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SDCC: Marvel and The Avengers FTW?

By Jen Yamato (Subscribe to Jen Yamato's posts), Posted Jul 25th 2010 8:37PM
Filed under: Action, Casting, New Releases, Fandom, Exhibition, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, ComicCon, Movie News, Comic-Con, New Releases, Cinematical

The lines. The crowds. The crazy stabbing in Hall H! Con-goers had to deal with a lot just to make it to Saturday's delayed Marvel panel for Captain America and Thor, but they were rewarded handsomely for their patience with an epic presentation of gods and superheroes -- followed by the single biggest collective geek-out moment of Comic-Con 2010.

Yes, the Avengers pwned the competition.

The restless denizens of Hall H couldn't have been more ready to consume what Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige cooked up, beginning with a sparse, if effective, presentation of Joe Johnston's Captain America movie with Johnston, Chris Evans, and Hugo Weaving in attendance.

A brief -- and I mean, really brief -- teaser reel set the tone for the highly anticipated 2011 tentpole: A slow scan of Cap's familiar red, white, and blue shield layered over WWII newsreel footage, leading up to a reveal of Chris Evans in his Captain America costume. "Next summer, meet the world's first Avenger," the screen read, before the trailer ended with a first person view of Evans hurling Cap's shield at the camera.
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SDCC: Did 'Let Me In' Win Over Anti-Remake Critics?

By Jen Yamato (Subscribe to Jen Yamato's posts), Posted Jul 25th 2010 9:02AM
Filed under: Drama, Horror, New Releases, Fandom, Movie Marketing, Remakes and Sequels, ComicCon, Trailers and Clips, Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Comic-Con, New Releases, Cinematical

Every time director Matt Reeves has talked publicly about his English-language remake of Tomas Alfredson's cult vampire flick Let the Right One In, he's had to make a case for relevance based on sheer enthusiasm alone. But on Saturday at Comic-Con, Reeves finally had real proof to show skeptical fans of the original -- two clips that revealed just how much, in a good way, his film differs from the original.


Let Me In is released worldwide in October, and some of what Reeves had to show wasn't 100 percent complete -- though I challenge anyone to name anything in the two Comic-Con exclusive clips that didn't look, well, kind of amazing.

[SPOILERS FOLLOW]


Reeves, joined by cast members Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz, and Richard Jenkins, first screened the trailer while talking the usual jazz about how much he wanted to put his own spin on John Lindqvist's original novel, on which Let the Right One In is also based. The trailer set the mood for Hall H patrons, depicting a lot of familiar-looking settings -- the snowy locales, the school, the brick apartment building where Owen and Abby (Oskar and Eli in the Swedish film) first meet.
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SDCC: Nic Cage Drives Angry, Is Kind Of Crazy in 3D

By Jen Yamato (Subscribe to Jen Yamato's posts), Posted Jul 24th 2010 11:03AM
Filed under: New Releases, Fandom, Movie Marketing, ComicCon, Movie News, Comic-Con, New Releases, Cinematical
Who can blame the Comic-Con masses for not showing up first thing Friday morning for a movie called Drive Angry 3D? The cavernous Hall H was suspiciously easy to get into, even with fan fave Nicolas Cage slated to appear -- but those in attendance were treated to a bloody good trailer (Cage channeling '70s grind house road rage!) for what looks to be Cage's next truly balls-out, slightly-maybe insane cult character.

If Summit was disappointed at all about the half-capacity turnout, at least they can take comfort in the fact that now, the fans on hand who DID catch the 2011 action pic panel will remember it come February. What was so memorable about the Drive Angry 3D panel? Hit the quick list below for highlights.
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SDCC: 'Machete' Rips Guts, Feeds Tacos to the People!

By Jen Yamato (Subscribe to Jen Yamato's posts), Posted Jul 23rd 2010 1:20PM
Filed under: Action, Festival Reports, Fandom, 20th Century Fox, Movie Marketing, Cinematical Indie, Trailers and Clips, Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Cinematical

Robert Rodriguez is a filmmaker who regards his audience with particular fondness. So instead of bringing his September exploitation-action pic Machete to boring old Hall H, Rodriguez set up shop on a corner in downtown San Diego to throw a Comic-Con street party for anyone who wanted to come!

