Website & Cast Assembled...

Assemble, baby...


Marvel Studios has put up the official "Avengers" website...

It ain't much, but it's a start and proof that this geek dream is soon to be a reality. Early next year they start filming. Two years and we see the fruit of all this sweat and labor.

Then the fun begins...

UPDATE: From the SDCC Marvel Panel; the cast is now set.

Your Avengers are:

The Invincible Iron Man - Robert Downey Jr. (Duh)

The Mighty Thor - Chris Hemsworth (another Duh)

The Incredible Hulk - Mark Ruffalo (?)

The First Avenger, Captain America - Chris Evans (Duh, Duh)

The Black Widow - Scarlett Johannsen (sexy Duh)

The Archer, Hawkeye - Jeremy Renner (nice)

The Head of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury - Samuel L. Jackson (Whassup!)

The Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Phil Coulson - Clark Gregg (back again, and again)

The Director - Joss Whedon (officially, for a change)

And I feel we're going to get a few more S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents and cameos over the coming months...

A Real Suckerpunch...

Just got off the phone with the Colonel...

While waiting for the "Cowboys and Aliens" panel after sitting through the "Let Me In" panel a fight broke out. In the hot weather in San Diego tempers can sometimes flare even at the Con, but usually nothing really happens.

Not today.

Someone got stabbed. Two suspects were being taken in and there were a whole lot of police walking around Hall H. The events got postponed/delayed and some poor guy got stabbed by an idiot with a temper to match his IQ. I told you that this place is crazy this time of year.

I expected madness, just not that kinda madness...

Religious Experience...

So I got another call from the Colonel...

Seems he attended the Sony panel that had there films on display for the Con-Goers, "Priest," "Green Hornet," and "The Other Guys." He was apologetic and giddy all at once. Sorry for his EPIC FAIL on the "Tron Legacy" panel, but stoked that he was able to get into this panel. But for reasons other than why he went in.

"I am a convert to 3D!" He told me. You see, the Colonel has for the most part, always been a skeptic about wearing glasses. Comes from all those years he used to scream down at the enlisted men, calling them "four eyes" and whatnot. But after seeing some of Sony's presentation, he's starting to warm to it. He didn't think you could take a film that wasn't shot in 3D and make it look good. He was wrong. I guess he's finally recovered from the "Clash of the Titans" experience and this ain't it.

What was it that he found so seductive? Well, there was the three minute trailer that showed a lot of cool action and slick/sick violence. And then there was that opening sequence for Priest that was animated by Genndy Tartakovsky which blew his mind. It was wickedly violent in an almost unbelievable way. But that set the stage for the rest of the film. For those that don't know, Priest is a loose adaptation of a popular Korean manhwa title. And for those that don't know what manhwa is, well, what comics are to America, manga is to Japan and manhwa is to Korea. Now for those that don't... ahh, to heck with it. It was published here by Tokyopop. Try and keep up, please.

Well anyway, Scott Stewart introduced the clips and provided the description of things. It seems to take place in an alternative world where Christians battle Santanist in wars that have lasted centuries. Karl Urban plays the villain, Black Hat and the scenes they showed happen to make Kurtz feel that this is a much better film than "Legion," which he was forced to watch. Luckily he didn't have a cyanide capsule or this trip to San Diego wouldn't of been possible. But there were some interesting scenes with trippy vampires and intense action. The mood was good and the third dimension was actually cool. He's planning on buying a ticket to this one, which says a lot.

Next was "The Other Guys," which was originally known as "The B-Team." Get it? Like A-Team, so on and so on... Yeah, the Colonel was laughing about that, being as he's one of the few that went and saw that film. It brings back nostalgia for him. I don't know if it's for the 80's or his years in combat, but it gives him the flutters every time someone fires a gun. Anyhoo, back to the film. This was the best of all three films. It's going to make a ton of money. Make that tons (plural). The cast and crew were hilarious and Adam McKay and Will Ferrell were in prime form. This looks like it was the favorite judging by what Kurtz was noticing.

Then there was the "Green Hornet" film. What did he have to say about this? Well, once the stars and director were announced and took the stage, people started heading for the exits. Seems it wasn't a lot of people's cup-o-tea. They showed a clip that looked Ok, but nothing earth shattering. They're playing it over the top, but it fell flat on the dear Colonel. Nothing that he'd want to see on opening night. He thinks it's going to bomb. I don't know if it will, but I'm agreeing with him. He and I are also in agreement that Seth Rogen, whom I like, is not Britt Reid. This seems to be a misfire by Sony. Hopefully, we turn out to be wrong, as I don't wish any one or any film to fail.

And then a dial tone filled my ear and he was gone. He had to go to another panel and promised me he'd make the Marvel panel tomorrow, but he wasn't sure about the DC panel. It figures coming from a guy who's favorite character is Spider-Man. The Colonel's taste, not mine.

Expect tomorrow to be filled with an unbelievably amount of insaneness...

Message In A Bottle...

Yo, ho, yo, yo...


Those that were lucky enough to get in to the "Tron Legacy" panel got more than a few surprises...

