Gotta Hear! Piece of the Action Podcast

This past weekend I sat down over Skype with my #ActionMovieBro Eoin from The Action Elite. This time out we discussed San Diego Comic-Con, July birthday boys Wesley Snipes, Michael Biehn and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Navy Seals, summer movies and all things The Terminator! So sit back and let us talk you through traffic, your ride home or lying in the middle of the floor.

(Not)Love Actually: The Hunted

I remember seeing the trailer for 2003's The Hunted in a theater back in the early 2000's. The story of a special forces operator having trouble dealing with society and going on a surprise violent rampage elicited an immediate "Rambo for the new millennium" from someone in the crowd. A few Sunday's ago I found myself inexplicably watching the William Friedkin directed, somewhat forgotten man to man, hand to hand mini-classic starring Benicio Del Toro and Tommy Lee Jones . When I first saw the flick, I was semi-obsessed with it and devoured the DVD special features and commentary. Tweeting to the director that it was underrated, Friedkin and several dozen others agreed.

The film opens in Kosovo where Special Forces soldier Aaron Hallam (Del Toro) is knee deep into a violent mission to take out some bad guys. Years later we find him challenging two hunters in the woods of Oregon and killing them with a knife. Hallam's teacher and deep woods tracker L.T. Bonham (Jones) is called in to assist with the investigation. Being trained in the arts of stealth, self sufficiency in nature and the production and use of edged weapons, Hallam makes for an excellent soldier. But the stress of battle has him seemingly coming off the hinges and unable to hold a job or maintain healthy relationships back in the world. With the threat of confidential military affairs going public, Hallam is targeted for assassination by some of his former teammates turned government agents. But Hallam escapes and the chase is on with Bonham, agent Abby Durrell (Connie Nielsen) and half the city's police in pursuit. It all leads to a final confrontation between former teacher and student where only one will leave alive.

Based on a script by David and Peter Griffiths along with Art Monterastelli, at face value The Hunted treads familiar ground as Stallone's 1984 breakout hit First Blood where a returning Vietnam veteran butts heads with a small town sheriff and wreaks havoc when they won't leave him alone. But The Hunted tells it's own story in a very unique way in a fast paced, educational and violent style as we see flashes of Hallam's intense training designed to take a person's life quickly and efficiently. Then we have Tommy Lee Jones' Bonham feeling partially responsible for Hallam's actions and stepping up to deal with the issue and save civilian lives. At a brisk and simple 94 minutes, The Hunted is a genre film elevated by it's cast and crew. Director Friedkin films everything practically so we get expansive woods, chases through crowded streets, cars crashing, trucks flipping, high falls and impressive hand to hand and knife to knife fights with a brutal showdown on the side of a waterfall. The amount of research displayed is great from Hallam's training to each using their tracking prowess to find the other and the final confrontation where one makes a knife out of scrap metal and the other chisels an over sized arrowhead from a piece of rock. Del Toro is calm, cool and reserved here with a hint of instability while Jones is his usual solid, strong and weary self.

Released in March of 2003, The Hunted was meant to be Benicio Del Toro's leading man follow up to his Best Supporting Actor Oscar for 2000's Traffic. Jones was coming off consecutive hits like Men in Black II, Space Cowboys, Double Jeopardy and Friedkin collaboration Rules of Engagement. While the director had boffo box office success with The Exorcist and The French Connection in the 70's, Friedkin struggled in the 80's and 90's, giving us among others the awesomely stylistic secret service saga and Dammaged Goods favorite To Live and Die In L.A. and long delayed death penalty drama Rampage starring Michael Biehn. Both films are high on my list but along with the likes of Cruising, The Guardian and Blue Chips failed to find a wide audience. Some would argue that his hiring for 1995's big budget thriller Jade came from being married to the head of Paramount. After Jade flopped, Friedkin was entrusted with another expensive film there, 2000's military themed Rules of Engagement starring Samuel L. Jackson and Jones. The financial success of Engagement lead to The Hunted but during shooting, star Del Toro broke his wrist and delayed filming for four months.

Once finished, The Hunted opened on March 14th to a so-so $13.4 million bucks and weak reviews. Although Roger Ebert did give it a glowing 3.5 out of 4 stars, commending it's simple story but superb execution of a chase movie. Going on to gross $34.2 million in the states at a supposed $55 million budget, The Hunted could hardly be called a hit and would rank 85th for the year. Friedkin would follow up with 2006's Bug, an independent horror film with 1/10th the budget of Hunted before bouncing back critically with 2011's offbeat Killer Joe. Del Toro's leading man career would never take off as supporting roles in Sin City and 21 Grams would be lauded while the big budget, two part bio-pic Che barely saw theatrical release. 2010's enjoyable if uneven passion project The Wolfman would lose it's original director shortly before filming and suffer cost overruns before disappointing at the box office. Still in high demand, Del Toro was sought out for the villain role in 2009's Star Trek, ended up in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy and is rumored to be up for a baddie in an upcoming Star Wars spin-off. Jones would continue to work in films big and small like The Missing and Lincoln, directing The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada while popping up in Oscar winner No Country For Old Men along with the crowd pleasing, money making Captain America and Men in Black 3.

