BuzzSugar

Catch Up With All My Posts From Comic-Con!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:30:52 PDT

I'm finally recovered(ish) from my busy weekend in San Diego for Comic-Con! A ton of the festival's action took place on Friday and Saturday, so just in case you missed it, here's a handy-dandy guide to all of my write-ups:

Assorted Goodies
BuzzSugar at Comic-Con: Day One!
Comic-Con Round-Up

Song of the Day: Kristin Chenoweth's Comic-Con Performance

BuzzSugar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:34:22 PDT

As I mentioned in my writeup of the Pushing Daisies panel at Comic-Con, one of the greatest moments was getting to hear an impromptu song from Kristin Chenoweth upon the request of one very cute, very young fan.

I was able to pull the song off my recorder, and so now, you can check Chenoweth's gorgeous rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for yourself. The audio isn't perfect - I wasn't expecting to be recording a Tony winner (and Emmy nominee and onetime Miss Oklahoma runner-up!) when I woke up on Saturday - but even with some fuzz, you'll get the idea.

The recording starts with the fan's request - then you'll hear some applause (which was even louder in the room!) and then the start of the song. To check it out, just

Sights From Comic-Con 2008

GeekSugar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:00:34 PDT

In case you missed it, Comic-Con 2008 took over San Diego this past weekend, and Buzz was there getting the dish on all our favorite TV shows and movies that are about to hit the big and small screens. What am I looking forward to the most? Watchmen! Duh.

If you weren't able to be at the San Diego Convention Center with all the rest of the geeks out there, I have a little slideshow to hold you over until next year. Seriously, get your tickets now. It's a must see!

A Chat With Spaced's Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Jessica Hynes

BuzzSugar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:30:45 PDT

Hands down, one of the highlights of my Comic-Con experience was getting to meet Simon Pegg and his Spaced cohorts, despite the brevity of our interaction. I sat down for a quick roundtable interview with Pegg and his costar on Spaced, Jessica Hynes, along with Edgar Wright, Pegg's frequent partner in crime (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) and the director of Spaced.

In the British comedy, Pegg and Hynes play Tim and Daisy, who rent a flat in London under the pretense that they are a couple. The show is filled with pop culture references and surreal experiences, and if you haven't already, you ought to get ahold of the newly available Spaced DVDs. For now, check out some of the highlights from our chat.

Q: There are a lot of horror references in Spaced. How did that come about?

Edgar Wright: I think that really is my default setting of shooting everything like it was a horror film, for no apparent reason. I mean, there were definitely a lot of references in the script already, particularly to The Shining . . . The whole style of the show is very stylized and sort of kinetic because the characters are so drenched in pop culture, it’s almost like, if they ever had to describe their mundane lives, this [a horror movie] is what it would look like. So it’s almost like, you’re watching them recount their lives, rather than the actuality.

Simon Pegg: Yeah, 'cause they’re like, "I went to work in a kitchen and it was like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest." Or, "I walked into the room that time and it was like the f---ing Evil Dead," you know? And that’s what you actually see. All three of us love the idea of taking very mundane things and turning them into slightly more grand, cinematic things. Which we took forward into Shaun of the Dead as well after having learned that on Spaced. Jess and I certainly wanted to have this world that was defined by popular culture, shaped by it.

The trio expounds on this and other things (like their intense admiration of Arrested Development), so

read more. Q: Was that also a reaction to the way most sitcoms are shot? Edgar: Yeah, I think so. I think at the time, when we made the show there were some critics in the UK who assumed that we were trying to sort of burn down traditional sitcoms and that isn’t the case, because some traditionally-shot sitcoms are just fantastic. And it was around the time that Friends was huge, and in the UK there were two or three shows that were kind of trying to do a British Friends, so we wanted to go against that, really. Jessica: [With] Friends. . . however real it is or funny it is, ultimately there's an aspirational quality to it in terms of the lead characters - the way they look, their world - there’s something slightly unreal about it. And I suppose that I would differentiate between the style of Friends as aspirational and would think of Spaced as sort of inspirational . . . It was important to have it reflect absolutely and intimately our world and experiences and our friends and ourselves. And to have that kind of authenticity it needed to be kind of grubby and sort of . . . real. Because that was our world. Q: In terms of American TV, do you think there are comedic shows that get it right? Edgar: Arrested Development did. For the two and a half seasons that it was on-air. Simon: Arrested Development was just so . . . Edgar: Fantastic. Simon: It was depressingly good. Sometimes you watch something as a writer and you think, "Aw, what’s the point?" That show was like that. Edgar: That was great. Larry Sanders, obviously that’s a bit further back, Curb Your Enthusiasm is really good. Jessica: I always really liked Seinfeld as a sitcom, just in terms of quality of gags, and characters. Edgar: And Seinfeld had a big influence, particularly on the second series of Spaced, actually the plotting of Seinfeld was very influential for us. Simon: I love the American Office, I think it’s great. I love the way that they've taken that and they’ve made it their own. Photo courtesy of Channel 4

