SanDiegoComiccon Tagged Articles at Cinematical

While Comic-Con's Saturday slate promised an interesting cross-section of film projects in Hall H, virtually all of them existed only as a prelude to Iron Man 2, whose predecessor wowed attendees two years ago when Paramount debuted footage and inspired its subsequent fanboy fervor. At 4pm, Marvel Studios honcho Kevin Feige, director Jon Favreau, and stars Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, and Sam Rockwell appeared in front of a capacity crowd to screen footage and talk a little bit about the challenges of upping the ante on one of the most successful and acclaimed superhero movies ever made. In no particular order, the (Cinematical) seven things you most need to know about the panel:

• There were two clips shown, and don't let the short one fool you: an introductory, b.s. featurette advertised the film but offered almost no images or details that matter or are remotely memorable. Meanwhile, a second clip, screened at the prompting of star Downey Jr., featured actual footage from the film, and was much, much better.
• The second clip showed the following characters: Iron Man/ Tony Stark, who defends himself from government intrusion after stopping at iconic L.A location Randy's Donuts; Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who makes Stark an offer he might not be able to refuse; Senator Stern (Garry Shandling), who tries to force Stark to turn over the Iron Man armor; Rhodes (Don Cheadle), who finds himself at odds with Stark, but ultimately succumbs to the allure of hardware with his own suit, called War Machine; Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), an arms dealer who outfits Rhodes' suit with its weaponry; Whiplash/ Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), who designs his own suit, which is more primitive, but also more deadly; and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), who kicks ass and looks good while doing it.
• According to Favreau, the film just wrapped, but he and the filmmakers were so grateful for the support shown at the 2007 Comic-Con for the first film that they wanted to bring clips to show from Part 2.
• Johansson apparently wanted the role of Black Widow so badly that she dyed her hair before she even got the part.
• Meanwhile, in order to prepare to play Vanko, a guy who spent time in a Russian prison, Mickey Rourke actually visited one for research.
• Cheadle said he just tried to make the role of Stark's right-hand man Rhodes his own, but admitted he stole as much as possible from Terence Howard's performance in the first film to bring him to life.
• War Machine looks about twice as badass as Iron Man, but not enough footage was screened of shellhead himself to indicate how Stark's own armor would be breaking down expectations.

The dust has barely settled in San Diego (they're probably still trying to clean up that convention center as we speak), and already, the bitching begins. The Hollywood Reporter has written a delightful piece of snark in which the big studios whine that they're spending too much time and money on us geeks. Apparently, it just doesn't pay to court us because the movies cheered in Hall H (Grindhouse, Snakes on a Plane, and Speed Racer to name a few) just don't do all that well. What a waste of free t-shirts and pins!

I'm not going to sit here and insist that ComicCon can make or break a movie. I think we all know there are movies that have benefited from the buzz that begins in San Diego -- people wouldn't be whispering ominously about Star Trek skipping it otherwise. Look at X-Men Origins: Wolverine -- a film that people had been pretty skeptical about is now being raved about from one corner of the Internet to the other. Look at The Spirit. The bad buzz that began at con will stick to the film until its Christmas release. But I also know that those of us who live and work on the Internet can become deluded as to what the offline world is buzzing about. I will fully expect people to comment on my "Who watches the Watchmen?" shirt when I wear it around Colorado, and no one will, because it's so far off the radar for most people.

We talked up The Wrath of Con party at Comic Con a ton prior to the event itself, so it's only right we share with you a slew of photos from the red carpet as well as the hip-hoppin' party up top the roof of the beautiful Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego. I actually brought my personal camera along, but was so busy chatting with tons of people that I forgot to take ANY photos. However, thanks to Robert over at IESB, we have this massive photo gallery to show you. Apart from that, well, what happens at Con stays at Con -- so you'll just have to use your imagination for the rest. Enjoy!

This was one of the panels I was most looking forward to because I desperately wanted to walk away from it with even more good vibes than I already had. Though I still chuckled every time someone prefaced a question with "This is for McG ...," the guy definitely "brought it" to Comic Con. You could tell this dude really wanted to sell the audience; he wanted to sell them on another Terminator flick, he wanted to sell them on it being directed by a dude named McG and he wanted to bottle up his enormous energy and sell that too. The guy was amped up to a level just beneath "Okay this is uncomfortable," and the panel audience was virtually high-fiving him the entire time.

The Footage

I wasn't sure what we'd be seeing as far as footage from the film went, since they were still right in the middle of shooting and, well, you wouldn't expect anything too polished. But to my surprise they managed to throw together an enticing little two-or-so-minute teaser that was gritty, grimy, familiar and --pardon the language -- pretty f**king rad. I was too engulfed to write down every second of the thing, but it basically consisted of a number of quick snippets of gunfire, Anton Yelchin (as a young Kyle Reese) saying stuff like, "Come with me if you want to live," a little of Sam Worthington (who seems like the kind of guy that'd clock you for staring at him for more than three seconds), Moon Bloodgood (hot name for a hottie actress), Common (who I assume plays the obligatory post-apocalyptic black dude) and, of course, those T-600 robots (the film takes place in 2018, 11 years before Arnold's T-800 existed).

Gallery of panel below; more after the jump ...

