider House Rules and The Italian Job) have been just...fine. Nothing earth-shattering. I never got into the anime series, so this live-action version isn't particularly sucking me in. But a lot of the shots were impressive, and her stunt work was formidable.
Most of the questions were people wanting to reach out and touch Charlize.
Dumbest question asked by some dork straight out of Boogie Nights: "Charlize, how do you manage to be so incredibly sexy while also being such an impressive starlet."
(She handled the response well, though she was obviously taken a bit aback, with "Umm, that's...nice. Well, I try to find roles that have integrity and...(etc.).
Dumb question #2: "How come you didn't use Johnny Lee Miller in the part of Trevor?" (this is, again, with the actor who plays Trevor sitting right there.)
Dumb question #3: "Charlize, I love your dress! Where did you get it?! Also, can you say hi to my mom?? (pulls out cell phone)"
Kevin Smith
With: Duh. Kevin Smith. Though Richard Kelly, director/writer of Donnie Darko was also there to introduce his new project, Domino.
I love Kevin Smith. As much as I'm not a fan of his constant commentary on ass-fucking and cock-sucking. He is a superlative story teller. He kept the crowd in line (not letting us applaud during his panel because, as he said, "Dude! We ain't got time for that shit!"). Some kid actually asked if he could give him his movie, and Kevin Smith (after a brief parlay into asking if he would suck cock in order to get him to watch it) actually took the dvd. Some hapless git makes it next in line. Kevin Smith says something like, "Next question, I'm running out of cocksucking jokes." Git says, "Kevin, you'll never run out of those jokes because you've got all that weight." Crowd goes dead silent because, um, making fat jokes about Kevin Smith at fucking Comic-Con would be pretty damn stupid. Kevin starts and says, "What? My weight??" And the kid nearly has a seizure clarifying, "No! WIT! WIT! Omg I'm so SORRY!" Potty mouth aside, he's funny and charming and clever. In spite of Jersey Girl, which he mocked constantly.
Really stupid questions were kept at bay, because he is one intimidating motherfucker. It was the brave or genuinely awestruck fan who went up there. And while he mocked the shit out of them, it wasn't really ...mean. Anyhow. It was great to see him.
Richard Kelly was sweet. He has about as much public speaking grace as I do. He kept mumbling, "God, I'm sorry, I'm so bad at this. Are there um, any questions?" There was a brief clip in which we basically see truck humping another truck. So not sure what Domino is about, but they both were excited about it.
First there was Slither
With: Nathan "Purrrrrrrrrrrr" Fillion (Bill Pardy), writer/director James Gunn, Gregg Henry (Jack MacReady), Michael Rooker (Grant Grant), and Elizabeth Banks (Starla Grant)
I'm so sad Nathan is doing this movie because I can't watch gross horror movies no matter how much I love him. We had to watch the trailer a total of three times during the Con. It was painful. But the cast was adorable on stage talking about it and everyone kept ruffling Nathan's hair. I want to do that, dammit!
The Serenity Panel (FINALLY)
With: creator Joss Whedon, Nathan "Marry me NOWNOWNOW" Fillion, Morena Baccarin, Gina Torres, Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau, Sean Maher, Ron Glass, Jewel Staite, and executive producer, Chris Buchanan. Alan Tudyk was the only missing cast member. Which was too bad, because I think he would have been funny and chatty.
This was probably the most frustrating. I hated being so far back! But Joss was fucking hilarious. Nathan, in addition to being hot, and brilliant as Mal, is such a freaking nice guy. He would get up and clap for everyone who came on stage, got everyone chairs and waters. He, as Hawk mentioned earlier in a comment, is obviously the leader of this group.
Mostly Joss, Nathan, and Adam talked. Everyone else was so quiet. This was definitely a panel that needed a mediator asking decent questions and getting everyone to participate.
Adam Baldwin was particularly articulate and charming and sincere. I love him. He took a moment to really emphasize how much Nathan has meant to them as a group. That he really held them together and was a true leader.
Gina Torres is just gorgeous. My. GOD. And says she's very different from her character because she is a big GIRL.
Jewel Staite was funny and made it clear that she is very much like her character, Kaylee. And how she was on stage was very much like Kaylee.
Dumbest question: Some weird guy got up and rambled about how he was there representing a group of people from the UK, Norway, Sweden, etc. And how they all are part of a role-playing-game for Angel. And could Joss give him some magic?
