FlickDirect’s Director’s Seat

We would like you to be aware, this was FlickDirect’s first Comic Con ever.  Making any kind of definitive statement about it is going to be at best a single glimpse in time.  That said, we did do a lot, so if you are thinking about going, you will hopefully find some good advice in here.

Lesson 1: Sign up early
Comic Con is big and sells out awfully fast.  By the summer, there might not be any hotels in the city available. With an estimated 120,000 people and individual events and over 6,000 people deciding to go that will be booking their hotel, their air-fare, and Comic Con tickets, which are all pre-requisites for a Comic Con experience.

Lesson 2: Do Some Homework
As press, we had some events that a regular attendee would not going to –our calendar was jam-packed with events, alternates, and things we would like to do, but just didn’t have time for.  Nathan did most of the planning up front; and if he had not done that, it would have been a disaster.

Lesson 3: It is Expensive
It is not too bad, but we found each meal to cost $100 for the four of us. That included some drinks, and we ate at restaurants; but if you are on a budget, expect to pay to eat.  A cookie inside the convention center costs $2.50; a can of whipped cream with your pancakes cost $5.000.

What it is Like
The main exhibition hall of the convention center is a vast corridor crammed with “booths”.  A booth could be anything from a vendor selling cute t-shirts to a two-story structure with cat-walks overhead.  There are displays of giant robots and Tron light cycles and all sorts of things.  There are people in uniforms (Cosplay) wandering around and professionals in costumes by some of their booths.  Both are usually up for pictures.

The panels themselves often take place in one of two or three giant auditoriums.  These are larger than conventional movie theaters — the people speaking may be so far away that you have to see them on projector screens that are hung at intervals through the crowd and through the auditorium.

To get into these sessions, especially the largest hall, Hall H, there is a line that can take several hours to navigate.  Most of the line is covered, but not all of it.  Bring sun screen, water, and be prepared to wait – you might even want to bring a book.  Our feet were hurting by the end of the day.  I would estimate we walked over three miles on our longer days — I plan to bring a pedometer next year.

Your data plan on your cell phone will stop working by day 2 of the Con — at least ours did. Although we were still able to get calls and text messages out, text is better than the phone for communicating with people at the Con because it can be so crowded and noisy.  However, forget about data.

If you want to talk to your favorite stars at a panel, have a question ready and go early to the microphones. There is limited time, and if the cast takes their time answering questions from the moderator, there might be no more than 5-10 fan questions.  If you do plan on asking a question, you will ask it first to the microphone person and then again when it is your turn to the star.  If you start saying something different, they will cut you off.

It’s Geek Heaven
Comic Con has become the biggest sci-fi/fantasy/whatever convention in the world. It is not big on novelists, but everything else gets the red carpet treatment.  If you are into any of the major franchises or any of the niche market stuff, chances are you will find something here for you. It is   big; it is exotic, and it comes once a year.  We were privileged to attend in 2010, and will be back for 2011!

- Marco

We were able to see the panels, and expanded trailers for Salt, Battle: Los Angeles, and Red – the three high -octane films coming out this year; actually Salt opens tonight.

SALT:  Seeing Angelina Jolie in person, answering questions for Salt was interesting.  Even at the front of a giant auditorium, she has screen presence.  It is interesting to note that unlike her male lead, Liev Schreiber, (a) she did weeks of combat training — he did almost none; and (b) she did all of her own stunts — he, apparently did none.

SALT looks like a kinetic Bourne-style thriller with an emphasis on realistic action and being ‘smart.’  Angelina said that she was attracted to the title character of Evelyn Salt because that character was damaged and a “little dark…a little off.”  She said, “Maybe I’m a little ‘off’ too.”

Battle:  Los Angeles is a science fiction thriller where a real incident of an anti-air battery firing on a UFO in the 1940′s turns out to be a prelude to an extra-terrestrial invasion in 2011.  The film stars Michelle Rodiguez (Avatar, Machette), and Aaron Eckhart as servicemen who are on the ground in the thick of terrifying battle scenes.

