Let me be clear, though: Patton Oswalt may be the best moderator in the history of moderation, full of bon mots like: “Your parents are very glad you gave them the house for the weekend” and “I see all the hot young girls and the sensitive older men” waiting for New Moon. Here’s a rundown on the three movies discussed at the panel:
A Christmas Carol
Robert Zemeckis opened the show with a “Christmas Carol” presentation. “Not all movies should be in 3D,” he said, despite his last two films (Polar Express and Beowulf) being in that format. “[But] right now I’m dedicated to sending this art form into the world.”
Then Zemeckis expounded on the traditional problem with photo-realistic CG movies: dead eyes and the Uncanny Valley, the reason why CG doesn’t look real. According to Zemeckis, a mediocre actor or bad makeup are as illusion-shattering as bad CG. It’s a question of artistry not technology. He then showed a clip from Christmas Carol — the ghost of Marley first visiting Ebeneezer Scrooge (played by Jim Carrey, who takes on a total of eight roles in the flick). And it was lush and vibrant and harrowing and would’ve been stunning except for Carrey. There’s just something overly hammy that comes through, even with all the creepy ghost stuff.
Finally, Zemeckis answered some questions from the audience, one of which yielded this nugget, about a possible sequel to Who Framed Roger Rabbit: “I can neither confirm nor deny anything, but I can assure you that the 2D characters will remain 2D…should something ever happen down the road.”
Alice in Wonderland
The teaser trailer Burton showed was short but sweet: Depp looked impish as the mad hatter, and the combination of new-school digital and old school miniatures works great. Plus, MGMT’s “Time to Pretend” is the perfect song for that movie.
Burton was cordial but uncomfortable when dealing with the fans. To wit:
Fan: “I love all your movies.
Tim: “You’re one of the few!”
And then Johnny Depp came out and everything was over.
Tron Legacy
I felt a little bad for the Tron folks–Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, and Jeff Bridges, as well as the filmmakers–coming out after Depp. No amount of applause for Jeff Bridges could make him feel good after the legions shook the rafters for Captain Jack.
“It’s a story about a son’s search for his father,” said Bridges in the most insight-free plot description ever. What they showed, however, spoke volumes. A light-cycle chase at the foot of Flynn (Bridges) in his mountain-side fortress was phenomenal. SDCC ‘08 attendees saw the same stuff, but this time it was rendered in 3-D. Positively bad-ass. Didn’t really care about this movie until I saw that. Now? I can’t wait.
addCredit(“John Bramley”)
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More details on “Tron” please!?!
I have the 4 day pass to the Con, but because of the economy I couldn’t take today off for it. Damn! When I saw the schedule for Thursday, I couldn’t believe all that I was missing. Carol looks great from what I’ve seen on the ‘net. Carrey’s hamminess does scare me, so hopefully Zemekis can rein it in. Alice is what I expect from Burton when I saw the trailer (also on the ‘net). People should know that this isn’t a faithful version of the books. Alice is older (18 or 19) and she has been here before, but doesn’t remember, but of course all the other characters remember her. And being a Tron fan from when it first came out, I can’t wait for that movie. Can’t believe Bridges was there and I couldn’t go. Oh, well, there’s always the next 3 days.
@Ladyli1. They showed another clip, 2D, from Tron Legacy, which is the new title. It was around 4 minutes long. Flynn’s son receives a call from, not sure who, telling him that there was a call made from his dad’s old office. So the son goes to the arcade where the office is and turns on the power, Separate Ways starts playing on the juke box and all the video games spring to life. The son heads to the Tron game against the back wall and puts in a quarter which comes right back through the coin return, and he notices scratches on the floor when picking up the quarter. He moves the game to reveal a hidden door, which he enters and the door closes behind him. He is now in the grid and the Tron video game moves back into place on it’s own, in the real world. Hope I got this mostly right. It’s been a long day. Had to get in line at 5:10 this morning to make it into Hall H.
I’m crazy about Johnny Depp. I have read on http://www.projectweightloss.com what’s his youth secret. I consider him a sex symbol, and can’t wait to see him on the big screen. To stay in shape, his room was equipped with a treadmill, a stability ball, and dumbbells.
Johnny you are the best !! Johnny and a british accent..Lewis Carrol..Tim Burton..seems like a delicious movie..
I was there!!! They are correct, Johnny Depp set the place on fire. The room was filled with a mixture of Twilight fans waiting for the Summit panel and James Cameron fans waiting for the Twilight folks to leave. But the WB panel with Zemekis and Burton were great. And then any die hard Tron fans were rewarded with cast members and some footage of the beginning of the movie and some stills.
Ah, nothing compared to Johnny Depp standing there with Tim Burton – a great partnership!
Wait, is Tim Burton’s Alice based on American McGee’s?
wish i was there! the johnny depp appearance must of been crazy! can’t wait to see burton’s wonderland rendition in all it’s twisted glory. is frank beddor’s looking glass wars going to be made into a film? does anyone know? i read where he’s at comic con too so maybe someone can find out and make a post??
wish i was there! the johnny depp appearance must of been crazy! can’t wait to see burton’s wonderland rendition in all it’s twisted glory. is frank beddor’s looking glass wars going to be made into a film? does anyone know? i read where he’s at comic con too so maybe someone can find out and make a post??
wish i was there! the johnny depp appearance must of been crazy! can’t wait to see burton’s wonderland rendition in all it’s twisted glory. is frank beddor’s looking glass wars going to be made into a film? does anyone know? i read where he’s at comic con too so maybe someone can find out and make a post??
i think i did hear (or read somewhere) that the Looking Glass Wars was going to be made into a movie soon. as a mom, i love these books and so do my kids. it’s a great take on this amazing classic tale and would be far more kid-friendly than Tim Burton’s version i’m sure.
i was at comic con and actually spoke with frank beddor the author of the looking glass wars. he’s totally awsome (and cute:) anyway, he was a bit reluctant to say anything specific (but with a twinkle in his eye,) he indicated that movie was happening!!!!! i’m totally excited and wanted to pass along the info!!!