Gotta Play! 2084 Arcade

After the show Saturday we met up with a friend to hit 2084 Arcade, an Anaheim original where several game owners open up their warehouse of 80+ games to the public. There's a $10 cover charge but all games are on free play, there's a couple of consoles upstairs, giant Jenga and a fridge full of waters. You know I'm a sucker for arcade games but had recently sated my appetite during a weekend in Fullerton which boasts not one but two button mashing destinations. One of them even had my holy grail of games, Capcom's Alien Vs Predator brawler! But I'd never been to 2084, we were in the neighborhood and they're only open a couple of times a month so we had to go. The place is jam packed with cabinets but more than that the ambiance is killer with lasers, music and videos projecting against the walls. 80's games aren't really my favorites though, I'm more of a 90's action guy but I tried my skills at Missile Command, The Empire Strikes Back, Punch Out and several other obscure titles. It was a bit crowded so we didn't stay long but one more spot I can check off my list of arcades for grown ups in the modern age.

Hey Arnold: I Don't Have Time For You Today

 

"I tell you there's more nutrients in beer than in milk."

     - Arnold Schwarzenegger

Oh Arnold, your film career may be at a crossroads but Damme if you're still not the King of Kings. This week saw The Oak hanging out at Gold's Gym, once to train political journalist Loise Mensch before talking John Kasich and his Institute of Public Policy at USC. At nearly 69, Arnold looks in great shape with big, defined arms and broad chest. Later in the week Arnold did a 30 minute Facebook Live from the mecca of bodybuilding as he works chest and back on behalf of represent.com where a "Come With Me If You Want To Lift" shirt will be available to benefit After School All-Stars. The video is hilarious with appearances from Frank Stallone, a little person, some rocker from the 70's and supersets of presses, pulldowns and rows. Arnold shouts out lines from Conan and Predator, then gives people in the gym shit as he walks by, exclaiming "I don't have time for you today!" and "that's bullshit!" randomly. The Governator explains that he typically does 30 sets a session in 30-45 minutes and a perfect way to start the day is to ride his bike to the gym, get in a workout then enjoy a nice breakfast. Speaking of Gold's, last weekend Arnold trained his son with the nanny in Venice that morning then headed to Coachella to hang with his kids with Maria Shriver, talk about dad of the week effort.

On the movie front, Terminator Genisys Sarah Connor Emilia Clarke is on the promotional circuit and claimed she will not be partaking in any future chapters as if it were her choice and was now above it. While TG made $440 million worldwide, it disappointed in America and nearly put me to sleep. I went in thinking Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese would be the weak link but Clarke was the one woefully miscast as she has none of the spunk, drive, gravitas or physicality that Linda Hamilton displayed in her two takes. Like her Game of Thrones co-stars, she shall not have a movie career. Arnold's Predator co-star and The Last Action Hero co-writer Shane Black is looking to direct The Predator, a large scale, event sized take on the alien hunter series and Schwarzenegger is looking to discuss the project with Black in the near future. Lastly, during a Ask Me/Us Anything session to promote their action comedy Keanu, Key and Peele were asked about Arnold to which they responded "Oh you talking about Schwartsie? You talking about Arnold Schwarztenburgers? Arnold Schwartzenburgers is my shit. He's my shiznits." Indeed.

Ask Me a Question: The Monster Squad

As if four movies on Saturday weren't enough, it was time for the weekend's fifth on Sunday with a matinee of 1987's The Monster Squad at The Ace Theatre in downtown. As I already mentioned, it was frigging hot this weekend and The Ace is right next door to the Eastern Building where they shot Predator 2. So going into scorching hot downtown was in a sense, like reliving Predator 2 since that took place during a heat wave. The great folks at La-La Land Records invited us after attending He-Man & She-Ra Day at The Egyptian last month. La-La had new copies of Bruce Broughton's excellent score available in the lobby and co-host Creature Features had tables full of prints, posters and other cool stuff. Upstairs there was a VIP reception where you could mingle with attending cast and crew but honestly I wouldn't recognize anyone besides F/X gurus Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr. The bar(s) were open so I enjoyed a couple of Jameson and ginger ales before and during the flick. We saw Back to the Future here a while back and I feel like the inside changed somehow, the seats seemed closer to the stage or something...

Eric "Quint" Vespe from Ain't It Cool News was the host and apparently he organized the first revival screening of Squad back in 2006 in Austin. Since then the flick has experienced a resurgence thanks to many a repertory screening and a 20th anniversary special edition DVD. Creature Features hosted a Monster Squad event at The Aero years ago and it played during last years Beyond Fest. Sadly composer Broughton couldn't attend but Vespe brought out actor Stephen Macht, cinematographer Bradford May, Gillis and Woodruff for a pre-movie panel:

- May was a young camera man hired by non-union director/producer Peter Hyams to shadow him. Ended up on Monster Squad and had a great time.
- Film shot for just over 3 months, utilized much of Warner Brothers backlot including Hazzard Square, the lake featured in the film is now office buildings.
- Peter Hyams' wife liked Stephen Macht in a television series, Hyams asked actor if he wanted to be in the movie, they shook hands and that was it.
- Macht's movie wife Mary Ellen Trainor (Lethal Weapon, The Goonies) was a terrific human being and the two became lifelong friends. Had no clue she was ill and sadly passed away in May.
- Stan Winston's studio hired to do the Mummy, Wolfman, Dracula, Frankenstein and Gill-Man f/x. Wolfman is based on Winston's own personal appearance and hair style. Gill-Man was first time Woodruff was in a suit, would later be the Alien in several films. Was in Gill-Man suit for 14 hours once. While shooting in lake, didn't want to pee in suit as he thought it might change material color.
- Originally wanted to use Universal monsters but studio passed.
- Gillis is still semi-embarassed they used remote control cars to move bodyparts around.
- Tom Noonan was method and stayed in character as Frankenstein, would answer direction with grunts and never let child actors see him without make-up.
- Macht doesn't think the film could be remade because it was a simpler, more idealistic time in the 80's. His son Gabriel (The Spirit, Suits) grew up on the film and still loves it.

While I own The Monster Squad and played it in the background, I've never actually sat down and watched it so seeing it on The Ace's beautiful screen was absolute best way to experience it. Basically, a crew of teenage kids who love monster movies (Andre Gower, Robby Kiger, Brent Chalem, Michael Faustino, Ashley Bank and Ryan Lambert) end up in possession of Van Helsing's diary. There's an amulet, a prophecy and virgins involved but Dracula and his monster cronies have returned and it's up to the kids to stop them. Directed by Fred Dekker with a script assist from Shane Black, Squad is a great 80's flick where kids curse, monsters are scary and realized practically, a kid can write the Army a letter in crayon and they show up while still injecting some real life drama like fighting parents and child bullying. Plus there's a big score by Broughton and a montage set to a snazzy 80's pop tune. In addition to the kids cussing, you also get one of them killing the monsters via wooden stakes and arrows then making and shooting silver bullets and it's no big deal. See? Don't coddle children, let them eat dirt, it'll be fine.

