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Geeky Fanboys and Girls Enjoy Dreamy Comic-Con Weekend!

Molly — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:45:00 -0700

Wow could this line up of Comic-Con attendees be any more fun? Talk about a manjoyment fest, yummy. Joshua Jackson missed the TCAs, but made it out to promote Fringe at the convention while J.J. Abrams also rewarded fans of his other show Lost with some of the stars, upcoming show tidbits, and Dharma Initiative-approved gifts. Even better, the lucky audience at the Heroes panel were treated not only to cast members including Milo and Hayden, but the first episode of the new season - check out what lucky Buzz had to say about that! Thankfully it looks like Justin Long was in better spirits while James Franco was cute as always. Buzz is down in San Diego for all the fun so don't miss any of her coverage here!

To see lots more from the weekend including Ali Larter, David Boreanaz, Common, Kristin Chenoweth, Benicio Del Toro, Eliza Dushku, Masi Oka, Zachary Quinto, Jaime King, Samuel L Jackson, and lots of others just read more.

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Images include: Joshua Jackson, Anna Tory, J.J. Abrams, Brian Austin Green, Sarah Lancaster, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Seth MacFarlane, Dominic Purcell, David Boreanaz, Kiefer Sutherland, Matthew Fox, Common, Kristin Chenoweth, Justin Long, Seth Rogan, James Franco, Milo Ventimiglia, Hayden Panettiere, Ali Larter, Carmen Electra, Kim Kardashian, Brendan Fraser, Benicio Del Toro, Beau Bridges, Eliza Dushku, Masi Oka, Zachary Quinto, Jaime King, Samuel L Jackson

Splash News Online, Source, Source, and Source

Comic-Con Round-Up

BuzzSugar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:30:05 -0700

I've been reporting from Comic-Con these past few days, but here's a hodgepodge of random extra bits and pieces from my weekend.

There was a panel I basically happened to attend by accident, which ended up being for this spooky-looking movie The Wolf Man, due in theaters April 3, 2009. Then, to everyone's surprise, the stars of the film, Benicio Del Toro and Emily Blunt, came onstage to talk about it. I'll post the trailer soon, so more on the movie itself later, but for now, how cute is this picture?!
The writers of The Office spoke to a packed house on Saturday, and while the 11 people on the panel (12 if you count moderator Rainn Wilson) felt like a few too many, there were plenty of funny moments, especially from BJ Novak, Michael Schur, and Mindy Kaling. I particularly liked this part of Novak's answer about why he likes writing for Michael Scott: "It's so interesting to see someone with authority be so innocent and so wrong."
Also a winner from that panel: Schur's description of how Dwight would act in the event of an actual robot invasion. "He would cross his arms in the middle of the street as the robots marched down the street, shaking his head and saying 'I told you so!'"
Yeah, the Heroes screening and Hugh Jackman appearance were cool - but one of my other favorite panels of the weekend was much, much smaller. On Friday, I got to hear some of the original voice actors from the classic Peanuts specials talk about what it was like to put together shows like A Charlie Brown Christmas and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown. Several of the specials will be out on remastered, special-feature-laden DVDs this Fall, and I can't wait! Eventually, they're hoping to bring all the specials (more than 40 of them!) to DVD.
Also, some of the best trivia of the whole weekend came out of that panel: Did you know Fergie was once the voice of Charlie Brown's little sister, Sally? (For more Peanuts trivia, check out today's Brainteaser!)

To find out Seth Rogen's latest dirty comment and to see Zachary Levi's hand in a compromising position, read more.

Friday night’s bawdy session about Zack and Miri Make a Porno was moderated by Kevin Smith and included Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Traci Lords, and several others. The clip from the movie was pretty funny, mostly because of Rogen’s mugging and sarcasm. He's clearly cut out for Kevin Smith's style of comedy. At the panel, Elizabeth Banks had a funny comment when asked about what it was like to play Laura Bush after doing Zack and Miri: "Playing Laura Bush, it’s really just like playing a porn star. Just the hair is different." Rogen followed up with, "She wouldn’t even have to change her name." Yipes!
At the Chuck panel, moderator Kristin Dos Santos tried to get Zachary Levi and Joshua Gomez to repeat their 2007 feat of demonstrating an, er, compromising sexual position for the audience. They wouldn't do it - but did agree to reenact the moment with hand puppets. (See gallery for the image.)
Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Jessica Hynes from Spaced were all over Comic-Con, doing interviews (stay tuned for mine!), panels, and signings to promote the US release of the complete series on DVD. They screened three beloved episodes on Friday night: "Art," "Epiphanies," and "Gone," the one with the finger gun fights. And, speaking of finger gun fights, they kicked off the screening with a gigantic one - Pegg speculated it was their biggest ever - with about 1,000 people participating.
Another smaller but still very cool moment of the trip came in the panel where several Disney artists showed how they created the storyboards for Bolt, the film about a TV superdog who thinks his powers are real. I'm still not sold on John Travolta as the voice of Bolt, but the drawings were adorable (see gallery) and the writing in the sequence we saw, in which some cats torture Bolt in his trailer, was totally clever.
The panel for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia was fun, but for some reason I thought it would be more so. One of the coolest parts was that Damon Lindelof, executive producer of Lost moderated the panel, and is apparently a huge fan of Always Sunny. Also, little trivia: Rob McElhenney ("Mac" on the show) once played an Other on Lost.
The final celebrity of my trip: Red Fraggle! She made a special appearance at Sunday's Fraggle Rock DVD panel to lead the crowd in a sing-along of "The Beatle Song" and a recitation of the Solemn Fraggle Oath ("weeba weeba, woppa woppa, garpox gumbidge, whoopee!"). It should be noted that the vast majority of the crowd was not, in fact, parents with children but folks in their mid-20s, gloriously reliving their childhood. (The hand claps on the first runthrough of the Fraggle Rock theme were completely spontaneous and perfectly in sync.)

