Summer Cinema: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Arriving 7 years after their last theatrical outing and nearly 25 since their first onscreen adaptation, Paramount's reported $125 million dollar update of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hits screens this weekend to challenge box office breaking Guardians of the Galaxy.  While it won't scale the financial heights of Marvel's sci-fi action flick, Turtles is looking to clean up $40 million bucks worth of ninjitsu fighting, pizza loving, heroes in a half shell nostalgia.  Since being announced, the new TMNT film has faced an uphill battle against naysaying fanboys who would boycott the project based on producer Michael Bay and leading lady Megan Fox's involvement alone.  I myself love Bay's work from Bad Boys to The Rock to Armageddon, parts of Bad Boys II and of course 2013's greatest film, Pain & Gain.  His Transformers films might be bloated examples but the dude knows how to make shit look good, casts familiar faces and delivers awe inspiring destruction and Bay-hem that's hard to top.  I'm pretty indifferent to Megan Fox, I don't think she's any better or worse an actress than whichever would be starlet Hollywood publicists try to push on the public. 

The production encountered an early online brouhaha with rumors of the turtles being aliens which is actually derived from the comic books (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird) since it was revealed the mutagenic ooze came from beyond our planet.  The first images from the design stage had the turtles looking more realistic with angled features and nearly grotesque appearances, far from the cute and cuddly rounded faces of 1990's Jim Henson Creature Shop creations.  Casting wise, joining Fox as reporter April O'Neil would be funny guy Will Arnett as cameraman Vernon, Whoopi Goldberg (?!) as their boss and Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer regular William Fichtner as businessman and scientist Eric Sacks.  The turtles themselves would be played by actors utilizing performance capture and CGI.  In modern day New York City, paramilitary group The Foot Clan terrorizes the population via an unchallenged crime spree.  Wanna be reporter April O'Neil catches them in the act stealing stuff down at the docks but being stopped by a mysterious vigilante who leaves a Japanese symbol graffiti tag as a calling card that nobody notices except for her.  The Foot Clan then take hostages in a subway station to draw the vigilante out for a confrontation and are soundly thumped by what turns out to be 4 mysterious fighters.  Of course, those four are our Ninja Turtles.  This go around, April O'Neil's history is intertwined with the Turtles thus giving them a quick connection and convenient story beats.  After that it's action scene on top of action scene mixed with brotherly banter as the Turtles face off against the formidable new age Shredder whose oversized suit is like the scary offspring of Iron Man, Megatron and a Swiss Army knife.

Not expecting much, I was surprised at how at easily digestible and enjoyable Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was.  It's slick, fun and extremely fast paced with many laughs and lots and lots of action.  Director Jonathan Liebesman had previously given us the light and entertaining Wrath of the Titans, a flick that you enjoy watching and then don't think much about after.  With TMNT, once the movie gets going, it's set piece into set piece into final showdown so we're talking shadowy fisticuffs, lots of jump spinning multiple kicks, machine gun fire, hands behind your back karate, a downhill Hummer and big rig chase scene in the snow, magnetic knife launching, toppling buildings and a whole lot more set to a big, exciting score by Brian Tyler.  Oh yeah and there's pizza of course, courtesy of Pizza Hut in 2014 versus Domino's in 1990.  The Turtles look a little funny with their noses, nostrils and inhuman size but it works to give them each distinctive looks and personality.  You know you're watching a computer generated image but it's not like watching a cartoon.  The subjects of genetic experimentation by way of alien world ooze, the half shells grow up in the sewer watching television and absorbing popular culture.  The Turtles are quick witted, wise cracking and reference spewing along with their kind of lame explanation of acquiring ninja skills.  If you'll remember from the first film, Splinter watches his master Hamato Yoshi practice ninjitsu from his cage and hilariously mimics the movements.  In this version, there is no Hamato Yoshi and the crew is self taught.  Splinter is badass here though, a physical force who punishes the young Turtles with hours long physical and mental tests, has a nimble, whip like tail and knuckles up and throws down when the occasion arises. 

Moving so quickly, there isn't much time to dwell on rich character development but you get enough sense of the Turtles, April, Splinter and Sacks that you're not exactly clamoring for more.  Leo is still the calm/serious leader, Donatello the gadget guy, Raphael the insecure/macho one with Michelangelo bringing up goofball/stoner dude duties. They're all painted in broad strokes which suits the story just fine.  I was actually surprised at the economy of the script by Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec and Evan Daugherty as everything is tied up pretty cleanly without being overly complicated or diluted.  Sure some of Fichtner's dialog is generic and delivered laughably while Megan Fox exclaiming "Shredder!" had the theater howling from it's awkward, shrieking delivery.  All in all, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles might not have the heart and charm of the original film but still delivers an enjoyable 100 minutes with enough laughs and flash for 13 and 30 year olds.  Plus, the end credits of splash pages and rap jam Shell Shocked bumping made you want to get up and do some Ninja Rap style dancing.

Interestingly enough, Paramount now holds the rights to 80's cartoon classics G.I. Joe, Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  I wonder if they'll do a Marvel/DC style universe team up...

Summer Cinema: Guardians of the Galaxy in 4DX

Marvel's latest cinematic offering, Guardians of the Galaxy, hit theaters on a wave of positive responses and a record shattering August weekend take of $94 million.  That puts it $25 million movie going dollars ahead of August's former record holder, 2007's The Bourne Ultimatum which brought in $69 million in it's first 3 days.  The story of a ragtag band of space outlaws human and extra terrestrial fighting a power and revenge mad alien terrorist, Guardians isn't exactly a household name like fellow Marvel properties Iron Man, Captain America or Thor.  That might have been a tough sell on paper but for a flick, it was great news as there's no decades deep backlog of characters and story arcs to consider to give the iconic solo hero their due.  Instead, Guardians looked like a big, fun and crazy space adventure full of flying ships, laser blasts, explosions, wise cracks, crazy looking creatures and a talking raccoon.  And for 2 hours, that's exactly what you got.