After the flick, Vespe introduced cast members Andre Gower (Sean), Ashley Bank (Phoebe) and Ryan Lambert (Rudy):

- In true Shane Black fashion, some of the dialog has a hard boiled detective/pulp novel feel. Gower was instructed to deliver the final line of the film with Clint Eastwood style steely aplomb.
- As kids they had no idea what a big production the film was, they could only work 6 hours a day and had 3 hours of school a day.
- On set teacher watched out for them, objected to Lambert climbing up into the treehouse set.
- All remember Treehouse set being great, so detailed and realized.
- Shooting in square was hard as giant fans were blowing them around, debris everywhere.
- Bank's scene and terror with Dracula Duncan Regeher was real as she had never seen him with his evil red contacts and he really frightened her.
- None of them knew the film had such a cult following. Lambert was in San Francisco playing in bands when first heard. They've attended multiple screenings around the country and love seeing film with fans as each crowd responds to different things.
- Fat kid Horace actor Brent Chalem was shy at first but eventually gelled with crew. Sadly passed away from complications with pneumonia in 1997.
- As adults, give major props to the crew who actually made the film while they went home.

Everyone involved looked back fondly and really appreciated that the film was still playing so well nearly 30 years later. After the Q&A, the actors hung out signing posters and taking photos while I grabbed Bradford May a moment. You see, May went on to have a prolific directing career mainly in television with Nash Bridges, The Equalizer, The Twilight Zone, Dallas, JAG and multiple TV movies making up his 100 plus credits directing and as a cinematographer. For me it all comes back to Michael Biehn as May directed 1997's Asteroid, a $20 million dollar, 4-hour miniseries that was watched by 30 million viewers. Biehn starred as the gritty and heroic leader of FEMA and May told me it was a huge production, shooting for nearly 4 months, mostly in Denver. I have a copy on VHS at home even though it omits some 60 minutes of footage from the original broadcast. But May is a great talker, he had stories and decades worth of technical knowledge in his computer but somehow doesn't make it dry or hard to understand. It was a nice cap to a very fun afternoon.

Con-Man: San Diego '15 Friday

 
Phew, another fun yet long and crazy day at San Diego Comic-Con 2015! Checked out the floor and found some amazing Predator themed Mini-Mates where you can get plastic versions of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny Glover and Carl Weathers as Dutch, Harrigan and Dillon respectively. Crappily, they were coming soon and not yet available...It was off to the 75th Anniversary of The Shadow and Doc Savage with artist/publisher Anthony Tollin and writer/producer Michael Uslan. The duo discussed their early encounters with Shadow and Savage and how the two pulp heroes have influenced their lives and careers since. Tollin's Sanctum Publishing has republished nearly 200 Shadow novels and almost as many of Savage. Uslan's first writing job at DC Comics came when The Shadow was canceled but retroactively revived after final sales numbers came in. With no script, Uslan saw his opportunity and pitched a Shadow tale that saw him fighting smugglers using barrels going over Niagara Falls to move drugs across country lines. The two also discussed just how much Batman ripped off The Shadow in the 30's as writers back then thought comic books and pulps were so disposable they figured no one would notice. An attendee was dressed in a terrific Shadow costume that looked straight from the 1994 flick while the Shane Black scripted Doc Savage in development was teased and producer Uslan was visibly excited at the progress. As an added bonus, we got a copy of some collected The Shadow stories along with new issues of the Doc Savage/Shadow/The Avenger team up Justice, Inc. from Dynamite that Uslan is a writer on.

Next it was time for From Novel to Comic to Film: Turning Books into Other Forms of Pop Culture that had a stacked panel including author Hugh Howey, comic book writer and artist Jimmy Palmiotti, Guardians of the Galaxy co-writer Nicole Perlman, Book of Eli scribe Gary Whitta and literary agent Kristin Nelson. This was a fun and very informative panel as everyone was very versed in the comic book, novel and movie worlds. Lots of talk about studios being risk adverse and everything needing to be based on something existing and successful. Mention of defunct Radical Entertainment where writers could pay to have their scripts turned into comic books and plunked into stores in order to use to pitch to studios. The most famous result being the high watt yet uneven Cowboys and Aliens. Surprisingly, no mention of Whitta's work on upcoming Star Wars flick Rogue One but I did snag a copy of his first novel, Abomination. The panel reiterated writing whatever because you want to, not because you think it will sell to Hollywood. In a bit of insider sharing, apparently Los Angeles comic stores Meltdown and Golden Apple organize their titles by what has been optioned and what hasn't so producers can find properties faster. Howey is in the midst of a career high with Wool becoming an international best seller that's been optioned by Fox and Sand that will hopefully become a TV series. Some interesting talk about translating a property for the media and not being shackled to the source material finding success with Game of Thrones veering from the novels or lackluster with too faithful Watchmen or in Palmiotti's Jonah Hex case, 100 + issues a not a thing made it to the screen. Hollywood!

Again I meant to tackle more panels but ended up walking around the floor and going over to schedule my annual volunteer shift of directing traffic at 6:00 AM. After a little break at the Comic-Con'do, it was back to the show for the best time to walk the exhibition floor, the final hour before closing. It's empty so you can see everything and get to what you want. Well except Funko who closed their booth early because they sent their staff to work an event...great business plan...And MTV who had a shaved headed Manu Bennett signing to promote new show The Shannara Chronicles. I ran into artist and now friend of Dammaged Goods William Stout and checked out more great art, statues and comics. Fox was hosting a game show on the floor asking if you could Beat the Geek at movie trivia. After answering a few questions from the sidelines contestants couldn't, I was put in for Cult Classics, not knowing Edward Scissorhands and Fight Club trivia but winning out thanks to my knowledge of Speed and Commando! My prize? My choice of digital download of several Fox titles, I picked Aliens. Because you know, James Cameron, Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen! After dinner plans fell through I walked over to Petco Park where an interactive zone with Peanuts and Point Break were set up among others and a zombie themed run had taken over the stadium. Up several blocks was Skeletor's Lair Pop Up Shop from Mattel with Convention exclusives like tee shirts, Chia Pets, figures and more. The place was decked out with Skeletor art, felt like villain wall paper and a bust of Battlecat!

It's an early morning tomorrow filled with volunteering, more floor walking and panels so no partying tonight. Have fun and see you Saturday!

