The Beat

The News Site of Comics Culture

California Dreaming, Part Three

by

sawyer

A special report by Zena Metal

Lost, Lost, Lost, Lost, mother’effen Lost! Arguably one of the greatest—and most heavily expounded upon—TV shows of the last millennium held its annual panel at San Diego Comic-Con, and being that the forthcoming season will also be the series’ last, both stars and creators upped the ante with lots of free giveaways and a ton of surprises.

– Actors Josh Holloway, Jorge Garcia, Michael Emerson, Nestor Carbonell, Dominic Monaghan, plus creators Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse all graced the dais while ducking questions about Season 6.

– Comedian Paul Scheer presented the Lost creators with a painting of the pair with a polar bear. Wanna see? There’s a Web site, of course.

– You can also enroll at Lost University.

– Folks were also buzzing about the V remake, starring Lost’s Elizabeth Mitchell.

Non-Lost Highlights:

– Some fresh dirt from the True Blood panel.

– My Chemical Romance frontman and UMBRELLA ACADEMY creator, Gerard Way, was out and about. Here’s some news he announced at the Dark Horse panel.

– The IRON MAN 2 panel was a star-studded affair, featuring leads Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Sam Rockwell, and Scarlett Johansson. For more details on the film footage shown, check out this post.

– Proving that he truly is the nicest guy in comics, Jim Lee gave out cookies at the WildStorm panel.

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 34

That is all for me, thank you and goodnight.

Photo courtesy of Jimmy Aquino

Zena

California Dreaming, Part Two

by

nice view
A special report by Zena Metal

Day Two of San Diego Comic-Con 2009 was a star-studded affair as dozens of Hollywood elites came down to pander their wares. A-list actors like Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Cameron Diaz, Megan Fox, Josh Brolin, and Robert Downey Jr. were among the bigger names making appearances whilst promoting a variety of films, including SHERLOCK HOLMES, DISTRICT 9, THE BOX, JONAH HEX and THE BOOK OF ELI.

– Folks seemed to have embraced the trailer for the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET reboot, which features WATCHMEN’s Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger.

– Other talent making the rounds on Twitpic include Felicia Day, Zoe Bell, Eliza Dushku, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Dominic Monaghan, Emily Deschanel, Kiefer Sutherland, and the ubiquitous Bruce Campbell. And sometimes, it just pays to be Eric Wareheim.

– The oddly titled HOT TUB TIME MACHINE, starring John Cusack, also debuted this red band trailer at SDCC.

– Daft Punk are scoring the forthcoming TRON movie and are considering touring to support the soundtrack.

– My girl crush on Diablo Cody continues. For video footage of her latest pixyish ‘do, check out this press clip for JENNIFER’S BODY.

– Peter Jackson got punked at the Entertainment Weekly panel. According to EW Pop Watch’s Marc Bernardin: “EW‘s panel just got punked by a crazy thirsty guy who came on stage and drank Peter Jackson’s water. Security prevailed.” Anybody have video?

– Pop Culture Geeks have uploaded a great collection of photos from the Con, giving special attention to action figures. Meanwhile, Parka Blogs focuses in on cosplayers.

– The big talk of last night’s party scene was the free Gwar concert sponsored by Vice. According to Zuda Comics’ Andy Belanger, it was “arguably the greatest metal show of all time… Walked out covered head to toe in fake blood, gross!”

Wonder how it’ll compare to tomorrow night’s Robot Chicken Skate Party. Tonight’s entertainment: Daughtry. Really.

– One of the big revelations at today’s Dollhouse panel was that revered comic artist John Cassaday will be directing an episode of the show’s second season. For more Dollhouse dirt, check out this recap. Spoiler alerts abound for this one.

– Everyone was abuzz about The Mighty Boosh panel. Have you seen this exclusive T-shirt?

– On the media gearhead tip, I’m happy that the hashtag [#sdcc] has finally taken off… far more elegant than the “Comic-Con” that’s been trending.

OK, time to drown my sorrows in a tall boy of Sapporo.

*Photo courtesy of Jimmy Palmiotti (who else?)

Zena

California Dreaming, Part One

by

200907241126

A special report by Zena Metal

Day One of San Diego Comic-Con 2009 has come and gone, and though my heart feels a little bit heavier for not being a part of it, I’ve resigned myself to playing armchair critic in addition to my role as The Beat’s second-string reporter this weekend.

Just think of me as a pop-culture Watcher: I observe and compile knowledge, but I can’t actually cause any of the fun trouble I’ve been known to evoke in past years. Below are some dispatches from the Con that made me feel a little warm inside.

– Not surprisingly, Comic-Con is trending highly on Twitter. If you want to personalize your own well-rounded SDCC-related feed, I suggest you follow these fine folks: Comic News Insider’s Jimmy Aquino, the ever-witty Ben McCool, mistress of Adult Swim Liz Mackie, Geeks of Doom, and Entertainment Weekly’s well-scrubbed Michael Ausiello.

– Here are some giant display movie posters for the JONAH HEX film, featuring Josh Brolin and Megan Fox.

– Star Trek cologne. Really? I never even knew the stuff existed, but apparently Khan got his own exclusive scent this week. It’s called (what else?) “Khaaann!”

–  An exclusive 25-minute trailer of James Cameron’s AVATAR seems to have made quite a good impression; there’s been a lot of chatter from attendees thrilled to see him collaborating with Sigourney Weaver again.

– Johnny Depp crashed Tim Burton’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND panel. I wonder if anyone asked him about his next role as principle in the Carol Channing biopic. Here’s a wrap-up with photos.

– Adult Swim creators recount their most awkward Comic-Con moments.

– John Lithgow will guest star in season four of Dexter, portraying the Trinity Killer, widely heralded as “the most dangerous serial killer ever.” Lithgow is perfect for the part; seriously, the dude has creeped me out ever since that one Twilight Zone episode with the doll. Eek! For more on the Dexter panel, check out EW’s coverage.

– Big ups to Twilight’s Kristen Stewart for rocking what looks like a Minor Threat T-shirt. I must say, even at twice her age, the real Joan Jett is still foxier.

–  Nathan Fillion is threatening to “whip Comic-Con into a frenzy” if he gets 100,000 followers on Twitter by Saturday. We get the feeling he’ll try either way.

– Someone can easily win my love by picking up this Voltron exclusive for me. Truly, this sexy black Designer vinyl is one of the quickest ways to my heart. Incidentally, this is the primary-colored metal god’s 25th anniversary.

– Seems that overcrowding is already an issue, as this quote of the day exemplifies: “Comic-Con is so packed, one bonehead thought it wise to yell ‘I have diarrhea! I have diarrhea!’ to try and part the crowd. It didn’t work.” – EW Pop Watch via Twitter

And it was just Day One…

P.S.: Photo courtesy of Parka Blogs.

Zena

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