Comic-Con 2009

Anna Paquin celebrated her 27th birthday with her fellow True Blood costars at Comic-Con yesterday. The panel started off on an exciting note when Alan Ball announced that the official True Blood drink (it'll be "blood orange" soda) was a go, and the fun continued from there. It was interesting to see the scariness of the show combined with the cast's funny anecdotes about fang malfunctions, and it was even more exciting to see the very real chemistry between Anna and Stephen Moyer. We were treated to a sneak peek at the second half of season two — check out the video here — along with lots of fun tidbits from the cast, producers, and author of the True Blood books, Charlaine Harris. Here are some highlights:

• First of all, Stephen Moyer is even hotter in real life than he is on the show. The British accent doesn't hurt either.
• Harris has signed a contract to write three more books in the True Blood series, which means a lot more material for the show!
• It sounds like the Eric-Sookie-Bill love triangle is going to come to a head. One perceptive fan even noted that in the sneak preview it looks like Sookie is sharing a bed with a certain blond someone. . . .
• Anna on playing Sookie: "She's stronger. She's tougher. She's been through a lot. Unfortunately, she still gets herself in situations where she's likely to be killed, which is why it's good she has a vampire boyfriend. As far as how I play it, I just try to imagine what it would be like to go through what she went through."
• According to Alan Ball, confirmation on season three is likely to be announced soon! Ball also hinted at what we can expect to see, including werewolves and a closer look inside the world of the Mississippi vampires.
• The Comic-Con panel wouldn't have been complete without a Twilight mention. When one fan asked whether or not we can expect a half-vampire, half-human baby, Alan Ball scoffed, "On our show, vampires are either full-out vampires, or they're not vampires." Well played.

The final Comic-Con Lost panel ever was filled with such warmth and humor and mutual appreciation (between fans and executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof) I didn't want it to end. Though there was of course no new footage of the next season, there were plenty of surprises for us fans. Some of these fans were even visited by Cuse and Lindelof last night as they camped out for early entry into this morning's Lost panel.

Some of the video footage that they did show included: A commercial for "Lost University," a promo for a fake old ABC show called "mysteries of the universe," an America's Most Wanted clip about the "armed and dangerous murderer" Katherine Austen, a montage of clips from fan-made Lost video stuff, an Oceanic Airlines commercial, and an "in memoriam" video about the characters who have died on the show, ending with Charlie just before, of course, Dominic Monaghan took the stage.

In addition to Monaghan, the panel featured fun appearances by Jorge Garcia, Michael Emerson, Nestor Carbonell and, after a delicious clip montage, a surprise appearance by Josh Holloway, my beloved Sawyer. So you can probably guess what was my favorite part of the panel.

To read some more tidbits from this very funny, very happy Comic-Con event, just read more

I wrapped up another long but amazing day at Comic-Con with the Dollhouse panel. Joss Whedon was a character as always, and both he and Eliza Dushku constantly reiterated how thankful they are to their fans for saving their near-canceled show. We were treated to screening of season one's "lost" episode, "Epitaph One." It was eye-opening to say the least, set in the year 2019 and showing a far different world than what we saw in the first episode. Here are a few highlights from what we learned:

• Naturally, there were lots of questions for Joss about Buffy and his affinity for recycling his favorite actors. He revealed that Alexis Denisof will be joining the cast next season, and Eliza chimed in about being excited to kick his ass. Apparently Joss is also trying to get Summer Glau on board.
• Spoiler alert! According to Joss, Victor is going to get better quickly.
• Eliza on which characters she enjoyed playing most: "I'm a tomboy, so I do like when I'm in action, and I loved 'Man on the Street.' I loved all the characters in that. Joss loved the doily dress so much. I also had a really nice time shooting 'Haunted' with Olivia Williams. The last episode was kind of awesomeness as well."
• Joss on how the theme of social justice is portrayed in the show: "More and more, we're interested in dealing with the abuse of power and the various ways that people can do that and what it can really bring out in characters when they are pushed to the edge."
• Finally, Joss played coy about what we can expect in season two but did say that "no one is to be trusted, especially in the Dollhouse" and revealed that the audience will begin to question the veracity of the character's memories.

Sounds like there's plenty of fun in store for season two. Be sure to keep checking back in for more updates live from Comic-Con!

