| Posted 2:07pm, Sunday, August 10, 2003
Since my last post over a month ago, I made my annual sojourn to San Diego for Comic-Con International, July 17-20th. A five-day geek fest for my buddy Dave and I. We again went down for preview night to get a head start on all the other geeks. While I still go down to look for art to add to my Spider-man collection, more and more I go looking forward to Saturday, the big Hollywood movie day. Unfortunately, that's also the day that's making me more fearful every year. It all started to take off in 2001. Sam Raimi showed up with a five minute clip of Spider-man, almost a year before the release date. When Spider-man exploded in the box office record books, Hollywood took notice. In 2002, the Comic-Con was invaded by Hollywood. James Cameron, Ang Lee, Ben Affleck, the cast of Lord of the Rings, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc. It was a mad house. And those were all surprise guests. This year, the major guests were all announced a couple of weeks beforehand. Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Kevin Smith, a return trip by Sam Raimi (who ended up staying home with a fever) and the Lord of the Rings gang. One of the cool things about the celebrity panels is the Q&A. Ordinary geeks can step right up to the mic and ask smart, dumb or personal questions of their favorite stars. I've never had a thing for Angelina Jolie, but let me say, I am smitten. She was engaging, funny, friendly, and yes, beautiful. She shed genuine tears for a fan who told her that her film "Gia" helped her come to terms with her HIV. She was open about her adoption of her Cambodian son.
Berry, meanwhile seemed uncomfortable during her Q&A. Jackman and Beckinsale kept everyone on track about their films, steering personal questions back to the promotion at hand. I, of course, took great interest in the Spider-man 2 panel. While Raimi stayed home sick, producers Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin did bring new villain Alfred Molina (Freida, Prick Up Your Ears) to the Con. They showed off an impressive clip where Doctor Octopus first uses his newfound powers. The sequel looks like it will kick ass.
Kevin Smith was his usual self, sharing funny stories and even closing with a personal note about Jason Mewes fight with drug addiction.
"Civilians" showed up in droves. You can tell a non-geek just by looking at them. They wander around aimlessly, awed by the sheer numbers of comic fans in attendance. What concerns me is the number of non-genre fans showing up for the movie panels. They're turning Comic-Con into Cannes America. Hotel rooms will be booked longer in advance. Pretty soon, the geeks won't be able to get into the damn show.
11 Games up in the NL West. Fucking Giants. Ya gotta love 'em.
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