E-MAIL THE AUTHOR | ARCHIVES By Christopher Stipp

July 22th, 2005

2:40

I knew what I was in for when I disembarked on my puddle jumper, po-dunk airplane in San Diego last Thursday evening and had a message from Stan Lee’s publicist saying she was going to try and get me an interview with the man who built Marvel.

When I knew that I was going to the Con this year I really wanted to make a run for getting the most out of it as I could. It was late March and I had just reserved what would turn out to be the crappiest, sleaziest hotel room in the Southern California area but I was determined to get in further than I did last year in terms of press. It wouldn’t be that hard to top my accomplishments of 04 when all I was really able to do was land one interview. I didn’t know better. I had no idea of the magnitude, the hugeness, that is the San Diego Comi-Con. I was overtaken then but I had no intention of letting that happen this year.

It wasn’t until I was three weeks away before I started hitting the phones.

I hustled like I was trying to sell the junior edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica to Harvard Law School. I was smiling and dialing based on who was being advertised in the programming guide. I wanted in. The more I thought about it, and the more I sold myself on it, I understood that being at the Con meant the opportunity to do something that I had already had a taste of at the Key Art Awards earlier this year: I wanted access to the talent and I wanted to write all about it.

It was easy to jump into the fray of PR people, agents, assistants to PR people and agents, studio heads and various other assorted power brokers who could’ve easily told me to eff-off than entertain my requests for interviews.

It started off slowly at first, getting the right names and phone numbers, which was fairly thrilling in itself, but it started to click. I got good at selling my intentions and myself. I knew I wanted these things worse than the next guy behind me and I wasn’t beneath begging. And that was lesson number one I can impart on everyone who wants something bad enough that you know is rightfully yours: you have to be willing to prove your dedication to your goal. If that means ingratiating yourself to the powers that be then well, you do it. I did. Over and over again I did.

I was genuinely hungry for a piece of the entertainment pie but I wanted everything my little Oliver fingers could steal away from the others.

The day leading up to the Con I was bursting with things to do. What had first been a couple of choice interviews started to form into this Godzilla sized laundry list of people to see, events to go to and one-on-one’s that I couldn’t believe I was being given approval to do.

Fast forward to last Thursday night as I am standing on the roof of the Hilton which looked out onto the convention center a few blocks away. It was late, I was getting my drink on with local yokel EIC of this site and IDW Chris Ryall, Poop Shoot’s own Chance Shirley, Squib Central’s Josh Jabcuga (who plays a prominent role in all these misadventures) who had hours earlier treated me to a 30th birthday dinner at a wickedly delicious, and an equally curious epicurean delight, dinner at a Brazilian restaurant that had curvaceous belly dancers prancing about, and a few other people who added to the drunken ambiance of an open air bar. Friday was going to be big, I knew it was going to be, but I couldn’t help but not care that I had consumed 4 beers there, a Guinness prior to arriving, whipped back a tequila shot at some point in the evening and had no plans on going to sleep any time soon. And I certainly couldn’t go home when Josh reappeared after a lengthy absence to tell me he had been shooting the literal bull with none other than Simon Bisley, artist of the Lobo comic series. To those who have never read this title, for shame, but for those who have know how influential of a character he was in the mid-1990’s. It’s such a tiny moment, meeting this man who could have easily tore my arms off and beat me with the stumps, and I know most of you could care less but this was all prelude to what was about to happen for the next two days.

I come to you today to let you all know I busted my hump last weekend to bring a lot of original content to this column. I brought with me to the Con a digital recorder that holds 2 hours 10 minutes worth of audio and I ended up having to buy a whole new one just to accommodate the all the interviews I conducted while I was there.

I wish I could’ve spent more time on the floor, attended some panels, but the truth is that the press roundtables, parties, screenings, one-on-one’s and a singular interview which defined the entire experience of being there in ways that I hope to describe next week altered the way I viewed the Con this go around.

