Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Time to catch up a bit on the Comic-Con coverage. Yesterday ‘bout damn killed me. I did 6 interviews, jumping in and out of panels all to do them. Next year I really need some help. I missed too much this year.
Also, looking back on it I’d say that this was one of the Con’s more off years. We had that one great movie panel (Paramount with Trek, Indy 4 and Iron Man), but I was underwhelmed by the Con on the whole. Nothing was too terribly disappointing, but the showmanship seemed out of the con.
However, I did like a lot of what I saw. The Rogue Panel featured BALLS OF FURY, THE STRANGERS and DOOMSDAY.
But first… a surprise pair stepped out. Neil Gaiman and Henry Selick waved to fans as the took a seat to announce that they were going to screen a presentation of CORALINE later that night. Unfortunately, this was a last minute, secret thing, so I had already planned a pair of interviews for that time period.
Here some bullet points:
-Cast includes Ian McShane, Terry Hatcher and Dakota Fanning.
-They Might Be Giants songs are in the movie.
-So will dead children.
-Guarantees to be a scary kids movie.
-Comes out next year.
Did any of you readers get a chance to see this footage? Drop me an email and let me know your thoughts.
BALLS OF FURY
I saw the flick, so look for that review in a day or two. The best part was Thomas Lennon, Ben Garant and Dan Fogler… plus a surprise visit from one of the cast members.
-Garant: “Think Van Damme movies in the ‘80s, but take out all the action and replace it with ping pong.”
-Tom Lennon came out, dressed in his stretchy spandex and paddle…
-The State DVD comes out October 20th on DVD with commentary on every episode and deleted scenes.
-They were asked to tell a good Christopher Walken story and boy did they… So, apparently, for a laugh, Walken would play this same gag on different crew members. In the morning he’d go to Ralphs or something and buy a birthday cake. Then he’d go to… say, hair and make-up and put the bithday cake down on the counter, then look all sad. When the target would ask if he’s alright, he’d sigh deeply and say, “Oh, it’s nothing…” then he’d wait a beat and nod at the cake… “It’s just my birthday…” Then he’d sit back and quietly enjoy people scrambling to cheer him up and try to celebrate his birthday. He did this three times during the shoot.
Footage:
They showed a scene where the lead is pitted against a giant black dude, played by the hilarious Terry Crews. Fogler and Crews square off, Crews starting with a little dance of his boob-sized pectorals and Fogler trying to make his man flesh giggle in return.
They cool-dance their way to the ping pong table… ultimately, Fogler wins and Aisha Tyler blow-darts Crews, killing him. Then you get the whole trailer moment where Walken goes to congratulate Fogler who freaks out. “What part of “sudden death” didn’t you understand?”
Then Lo Pan comes out and hassles the guys. James Hong himself came out, demanding tickets for the premiere.
He said he was important… because he is Lo Pan!!! (cue audience cheers) and “if I say don’t go see this movie, these people will not go see the movie because I am Lo Pan!!!” Then he did the pinky-hooked fingers thing to the delight of us geeks.
He spent the rest of the panel gaily petting Fogle and slow-dancing with him as Lennon and Garant continued to answer questions.
THE STRANGERS
Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman and young director Bryan Bertino (who looks shockingly like Joseph Gordon-Levitt) came out to show some footage from this off-the-radar horror flick.
I saw a movie once… haven’t been able to figure out the title, but in the ‘80s I snuck down to the living room as my mom slept on the coach and watched a really fucked up horror movie. It really left an impression on my psyche. It involved a bunch of masked men who kidnap/chase a group of school kids and their young teacher. Their masks were, like, Santa and other peaceful cute things. Of course, that just made it more fucked up when they killed a kid or something. Man. I really need to find that one again.
The footage I saw from THE STRANGERS reminded me of that movie. It’s about this couple (Speedman and Tyler) who have a quiet night at home when someone comes to the door and ruins their night.
Think STRAW DOGS mixed with that movie I don’t know the name of. More of an atmospheric horror movie, survival horror.
I grabbed a couple photos of the posters on preview night. If you missed them, check them out below.
