You’ve read The Bible Scale. You ventured through our panel reviews, interviews, and thoughts on almost every relevant popular geek culture panel that Comic-Con had to offer.
Or, if you didn’t — schmucks! 🙂 — we have the links for ya…
THE BIBLE SCALE:
Round I – Video Games
Round IIÂ – Comics
Round III – Movies (just down below, kids)
Round IV – Television
But now that we got that out of the way, it’s time for the moment you’ve all been waiting for: Our annual #SDCCGHG Wrap-Up Show!!!
This 2015 show is also a very special one, because it marks the very first podcast hosted by our senior member “The Apostle” Lance Paul a.k.a. “The Travelling Nerd”. Joining him in the fray is the “Divine” Derek Vigeant, “Monsignor” Travis Moody, and, live from satellite, “Lady Croft” Stephanie Panisello…
If the above Podbean widget doesn’t work for ya (I mean, it should), you can also stream/download here from Mediafire. And thanks for listening once again– we hope you enjoyed our coverage of San Diego Comic-Con International 2015 as much as we did producing it.
Till our Geek Super Bowl hits next year, parishioners, we’ll be seein’ ya!
@lance_paul
THE HATEFUL EIGHT (Saturday) – From the footage your Traveling Nerd was able to see at Comic-Con’s famed Hall H on Saturday, it appears Quentin Tarantino is once again is doing something most directors wouldn’t dare – “The Hateful Eight has been shot on 65mm film and presented on 70mm using the exact same lenses that were used on Ben Hur, Battle of the Bulge, and Mutiny on the Bounty.” To read more about yet ANOTHER amazing Tarantino-driven panel, check out my feature for the New York Daily News.
WARNER BROS PICTURES PRESENTATION: BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN, SUICIDE SQUAD, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., PAN (Saturday) – It’s safe to say that, annually, WB has the second most-anticipated Hall H presentation at Comic-Con (now that Marvel is gone, Lucasfilm was arguably #1 — read below). However, I wouldn’t argue with anyone if they said WB/DC Films put on the best show. But before you watch the trailer that got your Monsignor all teary-eyed, discover the Green Lantern Corps, and read all about Batfleck’s first Q&A, I should add that there was another pair of movies you might want to take note of. The first that opened the panel, Guy Ritchie’s 60s spy thriller The Man From U.N.C.L.E., brought out another Batman vs. Superman. Somewhat: Armie Hammer almost played the role of the Caped Crusader in George Miller’s ill-fated Justice League film, and, of course, you may have seen this movie’s Napoleon Solo in a certain Man of Steel. “To build the animosity, it was already there,” Henry Cavill gushed about the script, while Hammer loved how his Russian accent made everything he said “so much more bad-ass”.
@travmoody
(cont.) Speaking of bad-asses, The Wolverine‘s Hugh Jackman couldn’t stop praising his time on Pan, Director Joe Wright‘s complete reframing of the classic origin story of Peter Pan, who promises to be braver and bolder than ever before. “One of the most fun movies I ever made — I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to make movies like that again. The whole thing was a complete joy.” Jackman continued on about the practical set that transformed the set into a live-action theme park. “Neverland was probably three times the size of [Hall H]; pirate ships were full scale, the size of this hall”. For WB, things only got bigger from there.
@TravMoody
LUCASFILM PRESENTS: STAR WARS – THE FORCE AWAKENS (Friday) – There was a great disturbance in the Force as if 7,000 voices suddenly cried out in rapture. That’s because Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens‘ Harrison Ford walked out onto Hall H — just four months after he was seriously injured when the plane he was piloting crashed into a golf course. As an entire experience for fans, this was easily the best panel of the whole Con (<<<— click the link for full article). But if we’re talking on terms of reveals, footage, and news, Kathleen Kennedy and JJ Abrams presented a bare cupboard in preparation for Disney’s own convention D23. Still, there was enough buzz — and arguably the greatest fan gift in the history of San Diego Comic-Con, a post-panel journey to a live Star Wars symphony orchestra!!! — from Lucasfilm to garner a heavy bible rating.