While The Hunted remains a film few have seen, it still holds up as an exciting, violent, educational and strangely hypnotic entry in the rare one on one, hand to hand combat, knife fighting, chase thriller genre. A decade plus removed and it's safe to say they don't make'em like that anymore.

Summer Cinema: Ant-Man

Marvel's Ant-Man opens today and is expected to gross a healthy if not record breaking $60 million bucks at the box office. It's been a long road to the big screen with Edgar Wright's surprise exit after working on the flick for nearly a decade. Apparently the helmer of Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim VS The World and The World's End just didn't want to fit his story into the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe. Peyton Reed, a director known for comedies like Bring It On, The Break Up and an unmade Fantastic Four film stepped in last minute, revised the script and got production underway. Like Guardians of the Galaxy, many were expecting Ant-Man to be Marvel's first film folly but just might be a prime example of what their films should be given their track record. It's a light, fun and entertaining affair with a simple, straight ahead story, a terrific cast, clever set pieces and consistent laughs.

We open back in the 80's where Dr. Hank Pym, brilliant scientist and creator of the Pym Particles (make you big or small, super strong, etc) is telling SHIELD to kiss his ass. Played by a de-aged Michael Douglas, Pym doesn't want his scientific creation to become a weapon. Cut to today where burglar with a cause Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is getting out of prison and trying to stay out of trouble but his former cellmate Luis (a scene stealing Michael Pena) keeps hearing about lucrative job opportunities. Wanting to provide for his separated daughter and be a good dad, Lang agrees to a job that's actually a test put together by Douglas's Pym. Pym wants Lang to pick up the mantle of Ant-Man (small like one, controls armies of them) in order to stop his former protege Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) who has replicated Pym's work and is ready to sell it to the highest bidder. Hank and his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) then help train Lang to use the suit and lead his insect army to break into Cross' complex and destroy his work.

While it's been 15 years since X-Men kick started a new wave in cinema, I think Ant-Man has finally gotten things right when it comes to the comic book movie. At least in the Marvel movie tradition. I've always thought their approach was a little too jokey as any dramatic scene is instantly dispelled by humor so there's never any tension. But it's perfect for Ant-Man's lighter vibe and simple origin story mixed with the light drama of two fathers trying to care for their daughters with some action, comedy and spectacle. While origin tales in Spider-Man, Hulk and The Punisher movies lead to some near mind numbing character development and non-action, Ant moves fast and benefits from Hank Pym's having already played the character offscreen and passing on the mantle. Scenes where Scott shrinks down and learns to use his abilities are well done and show mundane activities like taking a shower or dancing being deadly obstacle courses. While his four types of ant army help him build, fly or attack their way through San Francisco. Fight scenes are quick and big as in his miniature form, Ant-Man can lift 50 times his body weight leading to some real rock'em, sock'em moments were grown men look like they're being attacked by an invisible man. There's Marvel cameos galore but used very tactfully so I'm wondering where Wright drew the line of telling his own story and not furthering the big picture.

Reed keeps things moving and it was nice to see the revised script by Wright, Joe Cornish, Reed and Rudd focusing on the family dynamics and a one on one confrontation. Rudd is excellent as Lang in his usual likable, put upon persona while showing off his abs. Douglas is always The Man and is starting to look a lot like awesome dad Kirk. Lilly isn't your typical love interest or damsel in distress with plenty of fight and anger while Stoll just wants Hank's approval while going crazy from his Pym Particle knock off. Michael Pena steals nearly every scene he's in as the excited but dim witted buddy and there's a funny couple of "telephone"/"my friend told me" stories he narrates.

With no real expectations, Ant-Man proved to be a great time at the summer cinema for two hours. Be sure to stay after the credits as there are two stingers that actually add to the future films versus just playing for laughs.

Tell Me A Question: Vladimir Kulich & The 30 Day Challenge

After meeting actor Vladimir Kulich at the Pound of Flesh premiere, I had the chance to sit down with the imposing blonde figure from The 13th Warrior, Vikings, Ironclad, Smokin' Aces, The X-Files, Angel and much more. Unlike his cinematic image of stoic vikings and menacing assassins, Kulich in person is warm, affable, intelligent, candid and funny. We talked about a multitude of topics so I'm going to break it down into two parts. In this first chapter we'll focus on how Kulich got his start in the business and his journey through the Hollywood maze.

Although he's played many an Eastern European or Russian, Vladimir Kulich hails from a small border town near Slovakia. During the summers and holidays his parents would ship him off to his grandparents who in turn would send him to his uncle's. Kulich's uncle ran a theater company where he was introduced to acting via holding props and serving pitchers of beer during intermission. During this era all things western were outlawed but Kulich's uncle smuggled in a print of John Sturges' classic men on a mission flick The Magnificent Seven. We bonded over our mutual appreciation of the likes of Steve McQueen, Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson. "Steve McQueen was the guy that we all want to be." Like his favorite line from Hamlet, "this above all to thine own self be true", Kulich felt McQueen had that individual quality which many actors today don't. Kulich and I also share the same favorite movie, the John Sturges directed, McQueen starring The Great Escape which he's seen probably 10,000 times. Later in life, Kulich nearly bought McQueen's final home and rode up on his motorcycle to check out the "funky vibe".