While Marvel was my brand as a kid and Captain America my favorite comic, the 1969 introduced Guardians just passed me by.  Aliens in the Marvel universe to me were the Roman-esque military clean Kree, the shape shifting Krulls then the shiny metal outfitted and feathers for hair Shi'ar.  So going in I had no preconceived notions from comic book appearances to go on and more or less trusted the casting, director and trailers.  On Earth in the 1980's, young Peter Quill has just suffered a terrible tragedy but before he can grieve is abducted by a space ship.  Cut to 26 years later (now played by Chris Pratt) and the self proclaimed "Star Lord" is Han Solo and Indiana Jones'ing his way across the galaxy stealing random stuff and working with a group of thieves known as Ravangers, led by blue skinned and color changing Mohawk equipped Yondu (Michael Rooker).  When a mysterious orb brings all kinds of bad luck on Quill, he ends up fighting with then teaming up with the motley crew of living weapon and assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Rocket (a walking, talking raccoon voiced by Bradley Cooper), his tree creature buddy and muscle Groot (Vin Diesel) and the mountain of muscle Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista).  Kree warmonger Ronan (Lee Pace) and his bald and blue sidekick Nebula (Karen Gillan) track the thrown together outfit in search of the orb which of course is revealed to be a powerful weapon that the Guardians can't let be unleashed on innocents.  70's mix-tape soundtrack, blue/red/green skinned aliens, fist fights, space chases, Judge Dredd style helmets, surprisingly not boring exposition, I Come In Peace/Mortal Kombat style projectiles, Infinity Gauntlet (although I disagree with calling him Thaa-nos instead of Thay-nos) build up and adopted family shenanigans ensues.

Directed and Co-Written by Slither's James Gunn with a screenplay assist from 1st time produced writer Nicole Perlman, Guardians is a fun ride with enough heart and character development to make it one of Marvel's most enjoyable efforts.  It doesn't try to get too deep and is satisfied with providing an overall crowd pleasing experience with lots of laughs and action.  While Marvel will never give us a film on par with Chris Nolan's dark, detailed and dramatic The Dark Knight due to it's obligation to connect the cinematic universe and provide Disney with family friendly fodder, Guardians stands as a polished and exciting entry into the canon.  Newly minted movie star Chris Pratt comes off likeable and capable without aping Harrison Ford but instead reminded me of Kurt Russell, a leading man of action who wasn't afraid to laugh at himself and have a good time.  Zoe Saldana follows Avatar, Star Trek, The Losers and Colombiana with another fierce and physical performance as Gamora while WWE superstar turned actor Dave Baustita gets to mix his formidable physique with comic timing as the literal speaking yet kind of dim Drax.  In a role you probably wouldn't have guessed if the credits didn't tell you, The Hangover and The A-Team's Bradley Cooper voices Rocket as irritable, angry and hilarious all at the same time with near overdone delivery.  Tree dude Groot only speaks 3 words and harkening back to The Iron Giant, Vin Diesel makes the most of the dialog as the only non-mammal of the team displays the most heart.

I actually ended up seeing this twice over the weekend, first in 2D then in 4DX.  2D at the former Rave now Cinemark at Howard Hughes was oddly lackluster as the colors didn't seem to pop and the sound seemed to be coming in all at one level.  I'm not one for super loud movies (McG, looking at you with your high treble, ear bleeding mixes) but when explosions have the same impact as dialog, you know something is wrong.  Today, it was time for something new, 4DX.  What the heck is that?  Another gimmick on top of the mostly BS 3D we've had shoved down our throat?  Yes and no.  The Regal Cinema at L.A. Live in downtown is home to the first 4DX theater in the states from Korean powerhouse CJ.  I believe Transformers 4 was the first flick to utilize 4DX where you're immersed in the movie with motion control seats and rain/mist/smoke/scent/wind effects synced up to the film.  Basically I figured it would be like the Star Tours ride at Disneyland but only for 2 hours.  With a premium upcharge in the $25 range, 4DX was pretty cool and worth the money.  I can't say I'd do it for every movie (Dawn of the Apes was the last title converted which seems like a waste because jack and shit happens) but for a big summer spectacle that includes flying space ships, fights and shootouts, Guardians seemed like the perfect film to try out the experience.  First off the picture was beautiful and the sound top notch.  It's a smaller theater with less seats which for some reason felt narrower to me.  Before the movie started, a quick chase trailer/demo played giving the audience a taste of what was to come as our seats shifted around as cars screeched around corners, etc.

Overall, 4DX was a fun time.  Your seat moves with the action so you're leaning left and right, up and down as numerous vessels fly around you.  It rumbles when those same ships crashed then vibrated when you're being shot at.  Fog filled the room momentarily after explosions.  Laser blasts "graze" your head in the form of puffs of air on the back of your seat while water sprays you from the front or ceiling depending on rainy or falling into a lake conditions.  You could actually turn the water feature off with a simple click on a button on your seat.  During one whimsical scene, bubbles dropped down from the ceiling to laughs and applause.  I felt like I was sitting up pretty straight but towards the end of the flick my lower back and tailbone started to get a little sore from either slouching or the constant rumbling.  With the added physical elements, you really paid more attention to the movie and it made you more invested in what you were watching so Guardians was much more enjoyable the 2nd time around than the 1st and that's in part to the 4DX experience and the fact that it's fun flick.

“I didn't have time to work out the minutiae of the plan!”

Oak and Biehn: Birthday Bros

"Come with me if you want to live."  "I didn't build the fucking thing!"  "Fuck you, asshole." 

"I'll be back."  "I came across time for you."  "Wrong."  "Nice night for a walk."