The action is patterned off of the now ubiquitous YouTube footage of real combat in Iraq.  The actors had to go through a three-week intensive boot camp in order to get the action right.  While my FlickDirect partners were split on it, I thought it looked intense and realistic.  The aliens are apparently designed to be different from Giger’s Alien and different from District 9′s insect/prawns, where the movie otherwise gets its look.  I plan to see it.

RED:  It is based on the Warren Ellis comic, and Warren Ellis was on the panel saying that since they paid him quite a lot of money, he was very happy with any liberties they took with his book. We also got to see Bruce Willis and the some of the other starts — but not even half of them because the movie is packed with big names – similar to The Expendables.  RED stands for Retired Extremely Dangerous and features a group of CIA assassins who are lined up for termination by their agency who take the fight back to them.

Bruce Willis shines in the trailer and was both magnetic and humble on stage.  We don’t get to see the “real Bruce”, but I get a sense that he is as likable in real life as he seems to be on the screen. RED is an action comedy and doesn’t go for realism.  It looks like a comic book adoption that really makes the most of its transition to the big screen.

We rounded out the rest of the day with a 1:1 interview with the co-directors of the upcoming Disney movie, Tangled (a Rapunzel based story).  Talking to the guys was a blast.  It is definitely the highest profile interview I have gotten a chance to do, and doing it in person was both slightly intimidating and quirt a rush.

The movie promises to be excellent; the guys are clearly ultra proud of both the job they have done and the responses they have gotten in audience testing.  As the first 3D Disney Princess, the movie threatens to break some of the molds that have gone before. I will be interested to see more as it rolls out.

-Marco

We attended the Tron panel with Jeff Bridges, the director, and the rest of the cast. The take-away is that this new vision of the Tron universe is going to be sort of an organic extension of the original 1982 movie.  The ARG and viral campaign fills in the copious back-story that the producers developed for the 20-year interlude.  The technology updates, from magic marker to actual internally lit ‘Tron suits’, as well as nascent CGI — where the original director lamented they were creating all this stuff; and the backs of 3D objects that no one would see as state-of-the-art 3D cameras that Cameron invented, will try to continue what the team saw as a foundation myth of the digital age.  The director’s origins in architecture give the film a look that promises to be as groundbreaking today as the original was two decades ago.

- Marco

Comic Con: First Morning

We arrived late in the evening (about 2:00 AM EST) and made it to bed.  The hotel is attached to the huge convention center, and it was starting to ramp up.  The press-booth for our badges was scheduled to open at 1 PM West-coast time.

The “Gaslight” district around the convention center is designed for mega-conventions and is now plastered with semi-ambiguous movie posters as well as more direct material for Tron, which is everywhere.

We had breakfast at the premier breakfast place (Richard Walker’s Pancake House) as was suggested to us by two convention center workers and a random guy on the street.  Due to the power of jet-lag and East Coast Time, we were fortunate we were able to get in before the line started, but outside — in the rain.

The pancakes were tasty, hot, and good, but even better, as our Founder and CEO Nathan Rose paid.

Getting badges is really the official start of the convention.  For Comic Con, it is a massive operation with lines stacked up and down the street. There is a hierarchy of people who are at the con as follows:

Attendee:  This is just a person off the streets.  They paid to be there, and if you try to buy an attendee ticket “at the door”, you are screwed: Comic Con is sold out.

• “I’m Looking for A +1″ Lower than the attendee is the guy hanging around outside asking if “anyone has a plus-one.”  That means “I don’t have a valid registration, so I am hoping someone here has a valid registration with an extra slot they will give to me.”  He didn’t say what he was offering for a “+1,” and I didn’t ask.
• Press & Pro:  Above that is Press (us) and Pro.  I could not figure out what “Pro” meant since it is certainly not ‘the Talent’ (see below), but we got a special line; and the press, if we had our printed page with a bar-code…and our matching photo-ID was able to sign in before the Pros.  I suspect they are panelists who are less of a draw to the con and more promotional for their personal stuff, but I am not sure.
• Exhibitor: If you are an exhibitor, you get in early; and you have access to the massive exhibitor area.  Otherwise, you probably get access elsewhere (not press-level), but you are exhibiting, so you won’t have much time.
• The Talent:  If you are one of the guys who are actually a big draw, then you do not wait in lines; I suppose certainly no one saw Joss Wheedon waiting in a line; and you probably get all kinds of other comic-con perks.  Yes, they at least have some ‘they’ actually call “the talent.”