Hey Arnold: June Boom

No June Gloom for Arnold as the King of Kings, Lord of Lords is still a historical and media force to be reckoned with. Breakthrough sci-fi action thriller Total Recall celebrated it's 25th anniversary this past Monday, reminding us that Paul Verhoeven is a mad cinematic genius and that the Colin Farrell remake was laaaaame! The Oak hit Rio for the Arnold Classic Brazil where over 25 competitions in martial arts, power lifting, bodybuilding, chess and pole dancing(?!) took place. Terminator: Genisys promotion is in full swing with billboards around town and TV spots aplenty. Original creator James Cameron lent his support to the new endeavor and told Arnold he loved the flick. The original B-movie, Tech-Noir masterpiece will be playing nationwide as part of Cinemark's Fathom Events starting on June 14th. If that's not enough Arnold for you, and it better frigging not be, you can catch classics Predator and Kindergarten Cop (and tons of other summer classics) via The Arclight Cinemas and of course, as his first iconic role in Conan the Barbarian and Destroyer with me and special guests at The Egyptian Theatre on Saturday, June 27th.

(Not) Love Actually: The 13th Warrior

Three of my closest friends growing up introduced me to The 13th Warrior, an action-horror mini-epic loosely based on the old story of Beowulf and Grendel. One was into the mystical and supernatural aspects, one into the viking warrior characters and one just liked to quote it out of nowhere. "Lo there do I see my father..." Only years later would I discover that the film was considered a bomb but has amassed a cult following around the world. Based on the novel by Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park) and directed by John McTiernan (Predator, Die Hard) with a script by Terminator 2 co-writer William Wisher and Black Rain's Warren Lewis, you'd think The 13th Warrior would be better remembered. In an age before the internet tore things apart prior to their release, The 13th Warrior suffered a similar fate of bad press, increasing budget woes, creative disputes and ultimate withdrawal of studio support.

We meet Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan (Antonio Banderas), an outcast academic and poet type turned ambassador as he and his mentor/translator Melchisidek (Omar Sharif) run into some Northmen at a shipping village. Word comes in that a nearby village has been besieged by a murderous, supernatural force and the Vikings enlist themselves to help. An old blind lady with a bag of bones claims that 13 warriors must go but one of them is not to be a Northman. Ibn is thrown into the crusade as they travel to the kingdom and meet the monsters of the mist and their "mother". Nordic shenanigans, Antonio Banderas being the little guy, wine made from honey aka mead, communal face washing/mouth rinsing/nose blowing bowls, feeble words like an old woman's, a mullet, boiled cow urine, sword and ax fighting, lots of beheading and bear worshiping baddies awesomeness ensues. Besides some crappy 90's CGI, 13th Warrior makes terrific use of it's British Columbia settings near rivers, in the woods and rain soaked villages. There's also an elaborate cave sequence complete with waterfall and diving escape. 

The men on a mission feel is old news to director McTiernan who gave us one of the best examples post The Magnificent Seven or The Dirty Dozen with 1987's Predator. While the 13 members aren't given a ton of development, you do get to know stoic and strong leader Buliwyf (sounds like Bull-vie) played by Vladimir Kulich and small funny guy Herger (Dennis Sorhoi) who is basically like Ibn's keeper and calls him "little brother". What's great about this movie is the warrior camaraderie mixed with a "fish out of water" story and action blended with light horror. You get cannibals in bear outfits, severed limbs, huge battles on ground and horseback, a descent into a creepy cave and a showdown with a poison fang handling witch along with sword, shield and spear action. It's not often you see a swords and sails flick and all of our guys are armored up in not too extravagant gear with an archer, ax-man, hatchet guy and of course the leader brandishes a big ass broadsword.

So what happened? How did such a promising flick fail to live up to the hype? Antonio Banderas was riding high from The Mask of Zorro, McTiernan had rebounded from the disappointing performance of Last Action Hero with Die Hard: With a Vengeance. Michael Crichton has wrote, produced and directed films like Westworld and Twister while his novels have turned into hits like Jurassic Park. Apparently from the onset, McTiernan and Crichton clashed which wasn't good for McTiernan as Crichton had final cut approval. Initially titled Eaters of the Dead like the book, a 1998 teaser trailer showcases the horror as well as the action. But test screenings were all over the map with positive reviews digging the visuals and adventure while negative ones focused on the leisurely pace and missed opportunities in the battle scenes. Having already spent over 6 months filming, the cast and crew were called back to the studio lot the following year for reshoots. On one end was McTiernan crafting a new ending and on the other was Crichton doing the same. Actor Vladimir Kulich would shoot scenes for each on any given day. While both men told the actor not to discuss what he was doing on each set, Crichton chimed in that it didn't matter what McTiernan was doing as he still had final cut.

Losing about 20 minutes of footage and gaining a new ending that included a final one on one battle for Bulwyf and the recasting of the evil mother; Disney lost interest in the film, McTiernan departed before final editing was completed and the title became The 13th Warrior. Estimated to have cost around $85 million bucks, rumors swirled that the budget had doubled. Graeme Revell's original score was scrapped in favor of a new one by Jerry Goldsmith. The film was not given a premiere and after sitting on the shelf, Disney made a last ditch promotional effort and released the flick on August 27th in 1999. So much time had passed that McTiernan's The Thomas Crown Affair was released four weeks prior. The 13th Warrior would gross $10.2 million on it's way to a tepid $32 million domestic and make about the same overseas. While Omar Sharif would publicly state his dissatisfaction with the film, 13th would find it's audience on DVD in the ensuing years with Zorro and future Casino Royale director Martin Campbell telling Banderas that it was an underrated film that had become a cult. Various websites were devoted to uncovering the lost McTiernan cut but even the original director couldn't promise a mythical masterpiece lying in wait. A 2011 French special edition DVD includes comments from the likes of Banderas, McTiernan, Kulich and co-writer Lewis in a nearly one hour documentary that has yet to make its way to the states.

After Desperado, Evita and The Mask of Zorro made Banderas a household name, subsequent misfires like 13th Warrior, Play It to the Bone, Original Sin and flop Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever would keep him working steadily until voicing Puss In Boots in the hugely successful Shrek series. Director McTiernan would fumble with big budget remake Rollerball and Basic before going to prison for allegedly lying to authorities. Now free, here's hoping he still has some flicks left in the tank. Crichton's film output would cool as adaptation Timeline would flop and he passed away in 2008 (Write In Peace). While it wasn't the big break Vladimir Kulich was hoping for, The 13th Warrior did lead him to a small role in Joe Carnahan's Smokin' Aces and Buliwyf-esque roles in Ironclad and TV's The Vikings. Until the special edition Blu-Ray hits the U.S., keep the mead coming.

