The first panel of the day featured a wide selection of upcoming Warner Bros. films.  It was a really exciting event, showcasing a lot of great looking projects.  Warner Bros. began by featuring their live-action version of Where the Wild Things Are, being released later this year.  Wild Things star Max Records came out to introduce a series of clips.  He came across very nervous but charming, and the audience seemed to love him.  There was a lot of footage really showcasing the creature effects as well as the world in which they reside.  Overall, director Spike Jonze seems to have done a great job capturing the tone of the story, yet enhancing it in his own way.  Based on the audience’s enthusiastic response, Warner Bros. seems to have a hit on their hands.

Next up was Book of Eli, a post-apocalyptic actioner featuring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, and Mila Kunis.  All three made an appearance, as did directors Alan and Albert Hughes.  They showed the atmospheric teaser, and then proceeded with an audience Question and Answer session.  I hadn’t heard of the film before this, and it definitely looks interesting.  The presentation didn’t leave a huge impression, but it created awareness, and is definitely something I’ll be paying attention to as it gets closer to release.  Also of note is the revelation from Gary Oldman that the next Batman film WILL begin filming next year, for a release in two years.

Immediately following this presentation came the Nightmare on Elm Street remake.  I am a huge Nightmare on Elm Street fan, and found myself simultaneously nervous yet excited to see what they had done to my beloved franchise.  I am extremely pleased to report that the teaser looked great.  Unlike most of the horror remakes, reimaginings, etc. this seemed full of atmosphere and suspence.  And yes, it featured the famous Freddy jumprope chant.  They didn’t showcase the new makeup on Freddy, but the iconic hat and sweater were the same.  So far, this one is looking promising.

One of the big surprises of their presentation was for The Box, the new film from Richard Kelly starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden.  All three showed up for the panel.  I had heard of the movie, but didn’t really know much about it.  They showed us four and a half minutes of the film, and it looks great.  Based on a short story by Richard Matheson from 1970, it felt like an episode of The Twilight Zone.  Set in 1976, it’s the story of what happens when a couple is presented with a choice.  If they push a button on a box, they will receive a million dollars but a stranger will die.  Of course, the button is pushed, and the rest of the movie shows what happens next.  I don’t know the context of everything shown, but it looks really intriguing.  During the Q&A session, Kelly informed us that the film contains no profanity and is desiged as thought-provoking, challenging fare.  I can’t wait. 

After this came Jonah Hex, based on the (apparently) very popular comic book.  I personally had never heard of the character, but the audience seemed extremely enthusiastic.  Of course, this may have also been due to the presence of Meagan Fox.  Either way, they showed the preview and then brought out the director and stars Josh Brolin and Fox.  Overall, I wasn’t too impressed.  The film was described as an “anti-hero spaghetti western” with lots of action and some supernatural elements.  It looked fun, but nothing more.  It was loud, there were lots of explosions, and from what I could tell, not much plot.  The film doesn’t ome out until next year, so maybe it will prove more compellng later on, but right now, I’m not sold.  The following Q&A proved almost as annoying as yesterday’s Twilight panel, with guys going to the microphone simply to drool over Fox.  Hearing how amazingly hot she is over and over again got really annoying, really fast. 

And Warner Bros. saved the best for last.  As soon as Jonah Hex finished, with no introduction whatsoever, Robert Downey Jr. came on stage and began talking up his new film, Sherlock Holmes.  I don’t think I’ve seen anybody play to an audience at Comic-Con as well as he did this morning.  He reeked of confidence, even joking about how extreme it is.  He had the audience eating out of his hands.  He played some footage, which all looked great, and then brought out his wife and Joel Silver, who served as producers on the film, and Rachel McAdams.  There was an informative Q&A session that went pretty in depth into the making of this film.  They talked a lot about the source material and the actual production itself.  This movie looks like a lot fun, and I think it will make a fortune

And that was the Warner Bros. panel.  It was a lot of fun, and there was a ton of great new footage.  They sold themselves well, and it looks like they have a series of films that will play well outside of the Comic-Con crowd.  There was lot of promise, and hopefully, they will all live up to these presentations.

