Comic Con 2014 in Providence, Rhode Island

Photo: The entrance for this year's Comic Con in Providence, Rhode Island.

Photos: Hundreds of people, if not more, stood in line outside the Convention Center, in howling wind and rain, and never got in.  These were amongst them.  I took the shot of these cold, disgruntled people as I left the Con and went to my car.  The line started in the lobbies, went downstairs, then started again at the doors outside, snaked around the building, and ended past these people, in front of the garage I parked in.  Poor souls.


I had a great Saturday at Comic Con, though it apparently turned into a horror show for everyone who arrived after 12 p.m. or so.  Ticketmaster or the Convention Center (they're playing tennis with the blame) never stopped selling tickets, so that thousands of people past the max showed up.  When I left at about 3:30 p.m. (I got there at 8:30 a.m., waited with hundreds of others in The Dunk--as opposed to many hundred who waited outside in the cold, wind and rain--until the doors opened at 10:00 a.m.).  But when I walked out at 3:30 p.m., there were hundreds of people waiting in the lobbies, another hundred or so downstairs, and many hundreds of others outside in a long line, in a pouring rain.  Most of those outside never got in at all!

But I did.  Got there early, despite the protests of my friends, who said I was crazy, that it wouldn't be crowded.  (Though driving there was a breeze; took about 20 minutes.)

I spoke to, got pictures of (and with), and got autographs from:

1.  Anthony Michael Hall (Very nice and humble.  Different than I'd heard, and he'd lost a lot of weight since The Dark Knight.  I was his first fan of the day--he was about a half-hour late, as were most of the other celebs.)

2.  Karen Allen (Still very pretty and funny-feisty.  Same exact smile and laugh.)

3.  Michael Biehn (He's had a stroke, or he has MS or MD or something similar.  Looked really, really bad, more of a walking dead than Scott Wilson or Seth Gilliam.  Really too bad; one of my favorite 80s actors.)

4.  William Katt (The Greatest American Hero, though I still prefer him in the original Carrie.  Looks about the same; very fit and looking good for his age.)

5.  John Rhys-Davies (His last name is pronounced like Davis; didn't know that.  I prefer him as Sallah from Raiders of the Lost Ark, with Karen Allen, though he's very good, of course, as Gimli in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  I got his autograph and Karen Allen's on the same Raiders picture.)

6.  Seth Gilliam (Father Gabriel from The Walking Dead.  Extremely fit and lean and athletic-looking.  Very energetic, positive, pumped kind of guy.)

7.  Took a break from autograph-hunting to sit in the audience for a panel discussion with Karen Allen and John Rhys-Davies speaking of Raiders.  I went to the mike and asked a question to them about being directed by Steven Spielberg, as I had also been "directed" by him as an extra in Amistad.  A friend took a video of me asking my question, and their 5+-minute answer.

8.  Scott Wilson (Hershel from The Walking Dead.)  He had by far the longest lines of any celebrity there that day--much longer than William Shatner and the other Trekkers.

9.  Eliza Dushku.  I've only seen her in True Lies, long before she was in Buffy, and Angel, and other things I never saw.  Had a couple of bags stolen from her by a guy Channel 10 said was wearing "an Egyptian costume."  Maybe Sallah?  Incredibly, unbelievably beautiful, far more than the "supermodels" and "models" there.

Not a bad day, despite being packed in like sardines (since the Con violated fire safety laws and went way over the limit), and despite, once again (as at Terror Con in the same building), dealing with a staff who didn't know anything about anything.  At both Cons combined, I asked the staff about ten questions--mind-boggling things, like "Where's the nearest exit?" or "Where's the ATM?"--and each time I was told, "I don't know."  Literally, each and every single time.

So there's a lot of stuff for a lot of blog entries.  I'll cover one at a time, in the order I got their autographs, or their picture.  The list above is the exact order.

There'll be lots of pictures of the celebs and of their autographs, plus a bit on what they were in and how those movies or shows effected me.  Hope you like 'em.

Godzilla (2014)

Photo: Godzilla's movie poster, from its Wikipedia page.

Some quick bullets about Godzilla 2014.  Bottom line: if you like action movies, monster movies, or war movies (yes; see first bullet, below), you should go see this.

--The real star of this movie (even more than Godzilla and his pals) is the director, Gareth Edwards.  The direction for this movie is truly unbelievably good, much more so than is necessary for a movie like this.  Even critics who didn't love the movie said Edwards did a great job.  The best thing I liked about the direction was that it purposely shied away from shots of the monsters fighting, and instead focused on the people below in a you-are-there kind of way.  It was like combining a Godzilla movie with The Hurt Locker.  If two giant moth monsters were to suddenly awake, and try to get together to mate, and were intercepted by Godzilla, it would look exactly like this to the people on the ground, caught in the middle of it all.