Con-Man: WonderCon 2015 Sunday

Although total attendance for WonderCon is less than half of San Diego, the great alternate show still managed to sell out 3-Day badges as well as Saturday. I always tell people who are discouraged by the coordinating commitment that is SDCC to check out WC as it's a fantastic show in it's own right with plenty of swag, comics, art, games, panels and special events to keep you busy with little of the headache. Sunday we rolled in for the annual Nerdist panel as they keep expanding and have recently moved into new office space. New shows, podcasts, even an improv class is on the way. We found some better convention center food near the arena with sammiches and fajita bowls next to burgers and hot dogs. Some more walking around the floor led to more flipping through comic boxes where it became Liefield Sunday with a haul of The New Mutants as well as finding the last issue of the 2004 6-part mini-series relaunch as well as the Shatterstar mini-series. Back to the Arena we went to catch WB's The Flash panel that had cast members Danielle Panabaker, Candice Patton and Carlos Valdes joined by executive producer Andrew Kreisberg. A cool sizzle reel played first showcasing some end of season craziness featuring the Rogues teaming up as well as Gorilla Grodd and another crossover with Arrow. The panel was a lot of fun and they mentioned an Easter Egg I missed. Apparently in a recent episode where you see The Flash fighting Professor Zoom with his mom in the middle, the Flash emblem has a white circle around it versus Gustin Grant's current red. What does that mean? That there's still a mighty big chance that John Wesley Shipp will be revealed as an alternate Flash from the 90's show and give us what we all want! YESSSSSSS!

Some fun cosplay included a Predator and a female Terminator along with a first sight for me, U.S. Agent! When Captain America gave up the mantle under government pressure, Johnny Walker stepped in, a former pro wrestler who had been suped up by the Power-Broker but was also kinda crazy. When Steve Rogers battled and defeated Walker for the title, Walker donned the black Captain outfit Steve adopted during his non-Captain America crime fighting. Thus becoming The U.S. Agent, a more aggressive and maybe psycho version of Cap who would butt heads with Cap's buddy and West Coast Avengers leader Clint Barton aka Hawkeye. The dude was surprised as nobody knew who he was but he looked great. Coolest swag of the day had to have been the comic book and movie themed rugs that included Cap's shield, the Millennium Falcon, Han frozen in carbonite and Space Invaders. I feel like we should have picked one up cause it would have really tied the room together...

Some more walking around Artist Alley and we decided to call it a day. It was another great show and some big news hit at the very end as Comic-Con International announced that they would be moving WonderCon to the Los Angeles Convention Center in 2016 over the March 25-27th weekend. This year that would put it up against Seattle's Emerald City Comicon on the west coast but ECCC is expanding to 4 days in '16 and moving to April 7th-10th. It'll be cool to have WC in downtown but I dunno, Anaheim's a lot easier to get around than downtown. There's also only 5,000 some hotel rooms within walking distance of the convention center compared to 13,000 in Anaheim and 11,000 in San Diego. There's not much to walk to as L.A. Live will quickly be overrun and the surrounding area doesn't make you feel uber safe as gentrification is butting up right into Skid Row. It's only a one year contract though as Anaheim is scheduled to undergo renovations and expansion. The show has moved before, starting in Oakland, moving to San Francisco then down to Anaheim. It will be interesting to see if there's an uptick in Hollywood studio presence since it's literally in their neighborhood. Until then, see ya in San Diego!

D'You Know What I Mean 2015: Weathers, Carpenter & Jane Weekly Round Up

We're mid way through the first month of 2015, how's it going?  I'm feverishly working on the next Dammaged Goods Presents event, children of the 80's and 90's will be super excited.  While hanging around the interwebs between e-mails and phone calls I came across:

I set this up! Victory!

Happy Birthday Carl Weathers!  The likeable former professional football player known for his roles in Rocky I-IV, Predator, Action Jackson, Happy Gilmore, Toy Story of Terror and Arrested Development celebrated the big 6-7 this past 14th.  That puts him right under co-stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.  With an acting career dating back to 1975, Weathers' film and television output has slowed in recent years as he focuses on screen writing and lending his famous face to charities; playing in celebrity poker tournaments, raising awareness for cancer, bringing water to west Africa, campaigning for film tax incentives across the country as well as being a finalist in the newly formed Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame for his portrayal of Apollo Creed in the Rocky films.  Speaking of Creed, a new film featuring the grand son of the legendary character has just begun production with rising star Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone starring in the 7th film of the series.  Even though Apollo died in 1985's Rocky IV, it would be great to have Weathers reprise the role in some kind of voice over or flashback to pay respect to all the work he put into making the character so memorable.

Only two days later, another titan of cinema celebrated his 67th birthday, writer/director/composer John Carpenter!  The man behind such B-movie genre classics as Escape From New York, They Live, The Thing and Big Trouble From Little China has also slowed down in the filmmaking world but has kept busy through writing comic books, releasing a new album of "lost themes" and playing video games.  With four of his films already remade, it was just announced this week that Fox has acquired the rights to reboot Escape From New York and Carpenter will act as a consultant.  Multiple parties have held the rights in recent years from New Line Cinema, Joel Silver and most recently Studio Canal.  Rumors of a prequel starring Gerard Butler to begin a new trilogy never materialized.  Let's see if Fox can put together something special that can replicate the experience of the films while moving it in a new direction.

Last but certainly not least, the trailer for SyFy's 10 part "future noir" series The Expanse dropped during this week's Television Critics Association's press tour.  Based on a series of novels, The Expanse is set 200 years in the future and follows a detective (Thomas Jane) as he crosses the solar system searching for a missing woman and uncovers a conspiracy in the process.  Being touted as SyFy's most ambitious project to date, cast and crew began production in Toronto in November occupying most of the stages at Toronto's Pinewood Studios.  The trailer shows off sleek production design, zero gravity sex and The Jane looking very slim, trim and stylish in a fedora and some kind of half shaved, half long hair cut.

Jane participated in a Redditt Ask Me Anything session yesterday to hype his new film with Bruce Willis, Vice, that hits theaters and VOD this weekend.  Nothing too crazy which is kind of disappointing as Jane is the king of WeirdCool.  Jane mentions never watching his films after they're completed, sneaking out of premieres, fans wanting to wrestle him, has never seen Game of Thrones, his love for making baseball picture 61*, almost drowning on Deep Blue Sea,  taking name Jane from Indian religion Jain while shooting a Bollywood feature at 16, how the studio would have given The Mist a bigger budget if they'd change the ending, not being very good in comedy The Sweetest Thing, shooting Vice in Mobile, Alabama being great, Bruce Willis being the guy you see on screen, his favorite horror film is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and that Lawrence Kasdan likes his actors to be on set whether or not they're working.

