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Triumph the Insult Comic Dog at Comic-Con

GiggleSugar — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:00:00 -0700

This goes without saying, but Triumph the Insult Comic Dog at Comic-Con, the comic book convention, is like shooting fish in a barrel. With zingers lobbed at them like "May the loneliness be with you," and "If you're here, who's at home disappointing your parents?" you wonder if these folks on camera have any common sense. Wouldn't you just run away when you saw this little punkass? This is a long video, but I just can't look away.

A Chat With Spaced's Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Jessica Hynes

BuzzSugar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:30:45 -0700

Hands down, one of the highlights of my Comic-Con experience was getting to meet Simon Pegg and his Spaced cohorts, despite the brevity of our interaction. I sat down for a quick roundtable interview with Pegg and his costar on Spaced, Jessica Hynes, along with Edgar Wright, Pegg's frequent partner in crime (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) and the director of Spaced.

In the British comedy, Pegg and Hynes play Tim and Daisy, who rent a flat in London under the pretense that they are a couple. The show is filled with pop culture references and surreal experiences, and if you haven't already, you ought to get ahold of the newly available Spaced DVDs. For now, check out some of the highlights from our chat.

Q: There are a lot of horror references in Spaced. How did that come about?

Edgar Wright: I think that really is my default setting of shooting everything like it was a horror film, for no apparent reason. I mean, there were definitely a lot of references in the script already, particularly to The Shining . . . The whole style of the show is very stylized and sort of kinetic because the characters are so drenched in pop culture, it’s almost like, if they ever had to describe their mundane lives, this [a horror movie] is what it would look like. So it’s almost like, you’re watching them recount their lives, rather than the actuality.

Simon Pegg: Yeah, 'cause they’re like, "I went to work in a kitchen and it was like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest." Or, "I walked into the room that time and it was like the f---ing Evil Dead," you know? And that’s what you actually see. All three of us love the idea of taking very mundane things and turning them into slightly more grand, cinematic things. Which we took forward into Shaun of the Dead as well after having learned that on Spaced. Jess and I certainly wanted to have this world that was defined by popular culture, shaped by it.

The trio expounds on this and other things (like their intense admiration of Arrested Development), so

EW's Filmmakers Panel With Smith, Apatow, Snyder and Miller

BuzzSugar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:30:03 -0700

Entertainment Weekly held a few "Visionaries" panels at Comic-Con that brought together some of the greats in the TV, movies and comic book worlds. At the filmmakers panel, it was mostly a kick to see Kevin Smith, Judd Apatow, Zack Snyder and Frank Miller all at one table. It turned into the Smith-Apatow comedy hour, but that seemed to suit the audience members (myself included) just fine. Check out some of the highlights below.

The whole panel was super bawdy and raunchy, mostly due to Smith and Apatow making dirty jokes about each other. And then there was the smiling, friendly-faced Zack Snyder, who awkwardly bumbled out an answer to a question, after which there were about three beats of silence before Smith said, "Thank God your visuals are so strong, man." Smith later marveled at how awesome Snyder's Watchmen looks, saying he could die once he sees that movie.
Apatow talked about his raunchy comedies: "You have to find out: how much penis can you show in a movie without clearing an entire room?" Meanwhile, Smith nodded, deadpan, like he totally understood.
Smith: "I go with my gut, but my gut has lied to me in the past, like, when my gut said, 'Yeah, Jersey Girl's a great idea!'"
Frank Miller: "Very early on I learned I was incompetent at anything else. So I started to make comic books."

More on comics, geek culture, and how comedians differ from rappers (according to Apatow), if you

Lost Producers Say Seasons Five and Six Will Be Rewarding

BuzzSugar — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:43:26 -0700

I'd expected the Lost panel here at Comic-Con to be as intense, fan-wise, as the Heroes one was, and there were certainly lots of fans in the audience, but the whole vibe of the thing was a little different — totally playful and fun. Executive producers/writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse sat onstage fielding questions from the audience and giving out gifts to each person who asked a question. The gifts were chosen based on what the topic was that the fan was asking about, so for example, a young man who looked a lot like Hurley was awarded a large tub of Dharma-issued ranch dressing. The producers also claimed that Dharma was sponsoring the panel here at Comic-Con.

