WEDNESDAY
Not a whole lot to report on Wednesday, as it was only the Preview Night, but I will give a brief recount of my experiences. I arrive in San Diego at 3:25 PM and enjoy the numerous banners strewn about the city with various comic book heroes adorning them. That was nice. I make my way to the Convention Center, spot my first Storm Trooper (of many), and after a brief mix-up with my Pre-Registration pass I get in line. And just whom is two persons behind me, you ask? None other than Andrew Kevin Walker, of Se7en and Sleepy Hollow fame, who unfortunately looks rather down for some reason or another (I could be wrong, but that was the vibe I received). So I choose to leave him alone. I regretted it a bit later, as I am a very big fan, but it certainly seemed like the thing to do at the time.
Wednesday at The Con only lasted three hours, so I didn't get the opportunity to do particularly much except meet a few professionals (Brian Michael Bendis of Powers and Ultimate Spider-Man is a particularly nice guy, if I do say so myself… and I do), and spend quite a bit of time at the Time Machine exhibit. I hope my pictures of the machine, taken from various angles, come out, as it really is an impressive piece of production design from any vantage. Whether or not the movie is any good - which remains to be seen - that machine is pretty damn cool, managing to combine the old-fashioned sci-fi look of the classic movie and some of the more modern and flashy work of The Fifth Element into a highly effective prop. Also present were several other props, including what I presume was a Morlok cage (Sp? It's been a while since I've read the book.), a piece of the Titanic Memorial (an interesting and clever addition to the storyline, although it is reminiscent of Jack Finney's From Time To Time) and Vox, a computerized library of some kind which looks vaguely reminiscent of an all-black Poke-ball.
The rest of the evening was uneventful, except for Hollyfeld getting hopelessly lost late at night in San Diego whilst desperately looking for a place to sleep in relative safety. It was found, I slept, and it was Thursday.
THURSDAY
I get up early on Thursday in order to pick up my press badge and make my official rounds. The first person I run into is Batton Lash, creator of the Wolff and Byrd comic books, and writer for Bongo. There was a lot of buzz surrounding a potential Wolff and Byrd movie a couple of years ago, so I asked him if we were still going to see it. His response?
"It took ten years for Batman to get made. It took 15 years for X-Men to get made. Look how long it took Spider-Man to get made! It took a long, long time… and those were popular!"
Good point. He assured me, however, that the movie is still in development, and that he is still getting paid for working on it. Let's just hope it won't take as long as Spider-Man did, hmm?
After a bit of aimless wandering I once again go over the Time Machine exhibit, where I notice that the great Stan Winston is answering questions to a rapidly swelling crowd. Unfortunately, I seem to get there on the tail end of his Time Machine discussion, and I only get a few little tidbits about the production, all about his work on the Morloks (again, Sp?). Someone asked about the amount of detail with which we would see "what they do," presumably implying cannibalism, to which Stan replied, "Not a lot." Eventually stating that the Morloks "Are the climax of the film, not the whole story." He also went into some detail about the characters' prosthetics, which sounded incredibly complex, especially for a guy who prefers to take notes as opposed to using recording devices. (I'll have to buy one before next year, though.)
Stan Winston did let slip a few other pieces of information about various projects, including the fact that he is considering doing a Dark Crystal-esque creature film a la Shrek, the exception being that you couldn't tell it was animated. His company is also in the process of putting together a Stan Winston Studios book, though I didn't catch a release date. Not for a while, it seems. When talking about his past projects, he expressed some disappointment about Godzilla, a movie he wanted to work on. He mentioned that he had done some pre-production work for Jan De Bont back when the director was still on the project, and had even designed a "Godzilla that really looked like Godzilla," as opposed to a T-Rex reject. On the subject of A.I., he stated that it was probably the most difficult project he had ever worked on, and that the most difficult special effect was the character of Teddy, a puppet who had fifty points of motion to the T-Rex's 46 and the Spinosaurus's 48. Finally, I get to ask a question, something along the lines of:
"Was the Chris Rock character in A.I. planned from the beginning? What was the intended effect of that?"
Stan Winston replied by assuring that that particular robot was indeed designed for Chris Rock's voice, and the effect was to be that "all robots have a function," and Chris Rock was playing "a comedian robot."
Stan also said that at the end of Jurassic Park III he suggested that they play Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Robots with the T-Rex and the Spinosaurus, and that the Spinosaurus rapidly, and literally, ripped the T-Rex's head off. They filmed it - hopefully it will be on the DVD.