Joss, after bemusedly hearing his ramble finally said, "Um, I don't know what the hell you're asking. I don't really do real magic..."
This was the best shot I was able to get. Wah! I ran up to the side past a security person to do it and then ran back to my seat.
By time we'd caught up with Hawk and Pam. I really only the chance to say hi to Pam before Hawk, Stace, and I left for the Exhibition Hall.
Hawk directed us to the Strangers in Paradise booth. Where? I completely lost my shit at the sight of Terry Moore.
It's so fucking bizarre. Because, I swear to god, as much of a spaz as I am on here, I don't tend to bum-rush famous people because, well. I figure, what's the point? They meet so many fans, and I'm sure they've learned to be gracious, but on the 3rd day of a Con, how annoying are we all? But I actually started to shake in line. Hawk and Stace were discussing lunch options and kept asking me things, I couldn't tell you what they were talking about really because I was staring at Terry Moore like I'd found the lost city of Atlantis or something. Hawk finally patted me on the head because I said flatly that I had no idea what either one of them was saying, that I was freaking out, and omfg they should both please stop talking to me.
Hawk very generously tore out a few sheets from her sketchbook as Terry Moore has started sketching for fans again. He'd stopped for awhile because people would come up to him at the Con, get him to draw (for free) and then sell it on Ebay. Which is fucked up. I waited in line while he patiently drew for one person after another. I chatted nervously with his wife, Robyn, who I had exchanged emails with about Sarah and Judy's gift subscriptions in the past. She was very nice. And I mean, I was shaking and babbling and dropping my bag. And then there was the part of me that was freaking out because I was freaking out so much.
I have to admit I gushed when I got to Terry. Who, since they had run out of hats, actually sold me the Strangers in Paradise hat on his head (because I shamelessly asked). He sketched me Francine. And I swear to fucking god, it was like magic. He lightly scratched his pencil on the paper, and there was Francie's eye in profile. And it was just amazing. I have no artistic ability myself, and it was ...I mean, it must sound lame. But it was just fucking amazing. I told him how much his series has meant to me over the years. How SiP (because of Sarah, who I also babbled to him about) really opened me up to the entire genre. How much I appreciate ...how real the emotions are in his series.
And after pausing to watch him sketch, I blurted out that sometimes, during particularly emotional moments, I see panels from SiP, just like I've heard other people relate strongly to bits of music or film. He was such an incredibly nice guy. His response to my glazed-eyed fan-girl-ness was so sincere and kind. I mean, I'd heard from other fans who'd met him that he was a really nice guy. But he and Robyn seemed like just the most down-to-earth people ever. He really made me feel like he appreciated talking to me and my comments. He said, "Wow. That's really a wonderful compliment, especially with today, pop culture being so much about film." He asked me questions and omfg. It was unreal.
So he signs the sketch of Francie. I gape because he spelled my first name right. And just about no one does that. And I gasped and said, OMG you spelled my name right! (I blurt when I'm nervous.)
And he grinned and pointed at the freaking NAME TAG, saying, "I cheated." I'm brilliant, non?
I got Sarah and Ida a little something, too. And asked if I came back the next day, if he would sketch me Katchoo (see above re: shamelessness). He said yes, and I pretty much floated away, led by an amused Stacey.
Isn't he a sweet faced guy?
I really didn't think I would react like that. I thought it would be cool to meet him. I would be nice, thank him for his work, ask him to sketch. I was really caught off guard. Only, I've loved SiP for so fucking long now. Since I lived in Hayward with Amy. I know I have criticisms of SiP, and I'm sure I still will. But that was wholly irrelevant during this rare opportunity to thank him for years of happy reading.
At this point, Stace and I are largely fueled by bagel and coffee. So we decided to head out. It was 5pm. (I missed seeing Bruce Campbell because it overlapped with other things. Boo.) Stace took me to a lovely, extremely nice steakhouse called Donovan's, where we enjoyed a lovely meal. Best fucking steak ever, too.
Back to Stace's, we changed into pjs and watched Firefly extras until we passed out asleep.
Sunday
This day started much easier. We already had our badges. We already knew where things were. And we really planned on staying exclusively in Hall H. Today's panels were much, much better. They had mediators and it really kept the panel going with actual, relevant questions/discussions.