We received a massive bag, the size of which had to be seen to be believed.  We got a press-pass with a lanyard to hang around our necks, and a list of the upcoming activities for the week.

- Marco

Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment announced several early-bird initiatives video gamers can get their hands on for their upcoming action MMO game, DC Universe Online:

PC Collector’s Edition

Available for pre-order and at launch, a Collectors Edition of DC Universe Online will be available for PC only, and includes a statue of the Batman, concepted by reknowned comic book artist/executive creative director for the game, Jim Lee.  The statue depicts the Dark Knight leaping from a building, ready to rain justice down on evildoers.  The Collectors Edition also includes a limited edition Art of DCUO book, which includes 56 pages of the art, information on the making of the game and insight on some of the iconic characters players will encounter, plus a limited edition DC Universe Online: Legends Issue #0 comic, written by Tony Bedard (Green Lantern Corps) and illustrated by Oliver Nome, Michael Lopez and Livio Ramondelli with a variant cover by Jim Lee.

Retailer Pre-Order Programs

Several major retailers will be offering pre-order perks to customers, all of them including the ability to play as one of the DC Universe’s iconic characters, Batman!  Players will be able to play as the Dark Knight in an exclusive two-on-two (Player-vs.-Player) combat arena.  Some participating retailers will include the limited edition comic with pre-orders, and some participating retailers will include a unique in-game iconic weapon for player characters.

For a list of participating retailers and to pre order the game, click on the Pre-Order button at www.dcuniverseonline.com.

Digital Download Pre-Order

The PC version of DC Universe Online is also available for pre-order via Steam® and Direct2Drive® (D2D).  Steam customers will receive Bane’s Venom Injector as a pre-order item, while D2D users will get Mr. Freeze’s Zero Grenade.

Beta Registration Opens

Beta registration also opens today!  Potential superheroes and villains can now register for a chance to get in the beta and flex their muscles, helping to fine tune the game for launch this November!  To register for beta access, visit the game website www.dcuniverseonline.com and click on the beta registration link.

For a list of participating pre-order retailers, visit the websitewww.dcuniverseonline.com and click on the Pre Order button.

For beta registration, visit www.dcuniverseonline.com and click on the beta registration link.

To pre-order using Direct2Drive, visit the website atwww.direct2drive.com.

For pre ordering via Steam, visit the website atwww.steampowered.com.

HAWAII FIVE-0 kicked off production in Honolulu today with a traditional Hawaiian blessing in honor of its host culture.  Series stars Alex O’Loughlin, Scott Caan, Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, as well as the producers and the entireHAWAII FIVE-0 crew, participated. Kahu Kelekona Bishaw from Kamehameha Schools officiated over the ceremony, which included traditional royal maile leis, a Pule Wehe (opening prayer) and Pule Ho’oku’u (closing prayer) calling upon the elements and inviting goodness, protection, peace, happiness and success.  Joining in the celebration was Police Chief Louis M. Kealoha.

HAWAII FIVE-0 is a contemporary take on the classic series about a new elite federalized task force whose mission is to wipe out the crime that washes up on the Islands’ sun-drenched beaches.  Detective Steve McGarrett, a decorated Naval officer-turned-cop, returns to Oahu to investigate his father’s murder and stays after Hawaii’s Governor persuades him to head up the new team: his rules, her backing, no red tape and full blanket authority to hunt down the biggest “game” in town.  Joining McGarrett is Detective Danny “Danno” Williams, a newly relocated ex-New Jersey cop – a working man in paradise who prefers skyscrapers to the coastline – but who’s committed to keeping the Islands safe for his 8-year-old daughter; and Chin Ho Kelly, an ex-Honolulu Police Detective, and former protégé of McGarrett’s father, wrongly accused of corruption and relegated to a federal security patrol. Chin’s cousin, Kono, is a beautiful and fearless native, fresh out of the academy and eager to establish herself among the department’s elite. McGarrett, repairing his relationship with his estranged sister, Mary Ann, vows to bring closure to their father’s case.  The state’s brash new FIVE-0 unit, who may spar and jest among themselves, is determined to eliminate the seedy elements from the 50th state.  Peter Lenkov, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are executive producers for CBS Television Studios.  The series will debut this fall and air Monday nights at 10:00 PM, ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