Photo courtesy of Fox

Today at Comic-Con, Warner Bros. provided a closer look at some of its most-anticipated upcoming films. In a packed 90 minutes, we got sneak peeks at Where the Wild Things Are, The Book of Eli, The Box, Jonah Hex, and Sherlock Holmes. The panels were chock-full of celebs, which made for a lot of fan excitement and some interesting questions (including multiple marriage proposals for Megan Fox and Cameron Diaz). Here are my thoughts:

• Where the Wild Things Are: We didn't get a full panel and Q&A for this one, but the clips were more than enough to satisfy fans who have been dying to see more of Spike Jonze's newest project. I was so excited to find that the scenes were just as touching and mesmerizing as as the film's trailer. Basically, I can't wait for Oct. 16!
• The Book of Eli: This morning I showed you all the trailer for the movie, but having the cast on hand was even better. Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman seemed to have a great relationship — the perfect balance of mutual respect mixed with a lot of goofing around. When asked what it was like to work together, they quipped:
  

  Washington: "It was like good sex. We had a ball together. Sometimes we do the scene as English gentlemen . . ."
  Oldman: "Sometimes you do it with the slang African-American, sometimes it's the English gentleman, sometimes it's the thespian . . . like good sex."

  It should be awesome to see these two duke it out on the big screen. Oh, and Oldman also revealed that he'll start filming the next Batman next year — adding "But you didn't hear it from me."

Want to hear about The Box, Jonah Hex, and Sherlock Holmes? Of course! Just read more

Well, it wasn't easy, but after a loooong wait outside of the Comic-Con convention center in San Diego, I finally scored a spot at the Summit panel, aka the New Moon event! But before that, we got a peek at Astro Boy, a fun new cartoon starring Kristen Bell and Freddie Highmore — who has really grown up since his sweet performance in Finding Neverland. We also watched a clip from Sorority Row, a slasher film about a sorority prank gone wrong. Audrina Patridge from The Hills stars in this one, which I think pretty much sums it up.

Of course, the main event was New Moon, and Summit certainly didn't disappoint. Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, and Kristen Stewart took the stage to ear-piercing screams and answered a lot of questions from the fans. We were also treated to not one but two new clips from the film, featuring shirtless scenes for both Robert and Taylor. I was excited about both of the new clips, which now give me even more hope that New Moon will be an improvement from Twilight. Overall, the stars were gracious, though Rob and Kristen both seemed a bit uncomfortable in the spotlight. Here are a few tidbits:

• Rob on the movie's special effects: "All these machines did the acting for me, which is the way I like it."
• Kristen on Bella: "Bella is intense on doing what she needs to do for herself and not being ashamed of herself. She's sort of everywhere — talk about mood swings. But she doesn't have to explain herself. She just feels what she feels."
• Rob on how he's similar to Edward: "I look a bit like him."
• Taylor on the fan response: "When we were making Twilight, we knew what we were making but didn't know the reaction we'd get from you guys. So we're really thankful for what you guys have done. And in New Moon, we knew what we're doing, and now you guys are supporting us. So we were more confident because we knew we had you behind us, but I'd be lying if I said I never got nervous, because we all want to please you and live up to your expectations."

There's more from the panel over on Pop, so click here. After the Twilight mania had finally died down, I got a chance to check out some footage from James Cameron's new 3-D movie, Avatar. The film, which has both live action and digital, felt like a cross between a sci-fi flick and a video game, and the special effects were outstanding — I'm definitely curious to hear more about this one. Next on the schedule are panels for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and the next season of Dexter, so stay tuned!

After waiting in line for three hours, we finally made it into the New Moon panel at Comic-Con! It was definitely worth the wait, and Rob, Kristen, Taylor, and Ashley were rewarded with plenty of screams and shrieks from their waiting fans. We got to check out two new clips from the movie — in the first, Kristen's character Bella rides a motorcycle for the first time (though she assured us she didn't do her own stunts). The second was the big moment you've all been waiting for — that's right, the shirtless Pattinson scene in Italy! Believe us, you will not be disappointed. Rob was adorable as he showed off a wide range of facial expressions when answering questions from fans, while Taylor seemed to eat up all the attention. Here are a few other highlights from the Q&A:

• Rob on how shooting New Moon was different from Twilight: "It was different doing this because of the aesthetic which Kris shows. Edward's whole character is obviously about restraint. I found it difficult to incorporate movement into the character. In New Moon, a lot of the shots are set up for as little movement as possible which helped. It was always camera movements that drove scenes . . . and now I'm making it sound like I just stood there."
• Taylor on whether or not he's like Jacob: "I'm more like Jacob's pretransformation side. Because that's before he goes wacko. I hope I'm more friendly and outgoing than this dark disturbed person, this monster. Actually, I don't think he's a monster."

To read lots more from Rob about playing Edward and whether or not he'll ever take on comedy just read more