It is literally with sore legs, cramped feet, a back spasm that nearly brought me to my knees after carrying a sack across my shoulders filled with comics, books and, I think, a contents of Gold’s Gym, pinched something in the lumbar region, and the kindness of PR personnel who said yes when I asked to have some time with their clients that I give you an idea of what’s coming in the following weeks as I transcribe all the audio:

Press roundtable with the creative minds behind THE CORPSE BRIDE

Press roundtable with Natalie Portman (even when she’s rocking the buzz top she’s gorgeous), Joel Silver and some of the others involved with V FOR VENDETTA

One-on-one with Harold Perrineau Jr. (LOST)

Press roundtable with Rachel Weisz and Darren Aronofsky about THE FOUNTAIN

One-on-one with Marlon Wayans regarding his new comic property

Press roundtable with Jack Black and Kyle Gass

Press roundtable with Jon Favreau

One-on-one with Stan “The Man” Lee

One-on-one with Maggie Grace (LOST and THE FOG)

One-on-one with Mark Steven Johnson and Eva Mendes about GHOST RIDER

And, the crown jewel of all my interviews, and one that I am especially eager to share, one-on-one with Josh Holloway from LOST which will be playing right here in 7 days with no commercial interuption:

SECUESTRO EXPRESS (2005) Director: Jonathan Jakubowicz Cast: Mia Maestro, Ruben Blades, Carlos Julio Molina, Pedro Perez Release: August 5, 2005 Synopsis: Every sixty minutes a person in Latin America is abducted, and 70% of them do not return. This is the story of a young couple who fall victim to some ruthless Venezuelan kidnappers, and the traumas they endure in captivity.View Trailer: * Small (QuickTime) Prognosis: Negativo. I really did give SIN CITY a chance. I gave it a few chances. I sat there and I tried to find something good that could’ve stayed with me. Ultimately, though, it fell prey to what happens when you cross written pulp with the conventions of humanistic speech and the oddity of people actually talking in a way that’s queer to the ear. I’m glad Robert Rodriquez is so active in making films even though it would’ve taken me a few squares of pot brownies to induce me to see THE ADVENTURES OF SHARK BOY AND LAVA GIRL in 3-D. He’s prolific and even here in this film, where he plays the part of producer, that nebulous nether region of being able to take all of the credit or none of the blame, there is flashes of that sweaty headiness that made his low-budget foray into film so exciting. What I think this trailer lacks, though, is confidence. What I mean by this is when I watched the whole thing from start to finish there is definitely a need by someone to amp up the action to the point of making me believe this is going to be a “non-stop thrill ride.” Usually one likes to save the quick cuts feature, where you essentially blow your load and cobble together unrelated scenes to punch up the idea to people about what the movie is going to be. This whole trailer is a quick cut. I damn near get motion sickness from the sweeping camera moves and ostentatious aping at trying to be this slick, cool movie. It doesn’t work. “In the most dangerous city on earth…” I am thankful, thankful, that Voiceover Guy is here narrating the whole trailer. I would’ve goofed on the guy for having to state such an untrue fact about this being the most dangerous city on earth, as I not only think his tune would change if we stuck him in the middle of Baghdad in the middle of the night with a strobe light attached to his forehead and an “I (heart) U.S.A.” patch stuck to his back, but he is the only stabilizing force in this trailer. You’ve got to watch your superlatives, kids, remember that. We are quickly flashed moments of people under duress. I think we’re supposed to get that many folks are kidnapped and that crime is out of control and there is nothing the po-po’s can do and it’s a bad place to live. I get it. Flashes of money, masked perpetrators and scared citizens help me to complete the picture he’s trying to paint. It’s a Paint-by-Numbers but it’s still painted just fine. Rodriguez’ name, well, his likeness anyway as “The producer of…”, established big credibility and, like it or hate it, the reason why big names get on to small projects like this isn’t so much because they were so actively involved in the production per se but that the famous cache helps to get a small picture like this noticed a little easier. From here we meet the people who will be the prey in this film, a hot looking lady and her equally cool looking male model fiancée, a real Barbie and Ken power couple of South America, and the cards on the screen that tell us this flash quicker than a pervert in New York. You are not allowed to stabilize on anything. So, these hot young’uns are kidnapped and are held for ransom. I wait to see what really makes this film different from any other show on A&E where they reenact kidnapping footage to tell how a cop really saved the day but the funny thing is that I think that’s it. This is a movie about where, and I quote Voiceover Guy, “outlaws call all the shots.” Oy vey. For reals? Is this all there is? You’re telling me this is a movie about a kidnapping and you don’t have like a Denzel Washington type character getting all sorts of pissed, blowing people up in a rage? Nope. What’s redeeming about the trailer, though, is after we’re given a better introduction to the thugs of this film, I still don’t understand why, I think I am able to see that what really adds something else to the film is that the fiancée escapes but his girlfriend is left to fend for herself and he has to find her before they slash her face and give her a Columbian necktie or so I think. It also appears this film was shot in DV but I can’t really say for sure. I see that they do one of those camera tricks where the camera is mounted in front of the person and they stay stable no matter what they do, kind of like that wisenheimer who terrorized that convenience store in the Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979” video. But, just based on this footage here, I can’t in good conscience recommend anyone see this film.

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