By: Comic-Con 2009 « toddhamilton.net

Comic-Con 2009 « toddhamilton.net — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:10:41 +0000

[...] In the afternoon, Francisco and I got in line to enter Hall H. Hall H is the largest room at the convention center that Comic-con uses to allow thousands of people (I think around 6000?) to see the biggest (aka most popular) panels at the Con (It’s always about movies). Now is as good a time as any to talk about complaints at the Con. The Comic Convention turned 40 years old this year and has changed significantly over the last 10 years. Films use to be a sidenote to the Con and now define it. There are a number of comic book fans that moan about this, even donning shirts saying “Turn off the TV and read a comic” and stuff like that. But, the Con is selling out, largely in part to the invasion of Hollywood, so I doubt anything is going to change (and to be honest I look forward to some of the panels myself). The newest complaints (namely showing up this year) were specifically aimed at Twilight. Some kids walked around with cardboard signs saying “Twilight ruined Comic-Con”. And here’s the thing: I disagree…for the most part. Comic-Con should be an judge-less outlet for all nerds, regardless of what they are geeking out on. That being said, there is no other property at the Con that had so many fans there solely for the purpose of seeing it. Very few, if any, were there JUST to sneak a peek at some James Cameron’s Avatar footage, or to pick up the new Image United comic, etc. A large number of Twilighters were there SOLELY to go to Hall H to see the Twilight panel. Again, I have no problem with this; as Bobby Brown said, it’s their prerogative. My problem was with the schedule. Last year, a number of Twilight fans camped out all night to get into the room to see last year’s presentation. This year, knowing the obsession, Comic-Con should have scheduled the Twilight panel first thing in the morning, so they could all see what they came to see and those that want to leave after (a large percentage of them) could leave, allowing the rest of the Comic-Con nerds in to see the other panels. Instead, the Twilighters camped out and filled the Hall, blocking the rest of us from seeing the Disney Panel. Were there people people that wanted to see both the Disney panel AND the Twilight panel? Undoubtedly. But were there a large group of people sitting through the Disney panel JUST to see the Twilight panel? You bet. Anyway, sorry about the sidetrack, so we went to Hall H after the Twilight panel and saw 24 minutes of Avatar footage. It’s really heavy on the effects, with entire scenes created with computer graphics. It looks really cool. Not quite “real” but something unique and beautiful. Afterward, we went and ate dinner (Chicken Tikka Masala!) and stood in line for District 9. Not a panel, but for a full length screening of the film with the director and producer in the room. Cisco and I were the last two let into the theater (sorry John ). To read the full review, go to FoxholeFilm.com. [...]

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By: Comic-Con 2009 « toddhamilton.net