Sorry, was just thinking of some lines that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael Biehn have in The Terminator...  (clears throat) Today marks the 67th birthday of one Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger while his co-star and James Cameron cohort Michael Connell Biehn celebrates turning 57 tomorrow.  The perfect yet opposite duo of all things kick ass, 80's and 90's style, The Oak and The Biehn are both busier than ever 30 years after the release of the seminal film which will celebrate it's own "birthday" in October.  Of course, The Terminator helped Arnold transition from the bodybuilding meathead and stoic Conan to more modern and mainstream roles in hits like Predator, Twins, Total Recall and his greatest box office success, Terminator 2: Judgment Day.  If being the world's biggest movie star, a successful businessman and all around king of kings wasn't enough, Arnie went and got himself into politics starting in 1990.  Appointed Chairmen of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Arnold crossed the country on his own dime lobbying all 50 governors to promote kids getting off their asses after school.  Then in 2003, The Schwarz won a Recall Election for the Governorship of California by a landslide, garnering 48% of the vote and serving until 2009. 

Arnold's return to Hollywood has yielded buzz worthy appearances in friend Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables trilogy while excellent headlining efforts The Last Stand and Sabotage were largely ignored by moviegoers.  But like the robotic Frankenstein style monster that is shot, beat and blown up yet keeps coming back that he played in the first film, The Terminator franchise refuses to die.  Since 1984 audiences have been given 3 live action sequels, a television show, comic books, video games, toys and much more.  In 2015, The Terminator will be back...again...with a big budget sequel/reboot/standalone flick helmed by Game of Thrones and Thor: The Dark World's Alan Taylor featuring Arnold as an aging T-800 along with original hero Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney), heroine Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and their progeny John Connor (Jason Clarke).  Story details are under wraps but it looks like adult aged versions of Reese, Sarah and John will be hopping in and out of the Terminator timeline we saw from the first films. 

Equally important and arguably the real star of The Terminator, Michael Biehn has carved out a solid niche for himself as a versatile performer, low-watt leading man and the ultimate example of a physical yet vulnerable cinematic hero.  Starting with the first of four collaborations with James Cameron, The Terminator took former model and movie heavy/stalker Biehn into new territory as the mysterious hero and father of the future Kyle Reese, a hardened yet sensitive soldier sent on a suicide mission to save humanity.  Outspokenly as not the hero type, Biehn's convincing and inspiring performance as Reese has led to many a soldier/cop/secret agent type role and the only actor to ever play a Navy SEAL in 3 different films resulting in the Navy deeming him an honorary Frogman.  His quiet intensity and physical prowess have been put to excellent use in titles like Aliens, The Abyss, Navy Seals, Timebomb, K2, Tombstone, The Rock, The Magnificent Seven and Grindhouse: Planet Terror where his cool guy attitude and heroic good looks make you wish he was in a lot more movies.  Director Robert Rodriguez purposely gave Biehn's Sheriff Hague a hero shot introduction in Planet Terror, knowing that genre fans would eat it up and easily establish the badass-ness of the local law enforcement.  In 1987, video game giant Konami based the box art for Metal Gear's Solid Snake on Biehn while 2013's Far Cry 3 expansion pack Blood Dragon features the actor as uber 80's and 90's style hero Sergeant Rex "Power" Colt, a shit talking, wise cracking, girl getting, bad guy killing world savior that was released to widespread acclaim and over 1 million digital sales.

Lately, Biehn and wife Jennifer Blanc have seized control of their destinies and opened their own production company, churning out low budget genre flicks that give actors and directors a stake in the film to insure best efforts.  2011's The Victim sold to Anchor Bay and the Biehn's toured the globe for screenings and meeting the fans.  With 2 more films in the can and at least half a dozen more in various stages of production, Blancbiehn recently acquired office space to centralize their efforts and ensure much more Biehn screen for years to come.

Happy birthday, gents.  Now get back to work and give me more movies to watch!

San Diego Comic-Con 2014: SaturDAZE Part I w/ Ernie Reyes, Jr

Saturday in San Diego started at 5:00AM as I was volunteering for the 3rd year in a row at 6:00AM.  My first year included packaging the welcome kits con goers receive upon entry, you know, those big WB branded bags and the commemorative book/event guides?  Last year I got put on the Hasbro line duty where I helped masses of toy buying fans queue up to pick up convention exclusives and met my first Brony.  This year I was hoping for the same thing and got Autograph Line where I'd either be waiting in line for someone physically unable or directing traffic.  Luckily I got to direct traffic and helped organize die hards who had lined up as early as the night before to get signatures from the casts and crews of The Hobbit, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, The Flash, Arrow and Constantine among the 9 options.  A set number of pretty nifty hologram wristbands were doled out for each title with The Hobbit reaching capacity first followed by Arrow.  I experienced my first Con induced heartache of the day as I witnessed a young fan who had been in line for hours before 6:00AM have the wind taken out of her sails and walk off, totally not interested in the other 8 signings.  Overall it was a fun shift talking to the security crew, Con staff and attendees in line.  Being so early, it's not hot yet, people are too tired to be grumpy and I was standing right by the beautiful marina and water front.  From there I observed the huge Hall H line that wrapped around the marina's concrete sidewalk into the island park.  I couldn't help but think a breakfast cart/truck would do gangbusters as there were around 3,000 folks in line.