When the Soviets invaded Slovakia, Kulich's family escaped to a small town in Canada outside Montreal where art and theater were not well regarded but hockey was. Being a physical youth, Kulich excelled on the ice and turned professional in 1976. After a short stint for the Rangers, in the minors and the International League, Kulich realized his career would not be a long one. During this period of introspection, he ended up working at a yacht club and was invited to crew at the World Championships being held in Long Beach. While in California on a 3 day break, the crew traveled to the Grand Canyon, hiking down to the bottom and rafting the rapids. Kulich fell in love with river rafting and after finishing the race, headed to British Columbia where many a great rivers resided.

Kulich started and ran a successful white water rafting business for 12 years. In the late 80's the cast and crew of hit TV show 21 Jump Street showed up wanting to rent some rafts for an episode. One of the producers suggested Vladimir come in for an audition and he started booking roles on Vancouver filmed shows like MacGuyver, Highlander, The X-Files and a series of low budget films including Crackerjack with Nastassja Kinski and Christopher Plummer, Red Scorpion 2 with Matt McColm and John Savage, Decoy with Peter Weller and Robert Patrick and Breach of Trust with Michael Biehn and Matt Craven. Reflecting on the time: "There was lots of work in Vancouver in those days, I did the circuit of Stephen Cannell shows, a bunch of cheap movies I don't even know what to say about." Craving juicier roles, Kulich made the decision to move to Los Angeles, his Canadian agent was not supportive, thinking he should be happy with what he was getting and that he would be back.

Moving to Los Angeles, Kulich gave himself 30 days to land an agent. After receiving 20 some query responses and landing one, Kulich gave himself another 30 days to book a part. On the 28th day, Kulich auditioned for a mini-epic TV series, The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake. The part: a hitman attempting to assassinate Nelson Mandela. Feeling he presented himself well, the phone didn't ring for 2 days and Kulich headed back to Vancouver and picked up his river rafting business. Kulich's agent called saying they'd been trying to find him for a week as he got the part. When asked if playing vikings and assassins worried him professionally, Kulich responded: "I'm in this for the long run. I can play the dad now that I'm older. In my 30's and 40's, you want me to be a killer? I'll be a killer. It's just energy." One thing that did annoy the 6'5", blonde giant was being cast as an Eastern European. His name Vladimir didn't help and Kulich considered changing it but never went through with it. Surprised at his lack of Russian accent, Kulich is often asked to lay it on thick, as he did in 2013's Antoine Fuqua/Denzel Washington hit, The Equalizer where he plays a gangster. "Half my friends didn't know it was me, I had a beard, I was tatted out and was speaking with that thick, thick accent."

While Kulich had theater and acting in the family, auditions weren't always so smooth. Going in for an unknown casting call that ended up being Joe Carnahan's 2006 gonzo, assassins on parade romp Smokin' Aces, Kulich had just broken up with a lady and flubbed his lines, telling the casting director: "Look, I just broke up with the love of my life and you're more than gracious for letting me stumble through this. Sorry for wasting your time." With that Kulich took himself out of the running but received a call that he'd been hired. Shocked, Kulich was told that Carnahan simply loved The 13th Warrior. While Kulich's appearance as the mysterious Swede in Aces came as quite the welcome surprise for familiar audiences, the actor wishes the role was expanded to give him more of an arc. In the film you're tricked into thinking The Swede is the king of all hitmen but ends up being a surgeon hired to extract the heart of one Jeremy Piven.

Growing up, Kulich's favorite actors were Klaus Kinski, Christopher Plummer and Max Von Sydow.  On 1994's Crackerjack, Kulich would find himself next to his idol turned co-star Plummer in the make up trailer. Running late one day after hitting the gym, Plummer instilled the following advice: "Darling, if you want to look big, act big." Kulich took it to heart and realized: "At the end of the day, it's here (the eyes and face), an actor can seem ten and a half feet tall but he's only five feet five, that's the power of film". On Sydow's inspiration: "I want to grow up to be an old fart in my 90's still acting like Sydow. He has that great voice." Kulich thought he had an interesting voice, cut a demo and landed an agent leading to the role of Ulfric Stormcloak on 2011's video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. From his experience, video games is the most secretive business out there so when they showed him an edited clip, he was thrilled and shocked to hear his voice opposite idols Plummer and Von Sydow. Asked about the difference between acting in a booth versus on set: "It's the same. It's all imagination. If I'm physically doing the scene with you, I'm taking what you're giving me plus I'm adding to you even more. I respond. That's what I do in the movies, I do the same thing in front of a microphone. Only difference is I can be in a tee shirt and relax."

Many thanks to Mr. Kulich for taking the time to chat and in a bit of cosmic coincidence, today happens to be his birthday! Hope it's a great one and in our next chapter we'll focus on his most recognizable and iconic role, as viking leader Buliwyf in the John McTiernan and Michael Crichton medieval epic turned cult hit The 13th Warrior. "Lo there do I see..."

