Last
year's superhero panels were the highlights for me, with Jennifer
Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Kate Mara, Daniel Radcliff, Ryan
Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and
many more in attendance.
This
year I had a pretty mixed balance of movie and TV pilots and previews, press
lines, art- and design-related programs, exhibit halls, interactive fan
experiences and live talk shows.
***
Here
are some of the memorable highlights: (please
note that TV pilots and panels will be on a separate article at a later time)
Movies
"Trolls" (November 4,
2016)
In attendance: director Mike
Mitchell, co-director Walt Dohrn, producer Gina Shay, stars Anna Kendrick,
Justin Timberlake and Christopher Mintz-Plasse
DreamWorks
Animation presented an animated comedy-adventure. A couple of incompatible trolls embark on a
rescue mission, filled with misadventures, to save their kidnapped friends. Music is an integral part of the story. It includes original music produced by Justin
Timberlake (he's a big hit with the moderator and fans) and classic songs. The final clip showed a grayed scene of trolls transforming into vibrant colors,
with the tune of "True Colors." The troll-haired fans livened the up the room,
especially during selfie time. The panel
took a selfie with the audience before exiting the stage.
Before leaving, the producer delivered a
public service announcement on body image.
It's important that the movie reflects normal body image, especially for
girls. It breaks the "princess rule."
The smurf-like characters come in all
types of body shapes.
***
"The Boss Baby" (March 31,
2017)
In attendance: director Tom McGrath, voice actor Alec
Baldwin
Alec
Baldwin made his first appearance at Comic-Con, bringing in a surprise footage. He took in the scene of the packed hall and was
wowed. In the animation, the baby is not
your average baby. He wears a business
suit, carries a briefcase, and speaks with authority and snark. The scenes between the boss baby and his
older brother, spliced together, didn't make much sense, except that they're
strangely hilarious.
***
"Snowden" (September 16,
2016)
In attendance: director Oliver
Stone, stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley and Zachary Quinto
"Fugitive. Soldier. Patriot. Traitor. Hero."
These words flashed on the screen, leading up to an intense
trailer.
A
trice Oscar winner, director Oliver Stone also made his first-time ever
appearance at Comic-Con. He wanted to tell a larger-than-life story
and reach out to the next generations. Screenplay
was initially a nightmare and needed to be simplified. Financing-wise, he was
turned down by every major studio. Stone
mentioned that he spoke to Edward Snowden and his lawyers. The infamous whistleblower, who was
responsible for the biggest data leak in U.S. history, was described in many
words. Still a mystery, he's an optimist,
cooperative yet covert, neat, polite and old-fashioned. He doesn't have any friends and he isn't
close to his family, but he has a long-term girlfriend, Lindsay Mills.
It's
an opinionated panel, and a very 'Snowden-friendly' one, with the presenters
passionately articulating their individual viewpoints about the controversial
subject, political and contemporary issues, such as privacy and government
transparency.
***
"Valerian and the City of a
Thousand Planets" (July 21, 2017)
In attendance: director Luc
Besson, producer Virginie Besson-Silla, stars Care Delevigne and Dane DeHaan
While
director Luc Besson had been to WonderCon, this marked his first time
at Comic-Con. He was greeted warmly and
presented with this year's Comic-Con Inkpot award. He put it aside for a dramatic effect, and
picked it back up after an enthusiastic reception to the frenzied footage.
Den
of Geek perhaps describes it best; it looks like a mix of "Mad Max
Fury," "Star Wars" and "The Fifth Element." Standout scenes include a young female
operative disarming two guards before running into a few small aliens, and a
frenetic scene where two agents, in a school bus, are doggedly pursued by an
alien-like creature across a desert before jumping into a spaceship.
Prior
to the sizzle reel, Besson-Silla introduced numerous colorful,
richly rendered concept arts - the city, planet, spacecrafts and aliens. The movie has 2,000 special effect shots,
compared to 200 in "The Fifth Element."
Based
on a French graphic novel, The movie is set in the year 2700 and tells a story
about two time-and-space traveling agents, Valerian and Laureline, who are
called to an intergalactic city of Alpha, inhabited by thousands of species (we may see
200 in the movie), to investigate threats to humanity.
***
"Power Rangers" (March 24,
2017)
In attendance: Naomi Scott,
Becky G., Ludi Lin and Dacre Montgomery
This
was a small, intimate panel hosted by Screen Junkies in a bar, away from
the convention center. Comic-Con
organizers should consider doing something like this for certain panels to make
more room for people. It's a decidedly
different setting and carried a more relaxed vibe. In this get-to-know session, the relatively
unknown, young and diverse cast were genuinely excited to be selected to play
the iconic characters. They recalled the
touching, disbelief, hilarious moments when they found out about the news.