Walking back to this year's Comic-Con'do was a little tricky at 9:30AM as everyone is trying to get in.  The sidewalk was packed with attendees trying to get in along with those annoying Bible thumpers taking up valuable space.  I witnessed a young girl having a panic attack and being helped by a local police officer but I wonder if that was a ploy to get out of the crowd...come on, it's Comic-Con, massive hordes of people is just part of the deal.  The only panel I was really gunning for on Saturday was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 30th Anniversary a shellebration of 3 decades of comics, cartoons, toys, movies, video games, merchandise and heroes in a half shell.  Unfortunately I over napped and arrived at the line 30 minutes before the panel to find a huge crowd already waiting.  However, I spotted mother fucking Ernie Reyes, Jr., the martial artist/actor who played Donatello's fight double in TMNT then graduated to lead role Keno the pizza boy in Secret of the Ooze before headlining Surf Ninjas!  Some other guys in line and I went over and got in quick greetings and photos as Reyes, Jr. was uber cool and rocking the red and white pizza delivery jacket costume from the movie!  Oh and he looks younger than I do even though he's 10 years older.  Jerk.  It was a nice consolation prize as I did not get into the panel but hey, I've seen lot of Ninja Turtle stuff through the years and gotten to meet Kevin Eastman and now Keno himself.

With time to spare before my next panel, I popped into The Art of Fear where horror authors riffed on how they scare audiences and approach the craft of writing.  For what I thought would be a nice filler panel, it was actually quite informative and entertaining.  The panel talked about drawing inspiration from real life events such as the Salem witch trials, new strains of virus, trends in mental health and more.  While some of the self induced horror smacked of BS to me (it's dark, oh no!), it was fascinating to hear about how at one time or another, things we find totally fantastic and false (witches, vampires) were real fears to large segments of the population.  It will be interesting to see what people 100 years from now laugh at us for being afraid of.  The authors also discussed their writing methods and how they got their starts.  One uses Excel spreadsheets to keep track of her characters, sub-plots and twists while another explained how he self published to Amazon and after 10 days his title became a hit and big time publishers came looking with a 4 book deal.  All in a pleasant surprise and sadly more engrossing than the panel I was actually waiting for...

Which was Big Trouble in Little China: Shaking the Pillars of the Comics Industry, a look at BOOM! Studios new title based on the 1986 John Carpenter cult classic film starring Kurt Russell, Dennis Dun, James Hong and Victor Wong.  I picked up the first 2 issues of the series at the show earlier in the week and found # 1 funny and an interesting take on the movie that didn't quite make sense story wise but went along with it.  I don't know what it is but this is the 2nd panel on Big Trouble I've seen that didn't include anyone involved in the actual film that came off very lackluster.  Remember when I saw it with the creators of Robot Chicken and a film school guy who wears scarves with graphic tees and it sucked?  This wasn't quite as bad but wasn't one for the Con books either.  Writer Eric Powell didn't have much to say beyond he thought he could do a good Jack Burton and that John Carpenter is down to earth and not a typical Hollywood douche.  Editor Ian Brill chimed in talking about the genesis of the project and how much everyone loves Carpenter while moderator Chris Sims told us he made his new lady friend watch Big Trouble on one of their first dates.  I wondered if the creators went through any old drafts of the screenplay by W.D. Richter and Gary Goldman for inspiration but there were a lot of questions about nothing in particular asked.  I did however sit next to a nice guy dressed as Jack Burton himself and behind a woman who attended on behalf of her super fan husband who could not be there.

Gotta Drank! Top of the Hyatt

Taking a stroll over to the Hyatt to the fulfillment room, I stumbled across a Dammaged Goods jam, sky high drinking and dining!  Located on the 40th floor of the Hyatt next to the Marriott next to the Convention Center is the aptly named, Top of the Hyatt, where you can snack on small bites like chips with dip or duck filled spring rolls.  They had a Long Island Iced Tea style concoction named after Marvel's Thor as a special as well as pages on pages of spirits and wine.  It's a great view from the top of San Diego's sprawling downtown streets, parks, marina, waterfront and boats as well as a nice place to take a break and recharge my phone before I headed back to the exhibition floor and evening panels.

San Diego Comic-Con 2014: Friday aka Panels on Panels on Panels!

After the awesome Paramount panel, it was time for a break and then Hero Complex's rooftop party at the Hotel Solomar where I not only saw two former co-workers and met some nice Con goers but Michael Rooker of Tombstone, Mallrats and the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy was in attendance!  IMAX was on hand with Hercules and Guardians swag along with an open bar and flip book photo booth.  Then it was off into the Gaslamp District for sustenance and more Jameson.

Friday morning I was beat and bummed around a while before heading over to the show.  Not feeling like navigating the exhibition floor I opted for an afternoon of panels where one turned into six!

First up was Secret Origins: How the Industry's Best and Brightest Began with Chip Mosher, David Steinberger, Mike Marts, Shannon Watters, Marc Bernardin and Frank J. Barbiere who collectively have worked for Marvel, Starlog, Entertainment Weekly and DC shared their sagas of breaking into the comics game.  From starting off as an intern who never left to selling 60 copies of a self financed book at conventions to a Singing Major who changed careers at 34 to e-mailing Jim Lee once a month for 13 months, it was a very cool and inspiring panel that reminded us, especially in this day and age that you just have to do what you love and there's no excuse for not setting goals big and small in this era of fans easily becoming creators thanks to the internet and advancements in technology.  As ComiXology was recently purchased by Amazon, the first 2 individuals who asked questions received a free Kindle Fire!

Next was Free Enterprise: 15th Anniversary Reunion which celebrated the 1999 release of low budget romantic comedy Free Enterprise starring Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) and William "Bill" Shatner.  Writer/producer Mark A. Altman shared hilarious stories of trying to land Shatner in the role of himself, written as a uber-sage to two pop culture loving nerds trying to make it in Los Angeles.  Shatner declined on the basis of not wanting to play a God like character but was open to the idea of giving him everyday problems like trying to meet women.  Altman also told a great story about Al Pacino seeing Star Trek: Generations and loving the fact that it took a mountain to crash on Shatner's Captain Kirk to kill him while the "Shakespeare guy" (Patrick Stewart) took a pebble to the shoulder and went down.  Altman and company are looking to resurrect FE as an online series and shared a pitch video from their ongoing Kickstarter.