For the latest updates on all things HAWAII FIVE-0 and behind-the-scenes coverage of Comic-Con 2010, follow us at http://www.cbs.com/primetime/hawaii_five_o/video/, www.twitter.com/HawaiiFive0CBS #H50, www.twitter.com/CBSTweet andFacebook.com/Hawaii-Five-0.

The stars and producers of AMC’s highly-anticipated series The Walking Dead, based on the comic book written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics, will descend on Comic Con 2010 for a panel event and exclusive sneak preview of the original drama.

The Walking Dead panel, scheduled for Friday, July 23 at 11:30AM in room 6BCF, will feature series stars Andrew Lincoln (Love Actually), Jon Bernthal (The Pacific), Sarah Wayne Callies (Prison Break), Laurie Holden (The Mist), and Emma Bell (Law & Order). Joining the cast are writer, director, executive producer and three-time Academy Award nominee Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile); executive producers Kirkman and Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator, Aliens, Armageddon), make-up artist Greg Nicotero (George Romero’s Land of the Dead, The Mist); and Joel Stillerman, AMC’s SVP of original programming, production and digital content.

During the hour-long event, moderator Eric Moro of IGN.com will lead panelists in a discussion about their experience shooting the series in Atlanta, and the process of bringing Kirkman’s comic book to life on the small screen, among other topics, followed by an exclusive first look atThe Walking Dead, and a Q&A session with attendees.

The Walking Dead panel will be complemented by a number of on-the-ground activities taking place throughout Comic Con:

• Attendees will have an opportunity to get “zombified” by visiting “The Walking Dead” booth and putting themselves into a zombie scene from the series via a touch screen and AMC will email the photo to them.

• AMC will distribute limited edition The Walking Dead series posters from internationally recognized movie poster artist, Drew Struzan (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Blade Runner, Hellboy and more).

• An autograph session will take place with Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Frank Darabont, Robert Kirkman, Greg Nicotero and Gale Anne Hurd in the Image Comic Books booth.

• AMC will distribute limited edition The Walking Dead series buttons.

• AMC will have The Walking Dead walkers around the convention center and booth.

• The Walking Dead booth will be a semi-recreation of a scene from the pilot episode.

The Walking Dead will premiere this October during AMC Fearfest, the network’s annual blockbuster marathon of thriller and horror films.

The much anticipated Spike Scream Awards wasn’t all about horror this year. If the star studded line up is a reflection of a new trend, then Fantasy Action and Sci Fi are the new horror.

So say the Spike Scream Awards, so say we all.

Sure, there will always be a place for the well made or large budgeted horror film, but even horror audiences are flocking to Fantasy fair and Sci Fi flicks. It all started with the Xena and Hercules series and has culminated with epics like the Harry Potter and Twilight.

The Spike Scream
Awards Red carpet was studded with stars like Liv Tyler and Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings), Tobey Maguire (Spiderman fantasy), Stan Lee, and SciFi stars like Grace Park, Katee Sackoff, Kate Vernon (all from Battlestar Galactica) and surprise guest William Shatner.

Tobey Maguire  and Stan Lee:

FlickDirect caught up with Kate Vernon who plays Ellen Tigh on Battlestar Galactica. Who told us that she doesn’t consider herself a scream queen, but she does support independent films (even horror films) and loves working on indy projects just as much as the big budget ones.