(Side note: It's fucking 2am now. I should so fucking be asleep. God, the backlog of sleep deprivation is eventually going to kill me).
I packed my bags so I could leave directly for the airport from the Con.
We got in line outside Hall H. It wasn't too packed yet, but it was good we got there when we did. Mind, we got there at 8:30am for the Narnia stuff at freaking 12:30, but Karl Urban was going to be there earlier, so it was all going to be worth it. And this time, we got spectacular seats, so yay!
10AM - 11:30 AM - Trailer Park. Lots of, well, trailers. Mostly stuff I can't say I'm interested in. But the Wallace and Gromit movie looks adorable! Can't wait!
Doom Panel
With: producers Lorenzo DiBoneventura and John Wells, ID Software's Todd Hollenshead, special effects supervisor Jon Farhat, The Rock (Sarge), and Karl Urban (John Grimm)
Karl Urban is fucking hot. He's gorgeous and charming and he needs to just talk all day in his gorgeous fucking Kiwi accent. My GOD. Stace and I nearly melted into the floor. The Rock blows me away because he's actually articulate and funny and charismatic. There were trailers and clips from the movie, which I have no desire to see, except maybe I'll rent it and ffwd to the Karl Urban parts because he looks hot in it.
Dumbest question asked: Some moron got up there and asked The Rock about his injuries on set. At first it seemed like that's what he was asking. But eventually, what came out was he seemed to think the injuries in the movie, were real. Once The Rock realized this? Yeah, he grinned and said, "Wow. San Diego's got the BEST weed, huh??" He was still very nice about it, but omfg. The moron slinked off, as The Rock kindly said, "Hey man, it's all said with love."
Cutest question #1: Little boy timidly asks The Rock to make the face he makes in Be Cool. The Rock is adorable with the kid, asking his name and age. And then he made the face for him. It was very cute.
Cutest question #2: Little girl timidly asks Karl Urban how it was different making this movie from making LotR. Karl does his "What business does an elf, a dwarf, and a Ranger have in the Riddermark!" in his Eomer-accent. Crowd has a hernia shrieking with delight. He said, "Don't get me started. I could do this all day." It took a lot of effort to not rush the stage and hump his leg. Why is he so freaking adorable??
I love Karl Urban. Mowr. Want.
Then there was some bad movie called Cry Wolf. But god, the filmmaker, Julian Morris was so exuberant that his movie was being made that I just loved him. It's a bad teen horror film about some kids that lie about a creepy killer who then either comes to life or something. Stace and I were cringing that no one would ask them questions, but people did. And the panel was so excited that they got asked questions.
Then, at last, came the Narnia Panel.
With: Perry Moore (who I believe bought the book rights and begged the C.S. Lewis foundation to let the movie happen), director Andrew Adamson and producer Mark Johnson (both on satellite feed from England), Weta effects genius Richard Taylor, special makeup effects man Howard Berger, and CGI animation visual effects supervisor Dean Wright. There was another Weta guy, but I didn't catch his name.
This panel was awesome. With Perry Moore moderating, the questions were great. They showed us the trailer, they showed us a special clip just for us (where we saw the beavers!!!). Richard Taylor brought gifts for people who asked questions (!!!), Howard Berger threw tee-shirts to the crowd, they brought a giant minotaur, and monster heads. They gave us all Narnia pins that we could take to get (in addition to the pin) a Narnia poster made just for us.
There was an unfortunate 15-second delay on the satellite, but they managed to deal. The clips were heart-stopping. We got to meet the kids on satellite, and they were fucking adorable! This is another group that clearly is very close and they were joking and laughing and showing us so much that they'd done.
I wish I'd taken notes. People asked decent questions. It was really a great panel to end the Con on.
The infamous Richard Taylor and a company of masks.
Mark and Andrew on satellite.
God. They were so nice. All of them on the panel. I love Richard Taylor. They were all so kind and generous with their answers. They were so nice to us. And ...it seemed nicer, because this group? Not really needing to sell us on seeing the movie. The trailer has everyone I know sold. But they just seem like nice people. And I know I've used the word 'nice' 60000 times already, but I'm tired and I really appreciate niceness. There isn't always enough of it around.