Immediately following the Warner Bros. panel came the Disney animation panel.  So far, this and Avatar have been the highlights of the convention.  The panel began with no introductin, simply going straight into the opening scene of Toy Story 2.  In 3-D.  Yes, they are re-releasing the first two movies in three dimensions and it looks great.  The sequence shown was amazing.  It feels as if the movie was made for 3-D all along.  Everybody was completely blown away, and you could feel the excitement in the room as the scene progressed.  As soon as the footage ended, John Lasseter came out to thunderous applause.  He told us that for two weeks, beginning October 2, the first two Toy Story movies will be shown in this new format as a double feature. 

He then proceeded to show a specially made preview for the 3-D release.  The preview feature Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and Rex all discovering 3-D.  On top of being hilarious, it really demonstrated the power of this new technology. 

Next up came the director of Toy Story 3, Lee Unkrich.  Over three years in the making, this time will focus on “the day Andy grew up.”  It begins with him heading off to college and that’s all the plot they would give.  He did say that this film would be the most emotional of the three.  He then told us that Barbie’s role would be much bigger this time around, and as such, Ken would become the newest featured character.  Ken will be voiced by Michael Keaton, and based on the short film shown featuring Ken, he will fit right in.  The film was called “Groovin’ With Ken” and was supposedly a discovered interview with him back in the 60’s.  It was a hilarious introduction to the character, and the audience loved it.

After this came the Beauty and the Beast presentation.  Being released on Valentine’s Day, they have converted the film into probably the best 3-D I have ever seen.  Honestly, I thought the 3-D was more stunning than the new Toy Story footage.  Considering Beauty and the Beast was hand-drawn, I found this truly impressive.  This 3-D went beyond simply creating depth, it was truly immersive.  They showed the opening musical number in the town, and it felt like I was completely enveloped in the image.  I have never seen anything like it.

They transitioned from the Beauty and the Beast footage directly into something called Prep and Landing.  As Lasseter explained, Pixar has a tradition of creating short films to go with their feature films.  They do this both to encourage new talent as well as push the technology.  Chris Williams, the writer and director of Bolt, pitched a concept in which Santa’s elves go into each home to prepare for Santa’s arrival.  Lasseter decided that instead of making a Pixar short out of this, they would make it into a half-hour Christmas special through the Disney label.  They showed the opening sequence, and it was highly entertaining.  It wasn’t Pixar good, but it was really solid nonetheless.  Prep and Landing will air on ABC this holiday season.

After this, Lasseter started discussing his desire to bring back traditional hand-drawn animation at Disney.  At the beginning of the panel, he had explained that as soon as Pixar and Disney formed their partnership, the very first thing he did was reinstate hand-drawn animation.  And we are just now seeing the first results of this action.  The Princess and the Frog is the first film in this format to come from the Lasseter era at Disney.  After bringing out John Musker and Ron Clements, who also directed the Little Mermaid, they showed approximately eight minutes of the film.  There are seven original songs by Randy Newman and the first clip featured one these numbers.  It was extremely catchy and a great treat to see the return of this style work from Disney.  This particular sequence featured the villain, a Tarot-Card reading voodoo practitioner.  The other sequence involved the introduction of a firefly named Ray.  It wasn’t quite as exciting, but still a lot of fun.  I really hope this movie does well and proves that there is a desire for this type of work.

The last presentation at this panel was for Hayao Miyazaki.  A legend in the animation world, Miyazaki is response for such beloved films as My Neighbor Totoro, Spired Away, and Howl’s Moving Castle.  Next up for this animation giant is Ponyo, coming out on August 14 in 800 theatres (his widest release yet).  He got the longest standing ovation I have ever seen in my many years attending Comic-Con.  They showed us a pretty long sequence from the film, and it was gorgeus.  All hand-drawn, the sequence featured a lot of water and it looked great.  After this Lasseter and Miyazaki were presented with the Inkpot Award, a Comic-Con trophy given out for achievement in animation. 