Gotta Drank! Downtown

With a friend from out of state visiting this weekend, we descended upon downtown Los Angeles to show him around.  There's beautiful architecture on every street, like the turquoise Eastern Building that was used in Predator 2!  He got to sit in random traffic like a Los Angeles native as we chugged along the 10 freeway towards the convention center in our super charged Uber.  Just a week ago, a huge blaze tore through an under construction apartment complex, shutting down the 110 freeway and melting signs.  Luckily, no injuries or deaths have been reported so far.  Explaining that downtown is on the fast up and up thanks to projects like L.A. Live and gentrification through hipsters, it's sad to know that Los Angeles has the last true Skid Row in America.  Now you'll have fancy apartments and coffee shops right next to some of the most derelict parts of the city.

Our first stop of the night was Beelman's Pub, a super cool and chill gastropub that had lots of crazy crap on the walls like album sleeves and a Wonka Golden Ticket.  The bar served up house cocktails like Moscow Mules complete with copper cups so you know we had to have those.  The Mules were excellent, light and effervescent with a ginger kick from the syrup instead of beer and a piece of it candied thrown in. Food was hit and miss, the meat and cheese board was uber fancy but not exactly overflowing with eats while the steak and fries were absolutely delicious.  A jukebox offered up classic rock and pop albums including What's the Story? Morning Glory from OASIS.  It must not have been turned on though as our songs never came on while others repeated so I'm guessing a radio or iPod was at work.  Great spot though and we'll be back.

Walking to our next stop, we noticed a lot of people dressed in Santa outfits, must have been a theme party going on somewhere or some weird, downtown theme night like Dapper Day at Disneyland.  We walked past Pershing Square where ice skating was set up and palm trees were glowing red, blue, yellow and green.  Hidden away in a random building is Perch, billed as an intimate and non-pretentious lounge with a French bistro inspiration.  Taking an elevator up to the 13th floor to transfer, we opted to take the stairs, bypassing the lounge and heading straight to the roof where you get a solid, 15th floor view of the city.  You know I'm a sucker for drinks with a view but 15 floors?  Come on, I'm used to being on the 30th.  Being a little lower is nice though, you see more details around the city, the people on the ice skating, etc.  It was time for another Moscow Mule but sans copper cup sadly.  Very tasty though.  It wasn't too crowded and there were fire pits every few feet but the breeze up there was still a touch chilly.  Good times and I'll be sure to take any out of town visitors there to check out the view.

From there we walked around a bit, picking up supplies like Carl's Jr. and I couldn't help but be a little surprised at how rundown much of downtown looks.  There were people out and about, young and old, doing well and not so much so it wasn't a safety issue per se, just a lot of old establishments never given an facelift or deep cleaning.  I could only think of 1984's The Terminator when Kyle Reese (Ya know, The Biehn?) arrives and fights with bums and police on the grimy, gray streets of downtown that still look pretty much the same.

Cue the synth and Nike Vandals...

Ask Me a Question: Carl Weathers Night

Honestly, this post could be called Predator & Action Jackson reunion night as we had so many people in attendance who worked on both of tonight's films.  To spice up the evening, I secured author David J. Moore to appear in the lobby talking to attendees about his work covering action, horror and genre movies, his recently published book on post-apocalyptic films World Gone Wild and his next literary effort, a guide to action movies.  We also had Shannon Shea from Stan Winston's Studio set up with tons of behind the scenes photos and some video he shot during the production of Predator.  Was crazy to hear how the guys working on the Predator suit were all in their early 20's and younger, how it was crisis mode all the way for the 5 weeks they had to prep and get down to Mexico to shoot.  Mechanical Designer Richard Landon joined Shannon while Mr. Carl Weathers, stunt coordinator and director Craig Baxley, editor Mark Helfrich and a slew of stunt guys who worked on both films mingled and reunited in the Egyptian Theatre's lobby.

Mark Helfrich was cool enough to provide his original crew jacket from the then titled, The Predator, to give away as a prize.  I got to chat with Mr. Helfrich out in the lobby for a few minutes and he was just an awesome, funny guy who has shaped memorable flicks like Revenge of the Ninja, I Come In Peace, Rambo: First Blood Part II and all of Brett Ratner's films.  Weathers, Baxley and everyone who worked on Action Jackson signed a VHS copy that I gave away as another prize.  The house lights went down and it was time for 1987's Predator.

This is the 2nd or 3rd time I've seen it on the big screen and tonight's digital print looked absolutely beautiful.  The spaceship drop off, the incoming choppers, the quick introduction of the Arnold Schwarzenegger led military squad all set to Alan Silvestri's pounding, memorable score and Carl and Arnold's epically macho handshake make for one of the greatest openings in cinema history.  Even though I had watched it at home recently to prep, seeing it on the big screen with big sound highlighted how quickly the film moves.  The John McTiernan directed film is full of iconic scenes from the handshake, to the helicopter ride and sexual tyrannosaurus talk, finding the mutilated bodies in the chopper wreckage to the huge end to Act I's assault on the complex sequence.  Man I did not realize how much carnage there is in that sequence between the rolling truck with a bomb in the back, machine guns, grenades, explosions, bodies flying, projectile machetes, wow.  Baxley has always shot incredible action in camera and for the first time I noticed Carl Weathers running through a scene with an explosion going off behind him and flames all around, all real.

After the flick, I took to the mic to introduce our special guest of the evening, Mr. Carl Weathers. Who I should note had just been so great through the whole process of getting this night going.  Just a kind, easy going, funny and smart guy.  It's odd, being up there, I honestly don't remember everything we talked about as I was worried about not looking stupid or asking dumb questions (which I ended up doing anyway...), boring the audience, etc.  But I love Carl's work and had done my homework so our discussion just flowed naturally.

- Acting bug bit him from a young age, stage plays through high school and majored in Theater but girls loved the football player so he went down that route.
- Never had a problem balancing acting and athletics, just did things his own way, once he latched on to something, just went after it with everything he had.
- Landed in Los Angeles looking to play for the Rams but ended up in Oakland with the Raiders then Canada, always wanting to get back to L.A. because that's where the acting jobs were.
- Didn't really struggle much once focused on becoming a professional actor, landed 10's of episodics on television then Rocky.
- Rocky audition, just lots of huge guys around but Weathers was chomping at the bit and the producers were having trouble filling the role.
- Knew it was something special early on, during production, told everyone it was going to be huge.  - Met Mark Hamill who had just come off of Star Wars who had a feeling his flick was going to be big as well.
- Got a call from manager that Rocky II was happening, says he made 15 cents on first, made a dollar on the second, it was a nice paycheck.
- Predator came onto his radar through his talent agent who said producer Joel Silver really wanted to meet him, read script but just wasn't there, character didn't even have a name.  Met Silver who said they wanted him and would make it what he wanted.  Met with writers who took his notes.
- Dillon wasn't even named in the script, came up with Marshall Dillon because it was just a "macho ass name".
- Gives props to Arnold and everyone involved for delivering solid performances, McTiernan being so talented behind the camera.
- Arnold had a gym brought down to Mexico so would use that before getting on the bus out to location, sometimes at 4:00 AM.
- The whole cast was so bent but he was the straight guy, had a lot of fun.  Totally ridiculous on and off set, lots of tequila involved.