After that it was time for Brands Gone Geek:  How Media and Marketers Are Harnessing the Might of the Superfan which looked at the way big business is targeting the Comic-Con and pop culture crowd with insights from a large panel of guests involved with BOOM! Studios, a former movie producer turned comic book store owner, the Bonfire Agency, online reporting, Hero Complex and many more.  Hosted by Sydney Pollack doppleganger Steve Rotterdam, it was an eye opening look at what I've been saying for years, we live in a time when you can sell people's childhoods back to them.  Comic books, collectibles and the like account for over $1 billion dollars in sales a year with the average con goer spending more on their cool swag and stuff than sports fans.  Basically, all the kids who were made fun of in school for liking comic books, cartoons, fantasy literature etc are now in control of popular culture from the plethora of comic book and fantasy movies topping the box office to Chase bank, Dunkin Donuts and Carl's Jr. among others vying for the Comic-Con crowd without insulting them through commercials and campaigns.

Then it was time for the annual Street Fighter! panel where Capcom's Francis Mao and company took us through all things SF like the new Street Fighter 4: Ultra, merchandise and the yearlong Capcom Cup/e-sports league where players from all over the world compete for a spot in the finals in December.  Qualifying rounds are happening over SDCC weekend with the finals taking place on Sunday at the Omni hotel with $3,000 bucks on the line. Attention was shifted to successful online series Assassin's Fist where actor/writer/director Joey Ansah and actors Mike Moh and Gaku Space talked about making the series, working on wires, translating fights to live action, staying faithful to the source material and future plans that includes a stacked Blu-Ray release with commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes and more as well as official word that sequel series World Warrior is in development.  Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono showed up dressed as Hugo after coming in as Chun-Li last year.  Audience members partook in some live SF play with was surprisingly fun and draining to watch.

Penultimate panel of the Friday was a real treat for movie buffs with The Superheroes of Legacy Effects with John Rosengrant, Shane Mahan, Lindsay MacGowan and Jason Lopes taking the audience through their company's wide ranging work that includes design, make up f/x, sculpting, 3D printing and animatronics for commercials, television and film.  I recognized Rosengrant and Mahan from watching copious amounts of The Terminator and Aliens featurettes as the former was their first big movie.  The duo started at Stan Winston's studio and have worked on the likes of the Jurassic Park and Terminator series including the upcoming 2015 releases.  Legacy now has a random niche market with suit making after 4 Iron Man adventures, Pacific Rim and 2014's Robocop.  With a staff of about 100, Legacy works on 200 commercials and 20 + movies a year.  Their shop includes half a dozen 3D printers straight from military and aerospace manufacturers.  Rosengrant and Mahan singled out director James Cameron as the pinnacle of a strong director with his talent and vision and I wanted to ask what they thought of Michael Biehn...free shirts on the way out too boot, a really cool panel overall.

Finally I caught a few minutes of An Inside Look at Shout! Factory where sub-brands Kids and Scream Factory crew talked about the process of getting hired, procuring and restoring titles then outfitting them with special features.  Shout does a great job of asking fans what they want and reaching out to anyone involved with the production.  Two fans actually sent in prints of an obscure title when the company couldn't find a suitable copy for restoration and release.  I didn't realize they put out so many titles as last year saw 300 some releases up for grabs.  So far 2 of them have starred Dolph Lundgren so keep'em coming please.

Workout(s) of the Day: Con-Man

Comic-Con is crazy but when you've been going to shows as often as I have, they all kind of start blending together.  San Diego differentiates itself due to the sheer volume of attendees, panels and outside events but if you've walked through one giant exhibit floor, you've walked them all.  Upon arrival I got in a couple workouts to keep me honest.  This year's condo has a hotel style gym with a Universal-esque weight machine and a cable station along with several treadmills and bikes.  Before Wednesday's Preview Night I got in a circuit to pump up:

Handstand Push Up/Chins/Bench Dips
- Since there wasn't an actual chin up bar, I just placed the lat pulldown bar in it's metal stirrup, made sure it was sturdy and chinned away.  Bench dip wise I had to settle for placing my hands on the side of a treadmill then trying to raise my hips to get more of a range of motion.

Side Raise/Cable Curl/Pushdown
- Side raises were done with hand in front then behind, so 2 sets equaled 1 to really pump up and define the delts.  Cable Curls on the Lat Pulldown give you a nice resistant pump all the way through without your shoulders coming into play.  Then Pushdown of course can be done on the same Lat Pulldown station.

Rear Raise/1-Arm Cable Curl/1-Arm Reverse Pushdown
- Again, 2 sets to make 1 this time for the posterior delts with finishing bicep and tricep moves done as 21's to burn out.

Abs, trunk twists and calf raises holding on to the weight cables for resitatance wrapped up my pre-breakfast pump.  10 minutes of intervals on the bike to make myself feel better for all the drinking and eating that were to come while watching Walker, Texas Ranger complete with young Tobey Maguire appearance.

The next morning I took advantage of the condo pool and warmed up with some running in the water, high knees, kicking back, jump lunges etc before doing laps of Freestyle and Breast Stroke, almost called it Frog Stroke and man was my heart blasting!

Then of course I'll be walking to, around and from the convention center for several days along with an irregular eating plan so I think my envelope can use a couple days off.