Spike Awards 2009 Kate Vernon

We also had a word with the charming Grace Park, another Battlestar Galactica Cylon. Grace is one of the few actresses who gets to play multiple characters in the same show, and has many love interests (speaking of  fantasy!) sometimes simultaneously. Although she wouldn’t give away her secrets for keeping it all straight, she did share that she is going to be on the cover of Maxim Magazine just before her handler whisked her off of the carpet, and into the chasms of the Scream Awards proper. Rumor has it that her co-star Tricia Helfer will also share the cover with Grace.

Spike Awards 2009 Grace Park

After searching up and down, we finally found a horror film actor Dileep Roa. With his lack of credits, I want to call him an up and comer – but he’s already there. Dileep seems to have come out of nowhere, and landed roles in two of the biggest horror films of 2009. Drag me to Hell, and Avatar.
Oh, wait, scratch that. Avatar is a Sci Fi film. Sorry about that Mr. Cameron.

Megan  Fox:

“Big Bang  Theory” and “Battlestar  Galactica:”

Taylor Lautner:

Jessica  Alba:

Spike Awards 2009 FlickDirect's Tara Cardinal, Hollywood Liason

It’s August and the Florida heat is so strong that  our developer is begging us for new ideas and asking us  to stay inside and code.  With this invigorated effort by them, FlickDirect, Inc is proud to announce the new FlickDirect/Twitter feature.  Just link your twitter account on your FlickDirect member profile page http://www.flickdirect.com/members/movie-user-profile.aspx (after you log in your account), and any comment you post on FlickDirect is shared with your friends on Twitter.

After watching Public Enemies, which has gotten some favorable reviews, it dawned on me:  Should I let you know what I look for in movies to determine how their “letter” grade – almost like a teacher?  While that sounds kind of childish, I think it will work.

I break down the movies I watch into five different parts:

• Story/script/plot development
• Cinematography
• Acting/chemistry between the actors
• Use of locations/costumes/special effects
• Movie Score

Every now and then a movie may earn extra points, for things like they are good in their genre, or for something special that couldn’t be included in the five categories.

Story/script/plot development:

This accounts for 25% of the movie’s score.  Story is basically overall how the story is crafted, and if you can have an acceptable amount of the suspension of disbelief to fully immerse yourself in the film.  The script deals with the dialogue, and how this relates to the film as a whole.  Inappropriate language that isn’t necessary to advance the story/plot can result in a large reduction of this portion of the score.  Finally, plot development:  How the whole plot comes together, whether subplots are ever resolved, and if the plot as a whole is believable.  Granted, these are reviewed as part of the context of the movie.

Cinematography:

This accounts for 20% of the movie’s score.  While it mostly consists of the obvious – how the movie was shot, cameras/support used (i.e. things like the handheld/mounted to a body technique which seems to be growing in popularity), it can also include the specific angles of the shots used in the cut shown.

Acting/Chemistry between the actors:

This one can sometimes be hard to judge.  While it’s mainly how the actors take the scripts they are given and morph themselves into the role.  Are they believable as that character or are they giving the same performance as last time.  An example of this is Kevin Costner, who seems to always be playing himself no matter the movie, while Johnny Depp seems to meld into the characters he plays.  Additionally, if the leading characters don’t have any chemistry (if applicable), and it’s noticeable, this can hurt their score.  This section accounts for 20% of the movie’s score.

Use of locations/costumes/special effects:

This one is a catchall for the what seems to be the biggest part of many movies now arriving at your local box office.  However, are the locations used appropriate for the movie?  Or are there obvious errors that distract from the movie?  Are the costumes appropriate for the period?  Special effects:  Is it enough?  Are they of good enough quality for the movie, or are they obviously low-budget?  Or perhaps too many special effects for the movie?  This accounts for 20% of the movie’s score.

Movie Score:

This accounts for the last 15% of the overall score.  I’ll admit.  I’m a movie score buff – if given the chance I’d could probably survive having only movie soundtracks to listen to.  A good movie score can take a so-so movie and bump it up, while a so-so score can drag a movie down.

I plan on grading each of these from A-F (whole numbers, A means 4, F is 0), do the percentages, and come up with an average like school.

3.5 to 4 is an A, 2.5 to 3.49 is a B, 1.5 to 2.49 is a C, 0.5 to 1.49 is a D, anything less than 0.5 is an F.