They also chose a few of the people who took the tests at the Dharma recruitment booths on the exhibit floor to come onstage and then leave with a Dharma recruitment guy, Hans von Egan. They gave one of these chosen people a camera with which to "secretly" capture what went on when Egan took the group to a booth where they were shown a scratchy Dharma video of Marvin Candle who revealed that his real name is Pierre Cheng. In the video (which Cheng said was filmed 30 years ago), there was a screaming baby in the background until Cheng instructed someone to take the baby away. He implored the viewer to "complete the research." He said the Dharma Initiative "must be reconstituted" and he mentioned Einstein's field equations.

His most clear message was this: "Time is not just of the essence, it is the essence." In typical Lost form, the person running the camera eventually said that making the video was pointless, and the footage cut out as Cheng protested that they should keep taping.

So, there was that. From all the fan questions, we got a few more tidbits, though nothing too juicy. There was also no real footage to show, of course, since they haven't started shooting yet. Still, it was so much fun to be in a room full of Lost nerds who got every reference and insider joke. To see some of the little things we learned from the panel,

First Episode of Heroes Season Three Screened at Comic-Con

BuzzSugar — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:15:03 -0700

And I got to see it! The Comic-Con started off with executive producer Jeph Loeb profusely thanking all the loyal fans and all the Comic-Con attendees from a couple years ago for getting the word out about Heroes. The whole cast came onstage, followed by Tim Kring whose wrist was handcuffed to a metal briefcase, which he referred to as "a big giant thank you to all of you." The cheering was deafening (I should add that there were some die-hard fans who had camped out overnight to be first in the convention center for this panel; the crowd was enthusiastic, to put it mildly) as Kring pulled out a DVD which he said contained the whole first episode of the next season.

And I don't think I was too influenced by all the intense excitement generated by thousands of Heroes fans when I say that I was really impressed with the season premiere. The writing is just better, the pacing is exciting without being way too much stuff at a time, and there aren't like, 64 new heroes. I was sometimes frustrated with the last season, for various reasons, and this episode totally wiped the slate clean. In fact, I have a newly bolstered respect for Heroes. I really think they'll deliver an awesome season, if the premiere is any indication.

I won't reveal anything specific about the plot but if you want a tiny taste of what we got to see this morning,

The Spirit Looks Good, Watchmen Looks Freaking Awesome

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:33:41 -0700

Yeah, another dispatch from Comic-Con today but I just had to share because I attended the panels for Watchmen (see: photo below) and The Spirit today and both were so exciting. The one for Watchmen in particular was not only coolest in terms of the footage we got to see, but also because of the funny, laid-back vibe of the panel. I think Zack Snyder with his friendly, boy-next-door ways pretty much set the tone for that.

More on that later. First, some thoughts on Frank Miller's film version of Will Eisner's The Spirit:

There are two things that I really loved about The Spirit footage we saw and the panel itself. For one, the movie truly looks like a comic book, and it's a lot of fun to watch. Jaime King described it as visually "intoxicating," which I could see. Secondly, Samuel L. Jackson was at the panel and he was a great interviewee. He chuckled when the topic of his Spirit character's Nazi costume came up. "That was awesome. I was a Nazi! Nick Fury became a black skinhead."
That said, there was something about both the movie and the panel that was a little empty and detached. Miller completely admits that if a woman is in his movies, she's gonna be hot and wearing tight clothing. And that's fine. His choice, etc. But there's a line between making an artistic choice and objectifying women, and Miller skates that line.
Finally, there's the issue of the Spirit himself, played by Gabriel Macht. I think Macht is an incredibly cute guy. And the character of the hero of the film is an important one to cast. On this topic, Miller mentioned that Hollywood has many fine male actors, but "not many men." Which is why, he says, we hold onto the Bruce Willises and Harrison Fords and Clive Owens (his examples, all). And then. . . he chose Gabriel Macht to be his manly hero? I thought the footage they showed us from the movie would explain this a little more, but not so. Onscreen as the Spirit, Macht is likable and funny and cute, but he's not the heroic "man" that Miller referenced earlier, which struck me as odd.