At the end, with a standing ovation, we headed for the exits. Hawk had joined us for Narnia, so I got to at least see her a little bit more. We grabbed our pins and Stace and I went back to the Strangers in Paradise booth where I bought the first pocket book and asked Terry to draw me Katchoo. He had borrowed a hat (since I absconded with his) because his head was cold. While he sketched Katchoo, I asked if I could videotape his sketching. He said I could, but dammit. I still haven't upgraded my memory and my memory was maxed out. He asked me about my camera, and said he needs to get one at some point, and then he said his cell phone takes video, but he's never tried it. He paused, took it out, and tried it. He looked at me and said, "You just inspired me to finally try this thing." I gaped, very much like a fish at him. He also did the happy dance for me. The man is so SO SO SO SO NICE. Ahhhhh!!!
After this, Stace and I (pressed for time by now) rushed to the Serenity booth, bought some dvds (on the panels at WonderCon and DragonCon) and then ran upstairs to get our Narnia posters. That was it. Comic-Con was over for us. We left for the airport. My flight was on time (praise the lord).
Jeff picked me up and we had dinner with Chris at Palermo on Capitol Hill. We babbled about our weekends and I came home to write my first novel here on LJ. Jesus this is long.
Also, all my photos suck. Because I couldn't get close enough and my shots were zoomed to the max, the A/C was so high my hands were shaking with cold. But blurry though they may be, I'm linking the best of the worst here anyway.
Friday: Flight out of SeaTac was delayed (of course) so I got into SD around midnight. Straight to Stace's place to collapse.
The Good
It was fun! It was really interesting to see both cast and creators talk about the work they put so much passion into. All the panels I went to had members that seemed genuinely excited to be there, and still overwhelmed and humbled by the positive public reaction to their work. They all handled the full range of questions (from retarded to smart) with panache. Generally I'll say that I can like an actor's work and not need to like the actor. But it's a nice bonus when you find them to be down-to-earth and funny and smart. Big bonus.
There were a lot of interesting panels and events, I wish I could have made more of them but too much overlap! Since this was my first time, I can't say what they've improved, but I hear it was better organized and they fixed the A/C in the big hall. Apparently last year it was a giant sweat lodge.
And really, last but not least, it was so good to see
merhawk and desdenova again. Too much time spent in text, not enough in person. Must remedy that.The Bad
I can't imagine how hard it must be to arrange such a humongous event without fuckups. And I haven't a clue how to do such a thing. But with that caveat in place, I'll say I thought parts of the Con were very poorly arranged.
- Sound quality kept fucking up, too. Intense feedback, no sound to mics so you miss half of what the panel member is saying. The Lost panel particularly sucked because of some sound problem, the people on stage couldn't hear the questions being asked. So everything had to be repeated 6 times and they still could only hear every other word. It was annoying.
- The sound quality on some of the previews was frustrating, too. Suddenly deafening with scratchy noise. And they wouldn't notice it until your ears started to bleed.
- As there were so many people attending, the lines outside the more popular events were crazy and windy--with no rope to really indicate where or how the fuck you were supposed to follow.
- Exhibition Hall was a giant traffic jam. I'm not sure how the booths could have been set up to better allow people to move through, but it was congested and aggravating.
- Speaking of Exhibition Hall, the Events Guide they handed out had a list of Exhibitions, but I couldn't always find things I needed as listed. I only found the Serenity Booth thanks to another fan who had found it. Stace and I both looked under Serenity, Firefly, Browncoats, and Whedon to no avail.
The Ugly
Half the panels we attended had no mediators, so the panel would walk out, crowd roared applause, line of stupid people pre-assembled to ask stupid questions without any useful information revealed. And then there were the lovely awkward pauses when no one knew what the hell to say. That was definitely one of the more aggravating parts. Details in panel sections below.
Saturday
We got up early and headed for the Con, aiming to be there by 8am. Parked, got our badges, and navigated our way to the auditorium where the Lost panel was to be.
We sat through a godawful, half-episode preview of Invasion. I like Shaun Cassidy and I can't exactly tell you why. So I wish I liked the show. But the dialogue was godawful, the preview was poorly edited, and the pacing was off. I've been wrong before, but I can't see this show doing very well with its cliché, one-dimensional relationships. On the panel were Shaun Cassidy, Ariel Gade (Rose, a young girl), and I think the director, whose name isn't listed in the guide, nor on IMDB. But he was a really nice guy. Wish their show wasn't so enh. Random trivia, the guy who plays the sheriff in this show was the un-credited voice of the marriage counselor in Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Huh.
