If you’re at all interested in what is happening at the big show as it happens, be sure to follow popculturegeek on Twitter and/or on Facebook. I’ll be sending updates on whatever catches my eye, from big movie footage reveals in Hall H, celebrity sightings on the exhibition hall floor, great deals I’ve scored, or hints at everything going on around the convention center each night.

I’ve said somewhere else that San Diego doesn’t just HOST Comic-Con, it BECOMES Comic-Con! And never has that been more true than this year. With the cast of Scott Pilgrim printing t-shirts for fans outside the Hilton Gaslamp, the cast of Machete serving up tacos from a taco truck at 5th and J St, the Adult Swim ice cream truck roaming around the Gaslamp District handing out free Ben & Jerry’s, or the event so big that it will require the use of the Petco Park baseball stadium (could it be… Tron and… ?), this is almost the year you don’t even need a ticket to enjoy many of the festivities surrounding Comic-Con.

The list of parties grows by the minute and the panels are sure to pack some big surprises (Brad Pitt’s first appearance? The kids of Hogwarts to apparate? The entire official Avengers lineup on stage?). But what about the comics? SOMEBODY THINK OF THE COMICS!!! Robert Kirkman is set to announce the new Skybound imprint for Image. There’s a new documentary about the legendary Stan Lee. IDW launches the new True Blood comics. And Marvel and DC will surely tease us with lots of new ideas and concepts they really can’t say much about at this juncture (but they’ll bring art we can try to decipher out of context!).

No matter what happens, it’s going to be full of long lines where we’ll all daydream of being Madrox the Multiple Man for just one week so that we could catch everything that’s going on during Comic-Con’s insanely packed schedule.

I know I can’t catch everything and I know all of my dreams can’t come true, but here are a few things I kind of wish would happen this week:

1. I’d like Joss Whedon to be officially announced as the director of Avengers and I want him to bring out all of the actors who will be playing the heroes onto the stage for a big photo op. I also want Edward Norton to be among them, but I don’t see that happening unless it’s all been a big redirect to keep media from looking at what they’re really planning.
Chances of happening:
Whole cast: 60%
Partial cast: 90%
With Norton: 1%

2. Speaking of Joss Whedon, his panel with JJ Abrams seems like the perfect opportunity to finally show some of that long-awaited Cabin in the Woods footage. And for Abrams to show off some Super 8 clips. And then, as part of a big finale to the panel, I want their respective starship crews to come on stage to duke it out for interstellar dominance (or possibly a slap fight). Serenity (Fillion, Baldwin, Tudyk at least) vs Star Trek (Pine, Quinto, Pegg at least). And I want Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Mark Hamill to come out on stage to referee.
Chances of happening:
Just clips: 80%
Starship crew fight: 20%
With Star Wars referees: 0.5%
Chances of a decisive ruling on starship crew dominance: 0%

3. If Warner Bros is smart, they bought the plane tickets from England a long time ago for the cast of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to make their first and final appearance at Comic-Con. It would be awesome to have Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Ralph Finnes, and pretty much every other witch or wizard who has graced the halls of Hogwarts over the past 6 movies step out onto the stage, but I imagine it would get pretty crowded. At the very least, they should trot out the 3 principal actors: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint to suffer through our horribly uncomfortable questions about their lives after Harry Potter (they look pretty good, surprisingly) and the incredibly high pitched screams that in previous years had been reserved for the Twilight kids. Show some kickass footage (not of Kick Ass, obviously) and let us give you guys a proper good-bye with a standing ovation in return for Hollywood stealing your childhood. It’s the least we can do. Seriously. The least.
Chances of happening:
Appearance by a majority of the cast (at least 10): 40%
Appearance by Harry, Hermione, and Ron: 90%
Just footage (and complimentary swag): 100%

Some quickies:

- Chance that I’ll score one of those Star Wars Lego exclusive figures: 15%
- Chance that Steve Brule will give me ice cream from the back of a truck: 5%
- Chance that Tim and/or Eric will try to lure me into the back of a van: 98%
- Chance that there will be a Piranha 3D screening somewhere in the Gaslamp District despite being banned from Comic-Con: 99%
- Chance that I’ll get a book deal due to my self-published book, The Unauthorized San Diego Comic-Con Survival Guide: 1%
- Chance that Simon Pegg won’t be weirded out if I walk up to him at a party and give him a picture I took of him and Ken Foree (from Dawn of the Dead) six years ago at the first US Shaun of the Dead screening at Comic-Con: 87%
- Chances I’m invited to a party where Simon Pegg and other celebs will be mingling: 20%
- Chance that the Green Lantern footage will change the minds of those who hate the pictures of the costume: 55%
- Chance I’ll get into the big Petco Park event Saturday night: 90% (or else!)
-Chance that Anna Kendrick herself will make me a really awesome Scott Pilgrim t-shirt: 2%
- Chance that Anna Kendrick herself will make me a really awesome Scott Pilgrim t-shirt and then wear it for a picture of her hugging me (and looking like she enjoys it): 0.000000028%
- Chance that I’ll be doing or witnessing something at Comic-Con one of these nights that I never, ever expected at the time I’m writing this: 110%

