COMIC-CON 2014 HIGHLIGHTS

Comic-Con International is quite the experience. While this San Diego staple started as a comic book showcase, it has become something much broader through the years. Comic-Con is about the arts. Be it comics, t.v., film, games, or cosplay, the Con offers up a little bit of everything. We’ve been attending since 2001 and during that 13 year time span, Comic-Con has swelled into a gargantuan event like no other.

It should come as no surprise to our readers that team CineMast attends Comic-Con for the epic film presentations and happily, there were plenty to speak of this year. Not only that, but the numerous sizzle reels we were lucky enough to experience, were presented in the best possible way. The sound and visual quality on display in massive Hall H allowed attendees to feel like they were a part of the sizzle reels rather than simply watching them. This was a fully immersive experience and it was pretty damn spectacular.

Now, let’s get to some highlights. There were plenty of high profile films that were suspiciously absent from the presentation line-up this year. To the dismay of many a Con attendee, there were no advance peeks at EPISODE VII, JURASSIC WORLD, TERMINATOR, THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART I, INSURGENT, TOMORROWLAND, or INSIDE OUT and as disappointing as those glaring omissions were, there was still plenty to get excited about at movie geek Christmas this year.

Director Guillermo del Toro entertained the crowd with a look at his creepy haunted house thriller “Crimson Peak”, Sam Raimi revealed that he’s working on an EVIL DEAD t.v. series during a THE LAST OF US adaptation presentation, Dreamworks brought the house down with nearly 15 minutes of footage from their hilarious looking PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR, Biz Markie and Channing Tatum led a packed Hall H in a “Just a Friend” sing-a-long in honor of the colorful THE BOOK OF LIFE, Quentin Tarantino graced one of the Con’s smaller ballrooms and discussed his upcoming HATEFUL EIGHT as well as a potential KILL BILL: THE WHOLE BLOODY AFFAIR theatrical release while on hand for a DJANGO/ZORRO crossover comic panel, Legendary Pictures surprised audiences with both the announcement of an upcoming GODZILLA sequel and a new KING KONG adventure called SKULL ISLAND, DC brought Zach Snyder, Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, and Gal Gadot to the Con to present a brief but effective BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE teaser, and Stephen Colbert moderated a Middle Earth farewell panel featuring Peter Jackson and a large portion of THE HOBBIT cast.

As amazing as all of these presentations were, there were three film panels in particular, that clearly topped the Con in 2014. Here’s a look;

INTERSTELLAR
At the end of the Paramount Pictures presentation–which offered up an extended look at TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, an appearance by HERCULES star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and the premiere of a trailer for HOT TUB TIME MACHINE 2– the studio offered up a big surprise. In fact, it was, perhaps, the biggest surprise of the weekend;

A rare public appearance by star Matthew McConaughey. The Oscar winning actor had never been to the Con before but he was eager to chat with a wildly enthusiastic, 7000 attendee strong crowd. While the TRUE DETECTIVE star suggested he desperately wanted to give away plot details about the highly anticipated November release “Interstellar”, he said he couldn’t. But then, he went on to reveal that there was someone backstage who might be able to shed some light on the movie.

And with that, out popped writer/director Christopher Nolan. Strangely, this was Nolan’s first trip to the convention as well. You’d think that the man behind THE DARK KNIGHT trilogy would have been to the Con multiple times. Not the case. As many fans are well aware, Nolan is incredibly secretive, but with this particular picture, he thought it was time to make the trip to San Diego.

After a brief and thoughtful discussion about his love of film–he sites 2001 as a major INTERSTELLAR influence– Nolan did the unthinkable. He gave the Comic-Con crowd an exclusive. He shared new INTERSTELLAR footage with attendees in the form of a brand new trailer. Simply put, it was breathtaking. This new clip suggests a movie massive in scope (wormholes, novas, gigantic spacecrafts, foreign planets, etc.), but clearly, INTERSTELLAR looks to be telling an intimate, emotionally gripping, character driven story too.

A great surprise from the fine folks at Paramount! “Interstellar” hits theaters this November.

Now, the entire world can marvel at the beauty of this trailer because it’s currently online. Just click the link and type in 7201969 as the access code.

Prepare to have your mind blown!

http://www.interstellarmovie.com/

MARVEL PRESENTS THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (Spoilers ahead!)

Comic-Con is Marvel’s jam and this year was no different. The panel was moderated by the great Chris Hardwick (the iconic nerdist dressed as Marty McFly for the proceedings.)