The Lost Panel
With: Co-creator/executive produce Damon Lindelof, executive producers Bryan Burk and Carlton Cruse, and writer Javier Grillo-Marxauch (who apparently has a Live Journal that I'd like to find). Also: Josh Holloway (Sawyer) and Maggie Grace (Shannon). Harold Perrineau (Michael) was listed, but did not attend.
By the time season one ended, I wanted to garrote J.J. Abrams. What had started out as a spectacularly unique show had disintegrated into endless tangles and tease, with no payoff. I don't mind mystery, but I hate feeling like I'm being jerked around. Stace still loves the show, and I was curious what the creators would have to say. They were such earnest, excited, genuine people. They actually said at one point how they didn't want to frustrate fans and wouldn't just keep stringing us along with no resolutions. Gah. And I felt slightly suckered back in because they were so nice.
They did promise that episode 1 of season 2 will reveal what is inside the hatch--and it's not just another hatch.
They showed a featurette on the making of Lost, which I enjoyed watching. They also showed some deleted scenes, which weren't particularly memorable.
Maggie Grace was utterly beautiful and seemed very nice. Josh Holloway was a cut-up and damn charming. They both seemed slightly in awe of the size of the crowd and their enthusiasm. Which is understandable as I think this level of celebrity is still pretty new for them. It must be damn exciting to be on the 'hot new show' that's been driving people crazy. But they were very charming, particularly Josh. He wasn't smarmy like Sawyer, but funny and seemed to be enjoying himself up there, which is always nice to see.
This is the only shot of the panel that remotely came out, and poor Maggie Grace's face got cut off. I was hoping to get a decent shot of Josh for
dtaylor! The guy in the hat next to Josh is Damon Lindelof. Dumbest question asked, by some bint from Virginia: "How come that big fat guy isn't losing weight?"
After Lost, we left to go to Hall H, where all the big events were held. (Capacity 6500!)
The next event we really wanted to see was Serenity. It was, in fact, the biggest reason to be there. Nathan. Fillion. MEOW!
Even though the event wasn't until 2:15 (and it was only 11:30 at this point) we went immediately to Hall H and I'm very glad we did because motherfucker was it crowded. And the people that were there, stayed there. We managed seats that weren't horrible, but were about 9 million miles away from where I wanted to be. We hoped to jockey for position in the 2 panels before Serenity, but we really didn't move up a whole lot.
War of the Worlds
With: Pablo Helman, visual effects supervisor.
He was a sweet guy. He showed the clip. And answered mostly lame questions, as affably as possible.
Aeon Flux (live action version)
With: Peter Chung, creator of original animated series, director Karyn Kusama, Marton Csokas (Trevor Goodchild), and Charlize Theron (Aeon Flux). I think the producer was there and another person, but I don't remember now.
They showed a preview and some clips of Charlize training. The training was impressive to watch. I think I like Charlize Theron the person more than the stuff she chooses to do. I mean, Monster was horrifically amazing. But her roles in other movies (even ones I've liked such as Cider House Rules and The Italian Job) have been just...fine. Nothing earth-shattering. I never got into the anime series, so this live-action version isn't particularly sucking me in. But a lot of the shots were impressive, and her stunt work was formidable.
Most of the questions were people wanting to reach out and touch Charlize.
Dumbest question asked by some dork straight out of Boogie Nights: "Charlize, how do you manage to be so incredibly sexy while also being such an impressive starlet."
(She handled the response well, though she was obviously taken a bit aback, with "Umm, that's...nice. Well, I try to find roles that have integrity and...(etc.).
Dumb question #2: "How come you didn't use Johnny Lee Miller in the part of Trevor?" (this is, again, with the actor who plays Trevor sitting right there.)
Dumb question #3: "Charlize, I love your dress! Where did you get it?! Also, can you say hi to my mom?? (pulls out cell phone)"
Kevin Smith
With: Duh. Kevin Smith. Though Richard Kelly, director/writer of Donnie Darko was also there to introduce his new project, Domino.