--There are so many nods to other movies in this movie, I lost track.  The ones I remember: Jurassic Park (many scenes; one in particular: the one where Jurassic Park's Dr. Alan Grant and Ian Malcolm sat in the stopped car in the pouring rain, and wiped away the mist from the window to worriedly see outside; this is enacted exactly the same in Godzilla); 2001: A Space Odyssey (many scenes; especially when the guys in Godzilla parachute into the battlezone to the same exact insane singing as in the ending of 2001, when David passed Jupiter and entered the psychedelic light); countless 50s and 60s Godzilla movies, especially the ones where the dino costume seemed way too big (and Godzilla's roar is the same as it was in the 50s, amped up for 2014; oh, and don't miss the Mothra sign); Jaws (the main family's last name is Brody, and someone says, "Are you Brody?" just like in Jaws).  There's a motion-detector that looks exactly like the one in James Cameron's Aliens.  Sounds just like it, too.  That's all just off the top of my head.  There are many more.  This became one of the joys of the film for me--finding all the homages.  This sounds distracting, but it wasn't.

--Not too much acting is expected out of the actors.  When Elizabeth Olson headlines your cast, this is a good thing.  But this isn't a Merchant / Ivory film anyway, if you know what I mean.

--The film has no pretense to be anything more than what it is: A wonderfully directed, at times breathtakingly beautiful action movie that has three monsters.  (I see this as more of an action movie than as a monster movie.)

--The action scenes do not last too long, as a few of Man of Steel's did.

--David S. Goyer and Frank Darabont assisted with the screenplay.  Those are Dark Knight and Walking Dead names.

--There are no subplots involving a dumb romance, or a boring father / son conflict, or a cardboard villain.  Just monsters and mayhem.  The main character / hero saves a little boy or two, but that's okay.  He's supposed to do that, right?  And it's not drawn out or sappy when he does.  This was the problem with 1998's Godzilla, which had very good special effects and action scenes, but aspirations of personal conflict and relationship issues that nobody cared about.

--It's not too long.  Just over two hours.

What else do you need?  Go see it.

The Dark Knight Rises

Photo: The Dark Knight Rises poster, from its Wikipedia page.

One of the few movies I've ever considered going to the midnight screening for.  I didn't end up doing that, but I did see it at noon of the next day.  I've been waiting for this since the 500th time I saw The Dark Knight--and I listened to the CD soundtrack of The Dark Knight every day for almost two years.  I'm not kidding.  Still possibly the best musical score for a movie soundtrack ever made, and a true travesty that it wasn't even nominated for an Academy Award.  Anyway, the pacing, the music, the style, the flow, the panache of that film all made it great, so that you could easily look past the fact that when Batman saved Rachel Dawes from the Joker, the Joker was still with Dent and all his company--in Bruce Wayne's penthouse!

So it was with great anticipation that I awaited The Dark Knight Rises.  I went into the screening knowing that it couldn't possibly be as perfect as its predecessor--that kind of film comes along once in a director's career, and it did not happen again here.  TDKR started off slowly in of itself, but especially compared to the explosive beginning of TDK.  And where TDK didn't seem like a long film, because of the constant attack on the senses of the film, but it was long-ish, at two and a half hours.  TDKR was two hours and forty-five minutes, just fifteen minutes longer, but it seemed much longer than TDK.  And the MUCH slower pace doesn't help that overlong feeling.  It honestly drags in a couple of spots, mostly in the beginning.  (The second half's pace is much faster.)

Having said that, I don't want to sound like I didn't like TDKR.  I did, and a lot, especially the ending, which I believe made the whole film.  Whereas TDK was mostly about the Joker and the people of Gotham (the filmmakers said that Batman was the focus, but they were full of it; the Joker, and not just Ledger's performance, was the focus, as was the populace of Gotham itself), TDKR was fully about Batman.  Bane is given slight shrift; Catwoman is given even slighter notice, to the extent that you never really know anything about her character at all.  As it's Anne Hathaway looking eye-poppingly snazzy in the Catwoman outfit, and even more natural (and frankly awesome) on the Batcycle than Batman was, that's okay.  The slight background we're given makes the Catwoman outfit more understandable, if you know what I'm saying.