Con-Man: San Diego '15 Saturday

Ready for an old timer story? Back in the late 2000's, I'd wake up at 3:30 AM, get down to San Diego Comic-Con around 6:00, have breakfast, jump in line and walk into the show. Cut to 2015, my 11th year attending and 4th volunteering in my usual 6:00 9:00 AM spot and walking over to the convention center at 5:30 AM there were already shuttles and lines with throngs of attendees. The last two years I directed traffic for various toy or autograph lines but on this day got put in for ADA, that's when you wait in line for someone who is physically unable. My fellow volunteers and line waiters were fun to chat with, I met one woman who has been coming to the show for 20 plus years and still loves it and surprisingly have met several first time attendees. In line I also met Comic-Con celebrity, The Button Lady, a woman who dons one of six capes adorned with themed buttons she makes herself of Firefly, Marvel, etc.

After hearing that people were walking into Hall H for the Warner Brothers/Superman VS. Batman panel, I tried my luck and went over for Quentin Tarantino's Hateful 8 where the writer/director would be unveiling footage along with cast members like KURT RUSSELL, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Bruce Dern. Sadly my streak of being able to walk in ended after 30 minutes in line, the chute in front of me made it in but not mine. A friend relayed some photos and info from inside and I got to see Russell's bitching mustache. Next I wandered the floor some more then headed to the Hilton for some programming in the Indigo Ballroom. I ran into Nerd Reactor reporter and Unicorn enthusiast Laura and spotted several guests and celebs having lunch. Guess how much a Moscow Mule runs at the Hilton's Odysea Bar? $18 frigging bucks! And it's not even gallon sized! A couple of Jameson Gingers later I popped in to catch John Barrowman doing his one man panel where anything goes. The Torchwood, Doctor Who and Arrow star is a ball of energy who made himself and the audience laugh. The Barrow has fond memories of working on Who and Torch but is quite enjoying his stint on hit Arrow at the moment. He and a question asker went into a beat box version of the Who theme song after Barrowman had the gent bounce his pecs. Openly homosexual and married, Barrowman was an inspiration for the audience to be who they are and do what they love as long as you know, nobody gets hurt.

Next was a panel I was super pumped for, an early screening of SyFy's 10 part series The Expanse followed by Q&A with the cast and creators. Based on a series of novels by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, the duo moderated and let us know that the show isn't quite finished but still looks Damme good. And they weren't lying. Set in a future where factions on Mars, the Asteroid Belt and Earth compete for air and water, we meet Detective Miller (Thomas Jane) as he sweet talks hookers, bashes heads and searches for the missing daughter of a very rich man. Then there's the ice salvaging crew of the Rocinante headed by Holden (Steven Strait) who respond to a distress signal from a derelict vessel. While on Earth we meet business woman Chrisjen (Shohreh Aghdashloo) who works to keep the "Belters" in their place. All in I really enjoyed the episode and look forward to more, heck, I've even like to check out a couple of the books now. Sets of Mars, space stations and ships are impressively huge and there's a nice working class element to everything as Miller's space phone is cracked, you have to smack the elevator controls to make them work, etc. Jane is cool, a touch shady with heart, looking very trim and noir here in dark clothes, vests and a fedora while Strait has a tired but strong authoritative quality that works well for the character.

Afterwards, a huge panel was introduced starting with the King of WeirdCool himself, Thomas Jane followed by Strait, Aghdashloo, Cas Anvar, Dominique Tipper, Wes Chatham producer Naren Shankar, writer/producers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby. Cast and crew talked about having three stages at Pinewood in Toronto, including the largest for the show which was rare for television to physically represent such scale. Changing things from the book and taking elements from future installments for the first season, Fergus and Ostby praising novelists Abraham and Franck for being natural screenwriters, letting the series breathe versus compacting like in film, Thomas Jane imagining he's a rocket pilot while sitting on the toilet and how many "shit"s or curse words the cast gets per episode. A fun panel and a terrific looking show, I'm excited for the premiere in December. Outside I ran into the great guys from #ThatHashTagShow Daniel and Josh as they were compiling and rendering all of their videos, photos and news from the day. D and J attended Sunbow Celebration and I'm looking forward to having them out for another event soon.

It was back to the floor for some more walking where I found a buddy from Rotten Tomatoes, photographer homie Jeremy and founder of Beyond Fest/Mad Movie Titan himself, Mr. Christian Parkes who was set to speak on a panel. The Bold Voice of Contemporary Horror Film: Fantastic Fest, Beyond Fest and SpectreFest brought together actor/producer Elijah Wood, filmmakers Sarah Adina Smith, Roxanne Benjamin, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead along with Mr. Parkes, XYZ Films' Mette Marie Katz and Blumhouse Development exec Ryan Turek. The panel spoke about the current state of independent horror being at an all time high with several festivals giving them the spotlight rather than being relegated to midnight. The entire panel were fans of horror as youngsters and now as professionals are banding together to make, sell and distribute their work with low budget, friend and family produced films finding audiences, leading to bigger and better things. Previews for several upcoming horror flicks were shown with Wood's comedy/fright mash up Cooties looking like a funny and bloody time while I can't recall the other two titles...One was an Australian flick about two brothers whose mother comes home from surgery a changed woman and it looks creeeeepy! In a Comic-Con first, I saw rules being broken as Parkes threw out DVD's to the crowd which is apparently strictly forbidden, probably for liability reasons, being warned by staff then doing it again. A quick round of trivia closed the entertaining hour with winners being given passes to Beyond or Fantastic Fest in LA and Austin.