EW's Television Visionaries Talk Sci-Fi and Pies

BuzzSugar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:30:36 PDT

Yesterday, I told you about the rowdy panel of filmmaking greats I attended at Comic-Con. Today, I've got some notes from the television "Visionaries" event, which brought together showrunners Josh Schwartz (Chuck and Gossip Girl), Josh Friedman (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (Lost), and Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies). Here are just a few of the highlights:

A running joke throughout the panel was teasing Josh Schwartz about Gossip Girl in any way possible. At one point, when the show came up in a question, he said he thought that mentioning it was "a little verboten at Comic-Con," which led the - considerable! - GG fans in the audience to make their presence known. Later, in response to a question about so-called "genre" shows getting lots of buzz over the past few years, Schwartz quipped: "Serena is now a cyborg."
On a related note, plenty of people (rightly) saw the Q&A portion of this panel as their best chance to ask questions of the Lost producers before the mad crush of the Lost-specific event the next day, prompting one panelist (I unfortunately couldn't see which one, as I was on the other side of the huge line) to point at the questioners and count them down, saying, "Lost, Lost, Lost, Piemaker, Piemaker, Lost . . . [mooney voice] Gossip Girl!"
Bryan Fuller is just a big bundle of cotton candy and flowers and goodness. Some various quotes summing up the sweetness: "I am a very sensitive soul. I couldn't do a series like CSI or Criminal Minds where you have to be in a negative headspace all the time. I just wanted to cram a show with as many things that make me smile as possible, like puppies and pie." And, later, "I think we need more awe."
Also, why is the piemaker not, say, a cake baker? "Cake is dry," Fuller said.

To find out which of these guys likes Project Runway, just

Poor Josh Friedman was the most overlooked member of the panel, but he acquitted himself well whenever a question did come his way, showing a good sense of humor about the whole thing. My favorite line from him: "I don't think Terminator works in movie form. I think it's either TV or musical."
Friedman also told the story of casting Brian Austin Green the night before his character was scheduled to make his first appearance. At first, Friedman said, he just assumed the audition was going to be awful. But as soon as Green walked into the room, he had a very different reaction: "When did you get to be so hot?"
Could there actually be too many shows with sci-fi elements on TV these days? "The greatest thing that could ever be uttered in the halls of the networks is 'We have too many shows about time travel,'" Lindelof said.

One of the biggest laughs of the session: Cuse, Lindelof, and Schwartz talking about the Chuck episode where Chuck reveals that he might know the whereabouts of Oceanic Flight 815. What was Schwartz trying to establish by having Chuck mention Lost? "Lost is a TV show," he said, "and Chuck is real."
At the end of the session, someone asked what shows the panelists watched. They mostly cited each other's shows - until Fuller admitted to really liking Project Runway.

EW's Filmmakers Panel With Smith, Apatow, Snyder and Miller

BuzzSugar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:30:03 PDT

Entertainment Weekly held a few "Visionaries" panels at Comic-Con that brought together some of the greats in the TV, movies and comic book worlds. At the filmmakers panel, it was mostly a kick to see Kevin Smith, Judd Apatow, Zack Snyder and Frank Miller all at one table. It turned into the Smith-Apatow comedy hour, but that seemed to suit the audience members (myself included) just fine. Check out some of the highlights below.

The whole panel was super bawdy and raunchy, mostly due to Smith and Apatow making dirty jokes about each other. And then there was the smiling, friendly-faced Zack Snyder, who awkwardly bumbled out an answer to a question, after which there were about three beats of silence before Smith said, "Thank God your visuals are so strong, man." Smith later marveled at how awesome Snyder's Watchmen looks, saying he could die once he sees that movie.
Apatow talked about his raunchy comedies: "You have to find out: how much penis can you show in a movie without clearing an entire room?" Meanwhile, Smith nodded, deadpan, like he totally understood.
Smith: "I go with my gut, but my gut has lied to me in the past, like, when my gut said, 'Yeah, Jersey Girl's a great idea!'"
Frank Miller: "Very early on I learned I was incompetent at anything else. So I started to make comic books."