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Pushing Daisies Delightfully Teases Season Two at Comic-Con

BuzzSugar — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 14:00:00 -0700

Daddy issues, daughter issues, mommy issues, half-brother issues - there's going to be a lot of family drama when Pushing Daisies returns in October, the show's cast and crew revealed over the weekend at Comic-Con. But fans of the whimsical series need not despair: If anything, the Daisies folks promised, the show is overall lighter and even more delightful this year.

Creator Bryan Fuller and executive producer Barry Sonnenfeld also revealed the first footage from season two - after a brief snafu in which the video for the pilot started playing instead, prompting the two to run out to the podium early to apologize - and teased what's going on in the land of Coeur d’Coeurs when we return Oct. 1. To hear about what's coming up (plus some other highlights and a ton of pictures from the panel), just read more.

First, some hints about season two:

There have been a few changes in the living arrangements: Chuck is moving out of Ned's place and into Olive's. Olive, meanwhile, will spend a few episodes at a nunnery for an as-yet-undisclosed reason. (I saw the nunnery set on my Pushing Daisies set tour at TCA, and it's truly spectacular! As soon as Warner Bros. posts its photos, I'll be writing more about that.)
The aunts will be getting out more this season, including a trip to the Pie Hole (which understandably creates a lot of problems for Ned) and to visit Olive nunnery. The season two footage showed some hilarious shots of Aunt Vivian with a new color-coordinated eye patch in the nunnery's official blue.
In case the very thought of Olive at a nunnery raises some Sound of Music thoughts in your mind, you're not alone: Olive does, in fact, sing in the first episode - and from the footage, it looks to be a classic "the hills are alive" moment.
Emerson's quest for his daughter will be a major plot point: Fuller said Emerson wants to publish a pop-up book called Lil' Gumshoe that would essentially deliver the directions for his daughter to find her way back to him.
Among the many new characters we'll be meeting: Emerson's mother, Ned's half-brothers, and Olive's new pet, a potbellied pig named Pigby. The show will also introduce Dwight Dixon, a man who has history with both Chuck's father and Ned's father. While they wouldn't name names, the producers said they're expecting some more stage actors and singers - Broadway friends of Kristin Chenoweth and Ellen Greene - to make an appearance.
Also, we'll get to meet Young Olive and Young Emerson! In general, Fuller said, the second season will really embrace the ensemble nature of the show.
There will be many new contraptions to enable Ned and Chuck to show some affection, including a device that will allow them to spoon! (Aww!)
A special note for Wonderfalls fans: Fuller wants to put some kind of Wonderfalls tie-in in the new season.

And now, some highlights from the panel itself:

First Chi McBride and then Kristin Chenoweth made their entrances by running past the front of the crowd, slapping hands. I was only a few rows back, but I could still just barely see Kristin's blonde head bobbing as she made her run.
I couldn't believe I hadn't heard this story before this weekend, so maybe it'll be new to some of you, too: Bryan Fuller explained that the origins of Pushing Daisies came from an idea he had for Dead Like Me if the show had gotten a third season. That show's main character, George, took people's souls when she touched them, so Fuller thought about introducing a romantic foil for George who could give people their souls back with a touch of his own.
One fan asked Fuller why, after Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me both had cynical main characters, he decided to have Chuck and Ned embody all that's good with the world instead of sarcasm and wisecracks. "We have Emerson Cod for that," Fuller said.
Another fan asked Kristin Chenoweth if she'd indulge the crowd with a little song - and she obliged with a lovely version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," to wild cheers and applause. I'll try to post the audio of her performance later on, but for now, just trust me: It was gorgeous. (Barry Sonnenfeld even pulled his own mini video camera out of his pocket to capture it.)
Speaking of singing, Fuller also said he'd like to do a full musical episode at some point. He said he figured out the musical element to the show only after ending up with a cast full of talented singers and said he didn't purposefully look for actors who could sing - but, lucky for us, he got them anyway.
Sonnenfeld still holds a joking grudge against Anna Friel for convincing one director that it would be fine to have Ned and Chuck playing a hand-slapping game in the background of some Pie Hole scenes. "It's basically Russian Roulette!" Lee Pace said.
Sonnenfeld was also getting a kick out of teasing Chenoweth about her popularity. "You all love Kristin," he said at one point. "She's like a perfect short person."