I love Kevin Smith. As much as I'm not a fan of his constant commentary on ass-fucking and cock-sucking. He is a superlative story teller. He kept the crowd in line (not letting us applaud during his panel because, as he said, "Dude! We ain't got time for that shit!"). Some kid actually asked if he could give him his movie, and Kevin Smith (after a brief parlay into asking if he would suck cock in order to get him to watch it) actually took the dvd. Some hapless git makes it next in line. Kevin Smith says something like, "Next question, I'm running out of cocksucking jokes." Git says, "Kevin, you'll never run out of those jokes because you've got all that weight." Crowd goes dead silent because, um, making fat jokes about Kevin Smith at fucking Comic-Con would be pretty damn stupid. Kevin starts and says, "What? My weight??" And the kid nearly has a seizure clarifying, "No! WIT! WIT! Omg I'm so SORRY!" Potty mouth aside, he's funny and charming and clever. In spite of Jersey Girl, which he mocked constantly.
Really stupid questions were kept at bay, because he is one intimidating motherfucker. It was the brave or genuinely awestruck fan who went up there. And while he mocked the shit out of them, it wasn't really ...mean. Anyhow. It was great to see him.
Richard Kelly was sweet. He has about as much public speaking grace as I do. He kept mumbling, "God, I'm sorry, I'm so bad at this. Are there um, any questions?" There was a brief clip in which we basically see truck humping another truck. So not sure what Domino is about, but they both were excited about it.
First there was Slither
With: Nathan "Purrrrrrrrrrrr" Fillion (Bill Pardy), writer/director James Gunn, Gregg Henry (Jack MacReady), Michael Rooker (Grant Grant), and Elizabeth Banks (Starla Grant)
I'm so sad Nathan is doing this movie because I can't watch gross horror movies no matter how much I love him. We had to watch the trailer a total of three times during the Con. It was painful. But the cast was adorable on stage talking about it and everyone kept ruffling Nathan's hair. I want to do that, dammit!
The Serenity Panel (FINALLY)
With: creator Joss Whedon, Nathan "Marry me NOWNOWNOW" Fillion, Morena Baccarin, Gina Torres, Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau, Sean Maher, Ron Glass, Jewel Staite, and executive producer, Chris Buchanan. Alan Tudyk was the only missing cast member. Which was too bad, because I think he would have been funny and chatty.
This was probably the most frustrating. I hated being so far back! But Joss was fucking hilarious. Nathan, in addition to being hot, and brilliant as Mal, is such a freaking nice guy. He would get up and clap for everyone who came on stage, got everyone chairs and waters. He, as Hawk mentioned earlier in a comment, is obviously the leader of this group.
Mostly Joss, Nathan, and Adam talked. Everyone else was so quiet. This was definitely a panel that needed a mediator asking decent questions and getting everyone to participate.
Adam Baldwin was particularly articulate and charming and sincere. I love him. He took a moment to really emphasize how much Nathan has meant to them as a group. That he really held them together and was a true leader.
Gina Torres is just gorgeous. My. GOD. And says she's very different from her character because she is a big GIRL.
Jewel Staite was funny and made it clear that she is very much like her character, Kaylee. And how she was on stage was very much like Kaylee.
Dumbest question: Some weird guy got up and rambled about how he was there representing a group of people from the UK, Norway, Sweden, etc. And how they all are part of a role-playing-game for Angel. And could Joss give him some magic?
Joss, after bemusedly hearing his ramble finally said, "Um, I don't know what the hell you're asking. I don't really do real magic..."
This was the best shot I was able to get. Wah! I ran up to the side past a security person to do it and then ran back to my seat.
By time we'd caught up with Hawk and Pam. I really only the chance to say hi to Pam before Hawk, Stace, and I left for the Exhibition Hall.
Hawk directed us to the Strangers in Paradise booth. Where? I completely lost my shit at the sight of Terry Moore.
It's so fucking bizarre. Because, I swear to god, as much of a spaz as I am on here, I don't tend to bum-rush famous people because, well. I figure, what's the point? They meet so many fans, and I'm sure they've learned to be gracious, but on the 3rd day of a Con, how annoying are we all? But I actually started to shake in line. Hawk and Stace were discussing lunch options and kept asking me things, I couldn't tell you what they were talking about really because I was staring at Terry Moore like I'd found the lost city of Atlantis or something. Hawk finally patted me on the head because I said flatly that I had no idea what either one of them was saying, that I was freaking out, and omfg they should both please stop talking to me.