- At this point, someone yelled from the audience and it was cast member Richard Chaves!  Who played Poncho in the film.  This was totally unplanned but just added to the evening's reunion feel.  Everyone in attendance had nothing but love for each other.
- Chaves says Weathers saved his life but wasn't that macho as on set. Watched for 3 months as Weathers took care of a little bird and fed it using an eye dropper each day.
- Handshake came from having these two physical characters reunited and how they would interact, had a little beef that Arnold got the angle to show off his bicep but I told Carl I could see his pumped, vascular forearms.
- Craig Baxley joined us at this point and I asked about the infamous assault on the complex scene and keeping actors safe among all the Boom Boom Boom.
- Sequence originally scheduled for 3-4 weeks of shooting but production was running out of money. Joel Silver told Baxley he had 6 days and would be given the full cast.
- Jim and John Thomas had written a terrific scene that Baxley rewrote to fit the schedule with their blessing and got it done.

- I asked about the young, unknown, Jean-Claude Van Damme working as the original creature. Weathers remembers JCVD was one of the most ambitious people he had ever met and was constantly talking about becoming a movie star.  Wanted to do some kickboxing in the suit because that's what he was good at.
- Baxley recalled seeing JCVD coming down a hallway with a 10 person entourage, called out to Joel Silver and jumped in the air, doing a 6 foot full split.
- Van Damme didn't tell anyone he was claustrophobic so when he put on the $10,000 creature head for the first time, he shuddered, pulled it off and threw it to the ground, breaking it.  Joel Silver fired him on the spot and uttered the famous line, "you'll never work in this town again!"  Which you know, wasn't true.
- Weathers works out more as an actor than as an athlete.  Actors have nothing to do between jobs so just got into pumping iron, worked out with Vince Gironda for years who had a tiny gym filled with tons of equipment and approached bodybuilding as sculpture.

- Action Jackson came from Weathers and Joel Silver talking about blaxploitation films on set.
- Title came from an Australian crew member then Weathers went off to flesh out the story of a cop after a high profile businessman villain, started with the name, Jericho "Action"Jackson.
- Many stunt performers from the film were in attendance and Baxley gave them all a shout out.
- Baxley has ghost directed lots of films, had just come off of 5 years of The A-Team on TV and worked with likes of Warren Beatty and Walter Hill.
- Had 3 weeks to prep 32 day shoot, 5 days of 2nd Unit, Silver gave them carte blanche as he was more concerned about getting to know Sharon Stone.
- Made huge profit for Lorimar Film division, among their top earners.

More and more was talked about of course but I don't want to bore you.  I took one question from the crowd and it was my mistake not to preface it with "a succinct and good question" as the asker went on for a bit after we had already been talking for at least 45 minutes, still had a signing and another film to screen.  So apologies to anyone who didn't get to ask a question as lots of hands went up.  Weathers took to the lobby to do a quick signing and photo session.  Was great to see the enthusiasm of the fans who all wanted a Predator shake or fists up Rocky photo.  A surprising amount of Action Jackson DVD's, laser disks and the like showed up as well.

It's hard to process these things as they happen but it was a great night with so many wonderful people in attendance.  Lots of total strangers congratulated me on a job well done so I'll take it where I can get it. Big thanks to the American Cinematheque for having us, Grant and Christian for their support and guidance, Oliver for getting everything set up, Carl for being such a great guest, Craig Baxley, Mark Helfrich, Shannon Shea and everyone who worked on the films for being so cool and approachable, friend and photographer Jeremy for documenting, Dammaged Goods supporters Tammi, Tim, Anna and Phil for working the crowd and of course any of you who attended, I hope you got one of the custom shirts.

Until the next one...

(Nearly) Ask Me a Question: Carl Weathers Tribute w/Predator & Action Jackson

Well kids, it is almost time for Carl Weathers night.  Hopefully you've seen the lovely piece Susan King of the L.A. Times conducted with our special guest that ran in this past weekends edition.  Last time we spoke, I was excited to announce that Craig R. Baxley, the Stunt Coordinator on Predator and Director of Action Jackson would be joining us for an introduction.  Today, I'm happy to announce that we'll also be welcoming a couple of Stan Winston's crew for the evening as well! 

Shannon Shea has been in the Special Effects arena since the 80's as a puppeteer, special makeup effects artist, shop foreman and sculptor.  For Winston's Studio, Shea was on awesome flicks like Predator, Monster Squad, Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park.  From there Shea hooked up with Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero's K.N.B. Effects Group for From Dusk Till Dawn, Hulk, Kill Bill and Planet Terror among many more before working with industry icon and childhood idol Rick Baker on Men in Black 3.  Today, Shea is moving into becoming master of his own destiny having provided Special Effects for indie horror flick, Scream at the Devil and is lined up to write and direct Mr. Beebee, starring Ghostbusters' Ernie Hudson in the near future.  He's also collected his memories from working on the films into a collection of E-books that will be available soon.

Richard J. Landon also started in the 80's at Winston's Studio and has worked steadily as a puppeteer, make up artist, in the mechanical and animatronic department and designer on classics like The Terminator, Tremors, Predator 1 & 2, Galaxy Quest, Iron Man and Pacific Rim.  I'll have to ask them if they had any contact with Jean-Claude Van Damme playing the Hunter before the creature was redesigned and played by Kevin Peter Hall.

Shaping up to be a fun night, hope to see you there!

Hey Arnold: October Remember

"I was always dreaming about very powerful people, dictators and things like that. I was just always impressed by people who could be remembered for hundreds of years, or even, like Jesus, be for thousands of years remembered."