San Diego Comic-Con 2014: Thursday w/ Turtles and Paramount

Hot Damme, Thursday, literally, it's hot out!  Welcome to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Thursday because it's TMNT all over the Con.  After walking the floor for a bit, I ducked into the Marriott's screening room to catch, you guessed it, 1990's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!  A classic comic book movie before there were comic book movies, TMNT still holds up with it's deft blend of action, laughs, brotherly love, production values and Henson assisted costumes and animatronic heads.  Back on the floor I scouted out Mondo's booth and picked up their selection of Batman: The Animated Series vinyls of Clayface, The Joker, Mr. Freeze and Harley Quinn.  NECA was sold out of exclusive Pacific Rim Jaegers but may have more tomorrow.  Remember yesterday when I told you I bet I could walk right into Hall H for Paramount's 3:00PM session?  Yeah, totally did.  Even stopped to get lunch and grabbed a decent seat near the first pillars.  After Hall H welcomed Benedict Cumberbatch for DreamWorks' latest animated romp then The Dude himself Jeff Bridges showed up to talk about The Giver.  Bridges' advice for young careers was to pull a Stallone and go out and make their Rocky since anybody with a cell phone is now a filmmaker. 

After a short intermission it was time for Paramount's panel.  The guide listed no information, just a look at their upcoming slate.  Ninja Turtles was up first as a quick clip showcasing the awesome franchise going from simple sketch to the comic book, cartoon, live action movie, toy and video game empire played before TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman took the stage to somewhat surprisingly muted applause.  I'm guessing the crowd is still on the fence about the new Turtles movie as it looks like they've been "Transformer-ized" or "Bayhem-ed" with a super slick, destruction heavy trailer which I didn't mind but their borderline grotesque design and CGI appearance hasn't whet my appetite.  The producers claim to have been longtime fans and one even produced a signed photo of Kevin from 21 years ago.  Eastman says the flick is fantastic and that the producers were intent on making the best TMNT movie possible from the start 3 years ago.  A clip introducing reporter April O'Neil and the turtles rolled which was surprisingly enjoyable with a nice mix of big action and humor, mostly coming from Michelangelo's wise cracking.  Actors Megan Fox and Will Arnett were brought out with the former being a fan since childhood and the latter just being an extremely funny guy.  Another clip played showcasing another big action scene involving snow, big rigs, hummers, rocket launchers and bulletproof shells.  The voices of the Turtles was a little hard to get used to as it's Johnny Knoxville as Leonardo, Anthony Shalhoub (PAIN & GAIN!) as Splinter with Mikey sounding like a little kid and Raphael coming off as RZA. 


Some other movie about time travel was previewed before audio from Hercules filled the room and boom, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson walked onto the floor and greeted the fans before taking the stage and welcoming himself back, WWE style.  Funny, huge and seemingly happy to be there, The Rock let us know he bought out 3 theaters and would Tweet the details to attending a free screening.  Clarke Duke came out with two lovely ladies on his arms to show us a trailer for Hot Tub Time Machine 2 which looks pretty Damme funny as they're sent to the future this time around.  Then a new trailer for Christopher Nolan's Interstellar played, this one interspersing snippets from former astronauts in with the film.  Our moderator introduced a first time Comic-Con attendee, Matthew McConaughey!  The Reign of Fire star and Oscar winner looked very ruggedly handsome while explaining that he got a call from his agent to meet Chris Nolan, went to his house for a 3 hour meeting where they discussed everything except working on a film together.  A week later a script showed up and Denton Van Zan was in.  Guess we can really call it the McCONaissance now huh?  McConaughey wanted to hear Hall H's legendary hollering before describing Nolan as an original, the director might have been inspired by a Stanley Kubrick movie but his interpretation would be wholly new.  Another Comic-Con first, director of Inception and The Dark Knight Trilogy Christopher Nolan walked out looking as dapper as can be.  Without giving too much away, Nolan discussed his love for science-fiction and how in his youth, becoming an astronaut was the highest career someone could aim for.  Influenced by the likes of 2001, Star Wars and Blade Runner (his favorite film), Nolan talked about making things as real as possible for the actors in terms of sets and production and using IMAX to enhance the experience. 

Next on deck is a panel on the history of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the form of a new documentary as well as Hero Complex's Comic-Con soiree and maybe a movie trivia contest.

San Diego Comic-Con 2014: Preview Night

Here we go boys and girls, it's officially time for Comic-Con!  Got down to San Diego early and walked around town seeing crews set up Vikings, Assassin's Creed, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and more exhibits outside the convention.  Lord of the Rings' Sean Bean's face was plastered on the side of the Marriott hotel to hype new show Legends and while Boromir is probably a cool guy, it would have been cooler to see Michael Biehn's face blown up to 50 feet...Checked in for volunteer duty and then picked up badges over at the Town & Country.  Preview Night was a bit crowded at the start but an hour in the herd started to thin.  Right away I saw Rob Liefeld walking the floor, his Image compatriot Jim Lee being interviewed at the DC booth then old school badasses like Walt Simonson and Jim Steranko meeting the fans.  Of course my phone decided to crap out just as I was walking in so photos will be at a minimum until tomorrow.  You always notice certain things at Cons and tonight it was an abundance of women dressed as Nintendo's Mario and Big Trouble In Little China!  Picked up a Lo-Pan Express themed shirt as well as some issues of the new comic series by BOOM!  The Goon artist Eric Powell was selling #1 at his booth and was super cool as I grabbed a quick signature.   Lionsgate was handing out posters for Divergent, Hunger Games and of course, EXPENDABLES 3!  Stars Dolph Lundgren, Wesley Snipes, Kellan Lutz and others will be signing tomorrow at 4:00PM.  Think I'm just gonna rock my custom Dolph shirt, get to the front of the line, get a fist bump and move on. 

People are already lining up for Hall H which makes no sense as tomorrow's offerings are pretty not once in a lifetime with DreamWorks animation, The Giver, Paramount, TV Showrunners and 1966's Batman TV show on deck.  I made a $10 bet that I would be able to walk in to Hall H at 2:00PM for Paramount's showcase of what I'm sure will be Ninja Turtles then maybe this weekend's Hercules starring The Rock and maybe Interstellar and/or The Terminator reboot?  Panel wise I'm looking at a day full of randomly awesome topics like music in film and tv, pitching, science fiction in media, Dark Horse's Predator and Aliens comics, everything 90's and movie trivia!