Disney put on one of the best shows I’ve seen at the Convention.  The future is looking very bright for the future of animation, and I am extremely excited to welcome its return.

Comic-Con International 2009 is in full force!  This year the annual convention celebrates its 40^th anniversary.  No one who has visited Comic-Con over a decade ago could have ever imagined it to grow to be so large.  In fact, Comic-Con has become one of the largest trade shows in the world.  Originally featuring mostly comics, Comic-Con now covers everything from movies to fantasy drawings to little figurines.   I was of course here for the movies though.

I am interested in many other aspects of the convention, but it’s impossible to cover everything.  You will need quite a few people covering the many panels and events throughout each day.  Wednesday is now preview night and just as congested as the rest.  Therefore, below are some of the highlights from Thursday.

Hall H: –
Quite a crazy scene Thursday morning as all the crazy fans waited to see their favorite moviemakers and actors in Hall H.  This hall has a capacity of around 6,500 patrons and it can remain full all day.  We were unfortunately stuck with a Twilight panel later in the day.  This caused many tweens to be in line all day and taking up many spots during the earlier panels as they waited to get the best seats for Twilight.  Luckily, the Twilight fans seem to be mostly hidden.  It appears most Twilighter’s know that they are hated by most Comic-Con fans and the others are strictly there just for the one panel.  Not much are a bother since many are with their parents and keep to themselves as the other dressed-up fans take their presence at the convention.

A Christmas Carol –
I’ve already seen most of the footage of this Robert Zemeckis tale of the Christmas classic, but I would like to add that they decided to include roughly 5 more minutes to the scene screened last month.  The movie is still looking fantastic and utterly creepy!  I’m still not too sure how well this will sit with children though.  The audience seemed to really enjoy it, but I didn’t hear much of the buzz afterward.

One major note was Roger Zemeckis’s non-answer to an audience members question concerning the possibility of a Who Framed Roger Rabbit sequel.  He claimed he could neither confirm nor deny whether or not there was a sequel in works.  In regards to a follow up question about a possibility of 3D CGI use in the sequel, Zemeckis states that they will stick to 2D animation IF this film ever gets off the storyboard.

Alice in Wonderland –
Talk about an energetic applause!  The crowd erupted in applause when Alice in Wonderland was mentioned.  Of course without any less of applause, Tim Burton was called to the stage.  I guarantee you that every member of the audience was excited to be in the room at that time.  There was no new footage shown besides a trailer release.  This was however a different trailer then the official trailer released online.  Most of the footage is the same besides a couple different shots.  It’s cut a little differently and does not feature a narration by the Mad Hatter.  Nonetheless, everyone seemed thrilled.

Patton Oswalt, the panel’s moderator, loved it so much he showed three times and seemed generally excited.  Might I add Tim Burton had a little surprise for us.  Take a wild guess?  Well it surprised me.  Johhny Depp appeared on stage to a standing cheer of constant camera flashes with me included.  He only came out to say hi, which was enough for me.  He wasn’t listed on the program, but some people were quite upset he didn’t sit in on the Q & A session.

Some previously released concept art was displayed and character design was shortly discussed before moving on to…

TRON LEGACY –
Yes, that is the new official name of the sequel.  I am very happy that this isn’t a reboot but rather a sequel taking place many years in the future.  Due to the fact that I always thought the original was ridiculous even though being a classic, I didn’t have my hopes up on this.  Somehow director Joseph Kosinski has appeared to steer this franchise in the right direction.  I’m sure others behind the project including Sean Bailey and original writer and director Steve Bailey have helped out as well.