One of those was a message from a rum drunk captain by the name of Jack Sparrow.

Enjoy his rantings, and his bloody mary...

Tron Lingerings...

Well, having just talked to the Colonel I now know some interesting things...

I was setting by window reading when my iPhone rang. I checked the ID and noticed it was Colonel Kurtz calling. Looking at my watch I noticed that the "Tron Legacy" panel had just ended. I answered the call and heard deep breathing. Was Kurtz alright? Well, yes and no.

You see, after getting up early and making it to the convention center, he stood in line, dutifully to take notes for us here at Blue Sky. Not that I had to force him, it was one of two or three things that were on his "must see" list. And so, after waiting in line for over two hours, he made it up toward the front only to be told that it was full. Full.

Full?

He wouldn't be getting in. He wouldn't be seeing the panel. He wouldn't be watching the footage. He wouldn't be seeing the trailer. He wouldn't be reporting on all the awesomeness that he had seen. How was that. The Colonel made sure that he was in line way earlier than he had been for other panels held at Hall H before. How? Why? Well, as I said earlier, Comic-Con has just gotten that big. It's so massively large right now that certain events take great effort to just simply attend.

So off Colonel Kurtz lingered in a daze, until he finally went trudging through the main hall, starring over at the Tron Legacy display area that Disney had set up, taunting him. Holding back tears, he walked on down the aisles and glanced over his schedule to see what was his next destination. Finally, after looking about the floor, fighting the crowds and trying to buy back small bits of his childhood, he whipped out his iPhone to call me and inform me of the bad news.

He was stunned that he had traveled all this way to be denied. I told him that it was ok as several other websites already had descriptions of the panel online. Just don't miss the "other" panels you were supposed to be at. And he hung up, whimpering. Ok, he wasn't whimpering so much as sulking. The Colonel wouldn't like me make him out to be a man that cries. Because he doesn't. Or at least, would never admit it. And so the drama that is the Con goes on and on.

We've got three more days of this madness, so prepare for more hectic craziness...

Tron Legacy Trailer 2.0...

December, why are you the last month of the year...


Walt Disney Pictures has released a new trailer for "Tron Legacy" just as their Comic-Con panel starts up...

Oh. My. God.

No need for further commentary.

Watch it...

Shockingly Good News Is Scary...

So, at the end of the "Tron Legacy" panel, they had a couple surprises...

One was a certain captain of a ship telling us what a wonderful adventure he's having. But after that, they showed a clip from a new/old Disney film that made people go: "huh?" Now, after this, Patton Oswalt wanted to introduce the new head of this project. Everyone, was wondering if it was a joke. And then Guillermo del Toro walked out onstage and the place went nuts.

He announced his next production (not directing it, since he's announcing that next week) gig would be an E-Ticket movie that he is writing with Matthew Robbins. And no, it won't be a comedy and it won't star Eddie Murphy. In fact, he joked that they're not returning Eddie's calls. So "The Hobbit" looses him and Mouse fans get him instead. I like that.

This project, along with films like "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" and several others (not the defunct Disney Double Dare You!, sadly), will hopefully make him quite busy for Disney Studios over the next few years. Maybe Ross made a deal with him to do this and then he'll finance "At the Mountains of Madness" through the Touchstone label? Sad that he couldn't make the trip to Middle Earth because of all this MGM mess, but glad he gets to go play with 999 ghost.

I've always thought "The Haunted Mansion" would make a great film adaptation if done right. Obviously, the one done seven years ago wasn't it. So now comes the press release:

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – July 22, 2010 –Guillermo del Toro surprised the 6,500 fans gathered today at Comic-Con with the announcement that he is currently developing a new film for The Walt Disney Studios based on the classic Disney theme park attraction, The Haunted Mansion.

“Dark imagery is an integral part of the Walt Disney legacy. After all, Disney himself was the father of some really chilling moments and characters - think Chernabog from Fantasia or Maleficent as the Dragon or the Evil Queen in Snow White,” said del Toro. “I couldn't be more excited to be a part of my own adaptation of the original theme park attraction Walt envisioned and that remains- for me- the most desirable piece of real
estate in the whole world!"

“Millions of people from around the world visit The Haunted Mansion each year, but no one has ever had a tour guide like Guillermo del Toro,” said Rich Ross, Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. “Guillermo is one of the most gifted and innovative filmmakers working today and he is going to take audiences on a visually-thrilling journey like they’ve never experienced before.”

Since August 1969, foolish mortals have dared to trespass on the macabre grounds of Disney’s Haunted Mansion. A hallowed landmark in Disneyland’s New Orleans square, it’s the dwelling place of 999 happy haunts dying to meet new visitors each day. The plantation-style of the mansion’s facade is a sweet deception for visitors. Inside, ghostly doom buggies line the hallways. Since its construction, the mysteries of the mansion have transcended the attraction with stories surfacing about horrifying encounters with the supernatural. Versions of the daunting edifice have been built at other Disney theme parks in Orlando, Tokyo and Paris.

I feel that the film we hoped to see, now may come to fruition after all...