For some of my thoughts on Watchmen sneak peek,

Lucy Lawless Tells Kevin Smith What's What at Comic-Con

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:30:22 -0700

I would have wanted to attend a panel on women in the sci-fi, horror, and comic book genres anyway, but the fact that it was moderated by Kevin Smith just sealed the deal. And I didn't realize I was in for such a comedy show. Smith was, as one might expect, hilariously droll, sarcastic, kinda bitter but not quite hostile. But that Lucy Lawless (you may know her as Xena, and/or D'Anna Biers on Battlestar Galactica) is sassy! She's gregarious and smart and has an incredibly cutting sense of humor that she used to repeatedly take Smith down. It was informative, but also one of the most entertaining panels I've attended yet.

In addition to Lawless, the other panelists included Jaime King (Sin City, The Spirit) Pia Guerra (the awesomely smart and creative illustrator of a comic that I'm slightly obsessed with right now, Y: The Last Man) and producer Gale Anne Hurd (Terminator, Punisher: War Zone).

Smith asked each of the ladies some prewritten questions (not written by him, and clearly not questions he was happy asking) about their experiences as women in such fanboy-dominated universes. To see what they had to say,

I'm So Psyched — I'm Going to Comic-Con!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:33:20 -0700

Holy geekfest, Buzz readers! I'm heading down to San Diego to attend this year's Comic-Con! I'm a Comic-Con virgin, so this will be my first time at the exciting comic book/sci-fi/fantasy event (though it's become mainstream enough to include some random stuff, like that Rainn Wilson movie The Rocker?) and up until now my understanding of Comic-Con has been vaguely based on that scene in Chasing Amy when Holden (Ben Affleck) goes up to Alyssa's (Joey Lauren Adams) booth where she's signing copies of her new comic book, and he hands her his. . . Oh, man, now I have to go watch Chasing Amy again.

Speaking of Chasing Amy, Kevin Smith will yet again be on hand at Comic-Con, mostly to promote his next comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno, starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks. Smith's also moderating this panel I hope to attend called "Scream Like a Girl" which, OK, is being held by Spike TV, but includes a bunch of ladies who are going to discuss what it's like to be a woman working in the fanboy universes of comic book, sci-fi, fantasy and horror films. I think it sounds pretty cool, and with any luck, I'll be able to interview Smith after the panel. And will try not to swoon or gush. . .too much.

To see some of the other stuff I'm angling to check out,

BuzzSugar's Must Haves for July

BuzzSugar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:30:52 -0700

Well, July may not be the biggest book release time of the year (go figure), and it's a little weak on the music, too — but there are still plenty of entertainment options capturing my attention this month. My must haves include Summer escapism in an air-conditioned movie theater, an interesting read, a trip to the '60s, and one musical beacon whose new album has me excited. To see my picks for July, hit "Start." Source and Source

Buzz In: What's Your Favorite Film Score?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:29:53 -0700

Recently the filmmakers behind the upcoming Incredible Hulk movie held a panel discussion at the New York Comic-Con to promote the film to its key audience: fanboys. When director Louis Letterier declared the musical score for Hulk was, "Star Wars good" he reportedly got booed by the audience.

It cracks me up that, to a certain group of fans it is sacrilegious to ever suggest anything is as good as (or — gasp! — better than) that famous, ominous tune. Then again, to some degree, I can understand that kind of passion.

A great musical score not only helps to set the tone of a movie, but when done right audiences will forever associate the sounds with the emotion of a film. For example, the sound of a clacking typewriter will probably always make me think of the subsequent piano music and then the overall sense of agony and guilt associated with Atonement, a score that ended up nabbing the Oscar.

Of course, it's hard to look at Harrison Ford without the boisterous Indiana Jones score cuing up in my brain immediately. And while I hardly remember a single line from Driving Miss Daisy, that whimsical old-timey score is clear as day in my head.

What are some of your favorite movie scores? Are there any that will always evoke certain memories? Is there one that tops all the rest?

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