Thursday night's Machete party drew a crowd that lined up down the block hours early for the chance to see footage and scarf complimentary tacos from the Machete-themed taco truck (which Rodriguez and stars Danny Trejo and Michelle Rodriguez had manned earlier in the day). Meanwhile, go-go dancers gyrated blithely to a mix of hip-hop, soul, and mariachi music while attendees admired a row of lowriders and classic cars. The drink specials? Tecate and margaritas, naturally.

With a nod to those who couldn't get in -- the folks still stuck behind the "border gates" -- Rodriguez and his two stars unveiled seven awesomely NSFW minutes of Machete, projected onto a building wall so large even fans outside the party boundaries could catch a glimpse.
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Gallery: It's Preview Night at Comic-Con 2010!

By Jen Yamato (Subscribe to Jen Yamato's posts), Posted Jul 22nd 2010 12:09AM
Filed under: ComicCon, Comic-Con, Cinematical

Booth babes, TRON merch, even Asgard's golden throne -- it's all here in our Preview Night gallery of images from Comic-Con 2010!

Your loyal Cinematical team is on the ground in San Diego right this minute preparing to bring you up to date news, images, and happenings from the biggest geek event on the planet, which officially kicks off Thursday.

While we await the glories that await us once Hall H opens its doors tomorrow, check out our Preview Night gallery for a taste of what's hot on the massive sales floor: lightcycles and glowy geek gear at the TRON: Legacy booth, Green Hornet's snazzy booth babes, the larger than life He-Man statuette, Sulu-flavored Star Trek cologne, poster art for a Tekken movie, and much more.

What are you waiting for? Click for the full gallery! And keep up with all of Cinematical's coverage by following us on Twitter at @Cinematical. Do it!

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    • My Movie Crush: Leonardo DiCaprio in 'Romeo + Juliet'

    By Jen Yamato (Subscribe to Jen Yamato's posts), Posted Jul 15th 2010 9:02PM
    Filed under: Romance, Fandom, Columns, Stars in Rewind, Features, Columns, Cinematical

    Nowadays he's known as a serious Oscar-nominated thespian who runs with folks like Marty Scorsese and invades people's brains (including yours and mine) in this week's Inception. But back in the day (i.e. the mid-'90s) Leonardo DiCaprio was a bona fide teen idol, the star of not one, but two love stories for the ages: Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996) and James Cameron's Titanic (1997).

    Thanks to that swoon-inducing two-fer, DiCaprio (more specifically, the version of him that Peter Martin terms "Young Romantic Lead" DiCaprio) snuck his way into our collective subconscious a long time ago and has stayed there, buried beneath those subsequent years of critical acclaim and grown-up roles (Gangs of New York, Catch Me If You Can, The Aviator, The Departed, etc.) that pulled DiCaprio out of that Tiger Beat niche he apparently loathed.

    But try as he might to bury the memory of his early 20s away in the ether of movie memories past, DiCaprio could never shake the specter, in my mind, of those early, dreamy, tragic-romantic heroes. The first time he truly dug his way into my young and impressionable consciousness was when he played Romeo, the ill-fated beach brawler with the face of an angel and a thing for the wrong girl in Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet.
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    On the Set of 'The LXD,' Where Dancers Are Superheroes

    By Jen Yamato (Subscribe to Jen Yamato's posts), Posted Jul 9th 2010 12:03PM
    Filed under: Music & Musicals, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, New Releases, Shorts, Fandom, Distribution, Exhibition, DIY/Filmmaking, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Movie News, New Releases, Cinematical

    On a blistering Sunday afternoon about a week and a half ago, I stepped foot onto the old "Deadwood" set 30 miles outside of Los Angeles. There, right in front of Al Swearengen's old place, a posse of performers clad in Western wear kicked up dust in the middle of the main street while filming a carefully choreographed shoot-out scene set in the Wild, Wild West. Only instead of shooting pistols, they were popping and locking their way through a dance-fueled face-off as electro beats kept time, blasted at high volume from an iPod hooked up to a portable sound system.

    These weren't your typical gunslingers. These were the members of The LXD -- the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers.

    The LXD, the brainchild of filmmaker Jon M. Chu, director of Step Up 2: The Streets and this August's Step Up 3D, is at once many things: a superhero-themed dance web series that launches this week on Hulu (with a DVD release in the works later this year); a growing collective of young, talented dancers and performers, including familiar faces from the "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Glee" set; and a multi-platform movement that seeks not only to change the perception of dance in mainstream media, but to bring dance culture enthusiasts from around the world together in a shared online community.

    More after the jump.
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