You’ll get an idea of what the masks look like.
The clips they showed were short. The first was Liv Tyler alone. She had a kitchen knife in her hand. She’s freaked out, but nothing’s in the house. There’s the sound outside a closed window, covered by heavy drapes. The sounds is like a heavy steel pipe being drug on concrete.
Tyler inches up to the window, the suspense building and building, the sound growing louder and louder. She uses the knife to part the curtains. Of course, a masked face jumps into the exposed space, causing Tyler to scream and run back.
She knocks over some shit and bumps into a standing LP player, the needle slamming down on the vinyl and turning on. But there’s a skip now so, it’s really only the same 1.2 seconds playing over and over again.
This was actually a really neat device, which added even more tension to the scene as sounds from around the house disappeared, hidden under this scratched record. Then the front door shakes… and slowly swings open.
Once again, a masked face peers in as Tyler slams the door shut again with a scream.
Clip #2 was one with Speedman and Tyler together pushing a heavy upright piano up against the front door as one of the masked killers attacks it with a hatchet. The door is barely holding up when they finally get the piano pushed up against it. The axe goes through the wooden door fully and the next swipe embeds it into the piano top.
They also showed a trailer that starts like an old photo slideshow presentation of different suburban houses. It’s the horror trailer that starts off like a light comedy or other genre and then goes, “Gotcha!” Wait a minute! These aren’t people looking to buy a house! These are people picking a house to attack!
There were flashes of the 3 masked people… looked good and creepy. There was also a shot of Tyler all bloody and hurt, crawling on the floor. It’s like that above poster, but much more red.
I have a good feeling about this one. Kind of in the VACANCY vain, which I like. More personal horror.
From the panel:
-Of course, Liv was asked if she remembered any Elvish and she did… and she spoke it… and there was a collective nerd-gasm (I’m not excluding myself, so don’t think I’m judging the crowd).
-Scott Speedman was asked if he’d ever consider playing Captain America if approached… Speedman shrugged (and played with his shoulder muscle nervously the entire panel) and said “Absolutely.” I’m no UNDERWORLD fan (although there are a ton out there), but seeing Speedman on the panel, I kind of saw it and was shocked that I didn’t completely hate the idea.
-Liv Tyler read the script in 45 minutes on a plane from Japan and was pissed she couldn’t get the airphone working to call her agent about it.
-The film takes place over 4 hours.
DOOMSDAY
This is Neil Marshall’s newest. Think of it like this: ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK meets 28 DAYS LATER meets THE WARRIORS meets EXCALIBUR meets ROAD WARRIOR.
It’s about a virus that breaks out in north Britain. So, the Government erects a wall, cutting off Scotland. A generation later, the Government sends teams into what they expect will be a totally dead wasteland, but these guys find there are not only survivors, but this land has turned into a post-apocalyptic warzone. There are different sects and tribes all doing battle and these poor bastards are caught in the middle of it all.
Let’s talk about the panel first, then the footage.
-Marshall said he wanted to make a dark and brutal thriller.
-He guaranteed an R-rating. “It doesn’t hold back on the blood and guts, that’s for sure.”
-DOOMSDAY will see release next year… March or April.
-Budget was $30 million, compared to the $2 million he had on DOG SOLDIERS and $6 million he had on THE DESCENT.
-He prefers the original, UK ending for THE DESCENT. It’s the only one he considers the real ending.
-He has a script based on the 9th Legion, kind of a WARRIORS set in ancient Rome. True story. Hopes to make it soon.
-Not involved with Sherlock Holmes anymore.
They showed a trailer pretty much setting up the description from above. It’s shot well and really does look like it belongs in the same stylistic universe as ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK. At least for the majority of the footage I saw. Then at the end there’s a big car chase that I swear to God had the same film stock and lens package that George Miller used for ROAD WARRIOR.
Again, looks very promising. I’d expect no less from Marshall. I’ve loved his previous two movies.
That’s it for the Rogue/Focus panel. Got some more stuff coming, so keep ‘em peeled, squirts!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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