Hawk very generously tore out a few sheets from her sketchbook as Terry Moore has started sketching for fans again. He'd stopped for awhile because people would come up to him at the Con, get him to draw (for free) and then sell it on Ebay. Which is fucked up. I waited in line while he patiently drew for one person after another. I chatted nervously with his wife, Robyn, who I had exchanged emails with about Sarah and Judy's gift subscriptions in the past. She was very nice. And I mean, I was shaking and babbling and dropping my bag. And then there was the part of me that was freaking out because I was freaking out so much.
I have to admit I gushed when I got to Terry. Who, since they had run out of hats, actually sold me the Strangers in Paradise hat on his head (because I shamelessly asked). He sketched me Francine. And I swear to fucking god, it was like magic. He lightly scratched his pencil on the paper, and there was Francie's eye in profile. And it was just amazing. I have no artistic ability myself, and it was ...I mean, it must sound lame. But it was just fucking amazing. I told him how much his series has meant to me over the years. How SiP (because of Sarah, who I also babbled to him about) really opened me up to the entire genre. How much I appreciate ...how real the emotions are in his series.
And after pausing to watch him sketch, I blurted out that sometimes, during particularly emotional moments, I see panels from SiP, just like I've heard other people relate strongly to bits of music or film. He was such an incredibly nice guy. His response to my glazed-eyed fan-girl-ness was so sincere and kind. I mean, I'd heard from other fans who'd met him that he was a really nice guy. But he and Robyn seemed like just the most down-to-earth people ever. He really made me feel like he appreciated talking to me and my comments. He said, "Wow. That's really a wonderful compliment, especially with today, pop culture being so much about film." He asked me questions and omfg. It was unreal.
So he signs the sketch of Francie. I gape because he spelled my first name right. And just about no one does that. And I gasped and said, OMG you spelled my name right! (I blurt when I'm nervous.)
And he grinned and pointed at the freaking NAME TAG, saying, "I cheated." I'm brilliant, non?
I got Sarah and Ida a little something, too. And asked if I came back the next day, if he would sketch me Katchoo (see above re: shamelessness). He said yes, and I pretty much floated away, led by an amused Stacey.
Isn't he a sweet faced guy?
I really didn't think I would react like that. I thought it would be cool to meet him. I would be nice, thank him for his work, ask him to sketch. I was really caught off guard. Only, I've loved SiP for so fucking long now. Since I lived in Hayward with Amy. I know I have criticisms of SiP, and I'm sure I still will. But that was wholly irrelevant during this rare opportunity to thank him for years of happy reading.
At this point, Stace and I are largely fueled by bagel and coffee. So we decided to head out. It was 5pm. (I missed seeing Bruce Campbell because it overlapped with other things. Boo.) Stace took me to a lovely, extremely nice steakhouse called Donovan's, where we enjoyed a lovely meal. Best fucking steak ever, too.
Back to Stace's, we changed into pjs and watched Firefly extras until we passed out asleep.
Sunday
This day started much easier. We already had our badges. We already knew where things were. And we really planned on staying exclusively in Hall H. Today's panels were much, much better. They had mediators and it really kept the panel going with actual, relevant questions/discussions.
(Side note: It's fucking 2am now. I should so fucking be asleep. God, the backlog of sleep deprivation is eventually going to kill me).
I packed my bags so I could leave directly for the airport from the Con.
We got in line outside Hall H. It wasn't too packed yet, but it was good we got there when we did. Mind, we got there at 8:30am for the Narnia stuff at freaking 12:30, but Karl Urban was going to be there earlier, so it was all going to be worth it. And this time, we got spectacular seats, so yay!
10AM - 11:30 AM - Trailer Park. Lots of, well, trailers. Mostly stuff I can't say I'm interested in. But the Wallace and Gromit movie looks adorable! Can't wait!
Doom Panel
With: producers Lorenzo DiBoneventura and John Wells, ID Software's Todd Hollenshead, special effects supervisor Jon Farhat, The Rock (Sarge), and Karl Urban (John Grimm)
Karl Urban is fucking hot. He's gorgeous and charming and he needs to just talk all day in his gorgeous fucking Kiwi accent. My GOD. Stace and I nearly melted into the floor. The Rock blows me away because he's actually articulate and funny and charismatic. There were trailers and clips from the movie, which I have no desire to see, except maybe I'll rent it and ffwd to the Karl Urban parts because he looks hot in it.