The presentation was light on surprises–it was thought that the studio was going to reveal its next phase of titles, but aside from a GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 announcement, Marvel was tight lipped.

Marvel spent some time attempting to drum up interest in next summer’s ANT-MAN. Stars Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas made their first trip to Comic-Con to talk about the film. Newly appointed director Peyton Reed (whose been attending the Con for the last 20 years) was also on hand. Not surprisingly, the Edgar Wright situation was not mentioned, but then why would it be?

To Reed’s credit, he’s a solid choice for the film but the truth is, Edgar Wright was the only reason I had any real excitement for ANT-MAN in the first place. Now that he’s left the project, I don’t have a lot of interest in it.

ANT-MAN hasn’t started shooting yet, but Reed did present a test reel. The action sequence features Ant-Man soaring through the air atop of a fly. To be completely honest, the sequence wasn’t horrible, but it had nothing on the test footage Edgar Wright brought to the Con a few years back.

And this will be Marvel’s uphill climb; To re-build the enthusiasm that was lost when they parted ways with Wright. I like the cast, and I like Reed but until we see actual footage from the movie, I’ll remain skeptical.

Now, let’s move on to one of the big highlights of the Con!

With their AGE OF ULTRON presentation, Marvel spared no expense delivering the goods. Director Joss Whedon couldn’t be at Comic-Con this year because of leg surgery, but the majority of THE AVENGERS cast (including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and James Spader) were on hand, and the roars of approval from the packed crowd were deafening.

Marvel dropped a good five minutes of footage from the film and it was spectacular! The footage opened with a hilarious scene in which Thor challenges the rest of the Avengers to lift his mythical hammer. Thor rests comfortably on the couch with a big, cheesy grin on his face as each team member tries, and fails, to lift the hammer. Thor’s cheesy grin abruptly drops as Captain America takes his turn and moves the hammer ever so slightly. Hilarious!!

Following this light hearted moment, a high frequency screech stops fun time dead in its tracks. The Avengers are quickly made aware of the arrival of super villain Ultron (played by James Spader)—a powerful robot with world destruction on his mind.

The sizzle reel then jumped into a high octane collection of amazing action snippets set to the back drop of a dark, rocked out cover of “I’ve Got No Strings” from PINOCCHIO. I know it sounds weird but it totally worked!

Included in the footage; a brief look at iconic villain Thanos (played by Josh Brolin), a “blink-or-you’ll-miss-him” glimpse of Andy Serkis (as a human character!), the Hulkbuster, and an epic shot featuring an emotionally distraught Tony Stark standing over his fallen comrades in a war zone.

What can I say? Marvel brought the goods in a big way! The only thing that pissed me off about the ULTRON sizzle reel is that they didn’t show it twice.

THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON opens in May, 2015.

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
As great as INTERSTELLAR and AGE OF ULTRON look, Warner Brothers’ MAD MAX: FURY ROAD panel won the Con! Director George Miller made the trip to Comic-Con for the very first time in his illustrious career, and while at a glance, this man came across as unassuming and almost mild mannered, it was perfectly clear after experiencing the FURY ROAD sizzle reel that Miller is still, in fact, a furious, hungry, youthful film-maker heart. This does not look like a movie made by a man in his late 60’s.

It’s been nearly 30 years since MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME and after a handful of false starts, FURY ROAD is almost upon us. Miller was quick to point out that in terms of tone, FURY ROAD is a kindred spirit to THE ROAD WARRIOR. He also pointed out that his goal was to make an extended chase sequence in which character traits are revealed along the way.

Sadly, cast members Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, and Nicholas Hoult couldn’t be there, but having the great George Miller on hand was more than enough. And the fact that the director brought a chunk of footage with him was the icing on the cake!

A trailer hit the web the night of the presentation, so rather than doing a play by play, I would encourage you all to check it out. The sizzle reel we saw was about 60 seconds longer. It gave us an extended look at the dust devil sequence and went a little deeper into Nicholas Hoult’s eccentric, Nux, and Hugh Keays-Byrne terrifying baddie, Immortan Joe.

The very idea that George Miller shot the majority of this picture practical, really puts a sense of danger back into the movies. There is no question that MAD MAX: FURY ROAD is the film I’m most excited about next summer. It opens in May, 2015.

Here’s a look at the breathtaking trailer; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdLl1GVjOrc