Parties awaited but lines are lame so we opted for some libations and conversation at the Comic-Con'do. Leaving the next morning I realized this was the most fun I'd had in 11 years of attending. There's nothing else like San Diego Comic-Con and there never will be. Many a friend commented that it seemed to be less crowded with less cosplay this year so maybe my prediction that the Hollywood bubble bursting, more shows popping up and casual fans giving up is coming true. It's still the biggest and the best Con I've been too and I've been to a lot. See ya next year!

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!

Con-Man: San Diego '15 Thursday

After getting in most of my floor walking Wednesday at Preview Night, there was no rush to get over to the show today. After a little spell walking on the comic side of the exhibition floor I headed up to the first panel of the day, Peanuts 65th Anniversary! It was more a tribute to Charles M. Schulz with representatives from the museum up north and several artists inspired by the man. Of course it was a love and appreciation fest with the artists discussing Schulz's simple and economic style being one of the most difficult to emulate. Apparently, Schulz's famous squiggly line style came after he got on heart medication so it became even harder to copy. Of course The Peanuts gang is still firmly in our mind with a new movie on the way, holiday specials on every year, MetLife ads, etc. A limited series comic book based on Snoopy's Red Baron adventures is due out in September and looks like a lot of fun.

Then it was over to Bringing Toys to Life in Video Games: He-Man and G.I. Joe Complete the Toy Soldiers: War Chest, an action/strategy game coming out in August that pits armies from the Dark Lords, etc against 80's favorites G.I. Joe, Masters of the Universe and just announced Cobra and Assassin's Creed! Like Toy Story meets Warcraft, gameplay looked like a lot of fun as you're on a play set in a child's room. Controlling armies you can play as the hero Duke or He-Man. Joe historian and Hasbro exec Derryl DePriest, Mattel Director Mark Morse and game producer Josh Mast talked about the evolution of the title and translating the figures to the digitized world. As a Joe aficionado, DePriest asked for some broken thumbs and various fan favorite vehicles, sticker decals and the like. While He-Man was originally going to be based on the 1982 figure but if you'll remember, only had 5 points of articulation so they used a newer model in order to provide extra animation and movement. In a nice touch, you call down upgrades and support like Battle Cat or a new tank and it drops in it's original packaging box. There was some fun trivia (Duke was the first mail order figure available, "Let the power return" signals the transition from He-Man to Prince Adam, etc.) and Toy Soldiers looks like a good time.

I was late so of course Jim Lee's panel was fully booked but I just wandered over to see his former protege Humberto Ramos' Spotlight panel. To start, the Spider-Man, Impulse, Crimson and Out There artist/creator was awarded with Comic-Con International's Inkpot Award which identifies individual contributions to the worlds of comics, science fictoin/fantasy, film, etc. It was a stacked guest list to help Ramos including Jimmy Palmiotti and writer extraordinaire Mark Waid who helped start the dialog. Ramos always loved Spider-Man and got into the business by submitting his work and going to conventions for portfolio reviews. A still prominent artist told him to give up and now they share panels at shows, so eat that, douche! Industry stalwarts Tom Brevoort and Walt Simonson were early supporters, telling Ramos he had something special and to keep working. My favorite Ramos work came from his stint at the creator owned Cliffhanger label in the 2000's where high schoolers vs demons book Out There ran for 20 some issues. Asked about his contemporaries Joe Madureira and J. Scott Campbell who had trouble shipping books in a timely manner while Ramos put out two books, Ramos felt they owed it to the audience to finish their story and wrapped up first series Crimson. Unlike Joe Mad's fun but perpetually late Battle Chasers which went on hiatus and never returned. Everyone on the panel more or less described Ramos as the nicest guy in the world which was more difficult than succeeding. Ramos was humble, funny and thoughtful throughout so his success is well deserved.

There were several more panels I meant to check out but got caught up reuniting with friends and colleagues like #ActionMovieBro David J. Moore. While I'm here for fun, David has work to do and just came from interviewing Wesley Snipes, promoting new NBC show, The Player. It's a very rare thing when you can discuss hardly known action movies at a rapid fire pace. Was looking forward to checking out Miami Vice 30th Anniversary Retrospective but I totally forgot my badge coming back to the show and opted to go to Happy Hour with some cosplayers instead. Later that night it was time to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund at their welcome party. Was a nice shindig at the Westgate's old school hotel where we had some delicious Incredible Hulk cocktails. Our pedicab driver told us about a semi-hidden bar on our way that was Alice in Wonderland themed complete with trick entry. We made it though and continued the Con-ebration. It's been a really fun year and it's not even time for Friday! See ya at the show!

Con-Man: San Diego '15 Preview Night

 
Are you ready?! It's finally here! San Diego Comic-Con is upon us and all is right in the world! We arrived into Downtown San Diego aka The Gaslamp District aka Con Central, grabbed some Jameson during Happy Hour then moseyed on over to the Marriott to check in for Volunteering. Warner Brothers always has a heavy presence at SDCC and this year they're pulling out all the stops for...Conan O'brien? The funny host of late night is doing four show tapings and moderating a Hall H panel. Conan was plastered on the train and adjoining hotel. Next it was time for Preview Night, where you walk the exhibition floor with many less people than the rest of the week. It wasn't too crowded and I surprisingly made back and forth across the floor twice. I had no real plan in mind except to check out the Hollywood stuff first for any exclusive giveaways then walk through the comic and swag portion.