Jeff Bridges returns to his role as Kevin Flynn, but I was more concerned about the new art direction.  Great new concept art was shown including a new two-seater cycle that I believe was said can be used on and off the grid.  Also shown is a new take on the “light-cycle” as well as a 2.0 version that is supposed to be from the 80’s.  The test footage from last year was re-shown but now in 3D and another scene where the old arcade is found.   There wasn’t too much shown, but I hope that Tron Legacy appeals to more than just the past Tron fans.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meat Balls –
This movie has a very clever plot as Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures takes us on a goofy 3D adventure when a small town starts to rain food.  Odd… yes, fun… absolutely!  However, this corky film does not have much interest to me.  Although this should be a great film for families with younger children, I don’t expect this to do great in the box office.  The animation is basic and reminds me of new CG animated children television shows.  Hopefully this take on the classic children’s book will compensate for the lack of quality.

The Hole –
Joe Dante (Gremlins 1 & 2) is back with his new innocent horror film that he claims is not going to give children nightmares.  What is he talking about?  This film is about a hole found in a basement that is unlocked allowing crazy dolls to climb up and terrorize the children.  Sweet dreams kids!

The Hole is your classic, cheesy, scary movie that would have worked perfectly in 1990.  From the clips shown, there are no new tricks or story here.  The kids appear to have to just stop the evil characters coming after them while trying to stay away from random set-up shots in order to make you jump out of your seat.  For example, the kid quietly steps backward toward the camera as a hand reaches out to the kids’ shoulder strangely enough causing a really loud strike of noise.  So original, but in Joe Dante’s defense, he does claim this is his take back to 80’s horror genre.  Nothing to see here kids.  Keep the line moving.

The Final Destination –
Was there anything I need to say about this 4^th film of the franchise?  It claims to be THE Final Destination, but producer Craig Perry practically states that this is not necessarily the last of the franchise.  Say it ain’t so!  Perry started off by saying that he found a new way to tell the story by including 3D.  What he really is saying is that New Line Cinema figured that they could make the same movie with different outrageous ways to kill people as long as they just add the 3D tag to it.  The newly improved 3D technology is good, except it is never good just as a gimmick.  If I’m not mistaken, 3D is supposed to enhance the story.

3D is not an excuse to redo a film.  The Final Destination series needs to end.  The clipped showed plenty of 3D gore, but failed to show any type of new plot.  I guess if you want to see stakes going through people’s heads or body’s being sliced by chain-linked fences, then you have found the right movie.

Astro Boy –
At this point, me and half of the audience is forced to sit through Summit Entertainment panel to get to James Cameron Avatar.  Okay, it wasn’t Summit the audience was concerned about, but rather Twilight coming up.  That’s for later.

Astro Boy is a classic superhero CG animated story set in a futuristic world.  Our hero is a robotic kid with special powers that takes on many adventures but essentially is set to find his own destiny.  The new trailer revealed is cute, but hasn’t sold me.  The producers wanted to make a movie that would appeal to children and adults as well.  Astro Boy stars Freddie Highmore, Nicholas Cage, Nathan Lane, Donald Sutherland, and Kristen Bell along with exclusively announced at Comic-Con; Samuel L. Jackson and Charlize Theron.

Sorority Row –
It’s an Audrina Patridge movie.  You can probably judge whether or not you want to watch Sorority Row just from that.  This film has been in the works for a long time and already been test screened with little to no praise.  Sorority Row is about 5 sorority girls playing a prank on a guy by pretending he killed one of their sisters while having sex with her.  As the girl pretends to be dead, the prankee ends up killing her for real by accident.  It’s pretty ludicrous.

Everyone involved tries to cover up what happened only to be stalked by a serial killer that knows what they did.  Judging by the footage shown, this will be great for those teenagers who haven’t seen any I Know What You Did Last Summer films.  It looks like a fine horror film, but again, nothing new.  Besides, it’s Audrina Patridge from “The Hills” who got little to no cheers.  I guess there aren’t too many “The Hills” fans at Comic-Con.  Sadly enough, Carrie Fischer is in this movie. Strange choice for her, but would have made this panel much more interesting if she would have stopped by.