Now time to buy a Lamborghini and call it Michelangelo!

Summer Cinema: The Purge: Anarchy

Are you much of a horror film fan?  I'm not.  Everybody always seems so dumb and going places they shouldn't be or the horror is a big cop out because it's just people scaring themselves in the dark.  So I was aware of The Purge's existence, it's one of those low budget horror movies from factory Blum House that starred Ethan Hawke and Lena Headley in a home invasion horror story set in a future where all crime is legal for 12 hours to help keep society balanced.  The scenario sounded contrite to me and these $3 million cheapies with former low watt movie stars just seemed like filler that turned a profit without actually being entertaining.  I knew a sequel was being produced and was intrigued by the casting of the up and coming Frank Grillo, an actor that's caught my attention since his small role in Mel Gibson's Edge of Darkness then full on in Warrior and The Grey as an MMA coach and roughneck oil worker asshole.  Quick bits in End of Watch and Zero Dark Thirty seemed to signify he was getting seen by the right people then a role as a villain in this years smash Captain America: The Winter Soldier seemed to possibly foretell a future of playing henchmen.

With no interest in seeing The Purge: Anarchy, I caught a blurb review about someone likening it to a John Carpenter infused action movie from the 80's.  That immediately piqued my interest because if there's one thing Hollywood needs, it's more lost John Carpenter movies.  I'm not talking remakes of Halloween, The Fog or Assault On Precinct 13 (which wasn't bad), I'm talking about Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror which plays like a lost Carpenter flick with it's mix of action, horror, humor and gruesome f/x set to a killer synth score.  That said, The Purge: Anarchy is totally a riff on Assault On Precinct 13 and They Live mixed with Van Damme's Hard Target or basically a surprisingly satisfying action movie disguised as a horror flick in the marketing materials.  Incidentally, writer/director James DeMonaco wrote the 2005 remake of Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13.  Set in a future where new government has installed the annual Purge, a 12 hour window where all crime like murder, looting and rape are legal.  It's a little far fetched a concept to get around at first as our story centers on some peeps who get stuck outside after it starts.  If you knew this was coming, wouldn't you just take a day off and fortify your house?  But once you get past that, there's unrelated characters coming together, a rebellion questioning the underlying intentions of the Purge, rich VS poor societal lines and a possible military style government conspiracy at play, all themes very familiar to Carpenter fans.

We meet our core characters a couple hours before The Purge starts: there's hard working waitress and her daughter Eva and Cali (Carmen Ejogo and Zoe Soul) then struggling couple Shane and Liz (Zac Gilford from The Last Stand and Kiele Sanchez), then you have heavily armed and despondent looking Frank Grillo driving around in his souped up crime mobile.  I'm not even sure if they say his name in the flick but I think it's Sergeant Leo.  The 3 unrelated parties all run into each other and stick together to survive while uncovering much more at play than just thugs going on a spree.  While watching the film, I couldn't help but think that Grillo would make a pitch perfect The Punisher on the new Daredevil series on Netflix or anywhere.   He's spot on here as a man on the revenge trail, armed to the teeth, muscular yet lithe with dark features and a commanding presence that gives a sense of both safety and fright.  Make no mistake, Anarchy is an action flick with only a handful of scares, one of them that made me jump in my seat.  It's mostly gunplay with a few bursts of foot chases and fisticuffs.  I thought it was kind of a missed opportunity that we see Grillo's character driving around the city in his souped up, Mad Max style battle car but there's no chase scene that destroys it.  Guess they only had the one.  It's an interesting change of pace since part one was a home invasion flick, this one is action oriented so the next could be a disaster movie with an earthquake occurring during the ritual to change things up or take on the form of any genre.

After opening up #2 this weekend with nearly $30 million in box office receipts on a $9 million dollar budget, we can be sure to see more Purge flicks in the near future.  Especially after Universal and producer Jason Blum just signed a 10-year first look deal.  Now somebody make a flick as wild, zany, quotable and downright wonderful as Big Trouble In Little China or The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.

Charm In Peace: James Garner

I was saddened to see that James Garner passed away on Saturday night in his Brentwood home at the age of 86 by what can only be deemed natural causes.  I had just watched The Great Escape over 4th of July weekend and was again reminded of what a cool, charismatic, funny and macho presence Garner was.  Arguably his role as smooth talking scrounger Hendley in The Great Escape is richer than star Steve McQueen's Captain Hilts, who got to add some motor cycle chase scenes to give audiences something to remember him for.  Garner was one of the last guys Hollywood had left.  What I mean is that he is one of the last of that era's leading men who could do physical, funny and dramatic without breaking a sweat.  He was a star with presence and personality not just fleeting fame.  A product of a broken family and later a veteran of the Korean War and merchant marines, Garner had that real life experience that many young actors are missing today who simply got into the craft from an early age.  He even went after both Warner Brothers and Universal in court, and won!  Of his Great Escape colleagues, director John Sturges, producer Walter Mirisch, co-stars McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, James Donald and Donald Pleasance among others have all passed away while other dynamic personalities from the period like Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, John Wayne and Robert Mitchum have also ascended to the Hollywood party in the sky.  I figure Kirk Douglas is the last of this strong willed, independent and status quo rejecting lot so I should probably write him to tell him how much I've enjoyed his work on and off screen.

I can't recall where I first saw Garner's work but I never really got into his TV stuff where he became a star on Maverick then cemented his legacy with The Rockford Files.

The Great Escape - Bob Hendley, the smooth talking, tool stealing, document procuring scrounger who looked so dashing in his white turtleneck while trying to escape a German camp.  Word is that a rough cut showcased Garner's character to the point that Steve McQueen walked out on the production causing director John Sturges to fire the actor and rewrite the script to blend his character with Garner's.  Of course The Cooler King stayed on and The Great Escape became one of his signature roles.  McQueen and Garner would become friends, neighbors and racing competitors with McQueen often throwing empty beer cans on Garner's beautifully manicured lawn.