Mattel ended up being my first stop as they always have a great set up of He-Man and The Masters of the Universe. There's a semi-secret pop-up shop in The Gaslamp which requires a Skele-token for entry, which I was able to snag a few of. Lionsgate was promoting the last chapter of The Hunger Games but only had posters for American Ultra to hand out. Legendary was promoting the upcoming Warcraft movie and right behind them was the one and only Tim Bradstreet displaying his awesome art and manning the RAW Studios booth. Co-founder and kind of weirdcool Thomas Jane is scheduled to attend the show as well as a panel on his new SyFy series, The Expanse. The Brad is always a chill dude and RAW usually has guests, comics and art aplenty. Artists turned brands like Alex Ross, Jim Steranko, Frank Frazetta, Art Adams and Jack Kirby were all well represented on the floor. Speaking of artists, I ran into one of my absolute favorites towards the end of the night, one Mike Zeck! Zeck had a stellar run on Captain America in the 80's and was also responsible for some terrific The Punisher action and multiple memorable G.I. Joe covers. I picked up Raw Fury, his art book and told him how his Cap was the one I grew up with. All in, a nice enough guy that I wish I could express what his work meant to me as a comic book reading youth.

Neca always has an awesome display along with Con exclusives. This year you had a Pacific Rim set up joined by mother fudging Arnold in Commando, new Rambo figures and as always, the ever popular Predator. I grabbed their set of mini-figures from the surprisingly short line. Last year Mondo had some exclusive Batman: The Animated Series vinyls up for grabs and this year went Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with mini-metal pins. I grabbed Leonardo, the calm, cool leader who's always ready for a scrap. Lots of comics around going for a couple bucks up to a few grand. Vendors with 50% off graphic novels is always an alluring rat trap but I have enough comics to last me a while...Over by Capcom and Nintendo's video game exhibits I wandered upon Whedonopolis. Great folks I plan to work with in the future.

It was a great start to four days of chaos, walking, reuniting with friends, partying, panels and a diet consisting of turkey, swiss and spinach or bologna sammiches along with Jameson and the occasional pretzel dog. Thursday marks the start of SDCC officially with a multitude of panels on deck for your viewing pleasure. So far my day should consist of Peanuts, Street Fighter, He-Man & G.I. Joe, Jim Lee, movies from 1985 and the 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF MIAMI VICE! See you at the show!

Ask Me a Question: Jaws w/ Carl Gottlieb

I've never seen Jaws all the way through let alone on the big screen. A pristine print at The American Cinematheque's Aero Theatre rectified that this past July 4th. A decent sized crowd had gathered for the 30 year anniversary as co-screen writer Carl Gottlieb was slated for Q&A and signing his hit tie-in book, The Jaws Log. Touted as the first blockbuster, a young Steven Spielberg directs the tale of quaint island community Amity, a summer beach town where New Yorkers and mainlanders come to kick back and relax. A giant shark terrorizes the coast but the money and image conscious mayor instructs new Sheriff Brody (Roy Scheider) not to close down the beach. After a young boy becomes the next victim, Brody and the town go into panic mode. Local drunk and fisherman Quint (Robert Shaw) offers to hunt down the beast and kill it for $10,000 while ocean expert Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) shows up to see what they're dealing with. The three men set out to catch the beast, risking their lives in the process.

30 years later, Jaws is still a classic. Production problems plagued the shooting as the mechanical shark didn't work, weather delays and the logistics of shooting on open water. However the slow burn horror mixed with memorable characters still resonates for a funny, frightening and fun 2 hours in the dark. The cast are all excellent in their roles with Scheider being the rational one who doesn't like water, Dreyfuss as the young hotshot leaning on science and history while Shaw is straight cool as the grumpy, shambolic, drunk ship captain not afraid of staring death in it's teeth filled mouth. John Williams' classic score lets you know whenever a shark attack is imminent yet somehow doesn't detract from the tension or shock value while Verna Fields' editing gives the shark and underwater scenes real impact.

After the film; actor, author and screen writer Carl Gottlieb took the stage for Q&A:

- Already knew Steven Spielberg, two were pitching scripts around town when Jaws came up.
- Novelist Peter Benchley negotiated writing the first draft to make more money but adaption was deemed underwhelming.
- Gottlieb sent his notes to Spielberg and producers who asked him to join them in Boston for pre-production to work on the script.
- Main production crew lived in same house during pre-production where Gottlieb's respect for Spielberg grew as he saw the real person waking up in the mornings and before going to bed.
- Most sub-plots from book were dropped, affair between Brody's wife and Hooper just didn't fit with the actors in the roles.
- Lots of adlib on the set, for decades Gottlieb thought Scheider improvised "You're gonna need a bigger boat" but it was actually in the script.
- Gottlieb co-wrote The Jerk with Steve Martin, who had a two picture deal with Paramount based on premise of Martin's staple joke of being born a black child.
- Had opportunity to work on what would become Saturday Night Live but passed.
- Started in TV but when got chance to work in film, pursued immediately.
- Scene with shark cage was shot with a little person and real shark in Australia but bars bent and actor freaked out, refusing to do scene again.
- Prop Master misspelled Coroner's Report as Corner's Report but no one ever noticed. 
- Verna Fields given much of the credit at young Spielberg's expense but Gottlieb defends director as an editor can't work without what the director shot.
- Jaws Log is most successful movie tie-in book with over one million copies sold.