Sorority Row comes out September 11, 2009.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon –
After becoming deaf from the loud screeches from teenage girls sitting around me, two clips from the movie were shown.  Since I have no desire to see Robert Pattison and Taylor Lautna with their shirts off, I am going to have to say New Moon looks just as bad as the first film.  I have no doubt that all the hardcore fans will enjoy this second film.

The first clip features Bella, Kristen Stewart, being taught how to ride a motorcycle from Jacob.  Bella ends up falling of the bike because she keeps seeing Edward, Taylor Lautna, and is distracted.  Jacob quickly comes to the rescue by taking off his shirt and using it to wipe off the blood on her face.  It is blatantly obvious that these characters are just taking off their shirts to make their audience happy.   Everyone was laughing around me during these segments except for the few teenage girls behind me screaming and about to melt because their favorite actors were on stage.

The second scene features Bella running in an Egyptian looking town to get to Edward.  Excuse me for not really knowing as I have not seen the first film nor have I read the books.  Apparently Bella is stopping Edward from going into the sun, at least that’s what it seemed to me.  The clip cuts as Edward was just about to step outside, of course not before he took off his robe to reveal his man cleavage.  I guess it was nice to see Kristen Stewart running in slow-motion.

Speaking of Kristen, she definitely is the most eccentric out of the cast.  During the entire panel she would have her head down, running her hand through her hair, and staring off to space as if she was on something.  Everyone in the audience seemed to be making a big deal about this, but I’ve seen interviews of her before and this is how she acts.  No big deal.  All the main actors on the panel did seem to be a little out of it though; yet again the questions asked weren’t exactly compelling questions.

Avatar –

James Cameron’s return to feature film is looking good… looking real good!  James Cameron seems generally thrilled about this film and really built it up for everyone in attendance.  Cameron stated that this is a film that explores the curiosity he had during childhood.  It is for the 14-year-old boy with a great imagination in his head interested in elaborate new worlds and space exploration.

This film is absolutely beautiful.  In fact, it’s mesmerizing!  About 25 minutes of the film was shown featuring several different clips.  The bulk of the clips took place on a planet called Pandora with many different types of creatures in a completely new type of environment.  The world created by Cameron is even more amazing.  There is endless amounts of detail everywhere and being it is in 3D, makes it as if you apart of this world.  The few scenes shown were so captivating that I really started to feel I was living in this world.

Avatar was conceptualized 14 years ago, but due to limited money and special effects technology, Cameron had to shelve this treatment.  It was 4 years ago when he pulled this treatment out and realized how relevant it is to today.  Avatar is about our world and society as human beings and how we are practically destroying our own planet.  The film is about war and conservation of our environments yet told in a way much like Disney/Pixar’s Wall-E.

The acting by stars Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, and Zoe Saldana is fabulous.  Avatar features motion-capture technology allowing the actors to be in a stunning world that can be manipulated easily.  The creatures the humans transform into are of the native people of Pandora called the Na’vi.  These are 10-foot-tall blue creatures with tales and slightly different facial features.  The realism amazed me as I began to think I was just watching tall blue-painted actors run around the screen.

Avatar is going to be getting a lot of buzz soon.  Keep an eye out for this one.  If you cannot wait, James Cameron is holding “Avatar Day” Aug. 21^st where he is trying to get as many IMAX and big screens as possible to play 15 minutes of the movie for free.

Avatar comes out Spring 2011.

Drawn Together Movie: The Movie –
If you know “Drawn Together”, then you know how raunchy it is.  Just wait for the movie!  Expect more raunchiness and attacks at other famous cartoon characters.  Basically the plot is about how they don’t have a plot and need to find one in order to save the show from being cancelled.  This is quite funny as the show has been canceled.  They are trying to get Comedy Central to pick-up the show again though.

This panel was hilarious as all the voice actors besides Adam Corolla were there and did a sex scene in their voices and commented toward many other things in their respected voices.  I had no idea how talented these voice-actors were.  Their credits include “Rugrats”, “Animaniacs”, “Inspector Gadget” and more.  The movie looks great if you’re a fan of the tv show no doubt.