All I had to hear was the name Alex Aja and I was immediately interested. The fact that the latest film (Mirrors) from the director of High Tension and The Hills Have Eyes also offers the added bonuses of Kiefer Sutherland, Amy Smart, Paula Patton, and Jason Flemyng got me doubly intrigued. Then I learned that Aja's Mirrors was set to be a seriously harsh R-rated horror thriller -- and I was hooked.

So this morning I attended a very cool breakfast / press conference that Fox put together for Mirrors. We were fed fine foods, introduced to Mr. Sutherland, Ms. Smart, and Monsieur Aja, treated to four rather compelling clips from the film, and then the floor was opened to questions. We didn't actually learn all THAT much about the upcoming film -- which I consider a good thing, as I don't want the whole thing spoiled before I see it -- but the room was more or less buzzing after it witnessed a sequence known as "jaw rip." Suffice to say that Ms. Smart suffers through one hellacious bathtub experience, and then we'll just leave it at that. Really nasty stuff, but in a very cool way.

Topics covered in the event included: Where Aja thinks horror is going (he's not sure, but he really hopes we're not due for another Scream-style irony session), what Ms. Smart has on the horizon (another horror flick called Seventh Moon and, of course, Crank 2), and why Kiefer chose to do a dark horror flick on his extended hiatus from 24. (He appreciates the fact that horror movies can really "strike" an audience in a way that other genres generally can't.) Mr. Aja also dropped just a few little hints about his remake of Piranha -- but all he did is reassure us that is was going to be "fun gore!"

All in all, a very cool Comic-Con event for what certainly looks to be a rough, tough, and challenging horror flick. Mirrors hits theaters on August 15.

Above: Rose McGowan licking blood off a sword

The room was packed for the Red Sonja panel today featuring Robert Rodriguez, Rose McGowan and director Doug Aaroniokoski, and images of Rose McGowan in that skimpy metal bikini were everywhere (what you see above was one of around 2,000 t-shirts handed out. Below are easy-to-read notes on this particular panel:

-- Red Sonja will hit theaters in the fourth quarter of 2009 (one imagines for Christmas)
-- Robert Rodriguez is acting as a "hands on" producer, and will co-direct a good chunk of the flick. Not only is he doing this for Red Sonja, but he's also negotiating to produce a new Conan film. It seems as if they would eventually (if both are popular enough) cross promote between films.
-- The tone will be darker, like the book, and when asked if it would be R rated, Rodriguez said, "My name is double 'R'!"
--Also on tone and scope, McGowan (who's quite lively and quick-witted in person) said it's "hard, cold, dirty and bloody." And that she's looking forward to "taking a big giant sword and killing a lot of people."
-- Training is already underway, and McGowan is working with the same swords experts who helped out on Matrix and Ninja Assassin.
-- Rodriguez also admitted that Barbarella is officially off, and that Red Sonja has taken its place. He said financing of $70 million did come through from Germany for a shoot next year, but he's obligated to shoot something else for Miramax. He's negotiating right now to direct a "huge summer movie" -- but he wouldn't say which.
-- On the character, Rose McGowan said: "I will not have a mullet!" The crowd cheered.
-- Red Sonja will be shot on location (scouting now) and will use some green screen.
-- Asked who should star in the new Conan, RR shouted: "Danny Trejo!"
-- On Machete becoming a film, RR said they have plans to turn it into a Mexploitation triple feature disc (and somewhere on that disc will be a trailer for a sequel to Planet Terror.)
-- On Sin City 2, Frank Miller has finished writing the script, but no one knows whether or not that's going to happen with each working on different projects.

P.S. For those who think Rodriguez and McGowan aren't a couple anymore, check out this candid snapshot (taken right before RR kissed RM on the forehead).



Gallery from the panel below. My opinion: It looks pretty hot, and while I've bashed McGowan in the past, I'm willing to give her a chance to kick some ass here. This will be her time to shine.

In less than 24 hours, myself, Scott Weinberg and Elisabeth Rappe will be in San Diego, overdosing on all things geek for the next five days. That's because the 2008 San Diego Comic Con is upon us, and there are literally hundreds of different things to do. We'll be sitting on panels (catch yours truly on the Masters of the Web panel), attending panels, interviewing stars, hanging with Storm Troopers, playing with cool toys, going to screenings (Fanboys, Tropic Thunder, Mutant Chronicles, etc ...) and, well, getting our dance on at some of the coolest parties this side of the galaxy. It's intense. We're excited. And if you're not able to attend, then you best be checking out Cinematical all day long later this week as we'll be shoveling out tons and tons of content.

And speaking of content, here's a taste of what you can expect from your pals at Cinematical:

Panel Coverage:

Masters of the Web
When: Thursday, July 24th -- 10am.
Who: Robert Sanchez (IESB.net), Garth Franklin (Darkhorizons.com), Mike Sampson (Joblo.com), Erik Davis (Cinematical.com), John Campea (TheMovieBlog.com), Brad Miska (Bloody-Disgusting.com), Eric "Quint" Vespe (Aintitcool.com), Devin Faraci (CHUD.com), Paul Christensen (Movieweb.com), and Kellvin Chavez (Latinoreview.com). Moderated by directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank 2, The Game). Room 32AB

Watchmen
When: Friday, July 25th -- 11:55am
Who: Zack Snyder, Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson



Much, much more after the jump ...