     - Arnold Schwarzenegger

It's a Dammaged Goods kind of month with plenty of awesomely 80's inspiration going on in the forms of Jean-Claude Van Damme's Birthday, Carl Weathers night and Arnold, Arnold, everywhere!  Just yesterday, The Oak headed to Columbus, Ohio for the rededication of a bronze statue featuring his bodybuilding likeness.  Originally unveiled in 2012, sculptor Ralph Crawford's 8 foot, 600 pound ode to the inspirational Arnold has been moved front and center outside the Convention Center where Arnold and promoter Jim Lorimer have held the annual Arnold Expo and Bodybuilding Classic since 1989.  Arnold also owns a piece of nearby shopping center Easton I believe which used to house a Planet Hollywood.  The event hosts bodybuilding and fitness competitions along with gymnastics, cheerleading, dance, fencing, table tennis, yoga, martial arts, strongman, archery and more.  1000's of athletes descend on Columbus in late February/early March while the events bring in over 150,000 spectators.  I've attended several years and it's always fun to walk around the floor checking out the exhibitors, guests and events.  Back in the day you got A LOT of free samples of protein, energy drinks, fat burners and the like but now that they got ya, companies don't need to hand out as many goodies since crowds will show up with or without the freebies.  Kind of like Comic-Con...

Next week on Wednesday, 10.15, I'll be seeing Arnie in the flesh when he along with writer/director James Cameron and producer Gale Ann Hurd attend a 30th anniversary screening of The Terminator at The Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.  Humans From Earth hosts the shindig that sold out in mere minutes.  Originally released on October 26th in 1984, the $6.4 million guerilla style, B-movie, Tech-Noir masterpiece went on to gross a respectable $38 million smackers and firmly established Cameron, Hurd and Arnold as filmmaking institutions.  Arguably the real stars of the flick, the human prey and her protector, Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese, played by Linda Hamilton and MICHAEL BIEHN would also flourish from their connection with Cameron.  Hamilton starred in groundbreaking sequel T2: Judgment Day 7 years later before marrying the brilliant but workaholic Cameron and divorcing in 1999.  Biehn would go on appear in Cameron's 1986 Aliens, replacing James Remar over a weekend and then 1989's The Abyss.  A one day cameo in T2 would be the last official pairing but the two nearly collaborated again on 1996's Titanic and 2008's Avatar.  Biehn would work with Hurd on kids sci-fi flick Clockstoppers as well as syndicated action series Adventure, Inc.  This will be my...6th time seeing The Terminator on the big screen?  And you can bet your ass I'll be leading the applause when Biehn's credit comes up.

A week after The Terminator on Friday, 10.24, The Egyptian hosts another Arnold infused special event, this time with a screening of Predator as part of Dammaged Goods' night with special guest Carl Weathers.  The seminal macho "men on a mission" flick/sci-fi thriller from John McTiernan and Joel Silver sports a terrific cast along with the Oak including Weathers, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham and Shane Black.  Part action movie, part 50's alien invasion, part jungle nightmare, Predator has stood the test of time to become one of Arnold's and the genres most beloved and quoted films.  An Arnold-less sequel, 2 crossovers with Aliens and a reboot/sequel have yet to equal the original in terms of quality or box office.  A new sequel is in development at Fox courtesy of writer/director Shane Black that is rumored to include Arnold's character Dutch.  Carl Weathers will join us for a Q&A where we'll discuss his work on Predator as well as other memorable roles in the Rocky series, the Joel Silver produced Action Jackson, Happy Gilmore and Arrested Development.

Now everyone say it with me..."Get to the choppa!"

(Pre) Ask Me a Question: CARL WEATHERS in Person! Predator and Action Jackson!

My quest to share the gospel of 80's and 90's action movies keeps on kicking as I'm proud to announce the next Dammaged Goods live event, An Evening With Carl Weathers featuring Predator and Action Jackson!  If you're keeping track, it was Terminator 2: Judgment Day with Robert Patrick in April, Double Impact and Bloodsport with Sheldon Lettich in May then Universal Soldier and Rocky IV with Dolph Lundgren in June.  Each of those events were held around Los Angeles at The Arclight Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino's New Beverly Cinema and The American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theatre.  The Egyptian is going to be our new home and I'm pumped to have my banner flying at the house of Beyond Fest and Humans From Earth among other niche programs.  As before we'll have trivia, prizes, custom tee shirts and a Q&A following the first feature.  It all goes down on Friday, 10.24 at 7:30 PM in Hollywood.  Tickets are available now, check out The American Cinematheque's website for more details.  If you're a regular reader, drop me a line and I'll try to save you a tee shirt because if you got one from the other nights, you know it will be awesome.

Carl Weathers of course is known to the masses for his work in Rocky I - IV, Predator, Action Jackson, Happy Gilmore and Arrested Development among dozens of other credits.  A former professional football player, Weathers caught the acting bug early and balanced athletics with theater while in college.  Hitting Los Angeles in the 70's, one of Weathers' first roles was as Apollo Creed in the Oscar winner that nobody believed in, Rocky.  Displaying a statuesque physique along with confidence and humanity to spare, Weathers was a bombastic and gregarious counterpart to Stallone's quiet underdog.  Weathers returned in 3 more Rocky films, his character going from rival to mentor to best friend.  Along the way, his growing physical and action oriented roles would be displayed in films for James Bond helmers Guy Hamilton and Peter S. Hunt appearing opposite the likes of Robert Shaw, Harrison Ford, Franco Nero, Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson.  Weathers would go on to direct episodic television as well as keep busy as a voice actor.

In 1987's Predator, Weathers helped elevate arguably the most macho and muscular cast ever assembled on film, supporting burgeoning action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger and a stand out cast including Jesse Ventura, Shane Black, Bill Duke and Sonny Landham in the sci-fi action flick that finds an elite unit of special ops soldiers being hunted by an alien creature.  Produced by Joel Silver, their relationship would extend to 1988's starring vehicle Action Jackson which sees Weathers as a legendary Detroit cop cleaning up the streets, taking on thugs and a maniacal car dealer with one liners, car crashes, blow torches and being able to leap over an oncoming taxi.  Another great supporting cast includes Craig T. Nelson, Sharon Stone, Vanity, Thomas F. Wilson, Bill Duke, Robert Davi and Ed O'Ross.

The early 90's saw Weathers headline TV shows like Street Justice and In the Heat of the Night before popping up in 1996's Happy Gilmore with Adam Sandler as club pro Chubbs Peterson, a talented golfer who met his professional demise after losing a hand to an alligator.  Weathers would later appear in Sandler's Little Nicky and 8 Crazy Nights.  Continuing his comedy trek, Weathers appears as a frugal, stew making version of himself on 4 episodes of cult favorite, Arrested Development as well as losing his right hand again as Combat Carl in TV special, Toy Story of Terror. 

So start pumping up now for endless Predator handshakes, mark your calendar and get to the choppa, I mean theater to hear a legend discuss his incredible career and watch a couple of kick ass flicks from a bygone era when muscles, machine guns and one liners ruled the box office.

