Keanu Reeves tells Kevin Buist–in very inhuman terms–what it’s like to be an alien getting in touch with his “humanness,” just before Kevin gets melted by a cosmic glare for being near Keanu at Comic-Con. So, what’s up with all these A-list Hollywood types going to a comic book convention? Kevin tells the story of his first Comic-Con visit.
Eureka! One of the great documentaries to slip through the cracks in 2004 was released this week through new DVD label, Carnivalesque FIlms. Mardi Gras: Made in China deftly examines globalization by stringing together life in a Chinese bead factory with the drunken, breast-baring party life of New Orleans during Mardi Gras.
Plus, a listener emails us two movies about female vigilantes. Can you guess what they are?
FilmCouch 81 [30:14m]:
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The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
The Troma panel at Comic-Con gets smaller every year, but the sense that you’re at a really fucked up family reunion never dissipates. “What I find is amazing about Lloyd, is that everybody is connected to him in some fashion,” said panelist Steven Paul at yesterday’s session. He gestured at the room––the smallest I entered all weekend. “I bet everyone here has acted in a Lloyd Kaufman film.”
Not quite, but part of the reason to show up to this thing every year is to see which disparate characters Lloyd will rope into making an appearance. This year, there wasn’t a guest more unexpected than Paul, a producer on Ghost Rider, the visual effects producer on Karate Dog (!!!), and the man responsible for a number of upcoming “is that really necessary?” video game adaptations, including Castlevania and Tekken. What, exactly, was this guy doing on what Kaufman himself billed as “a panel of independent thinkers?” “I at one time was Steven’s teacher,” Kaufman boasted. “So there’s a little bit of Troma in the mainstream world!”
Maybe more than a little bit. Seated on the far end of the table was Mark Neveldine, co-writer/director of the budding Jason Statham franchise, Crank. “You’ll have to excuse me, because this is the first panel I’ve been sober for,” Neveldine cracked with pitch perfect post-frat bravado––now that nerds are inheriting the earth, an awful lot of them look and sound suspiciously like recurring characters on Entourage. What’s this guy’s connection to Kaufman? He’s apparently Troma’s most dedicated plagiarist.
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The filmmakers behind two upcoming animated epics, Bolt and UP, present footage. Highlights:
- Bolt looks like a resolutely family-oriented film about a celebrity dog who thinks he’s at war with cats. Cute!
- UP looks like a Pixar-meets-Miyazaki art film version of About Schmidt. It made fanboys run for the exits.
Full transcript after the jump.
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Kevin Spacey was on hand to introduce the movie he produced two years ago, and which has become the film that won’t come out, and the movie that wouldn’t die. Spacey joked during the introduction, “I’d like to welcome you to our third annual Comic-Con screening… and wait until you see what we have for you next year! More footage! Then we’ll have a DVD release with more extras! And then… we’re going to series!”
It ain’t too far from the truth. This little movie about friends who take a roadtrip from Ohio to Skywalker Ranch in Northern California in order to steal a copy of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace for their friend who is dying of cancer has had two major bonuses that have turned into setbacks. First, George Lucas saw the movie, basically gave his blessing to the film and offered up the chance to use actual Star Wars sound effects. Then the filmmakers got more money, and decided to add some scenes which required reshoots. However, the actors weren’t available, so that affected the setback even more.
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The suddenly massive contingent of preteen female Comic-Con attendees swooned at the sight of Korean pop star/Ninja Assassin star Rain, and 300/RocknRolla hunk Gerard Butler, at Joel Silver’s Dark Castle Entertainment presentation. Jeremy Piven threatened to take his shirt off. Crickets.
Highlights:
–Dark Castle is investing in a bunch of direct-to-DVD sequels of moderate horror hits; judging by the reaction to The Hills Run Red, no one cares.
–”Korean music video sensation” Rain is a legitimate sensation. At least with the girls who were just still a little turned on from Twilight. Boys hold their hardons for “Gerry” Butler.
–Asking Joel Silver, Jeremy Piven and/or Guy Ritchie for words of encouragement is just about the biggest faux pas you can make as an attendee in Hall H.
–Joel Silver reveals the ten-words-or-less pitch that landed financing for Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movie.
–Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s relationship was solid enough during filming of RocknRolla that she was tasked with shooting syringes into Gerard Butler’s ass.
Full live blog transcript after the jump.
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So, it’s only the Thursday schedule they’re leaking over at the San Diego headquarters for Comic-Con, but it looks packed.
Start the day with a coffee and Click & Clack, The Tappit Brothers (only PBS would cash in on primetime Family Guy territory with an animated NPR talk show), then head over for a sneak peak at Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly in a remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, more campy source material to convert into a money maker. (Check back, we’ll be liveblogging Comic-Con 2008 when it starts, July 24.)
Read the full Thursday schedule for Comic-Con 2008 after the jump.
UPDATE: At the request of a WB publicist, we made a correction to the information below on the Dark Castle Entertainment panel.
UPDATE 2: David Glanzer from Comic-Con has left a comment below. David says: “Just a heads up that the schedule was for internal use and isn’t the “official” schedule. There are still changes to be made, so this isn’t a final.”
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