So, are any of the sequels good? Doesn't one have Dennis Quaid and another has Michael Caine?

Workout of the Day: Shape Up With Arnold Schwarzenegger

It was an Arnold filled week to end June and begin July with Dammaged Goods presenting Conan the Barbarian and Destroyer, Terminator: Genisys hitting theaters, missing a Predator screening and watching it at home. The Oak's 1982 workout video, Shape Up With Arnold Schwarzenegger inspired a few workouts as I watched to add to the week's motif. While the likes of Jane Fonda, Cher, Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer have all released workout videos, only a handful of notable men have done the same. Arnold's video proceeded 1987's Dolph Lundgren's weight free Maximum Potential which was followed by the 1993 at home and in the gym routines of one Marky Mark. In Shape Up, Arnold works out with basic EZ bars, adjustable dumbbells and a shiny chrome Universal Machine. He's joined by Ms. Olympia Rachel McLish and future Chippendale's icon Roger Menache.

There's basic routines for Men and Women, weight free workouts and advanced programs. Lots of simple yet challenging routines focusing on form and progression starting with calisthenic warm up and stretching then utilizing basic exercises like Squat, Deadlift, Military Press, Chins, Rows, Bicep Curls, Pushdown, Lateral Raises and the like. Body weight wise you only need some space and a couple of chairs to do push ups, dips, lunges, etc. There's even several aerobic style finishing exercises like lying leg kicks, side bends and butt lifts. Arnold is big but not huge while McLish is slim and tan then Menache is fit and athletic. The 80's outfits are terrific with short shorts, leotards and Menache rocking same color shorts and tank. Arnold gets real handsy with both to show them proper form and bust them if they slack. Phrases like "much more energy" and "two more reps" dominate the dialog while pointing out common problem areas where flabbiness is rampant. The 80's synth soundtrack by Craig Alan Woodard is awesomely catchy in an inspiring meets porn kind of way.

I took a page from the Men's Advanced routine for Shoulders and Arms:

Shoulder Press/Lateral Raise/Rear Raise - Done as a giant set with no rest in between
DB Bicep Curls/1-Arm Triceps Extension - Arms done in supersets
EZ Bar Curls/Triceps Cable Pushdown
DB Concentration Curl/Lying French Press
Wrist Curls/Reverse EZ Bar Reverse Curls

Arnold advocates 3 sets of 10 reps for each superset then finishing with high repetition calf raises and abs in the 20-25 range after every workout. While some of the exercises are questionably outdated, Shoulder Presses and Lat Pulldowns behind the neck can shear your shoulders. There's no nutrition section for the video but remember, "shaping up is a way of life, stay positive, work hard and you will achieve all your goals. Good luck!"

Con-Man: Anime Expo '15 Friday

Happy belated 4th of July! Hopefully you're recovered from a long weekend of celebrating the colonies and independence. For the pre-4th Holiday Friday it was time to roll out to Downtown, Los Angeles for my first full on experience at Anime Expo. But honestly after 8 hours at the show, I didn't even soak it all in, there's just that much going on. The Los Angeles Convention Center was hopping with religious protestors, food trucks, cars trying to park (TIP: Take an Uber!) and attendees waiting for their badges. The volunteers were hardcore about the crowd walking ON the taped lines, not between them, that's a new one for me. But the queue moved quickly and before you knew it, we were inside. In the lobby you had throngs of photographers and cosplayers, merchandise booth and huge banners for video games and cartoons.

The exhibit hall was packed with vendors from end to end. Not being an anime expert, much of it was familiar yet unfamiliar to me. Lots of Attack on Titan, Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z, video game giant Capcom had the latest Street Fighter set up while Bandai hocked toys then Funimation and Hulu showed off the latest animated series available. Figurines and models of Godzilla, Ultraman and Gundam filled booths while there was a surprising abundance of wigs and weapons. Wigs for all of the fantasty riffed cosplay characters and weapons like samurai swords, nunchucks, airsoft guns and fake brass knuckles for...whatever. Artist Alley was hopping with oh so many prints and sketches and my personal favorite; beaded magnets of 8-bit characters. One booth had giant Street Fighter characters like Zangief and Ken but not much in terms of Chrono Trigger. Then you had a guy walking around with a saxophone, playing the opening bars of George Michael's Careless Whisper. One of my anime expert friends will have to fill me in on that one...