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Comic-Con Kicks Off With Paris, Gerard, Keanu, and More!

Molly — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:00:29 -0700

Geeks, fans, and stars from all over gathered in San Diego yesterday to kick off 2008 Comic-Con! The convention has grown so much and now attracts some of the biggest names in Hollywood, not to mention thousands of excited fans. For example, who would have thought that Miss Paris Hilton would stop by to promote her new movie Repo! The Genetic Opera before hitting the clubs at night? Meanwhile, Anna Paquin was out to talk about True Blood. Guy Ritchie and the cast of his new movie RocknRolla posed as Gerard joked about getting one of those infamous B12 shots from Madonna. There's lots more, including Mark Wahlberg and Mila out for Max Payne, the unicorn from Harold and Kumar, Dwight Schrute's flow chart, and recruiters from the Dharma Initiative - Buzz is there for all the action, so check it out!

To see more from Comic-Con including Keanu Reeves, Sophie Monk, Djimon Hounsou, Gerard Butler, Paris Hilton, and many others, just read more.

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Images include:, Alexa Vega, Bill Moseley, Paris Hilton, Darren Bousman, Nivek Ogre, Ludacris, Guy Ritchie, Keanu Reeves, Jeremy Piven, Sophie Monk, Samuel L. Jackson, Takashi Okazaki, Julie Benz, David Hackl, Djimon Hounsou, Gerard Butler, Idris Elba, Anna Paquin

Source, Source, Source and Splash News Online

BuzzSugar at Comic-Con: Day One!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:43:25 -0700

Greetings from sunny San Diego! And I'm not kidding about the sunny: Though I'll be spending most of the weekend indoors, I at least got to bask in the rays (or, OK, sweat next to other sweaty people) while waiting in line for this morning's 20th Century Fox panels.

Frankly, it's been a pretty insane trip so far. The morning's big events (panels for Max Payne and The Day the Earth Stood Still and surprise appearance by Wolverine himself!) were delayed because of collapsing curtains and rods. I did have some time to wander the floor, as well as to catch a Disney panel where some of the studio's storyboard staff took us through the creation of a sequence from the upcoming Bolt, which looks like it could be pretty clever. You can check out some of my initial observations - and a whole lot of photos from the floor, including a super-geeky sequence with this year's special Comic-Con My Little Pony - if you read more.

The Dharma Initiative from Lost was on the floor recruiting for new members. They're giving an eligibility test in their booth, but it was already booked for most of today, so it'll be a while before I learn whether I'm fit for service.
On my "gotta do this before I leave" list: sit on the unicorn from Harold and Kumar (see gallery for picture of someone else doing this).
My personal favorite piece of swag so far: a replica copy for Dwight K. Schrute's organizational chart from The Office booth.
In terms of impressive floor displays, the Sci Fi network totally wins. That's their big, swirling purple thing in the photos below; every so often lights blink and twirl around it.

As for today's movie panels. . .

The ladies. . . they love the Keanu! At the panel for The Day the Earth Stood Still, he barely had to speak to get a fresh round of screeching and cheering. It was intense! From afar, he looked great with a bit of scruff. When the cameras got up close, however. . . not so much.
Jennifer Connelly was beautiful and incredibly well-spoken. About the movie she said that "at the core, it's about human spirit." Which is comforting because on the surface it kinda just looks like yet another remake.
And I'm really not sold on this particular remake, even after viewing a bunch of clips. Keanu plays a cold, emotionless alien guy, so, you know, he seems to get the job done easily. And when all the special effects are done, they might make the film more impressive because so far it doesn't have the "wow" factor.
Max Payne, on the other hand, I've decided might end up being one of the coolest action flicks of the year. It's based on a video game so it's, you know, incredibly violent. But visually, stylistically, it's really impressive. As the moderator put it, director John Moore is "a wonderful, wonderful visual storyteller."
Mila Kunis said she gets to "kick ass in five-inch heels."
Finally, Mark Wahlberg (another favorite among the ladies) equated doing the Comic-Con panel to doing a rock concert in Japan (because of all the screaming from said ladies). He said the cheering and such makes him "all warm in the pants." I believe that's a direct quote.

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