Nope, here it's all about Bruce Wayne (more him than Batman) and Alfred, too.  Speaking of Alfred, look for Michael Caine to get some consideration for Best Supporting Actor here.  His scenes are by far the most effective in the film, and his part of the ending makes everything just right.  In truth, the ending makes a good film into an almost-great film.  I won't give too much away, but the ending provides an obvious open-door for a sequel (Nolan couldn't close the door all the way, even if he is leaving the room for good) as the Bat signal gets fixed (i.e., Call me if you need me).  But the viewer also understands that any message sent to Batman may be long unanswered, if the call is returned at all.  The signal might go up, but Batman, not being Superman, might not see it from where he is at the end.  But, if so, that's okay; there's someone still in Gotham who'll pick up the phone.

More concerned about character and ending than about action, TDKR doesn't try to super-impress you with one awesome action scene after another as TDK did--though your eyes will pop when the Batcycle has to turn around; and there really aren't any surprises here, either, even with the "surprise" at the near-end that even a half-astute viewer would've seen coming from several miles away.  It's as if Christopher Nolan purposely tried to do something different; having impressed everyone with the mind-boggling pace and action in the second one, how could he better himself here?  He couldn't, and knew it, and probably wouldn't have wanted to, anyway.  If the first film was about how it all began, the last is about how it all should end.

It's very fitting, and very good.  What else were you hoping for?  As the last film of the trilogy, you wonder where someone else besides Nolan could go with it.  Nowhere, is my guess, despite the open door.  Maybe another re-boot, but I hope not.  If Nolan and Bale don't make a fourth one together (and both said they won't), I don't want another one made for a long while.

After all, what else is there to say?  This one concludes possibly the best film trilogy ever.  Only The Lord of the Rings comes close.

Mission Impossible--Ghost Protocol

Photo: Movie poster, from the movie's Wikipedia page.

Not a bad movie, with plenty of unbelievable stunts and pacing just good enough for a nearly 2 1/2 hour film.  The worst part of the movie, in fact, were the idiots I sat near.  Every unbelievable scene got a verbal and loud reaction from these clowns.  They talked only at these moments, which in a way is worse than those who talk during the whole thing.  At least, after awhile, you can drown them out.

Like all action films, some parts defied credibility--For example, is it really that easy to get beneath the Kremlin?  Or that building in India?  And why was there just one security guard (in the world's tallest building) on in some scenes, and why would just one guard in charge of watching fifty surveillance screens?  But with this kind of movie, one expects this kind of thing, and you just have to deal with it.  No one cared, for instance, when in The Dark Knight, the Joker dropped Batman's love interest out a window--while searching for Gotham's galloping D.A. and scaring the hell out of Bruce Wayne's guests--and then, seemingly, was left to lord over the penthouse after Batman and the (for the time being, saved) woman crashed atop a taxi.  Did the Joker just leave the penthouse without bothering anybody else?  The continuity is lost, but nobody cared--or even noticed.  Because you go see an action film for the action, and all else, including plot and characterization, be damned.

A few other notes:

Tom Cruise himself was lead producer on this movie, sans Paula Wagner, his partner of many years (and films), who seemed to drop him after his Oprah debacle, unnecessary rants about religion and anti-depressants, and slide in popularity.  He took many very good supporting roles (and a few very bad lead ones--but don't they all?) before he was able to muster the money and steam to make this one.  And, really, what was the big deal?  So he got a little manic about...well, something...on Oprah's couch.  Aren't you supposed to act a little crazy about someone you love?  Of course, the Scientology didn't help, and even worse were his comments about anti-depressants and religion and God knows what else.  But who goes to a Tom Cruise movie because they care what he thinks about those things?  Nobody.  We go to see him run around and act self-confident.  That's what I paid my money for.

The other actors in the film, including Jeremy Renner--who's in everything these days--just fulfill their roles, mostly without aplomb.  I thought the most interesting supporting characters were, in fact, the two lead bad guys, and the pretty blonde hitwoman who never said a single thing.  (The real actress is a model and is represented by a firm named Silent Models, which is particularly apt here.)  Michelle Monaghan and Ving Rhames make very brief cameos here--so brief, you wonder why.

The camerawork and choreography were outstanding, as were the locations and directing; those things, plus the style of action--especially the dropping car near the end--were more Jason Bourne than Ethan Hunt, but that was okay with me.  If you have any interest in seeing this, do so in the theatre rather than at home.  This is one of those movies that's better on the really big screen.  It cost $145 million to make and has already made over $362 million, according to its Wikipedia page.