Over in another exhibit hall was again the cosplay backdrops of bed and class rooms, the top of a building, Gothic cemetery and Japanese garden among others. Dozens of tables were set up for gaming and a small quarter operated arcade had favorites like Time Crisis, Terminator 2 pinball and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. A video game hall of fame was also in full effect with every home system imaginable set up for your playing pleasure. Taking a break, we people watched for a bit and realized every few attendees was carrying a stuffed animal or prop cane/sword/giant gun around. I also noticed that the demographic at AX was a little younger than your typical convention with many looking in their 20's and hardly a parent taking their child in sight. Lots of men dressing like female characters aka CrossPlay, lots of Pokemon and one group as Batman and villains.

I wondered how food set up worked for AX as many of the convention dining venues were closed. Outside there were a good two dozen trucks slinging food but we opted to walk a couple blocks over to L.A. Live. Just like Seattle and Emerald City, The Yardhouse was our lunchtime savior as it wasn't very crowded so it was time for some specials and Jameson Mules. Going back to the show, we opted to walk the floor some more and see basically every aisle. There was a wedding venue set up from a new anime that shows you just how deep the imagination and role play runs in these series. By my estimation there was only one booth selling garden variety Marvel and DC comic books as the bulk of vendors had manga and the ol' adults only hentai. Programming ran all day and into the wee morning hours with screenings, panels and separate ticket concerts. Would have loved to have sat down for some Cowboy Bebop but the timing just didn't sync up. To cap off the night in Downtown we headed to Little Tokyo's Wolf & Crane for some dranks ($5 Happy Hour!), way too much delicious food at Ebisu (Shrimp Shumai!) and some video games over at Eighty-Two (Sunset Riders!). With Anime Expo scheduled to take place in Los Angeles for the next five years, I'll be back next year ready to tackle more of the amazing show.

Summer Cinema: Terminator Genisys

Following Saturday's phenomenal screening of Conan the Barbarian, Tuesday continued Arnold week with the release of Schwarzenegger's other signature role as the killer machine from the future, The Terminator. The 5th film in the James Cameron originated series sees The Oak taking center stage after sitting out of 2009's maligned but enjoyable Salvation. The Terminator is one of my all time favorite films and it's ground breaking sequel is high on my list as well. Cameron more or less closed the story but studios love a franchise so I wasn't offended by Rise of the Machines, Salvation, TV show The Sarah Connor Chronicles or the litany of comic books and video games set in the universe. I went into Genisys with hopes of a big, entertaining, sci-fi action spectacle set in The Terminator mythos. Sadly I walked out of the theater a bit disappointed.

The story is what you already know; computer defense network Skynet becomes self aware, launches nukes on humanity with the survivors being enslaved or fighting back as part of an underground resistance. Fabled leader John Connor (Jason Clarke) leads the fight in the future post Judgement Day but Skynet sends a Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) back in time to kill his mother Sarah. The resistance sends back protector Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) who is actually in love with Sarah and ends up siring John. In Genisys, the timeline has changed, Sarah doesn't need saving anymore and another protector Terminator has already been preparing her for the future. Things go crazy when Kyle and Sarah time jump to a possible future in an effort to stop Skynet and meet with John, who is now part man and part machine after being injected with some nano-bot style bugs that changed him at a cellular level.

If that seems a little confusing it's because Genisys simply has a lot going on, much of it with no explanation or reason. The opening scenes in the Future War and 1984 work well enough. Director Alan Taylor basically recreates key scenes from The Terminator then writers Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier throw in a few surprises so it's not a total retread. But once John and Sarah jump into the future, things just get not very interesting. There's chases, explosions and gun fire galore but it all unfolds in a very bland and overuse of CGI way. I will say that the fight scene between old Terminator and '84 T-800 looked pretty fantastic and kind of creepy as Arnold slammed a younger, computer rendered version of himself around. There's plenty of humor and even some heart with Arnold playing protector, Sarah stricken with sorrow that everyone in her life dies and Kyle's disbelief that John is actually a Terminator. While the flick looks shiny and expensive, it comes off cheap and visually boring at the same time. I thought Jai Courtney taking over for Michael Biehn would be the weak link but he's fine with the material provided. It's Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor that's the real problem as she looks like a teenage girl and just doesn't have much of a presence maternally or physically. Arnold is Arnold and a highlight of the film but playing a bodyguard versus an unstoppable monster doesn't provide a hugely memorable role. Jason Clarke is fine as leader and infiltrator John Connor.

The overall issue with Genisys is that it has no reason to exist beyond being a product to make money. Cameron's films already closed the story, Rise of the Machines negated that build up while Salvation missed it's opportunity of giving us a Future War movie. Arnold is the only constant here because he's Arnold so we randomly get Byun-Hung Lee taking over for Robert Patrick's T-1000, new actors as Kyle, Sarah, Miles Dyson, etc and most jarringly, some really random guys playing the punks brought to life by Bill Paxton, Brian Thompson and another guy in '84. Starting in familiar territory then jumping around into new periods just gives the film a jumbled feel with a little too much going on with plenty of questions to be asked.

While I didn't overly enjoy Terminator Genisys, I wouldn't mind giving it a second chance as years of Terminator and Judgement Day viewing has probably caused a blockage in my brain. Same thing happened with Captain America: The First Avenger where the film I was watching didn't match the film in my head for a couple of decades. When I was able to jettison those non-existent expectations, I really enjoyed Cap so hopefully the same thing happens with Genisys.