Dumbest question asked: Some moron got up there and asked The Rock about his injuries on set. At first it seemed like that's what he was asking. But eventually, what came out was he seemed to think the injuries in the movie, were real. Once The Rock realized this? Yeah, he grinned and said, "Wow. San Diego's got the BEST weed, huh??" He was still very nice about it, but omfg. The moron slinked off, as The Rock kindly said, "Hey man, it's all said with love."
Cutest question #1: Little boy timidly asks The Rock to make the face he makes in Be Cool. The Rock is adorable with the kid, asking his name and age. And then he made the face for him. It was very cute.
Cutest question #2: Little girl timidly asks Karl Urban how it was different making this movie from making LotR. Karl does his "What business does an elf, a dwarf, and a Ranger have in the Riddermark!" in his Eomer-accent. Crowd has a hernia shrieking with delight. He said, "Don't get me started. I could do this all day." It took a lot of effort to not rush the stage and hump his leg. Why is he so freaking adorable??
I love Karl Urban. Mowr. Want.
Then there was some bad movie called Cry Wolf. But god, the filmmaker, Julian Morris was so exuberant that his movie was being made that I just loved him. It's a bad teen horror film about some kids that lie about a creepy killer who then either comes to life or something. Stace and I were cringing that no one would ask them questions, but people did. And the panel was so excited that they got asked questions.
Then, at last, came the Narnia Panel.
With: Perry Moore (who I believe bought the book rights and begged the C.S. Lewis foundation to let the movie happen), director Andrew Adamson and producer Mark Johnson (both on satellite feed from England), Weta effects genius Richard Taylor, special makeup effects man Howard Berger, and CGI animation visual effects supervisor Dean Wright. There was another Weta guy, but I didn't catch his name.
This panel was awesome. With Perry Moore moderating, the questions were great. They showed us the trailer, they showed us a special clip just for us (where we saw the beavers!!!). Richard Taylor brought gifts for people who asked questions (!!!), Howard Berger threw tee-shirts to the crowd, they brought a giant minotaur, and monster heads. They gave us all Narnia pins that we could take to get (in addition to the pin) a Narnia poster made just for us.
There was an unfortunate 15-second delay on the satellite, but they managed to deal. The clips were heart-stopping. We got to meet the kids on satellite, and they were fucking adorable! This is another group that clearly is very close and they were joking and laughing and showing us so much that they'd done.
I wish I'd taken notes. People asked decent questions. It was really a great panel to end the Con on.
The infamous Richard Taylor and a company of masks.
Mark and Andrew on satellite.
God. They were so nice. All of them on the panel. I love Richard Taylor. They were all so kind and generous with their answers. They were so nice to us. And ...it seemed nicer, because this group? Not really needing to sell us on seeing the movie. The trailer has everyone I know sold. But they just seem like nice people. And I know I've used the word 'nice' 60000 times already, but I'm tired and I really appreciate niceness. There isn't always enough of it around.
At the end, with a standing ovation, we headed for the exits. Hawk had joined us for Narnia, so I got to at least see her a little bit more. We grabbed our pins and Stace and I went back to the Strangers in Paradise booth where I bought the first pocket book and asked Terry to draw me Katchoo. He had borrowed a hat (since I absconded with his) because his head was cold. While he sketched Katchoo, I asked if I could videotape his sketching. He said I could, but dammit. I still haven't upgraded my memory and my memory was maxed out. He asked me about my camera, and said he needs to get one at some point, and then he said his cell phone takes video, but he's never tried it. He paused, took it out, and tried it. He looked at me and said, "You just inspired me to finally try this thing." I gaped, very much like a fish at him. He also did the happy dance for me. The man is so SO SO SO SO NICE. Ahhhhh!!!
After this, Stace and I (pressed for time by now) rushed to the Serenity booth, bought some dvds (on the panels at WonderCon and DragonCon) and then ran upstairs to get our Narnia posters. That was it. Comic-Con was over for us. We left for the airport. My flight was on time (praise the lord).
Jeff picked me up and we had dinner with Chris at Palermo on Capitol Hill. We babbled about our weekends and I came home to write my first novel here on LJ. Jesus this is long.