***
The
biggest movie news streaming from Comic-Con this year include "Wonder
Woman" trailer, "Justice League" teaser, "Captain
Marvel" casting announcement (Brie Larson), introduction of Baby Groot
("Guardians of the Galaxy 2"), and updated logos of "Black
Panther," "Thor Raganok," "Guardians of the Galaxy 2"
and "Doctor Strange." From the
trailer, "Wonder Woman" looks very promising. Also check out the official poster if you haven't
already. Simply resplendent. Costumes used in the movie were featured inside the exhibit halls. "Suicide Squad" also had their costumes displayed for photo ops.
***
Press Lines
I
stopped by the CBS press room strictly for its stars lineup. Stars in the press lines include Daniela Ruah
and Eric Christian Olsen ("NCIS: Los Angeles"); Wilmer Valderrama ("NCIS");
Katharine McPhee, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Jadyn Wong ("Scorpion");
Kirsten Vangsness ("Criminal Minds"); Lucas Till and George Eads (the
new "MacGyver"). I could have
stayed for the roundtable, but I already did something similar at WonderCon earlier this spring with "Scorpion" and attended the new
"MacGyver" panel earlier in the day.
I don't watch either "NCIS: Los Angeles" or "Criminal Minds,"
so I wouldn't be able to formulate the best questions about the shows.
***
Live Talk Shows
The
live taping of the Conan O'Brien's show was arguably the hottest ticket in
town. Like last year, I scored
a VIP seat, so it was a no-brainer decision to go. The jokes and skits were pretty funny (superhero Conan, anyone?), but I was also
there for the special guests that evening, the cast of "Suicide Squad"
- Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Cara Delevingne, Joel Kinnaman, Viola
Davis, Jai Courtney, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Karen Fukuhara, Jay Hernandez
and Adam Beach. They were super chill, strolling
onto the stage dancing and having fun. Each
member of the audience left with a Funko, the Joker doll and an IMAX ticket for
the movie, which will premiere on August 5, 2016.
Another
event that I attended was the Syfy channel talk show hosted by Will
Arnett. The guests were Tony Hale, Alan
Tudyk, Zachary Levi, Rose McIver and Wilmer Valderrama. Valderrama came in a parachute, as if he just
landed onto the stage.
This
talk show was held outdoor, on a hotel rooftop deck. I was more interested in observing the
preparation of what would make a lively show on TV. The show runner pumped up the audience big
time, reminding us to up our energy. The
folks in interesting costumes were placed front and center. Like other talk shows, the show was a hybrid
of pre-scripted (host) and impromptu conversations (guests' responses). Acts were pre-planned.
***
Art & Design
Other
programmings I attended include art direction and worldbuilders. Security turns out to be a top concern for production designers. If you are sketching a
storyboard with a resurrected character, for example, a leak could kill an
entire plot. Marvel was said to have the
highest level of security. There was an
interesting tidbit about a timed script-reading. Once the time was up, even if you're not
finished reading, the script would be taken away and shredded.
As
far as worldbuilding, the rule of thumb is to not contradict your own rules
(i.e., the world where your characters live) down the line and understand the
limitations of your characters. And if you have to break the rules, make sure
that they make sense. Be consistent.
***
Interactive Fan Experiences
Outside
of the convention center, attractions were free and open to the public. Those of you without a badge, make a trek to
downtown next time and join in the celebration all around Gaslamp Quarter,
Petco Park and Seaport Village areas.
Motion poster is 'in' this year. Custom
memento is always memorable.
"Timeless,"
a new NBC TV series coming in the fall, take visitors back in time, though news
clips of milestone events in our history and time-travel simulation via Graviton.
Gravitron is a centrifugal force ride that
pins each rider against and up the wall, as the room is spinning around. The g-force is strongly felt on the chest and
up the chin and face. It's certainly a
unique experience. The show will feature
three strangers - a history professor, a soldier and a scientist - chasing criminal(s)
through time to prevent the past from being altered (and thus impacting the
present and the future).
"Timeless" left each visitor with a motion graphic photo that
shows a scene as if you're in a time machine running through time.
NBC also had another booth to introduce another TV
new series coming in the fall, "Emerald City." Details were kept under wrap except that the
show would be about the rise of a new 'Oz.' Visitors could stop by and create a
motion poster with the backdrop of a character's superpower or magic.
The
Hard Rock Cafe was transformed into "Suicide Squad" headquarters. Take a 360 degree photo inside of a Belle
Reve jail cell. Experience a virtual
reality scene from Harley Quinn's viewpoint during an attack. Do a personality test to determine which
character most fits you, and have an animated picture taken with the
character's head frame around your head.
Or create a tattoo in the Harley Quinn tattoo parlor. Another giveaway was an exclusive T-shirt
with a personalized skull imprint.
***
