There was tons of cosplay which is usually my favorite part of these things so heres some pics of some of my faves.
but the big story besides running into Seth Green on the food court was the Movie panels for me, I spent most of the later day there watching all the panels. I walked in half way through the Wanted panel and found a seat around the back, the Trailer was playing atm, and all the scheduling was pushed up because Battlestar Gallactica ran long. Well as the trailer ended and the lights turned back on director Timur Bekmambetov of Night and day watch fame was there.
He was a funny guy but had a hard time understanding a lot of the questions but one of the most notable questions was a fan who asked about the release of Duskwatch, Timur responded with "consider wanted my duskwatch" Another fan asked about the lack of costumes in the movie. He said, "Can you imagine a super-assassin walking down the street in a leather outfit? Everyone would know he's a super-assassin." The crowd erupted in applause. He even signed a copy of daywatch for an audience member, really stand up guy.
This Panel was directly followed up by the Hellboy 2 panel which began with the Introduction and appearance of Guillermo Del Toro, he was the funniest guy. He began by stating "Now it is my privilege to introduce a bunch of cool motherfuckers..." At which point he brought out Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Doug Jones (Abe Sapien), Selma Blair (Liz Sherman), Luke Goss (Prince Nuada), and "Hellboy" creator Mike Mignola.
Then a trailer made especially for the con with lots of extra footage and some scenes that havent hit post production yet were mixed in there "may see some wires, and green screen here and there" Del Toro explained before the footage was shown. Let me tell you this one looks ten times better and bigger then the last movie. As it ended the crowd roared in excitement, and the lights turned on to reveal monsters an creatures from the film on stage, it was an awesome surprise.
This one really freaked me out.
Del toro was awesome, everyone question was answered with a hilarious yet informative remark, he spoke a lot about how hard Hollywood studio work was and how much he enjoys making his own films instead, he described as trying to draw a picture as 10 people are holding your drawing hand. He continued to talk about His next project is one he created called "Saturn and the End of Days."
"It's about a kid named Saturn who is watching the Rapture on the way back and forth to the grocery store." The director further clarified, "It's how a child views this craziness while trying to take care of everyday errands."
Another question was about his hatred of CGI and he explained, "I don't hate CGI, but I hate ‘lazy CGI.' If you're doing CGI when you can do it live, then fuck you."
Others began to ask about how he creates the creatures and internships Del Toro wanted fans to know that if they are interested in design, there will be a book coming out for "Hellboy 2" which will include all the used and unused designs. As a matter of fact, one of the director's favorite designs was of a "giant three-headed ball-licking dog," but unfortunately, it didn't make it into the movie. At the con, he did promise to post design sketches of it on the internet this week in honor of an aspiring fifteen year old filmmaker who was in attendance.
Guillermo stole the show there were no real questions for the other members of the panel Selma Blair looked like she was going straight to sleep, there was a question for Doug jones about Silver Surfer and he replied by saying it comes true and he would be up for it.
The panel then concluded shortly after this, but before we sign off, here is one more quote from the humble (and entertaining!) director:
NYCC Audience Member: You're great and such a huge inspiration.
Del Toro: Thanks. Jenny Craig said the same thing.
They also gave out 2000 movie posters out front and I went home with one of them.
Next was the Incredible Hulk panel the above pictures are of the awesome statue that marvel had on display by their booth, it was stated that these would be placed in theaters around the country for the movie June 13th release date which those present agreed the date was creeping closer and closer with each passing day.
Those present were producers Gale Anne Hurd ("Terminator") and Kevin Feige (of Marvel Studios), director Louis Leterrier ("The Transporter"), and actor Tim Roth ("Reservoir Dogs"). Roth spoke about his character as people screamed quotes from reservoir dogs from the audience, Roth further explained of his character, "He's a soldier whose body is giving out on him. Becoming the Abomination is his solution."
In addition to a different villain in this Hulk film, Feige indicated that the movie would be going for a different tone. "We want the Hulk to be a hero this time," he said. Then a clip from the movie was played some CG wasnt completed in it, but let me tell you it looked amazing , hulk taking on the human version of Roths character, It was an amazing scene that has completely changed my mind about this movie.
The panel then opened things up to the audience. One of the first questions created an interesting back-and-forth with Leterrier.
"Does the Hulk talk in this movie?"
Leterrier: "What would you like him to say?"
"You know - ‘Hulk smash puny humans.'"
Leterrier: "That's a good idea. We should use it."
At this point, Leterrier smiled and explained that his main exposure to the Hulk growing up was through the TV show; so to him, there was only one Hulk...
This was the cue for Lou Ferrigno to walk out on stage to thundering applause from the audience. It was then revealed that Ferrigno had a cameo in the movie, and it's a respectable one,
Leterrier said, "I hate cameos where people stop by, wave, and leave. I wanted to give Lou something to do. I think you'll like it."
Then the director had some fun with his muscle-bound idol, and told him, "Oh, by the way, you've been cut out."
Ferrigno merely smiled and said, "I'll see you backstage."
It ended with the Official Hulk trailer that will air with Iron Man's release on May 2nd. but everyone was treated to a HUGE surprise with a clip at the end of the trailer, where General Ross (played by William Hurt) is drinking in a bar. Robert Downey Jr. appears as Tony Stark and walks over to him. After some witty repartee, he says to Ross, "I hear you have an unusual problem."
"You should talk," Ross responded.
"You should listen," Stark replied.
The clip ended and all Marvel fans in the audience cheered loudly as the panel concluded.