@TravMoody
20TH CENTURY FOX PRESENTS: THE MAZE RUNNER, VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN, FANTASTIC FOUR, DEADPOOL, and X-MEN: APOCALYPSE (Saturday) – Ryan Reynolds and his Merc With the Mouth character in Deadpool drew more cheers than X-Men: Apocalypse star James McAvoy‘s bald head at San Diego Comic-Con. Deadpool, the R-rated superhero movie that shouldn’t have, rocked the crowd Saturday in the famed Hall H to rapturous levels not even Batman vs. Superman or X-Men: Apocalypse could manage. There was also an uproarious standing ovation, forcing an encore of the exclusive trailer. You can read all about our coverage of the two big X-films, via the NYDN, right here.
LEGENDARY PICTURES PRESENTS: CRIMSON PEAK, KRAMPUS, WARCRAFT (Saturday) – They should have just renamed Hall H “The Nerdist” because Chris Hardwick was back to host yet another action-packed panel. Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak — also announced as a new theme for Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights — returns a year after its initial reveal. “I wanted to create a classical, lavish romance that hasn’t been done in a while,” del Toro reflected about the gothic romance. The Hellboy director was also inspired by strong members of his wife and two daughters, since he wanted this “scary and gorgeous” film to also feel more gender-liberating. Even Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston, was wowed with the set and del Toro’s direction. “[Peak] had the most extraordinary set I had ever seen. Every character is struggling to define their own destiny [with that setting]— and I think that’s fun”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gtajXGjIhs
(cont.) Fun was the motto of Legendary’s next movie presented, Krampus (out this December 4th), no relation to Image Comics’ scribe Brian Joines’ comic with the same name. “Christmas is already creepy, and as a child that gave me anxiety,” Krampus director Michael Dougherty said. Lead actor Adam Scott (Parks & Rec) referred to the 2-month shoot set in a suburban house full of babies, animals and [practical WETA] puppets as a “fucking nightmare.” Sounds like my kind of Christmas movie.
@travmoody
(cont.) Warcraft director Duncan Jones was hoping three time’s a charm at Comic-Con, and with an impressive ensemble cast and an even more impressive wrap-around screen presentation, this might be the year they make a film — akin to how Peter Jackson had developed Tolkien — that “everybody would be interested in.” While “Howard Stark” a.k.a. Dominic Cooper complained, humorously, about wearing sweaty wigs, heavy armor, and never being able to life up his sword (“I’ve never seen such a big sword”), it was real-life gamer-nerd Rob Kazinsky (Pacific Rim) who got the many MMO geeks in the audience pumped. “When I wasn’t in the Warcraft movie, I spent my time eating cake and playing Warcraft [for 600 days].” He also may have been just the right man for the job. “I lost a relationship — a really good one, too; I lost self esteem. And it would be all pathetic had I not be doing this movie, but this made it OK! [My ex gf] left me because of Warcraft. Hey— who won this round?” Although the footage we saw of Warcraft the movie looked more like a video game, this might be the only time we can make an exception for it.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES (Saturday) – Entertainment Weekly‘s Dalton Ross said it right about this new undead rewriting of a classic: “dementedly delicious!” Though not the first thing you think of when throwing a movie panel into Hall H, all was forgiven once the undead crept upon the screen. PAPAZ is based off the highly successful novel written by Burr Steers, similar in the vein of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. The cast of British heavy-hitters that made quite the ruckus in Hall H were Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Lily James (Cinderella), Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire), and Bella Heathcote (Dark Shadows), just to name a few. This heavy literature-loving Traveling Nerd, among 6000+ others, were graced with a glimpse of the coming movie. Although I was not looking forward to this film — nor a fan of the book — the trailer peaked my interest just enough
@Lance_Paul
(cont.) After the trailer, moderator Ross and the cast delved a little deeper into their characters and explained how much they took from the Jane Austin original source material. In Huston’s words, “Wickham stays very true to the novel but at the same time there may be new tricks.” Perhaps the best pitch on the movie — and how to make the original source material even better — came from the great Matt Smith with his take on the undead classic. “It’s a really fun movie that you can take your chick too; zombies is something Pride and Prejudice really needed!” If you are fan of classic literature and you happen to love Walking Dead, this may be right down your alley. Likely I’ll be staying away from the flick in theaters, unless I’m stuck on date night and happen to sell my girlfriend on the Pride and Prejudice… you know, before the zombies come up!