(Still) Cinema Swole: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Remember that time I said Arnold was looking surprisingly swole at Cannes in May riding a tank to promote The Expendables 3?  Well the King of Kings has kept up his training regimen because he's looking more and more jacked.  Recent snaps show him traveling the world and hitting the weights at Muscle Beach in Venice, California as well as staving off jet lag in India by getting a pump.  At a car show of some sort, a beefy and vascular Arnie checked out sports cars with son Patrick and Taylor Lautner (?!), I'm guessing they're buddies from Grown Ups 2...With a short haircut and blondish locks, Arnold looked like Dutch 2.0, his character from 1987's Predator.  Although I feel like that character should probably be a bit of a crumpled, shell of his former self in the developing Shane Black driven sequel, after losing his entire unit and brothers in arms (literally and figuratively, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham and Carl Weathers all sport some strong pipes in arguably the most macho film of all time).

While Arnold's recent cinematic conquests Sabotage and EX3 have been met with disappointing and plain embarrassing results, the flicks were enjoyable and the former Governor is still busier than ever.  Whether it's finishing up shooting on the latest Terminator installment, traveling to Sacramento to catch up with Governor Jerry Brown and be on hand for his portrait unveiling, to his Symposium for State and Global Policy holding a Climate Change Summit to visiting Bakersfield to check out a fuel additive that reduces emissions, The Oak, like his trademark T-800 persona, just won't stop.

Con-Man: Salt Lake City Round Up

Saturday was a short day where we hoped to get Danny Glover's photo, see Simon Helberg and maybe Stephen Amell before doing a last walk of the floor for any unseen swag.  We breezed on in the door with our Gold passes and I headed for Photo Ops where a very small line was formed.  I'm not one for paying to interact with celebrities but I hadn't spent much at the show and I had a significant discount so I figured what the hey, it'll make for a funny Christmas card.  Danny Glover has always been an actor I've enjoyed, especially in the Lethal Weapon series and Predator 2 where his clap in Gary Busey's face actually saved a rude asshole and his rude asshole assistant one day at work when I was ready to beat up an old man and his underling. 

After a few minutes on the floor we realized we'd seen everything the day before so we headed to Simon Helberg from The Big Bang Theory's panel.  An announcer/organizer type came out several times to pump up the crowd with bad jokes and asked us to scoot in to make room for people coming in.  Compared to the light hearted fun of Alan Tudyk and emotional frankness of Manu Bennett from Friday, Helberg's panel was a bit awkward and got pretty old.  Sure I've seen the show he's famous for but I'm not exactly it's biggest fan.  More than one question was in regards to guest stars and all I could think about was the BS fact that they're all supposed Flash fans but John Wesley Shipp from CBS' own The Flash television show never guest starred.  Also, there wasn't an introduction per se, whereas Manu Bennett can have a quick sizzle reel of action pieces, Helberg's clip consisted of him telling jokes without audio.  He seemed like a nice guy but the moderator didn't do much to prep the crowd and talk about Helberg's career, beginnings or how he got involved with the show and just handed the mic(s) to the crowd.  Coupons were handed out for Helberg's autograph and photo op so when people asked for photos on stage they were awkwardly denied.  One question asker said San Diego sucked but I'm sure he's never actually been there to see how clown shoes Salt Lake's show is in comparison but we'll get to that later.

The panel got lame kind of quickly with too many kids asking incoherent questions or people making comments instead of asking anything and then the fawning fans asking for up close and personal time.  They just gave you coupons to meet him, if you want a face to face experience, you gotta pay!  That's how this show works!  Helberg did get to talk about his studies at NYU, thinking the show would be canceled due to the writer's strike, being in awe of Stephen Hawking, the loneliness of shooting his astronaut subplot, working with Joss Whedon for Dr. Horrible, how a movie he directed is based on his bumbling, bad luck ridden attempt to win his girlfriend back and that he can't name favorites among the cast since he would alienate others.  Even though we had primo seats for Stephen Amell, having only seen season 1 I figured the panel would be very season 2 and upcoming 3 heavy so we decided to bounce.  It was off to the arcade for another crack at Captain America and The Avengers.  Armed with about $10 bucks in quarters we triumphed over additional villains like Crossbones, Juggernaut, Ultron and then the Red Skull himself, on a space station!  After 5 stages and about 25 minutes of gameplay, we had defeated the game and the universe can sleep safely once again.

Then it was time for our photo op with Danny Glover.  I honestly thought no one would be queued up but I was wrong.  There were dozens of people already waiting.  I had planned to say something to Mr. Glover but once we got in with him, he was just so kind and happy to be there that all I could do was shake his hand, ask how he was doing and smile like a goof.  A truly enjoyable experience and the photo is now hanging in the den.

Parting thoughts on Salt Lake Comic Con?  It's a fun show but still has to work out a lot of their logistical issues.  Thursday's wait time and disorganization was pretty unacceptable to me although Friday went smoothly.  Saturday got real crowded and it's estimated that 120,000 peeps rolled through in total.  But if their staff can't handle that capacity, maybe they should consider capping ticket sales.  Oh wait, they're for profit so no, that won't happen.  Their info book didn't include an actual schedule of events and there could have been a lot more signage around the floor for special events, panel rooms, etc.  The exhibition floor was decent with lots of variety but we got through it pretty quickly.  Panel wise beyond actor spotlights were mostly fan run and listening to super fans talk about a subject really isn't that interesting or educational compared to someone involved professionally in a comic, movie or book discussing their experience.  How does it compare to San Diego Comic Con?  It doesn't.  At all.  I hope attendees will stop comparing themselves to the show because they're not on the same level.  At all.  They might have crammed nearly as many people into the show but they also gouged them to buy upgraded ticket packages that didn't even get you much.  The entire show is based around selling autographs and photos whereas SDCC is about celebrating the arts with over 1,000 panels to choose from. Nothing was going on outside the show unlike San Diego where half a dozen venues offsite offer more activities, many for free while SLCC had special events with Kevin Sorbo and Hulk Hogan available for a separate ticket price.  So for their own sake, I hope fans and organizers of SLCC work on making their show better, not trying to compete with San Diego because they're not in the same league and mouthing off about something you've never even experienced is just sad.

With Salt Lake City being such a religious town, the show did not occur on Sunday so our flight back to Los Angeles included no less than Bruce Campbell, Jon Heder, Cary Elwes and Lou Ferrigno.  Lou is still a pretty big boy and Bruce has that great, distinctive voice that could read you your rights and be entertaining.  I'd probably come back to Salt Lake Comic Con but only for Thursday or Friday, there's just not enough going on to keep you there for 3 days.  I hear there's a huge outdoor store outside SLC complete with an indoor shooting range and full sized Ferris wheel so that would be cool to check out.  Until then, America needs your help!