More on comics, geek culture, and how comedians differ from rappers (according to Apatow), if you

Smith said he knew a while ago that it was only a matter of time before the comic book movie trend exploded. "Why not mine some of the most creative material ever, that's already been around for 50, 60 years? I think geek culture is here to stay. Thank God for Quentin Tarantino."
When asked whether he might attempt a different kind of movie than those he’s been making, Apatow answered in the negative, stating "There will be no movie with fairies and goblins. . . who can't get laid."
When asked about their influences, Apatow immediately said - without a trace of irony - Kevin Smith. "He laid down the track. I saw Clerks and I was like, ‘You can do that?!'" Smith reached over and gathered Apatow into a hug.
Apatow, babbling: "Comedians are not like rappers. Rappers kill each other and comedians like each other…" A few beats of baffled silence ensued before Smith asked, "Did you just step out of 1989? When was the last time a rapper killed another rapper?"
Frank Miller, on direct-to-internet content and advice for aspiring filmmakers: "Find the places the censors haven't found yet. Cause as much trouble as you can."

First Look: Chuck Season Two

BuzzSugar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:40:46 PDT

It's one thing to hear all about the twists and turns coming up on the second season of Chuck. But it's another thing entirely to get to see them - and that's exactly what happened over the weekend when Josh Schwartz, Zachary Levi, and the rest took the stage at Comic-Con. While there's no official version of the almost 7-minute trailer, E!'s Kristin Dos Santos, who moderated the panel, got her spies out to capture the video from the big screen. (So what I'm saying is: Agent Casey, blame her, not me!)

Among the wonderful things to be glimpsed in the trailer: a shot of the Nicole Richie shower fight, Tony Hale dressing down the Buy More crew, more than one Chuck/Sarah kiss, and the first appearance of Jill! I'm so psyched, so to see if the season looks like you were hoping, just

read more. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Cows - and Roberto Orci - Promote Fringe in San Diego

BuzzSugar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:30:16 PDT

A herd of cattle grazing in a parking lot probably isn't the weirdest thing I saw during Comic-Con, but it's not too far off. The dozen or so cows had a purpose, though, serving as a clue along the way during a Fringe-related scavenger hunt in San Diego.

If you've seen the Fringe pilot - which several thousand more people now have seen following the San Diego screenings - you'll get the cow thing, which also came up at TCA; if not, stay tuned for Fall. But cute (though smelly) as they were, the cows weren't the best thing I found in the parking lot. Nope, that would be Roberto Orci, Fringe (and Star Trek) writer and executive producer, who chatted with me briefly about what Comic-Con has meant for Fringe. The entire show actually has its roots in the convention, so to hear about that, just

read more. Last year, when Orci, JJ Abrams, and Alex Kurtzman were at Comic-Con to launch Star Trek, they were also kicking around ideas for a new TV series they hoped to do together. "We actually ended up staying an extra night here because we were so close to figuring out the exact story for Fringe," Orci said. "We like to say that the show in a way was conceived here." The timing wasn't the only reason: The three also combed Comic-Con booths looking for old '50s sci fi comics ("We grabbed a handful of them and realized they all cost like $20 and were like, 'Whoa! Actually, we'll charge it to Warner Bros, it's fine.'"), pulling out images that they could use as inspiration. On their last day in San Diego, they hammered out the outline for the show, writing it down on hotel stationery. A year later, they were back to screen the completed pilot widely for the first time. They weren't worried about getting the Fringe name out there - the show already has a powerful advertising campaign from Fox, Orci said, along with a plum time slot after House. Instead, they were there for feedback from bloggers and other convention-goers who had seen the pilot and wanted to talk about it. "It used to be called focus groups," Orci said. Far from the types who claim not to read their own press, Orci and the Fringe team devour it. "You can always learn more," he said. For those who have now seen the pilot, a few teasers from Orci to keep you coming back: We might find out more about Peter (Joshua Jackson) and his childhood - things maybe even Peter doesn't know. We might meet the head of Massive Dynamic, the maybe-good, maybe-evil corporation at the center of the story. And, despite Abrams's promises that Fringe won't be as confusing as, say, Alias, every episode will drop a little clue of some sort for the next.

Geeky Fanboys and Girls Enjoy Dreamy Comic-Con Weekend!

Molly — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:45:00 PDT

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 PDT

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,

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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