The Americanization of Emily - Charles Madison, a smooth talking naval officer aide with an aversion to combat falls for Julie Andrews and gets sent to fight.  Great dialog from Paddy Chayefsky and wonderful chemistry with Andrews.  James Coburn pops up as his buddy nicknamed Bus, which is just an awesome nick name.

Support Your Local Sheriff - Jason McCullough, a big, burly dude in the west who uses his wits, charm and mouth to get out of most trouble in this western comedy.  Loved the bit where he stops a big fight so he can grab his lunch and eat in peace as well as the scene he sticks his finger into a threatening bandits gun and convinces him it will backfire.  Terrific supporting cast and the sequel, Support Your Local Gunfighter is amusing but not quite as good.  I believe he earned a career high salary for one of the flicks in the $750,000 range.

Tank - Sgt. Major Zak Carey, a loving father and Army legend serving his final tour of duty at a small base in Georgia who runs afoul of the corrupt, local law enforcement.  Uses his personal tank to break his son out of jail then goes on the run.  Funny and random flick from the 80's post Garner's 2nd successful TV run with The Rockford Files' 6 year, 122 episode run which saw the star sue Universal for compensation and profits and walking away with an alleged $14 million bucks.

Maverick - Marshall Zane Cooper, the elder straight arrow lawman to Mel Gibson's hot shot gambler who is afraid of guns Bret Maverick.  It looks like Garner, Gibson and Jodie Foster are having a ball in Richard Donner's update of the television show and that makes it more fun for the audience.  Watch out for cameos from Donner alum Corey Feldman and Danny Glover as well as a nod to Lethal Weapon even though the movie takes place in the 1800's.  James Coburn pops up again opposite Garner in a nice reunion. Apparently producers wanted Paul Newman but after he passed, they came to their senses and back to the man who originated the role.

Space Cowboys - Tank Sullivan, Clint Eastwood credits Garner with paving the way for TV stars transitioning to film after suing WB to get out of his Maverick contract.  Garner anchors a cast that includes Eastwood, Donald Sutherland, James Cromwell, William Devane and Tommy Lee Jones as a former test pilot turned reverend.  The young version of Tank is played by Body Armor's Matt McColm too boot.  The scene where Jones and Garner try to keep up with NASA's young astronauts lifting weights is a great one.

I just watched a documentary that interviewed Kurt Russell, an actor who always seemed like he was having a good time and went into semi-retirement to work on a vineyard.  It reminded me of Garner who was known to consider acting a means to an end, playing roles big and small, never chasing status, just working and happened to get lucky and made it on a bigger level.  The kind of guy who just comes off as a cool dude you'd like to kick back with and shoot the shit with.

Workout of the Day: Posterior Deltoid Fire

Unfortunately my Comic-Con schedule isn't going to allow me to get in a session with Mr. Olympia and bodybuilding legend Frank Zane this year so I'm not pushing as hard at the gym this week.  Still enjoying being back in the weight room as there's plenty of equipment and exercises to be done I couldn't perform at home.  It's been generally quiet and not very crowded but it is a bit of a steeper establishment than your usual LA Fitness or 24 Hour Fitness.  I figured that would keep out some of the clown shoe antics but I guess if you can afford to train there you're probably not all that into lifting.  So I get the usual non-stop chatty Cathy's who aren't actually saying much, the guy resting his towel on equipment he's not using, his buddy grunting and dropping 40's like they're heavy and their friend who sets weights on a bench that already has a tear forming from other dipshits resting loaded bars there instead of being strong enough to pick them up off the floor or rack.

Anyways, I've been hitting a 4 Day Split Routine where I'll do Chest/Biceps, Legs, Back/Triceps, rest a day or do cardio then do Shoulders and Arms before starting over again.  More importantly I've been doing much more cardiovascular work after my sessions in the forms of rowing, biking and Versa Climbing.  Since I'm lifting before or during the work day, I tend to aim for 3 miles of cardio to keep me focused.  1600 meters on a rowing machine only takes about 7 minutes if I push it then 2 miles on a bike can be accomplished in about 7.  Throw in a few hundred feet of Versa Climbing and I've gotten my cardio done in around 15 minutes after weights.

After short fusing all week, I got in a nice Back and Triceps session that help put me in a better mood.  As always I incorporated Super Sets so an exercise for Back followed immediately by Triceps.

1)  Deadlift/Bench Dips - Using pre-set barbells to cut down on time, I'm not looking to set a power lifting record, just work my lower back, forearms and legs.  While once upon a time I could Dead 415, these days I settle for high reps of 100 pounds and up.  Bench Dips I add resistance with weight plates on my lap.  Again, back in my prime with the help of partners I stacked 180 pounds on my lap but today I'm topping out at 45 for safety's sake.
2)  Chin/EZ Bar Extension - Wide and parallel grip then the last set I pulled to each hand.  For EZ's I did them Frank Zane style so instead of just lowering the bar to my forehead like a skull crusher, I went down and behind my head to give a nice stretch and extra pump.  It's also a little easier on the elbows because we all know that Tennis Elbow suuuuucks!
3)  1-Arm Cable Kickback/Close Grip Cable Row - To help define that horseshoe, I bend at the waist and grab a cable with a palms up grip, lock my elbow to the side of my body and kickback.  Then Close Grip Cable Rows really get my forearms, biceps, rear delts and back pumped up.

Followed by some Forearms, Calves, rowing, biking, Versa Climbing and stretching, it was time to call it a day.  Later that evening and the next day my rear delts were SCREAMING from all the chins, rowing and cardio rowing.  Remember, if you're sore the next day it's a good thing.  2nd day soreness? Not so much.

Have you checked out the lateral deltoid lately?