Comic Con Rundown
The big San Diego Comic Con (7.20 through 7.23) is a four-day event, but not really. Aside from Guillermo del Toro's visit on Thursday to discuss the great Pan's Labrynth, the most newsworthy events are packed into Friday and Saturday.
FRIDAY, 7.21: (a) "The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation" (Friday, 10:30 to 11:30); (b) "Star Trek: Year 41 and Counting" (11:00 to 12:30); (c) "Warner Bros. Presents" (11:00 to 12:30 (Hilary Swank, director Stephen Hopkins, and producer Joel Silver of The Reaping), plus Bryan Singer returns to talk things over; (d) "Ray Harryhausen: King Kong and the Colorization of Merian C. Cooper's She" (12:30 to 2:00); (e) "20th Century Fox Presents" (12:45 to 2:15); (f) "Warner Home Video's Superman Through The Ages: (1:00 to 2:00); (g) "Paramount Pictures presentation, including material about the forthcoming Stardust" (2:30 to 3:30); (h) "Southland Tales" and Richard Kelly (3:00 to 4:00); (i) "Universal Home Video: King Kong Deluxe Extended DVD" -- a sneak peek of Peter Jackson's even-longer version, with a taped message from Jackson; (j) Warner Home Video sneak peeks and Forbidden Planet: a 50th Anniversary Celebration"; (k) "New Line Cinema presents Snakes on a Plane with Samuel L. Jackson , director David R. Ellis, snake wrangler Jules Sylvester and live snakes from the movie. Plus a special preview of New Line's upcoming The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (5:45 to 7:00).
SATURDAY, 7.22: (a) Warner Bros. Presents 300 with creator Frank Miller, director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead ) and actors David Wenham, Gerard Butler; (b) "Columbia Pictures/Screen Gems presentation" (including stuff from The Grudge 2 with Amber Tamblyn, Arielle Kebbel (12:00 to 1:00); (c) Kevin Smith talking Clerks 2 and whatever else (1:00 to 2:30); (d) "The Future of Marvel’s Film Franchises" (3:30 to 4:30); "Disney Previews: From Narnia to the Caribbean" (3:45 to 4:45); (e) "Pirates, Bikes, and Demons: The Art of S. Clay Wilson" (6:00 to 7:00).
That's fifteen panels/events (10 on Friday, 5 on Saturday)...and that's it.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 16, 2006 at 12:41 PM
comment #1
Anonymous says ...
i'm really looking forward to Matthew Vaughn's Stardust, I love Neil Gaiman's novel, and it will be interesting to see if Vaughn can pull off the adaptation, it's not gonna be easy. aintitcool had an exclusive still from Stardust, featuring a very creepy and ghoulish looking Michelle Pfeiffer:
http://www.aintitcool.com/images2006/Stardust2.jpg
Posted by Anonymous at July 16, 2006 2:38 PM
comment #2
Dan R% says ...
One year I'd like to take in the SDCC...Just for the experience of it all.
Posted by Dan R% at July 16, 2006 3:10 PM
comment #3
TC says ...
I'm going for the whole shebang. Been going six years straight now for both business and pleasure (I call it a "working vacation") and let me tell you, if you're into comics AND movies and everything in between (games, anime, toys, etc.), there's nowhere that is more fun. It's everything pop culture under one roof---a roof that happens to be over three football fields long. The creative energy in the place is both euphoric and inspiring. And yes, there's great people watching--more than a few freaks, and the costume parade is almost worth the trip alone. FYI, if you work in any kind of entertainment related industry, you get in free. And take the train, it will save you money and anxiety. Oh yeah, if you have kids who are into this stuff, their little heads will explode.
Posted by TC at July 16, 2006 3:40 PM
comment #4
TC says ...
One more tip, if you decide to go this year. Either stay with a friend who lives in the area or be prepared stay outside of the city (if you can even find that at this point), as every hotel in town has been booked solid since February.
Posted by TC at July 16, 2006 3:43 PM
comment #5
Josh Ehrnwald says ...
So this means you won't be taking in "Nickelodeon's New Shorts: Fresh Content and Funky-Fresh Creators" from 10:30-11:30, Jeff?
Posted by Josh Ehrnwald at July 16, 2006 4:58 PM
comment #6
Dravot says ...
"That's fifteen panels/events (10 on Friday, 5 on Saturday)...and that's it."
Uh... Jeff... it's fucking COMIC-Con, *not* the Toronto Film Festival, or ShoWest. It's only over the last 5 years or so that it's exploded into this insane media event with A-list stars and directors in attendance to promote their product. Before that there were a few such appearances, but it was a much more balanced event. Now it's a trade show instead of a fan convention, with the major studios building huge self-contained cities on the convention floor. It's lost a lot of its charm as attendance has tripled (they're expecting 100,000+ this year, up from 30-40K 10 years ago).
And I can tell you from experience, that the Con is really a FIVE-day event, including the "preview night" on Wednesday. It is not physically possible to see every panel you want to see, AND walk the floor, AND get some good meals, etc. It's an orgy of pop culture.
You can actually have completely different experiences there over the 5 days, depending on whether you want to focus on movies/TV/DVD, comic books, toys, manga/anime, gaming, filmmaking, costuming, or starfucking.
It's one of those things, like the Telluride Film Festival, that you just cannot explain to someone. You have to experience it yourself.
Posted by Dravot at July 17, 2006 3:18 AM