Next was the full length trailer for the speed racer movie which was introduced by the creepy little fat kid from the movie, but the real surprise was when CEO of DC showed up and premiered the full length Dark Knight Trailer, which will not premiere for another 2 weeks, It had more Batman and Harvey Dent in it, but was still too brief for me, but I think thats Actually good. I still cant wait, the crowd erupted before and after the Trailer. Now that the Intermission was over it was time for the main event, The Spirit panel.
At this point I was in the 3rd row and was able to take pictures at hand was writer/director Frank Miller, star Eva Mendes and producers Deborah Del Prete and Michael Uslan to talk about the upcoming big screen adaptation of Will Eisner’s “The Spirit,”
MTV’s Kurt Loder moderated the “Spirit” panel, and touted Will Eisner as one of the pioneers who invented modern comics as we know them.
Loder asked Miller how he arrived at the look for the film. “I threw out everything Eisner did,” Miller joked. In all seriousness, “I knew if I erected a rusty monument to ‘The Spirit,’ [Eisner] would rise from the dead and strangle me.” Miller was determined that the “Spirit” movie would be as bold as the source material was when it was first published in the ‘30s. The visual look of the “Spirit” film is the natural extension of the look pioneered in the “Sin City” film, which Miller thinks lends itself to Eisner’s story. “For purists, it may be a bit of shock,” Miller admitted.
Miller, who is still new to directing, said he never would’ve guessed that working with actors would be his favorite part of the process. “This cast blew my mind,” Miller said. “I’m certain to direct more films in the future.”
Uslan, whose personal comic book collection numbers more than 60,000, first started talking to Will Eisner about the “Spirit” movie 14 years ago. Uslan touted Eisner and Miller as “two geniuses of graphic arts,” and said that Miller was the perfect person to bring “The Spirit” to the big screen.
Mendes admitted to being trepidations about working with the burgeoning director. “Is he gonna be weird?” Mendes had mused. “He was very weird,” Mendes confirmed, “But we love that. He is such a visionary.”
Mendes loved the look of “Sin City,” and was thrilled that Miller would be bringing that sensibility to “The Spirit.” And after meeting Frank Miller, it didn’t take her long to realize that the writer/director was contributing as much substance as he was style. “He is an amazing actor’s director,” Medes said. “He was referencing movies I didn’t know.” To sum up the experience, Mendes said: “I mean, he’s Frank Miller, right?”
Miller cited one scene in which the Spirit moves across the top of a water tank, but stumbles just a bit in his attempt. “That’s for you, Will,” Miller said. “That’s the Spirit.”
Miller’s decision to cast a relative unknown in the titular role was a calculated one: he wanted audiences to know him as the Spirit first. Miller was tremendously impressed with star Gabriel Macht’s ability to carry a scene with Scarlett Jonhansson and Samuel L. Jackson. “Hollywood produces a great many terrific male actors, but Hollywood produces very few men,” Miller said. “Gabriel was able to fill the trenchcoat just fine.”
Loder said that the “Spirit” comics were populated with a plethora of hot babes, and asked Mendes if was the roll she played in the film. “Hell no,” the actress replied. “I play a jewel thief, a badass chick who’s been married 15 times and killed every one of her husbands. Does that sound like just a chick? I’ll kill you right now.”
Then Miller introduced the first ever teaser trailer of “The Spirit,” which depicted Will Eisner’s iconic hero leaping from rooftop in Central City, his red tie fluttering in the wind against the otherwise black and white landscape.
Then came the fan questions, tons of guys ran to the Mic, I could of made it from how close I was, but really didn't have any questions,some idiots just went up there and tried everything up to and including asking Mendes for her phone number. She replied by saying 555-5555. Thankfully there were some real questions as well.
One fan asked Miller about the future of the “Sin City” film franchise. “I’ve written part 2 of what I see as a trilogy,” Miller said. “That said, I’m allergic to discussing production plans. I don’t believe a movie is real until the censored version comes out on CBS.” But Miller confirmed that the script for the second installment of “Sin City” was completely finished, and that the story for the third was currently germinating in his head.
A fan asked Miller if he was a fan of any current comic book artists. Miller cited Jeff Smith, Jim Lee, David Mazzucchelli and James Kochalka. “Kochalka’s work makes me feel like I did when I was 6 years old,” Miller said. “He brings the joy back to comics.”
When asked if the “goddamned Frank Miller” a reference to the now classic quote from “All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder" was working on any new comic projects, Miller said he’s sitting on 122 pages of this next graphic novel, which he hopes to finish up over the coming months.
And would the “Daredevil” veteran ever consider revitalizing the man without fear’s film franchise? “They’ve got my phone number,” Miller said.
One fan asked Miller about the casting of Samuel L. Jackson as the Octopus. “Sam Jackson was my first and only choice for the Octopus,” Miller said. In Eisner’s “Spirit” comics, our glimpses at the Octopus were limited to shots of the character’s distinctive white gloves, but Miller thought that would be tedious in a movie, so Jackson fans can expect to see more than just the actor’s hands. “Working with him was like working with a nuclear weapon,” Miller said. “I told him to only go off twice in the movie.”
Loder asked the filmmakers how much was left to do before the film was ready for release. Prete said that out of the film’s 1,784 special effects shot, only about 20 had been completed. On a film shot entirely on green screen, “the post process is big,” Prete said. “We have a long ways to go.” That said, “The Spirit” is current slated for release in January of 2009.
Overall it was an amazing time and I will definitely get the 3 day pass next year.
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