Next on the list I get in the MASSIVE line to get Elvira's autograph (for my sister… and myself), and eventually get a few comics signed and a picture with the Mistress of the Night herself. I never would of thought of her as a redhead, incidentally. Anyway, she was an absolute doll and although I attended the premiere of her latest film, Elvira's Haunted Hills, I have decided to refrain from reviewing it for various reasons. I'll say this, though: It is VERY cute. Not in a puppy dog way, but the metaphorical way. It's an extremely (and intentionally) cheesy homage to the old Roger Corman horror films of the sixties, particularly The Pit and The Pendulum, and is completely unrelated to the previous Elvira film, except in that Cassandra Peterson is, of course, always Elvira, with such classic lines as, "Oh no! Please, Mr. Big Bad Pirate! Please don't pillage my booty!" Hell, she even makes the ultra-corny, "I'm a little sheepish when it comes to wolves" line seem funny as hell. Perhaps I'm biased, being a long-time Elvira fan, but I love the movie and can honestly say it's better than the last several films that Mel Brooks has come out with.
Afterwards, at the Haunted Hills Q&A session, both she and her husband/producer Mark Pierson revealed the reason why it has been so long between movies - the duo had been working on films and TV shows for the last ten years or so, but being unable to get anything made they finally decided to finance something themselves, taking a long time with the script and only shooting for about five weeks.
Other Q&A's:
On how she maintains her figure: "Working out is kind of my job now." Although she also stated that eventually she plans to stop and balloon up to 500 lbs.
On the set design: "It's meant to be cheesy," and again is based on the old Roger Corman films.
On Richard O'Brien's performance, playing Lord Hellsubus: The first choice for the role was Mick Jagger, who apparently liked it but had to drop out. Richard Chamberlain was then on board, but also dropped out. Richard O'Brien was a last minute replacement, and although he was a great, he was a bit of annoyance because he wanted to rewrite his scenes. He did, however, write his own monologue at the center of the film.
On when we'll see the film again: The film will hopefully premiere this Halloween, probably on TV (no mention of a potential station). As for a theatrical run, she and Pierson may take it on the road to the Rocky Horror Picture Show theaters.
On future television projects: She done a lot of unaired pilots and cartoon shows, but nothing has aired yet.
On her appearance this year at Knott's Scary Farm: She'll be there, performing both "Sweet Transvestite" AND an undisclosed song from "Moulin Rouge." She's thinking of titling her performance "Barely Legal," since it will mark her 20th year playing Elvira, Mistress of the Night.
On the inspiration for Haunted Hills: "There are several movies I ripped off… I mean, borrowed lines from." In particular, she mentioned The House of Usher, The House of Ligeia (her favorite, although I'm not sure I got the spelling right), The Haunted Palace and The Pit and the Pendulum.
On the occasion of someone saying, "I've been a fan of yours since I was a kid": "That's not possible."
On potential DVD extras: A "Making Of" video shot by Pierson, and maybe some outtakes - they're not sure because although the film will probably be rated PG-13, the outtakes feature some rather dirty language.
On the shooting stock: Haunted Hills was shot on 35mm because, "You can get a lot for your money in Romania."
On playing Elvira: She still loves doing it, and expressed her dislike of doing anything else, really.
Incidentally, my parents insisted that I call them Thursday afternoon, and upon telling them that I met Elvira my mother says, "Oh! I knew her!" And apparently she really did. Now if only she had told me that EARLIER, I might have had something to talk to her about.
Not much else at the Con until that evening, when I caught the premiere of director Andrew Lau's follow up to The Stormriders: The Duel. (Look for a review to appear in The Untitled Deadpool Column shortly.) However, introducing the film was Ric Meyer, an expert on Asian martial arts cinema and insider in the Asian film community, who let loose some information he had about a few upcoming projects.
Highbinders: "The Frighteners meets Police Story," starring Jackie Chan as a cop who dies, but returns to finish the case, finding that he can do all kinds amazing physical things now that he is dead. Sammo Hung is doing the choreography, shooting begins in Dublin July 30th, with the second half of production to be done next year in Asia.
The Tuxedo: Jackie Chan's next film begins shooting September 1st.
The Art of War: Jackie would like to do it, but it's not a sure thing just yet.
Soul Calibre: The film isn't officially on track, and neither is Sammo Hung's involvement. However, if the film gets made, they definitely want him to direct.
The Green Hornet: Not happening. In Meyer's words, it's "officially put to bed."
Blade 2: I don't know if this is news or not, but martial arts star Donnie Yen is in the film.
After the screening, I promptly go to bed. I was tired. Sleep was good, although I developed a crick in my neck.
And on that note, I leave you. Part 2, featuring coverage of three highly anticipated DVDs, the Kevin Smith files, and advance buzz on more movies than I remember right now. (Don't worry, I wrote it down.) See you there. Hollyfeld, out.