That’s all I can think of right now, because I still have to pack for tomorrow’s trip down route 5 to San Diego. If I could write and post this from traffic, I would. I’m already exhausted and it’s not even begun. Swing by the Kirby Krackle booth if you get a chance as they will be selling my book, The Unauthorized San Diego Comic-Con Survival Guide at booth #1803. I expect to show up there every so often to restock the books that will obviously be flying off the shelves (I’m bringing shelves! …sort of).

I know some of you are already wanting to pre-hate what’s to come because you don’t like feeling dumb or unable to see what’s to come. That’s been the problem with a lot of “fans” over the years who gave up on the show out of frustration. They wanted a beginning, middle, and end to each 60 minute commitment they made each week. They hated not being able to understand everything clearly and immediately, because so much of pre-LOST event television, when cross-bred with internet communities, created a sense of entitled oneupsmanship where everyone tried to beat everyone else to the spoilery punch, to show how smart or connected they are compared to everyone else. LOST changed all of that, because it didn’t give easy answers, and often left those answers open to interpretation. And when it did, it threw fifty more questions in your face to keep your head spinning. To me, that’s fun, engaging television.

Then there’s the other group of fans who like to have answers, but are disappointed when they find that the answers are too easy or that their solution to the big mystery was correct all along (a rare occurrence). So if you’re writing LOST, what do you do? Do you make sure that answers come so far out of left field that no one ever sees it coming whether it makes sense or not? Or do you give people a clear cut, easily digested solution that wraps everything up in a nice, neat package and makes them feel clever for figuring it out long before the dumb fans? It’s a balancing act, to be sure.

I feel like I fall somewhere in the middle. I like making up my own theories and postulating on the purpose and meaning of all things LOST (which I will miss greatly once some of the core mysteries are resolved) and I like to think I’m right in my conclusions, but in so many ways, I want to be wrong. I WANT to be surprised and not see the next big thing coming around the bend. I WANT the characters to do something I don’t want or expect them to do (even if it is within their character to do so). When it comes to storytelling of this magnitude, I’d rather see the hero take the long, winding, seemingly wrong path to final victory than the quick, easy, and clear route. Maybe I’m just weird that way.

The Big Plan vs Fan Influence

The other night at the New York Times Talk Live LOST event that was broadcast to over 600 movie screens in the US and Canada, Damon Lindelof addressed the two biggest questions that he and co-executive producer Carlton Cuse get all the time. He stated (I’m paraphrasing) that while everyone wants there to be a solid overarching plan written in stone from the beginning, they also want to think that they have some kind of sway over what happens on the show. The two concepts can’t easily co-exist. If everything is written in stone and is part of a bigger plan that’s been unchanged from the beginning, there is no way that the fans can have a say in changing that. And if the fans have tremendous influence on the story, molding it into something that makes them happiest (as if there was one thing that would make everyone happy), then there could never be a solid, unwavering story plan, because fans are fickle and they are many.

It would be an impossible task to try to satisfy everyone. And to address every mystery (big and small) would likely take many more hours than ABC would be willing to provide to what would ultimately become a metaphysical talk show.

How to Cope with the LOST Series Finale and Get the Most Enjoyment Out of It

Like I said, you may already be in pre-hate mode, ready to be disappointed. Maybe you’re re-directing your anger and depression back onto LOST because you’re sad that it’s going away, like knowing your girlfriend/boyfriend is going to dump you, so you psych yourself up to tell them how you never liked them anyway and, by the way, here’s a list of all your faults… jerk. That’s… an odd analogy, but it’s understandable that some might feel that way and react harshly to the end of this “relationship” with a tv show. But realize that’s just what it is and get over it using the steps above. If you can’t, think about this:

HOW DO YOU WANT LOST TO END?

Don’t say “I don’t know” or deflect another way. If you’re so invested in this that you’re expecting it to not live up to your lofty storytelling standards, you have to clearly state what you want. Don’t state how you THINK it will end. Definitively proclaim how you want it to end to your satisfaction. How could LOST possibly conclude in a way that would satisfy you? Get as detailed as necessary. Say it out loud to yourself or your cat or just comment below. If you can’t clearly explain how you think your idea of a good ending is better than what the LOST creators have come up with, then seriously quit your bitching.

For the rest of you who can deal, again, I ask you to sit back, alone or with some friends, grab your favorite food and drinks, keep the tissues handy, set aside your ego and expectations and checklists, and enjoy this wonderful creative work that Damon, Carlton, composer Michael Giacchino, director Jack Bender, ABC, the writers, producers, actors, and crew (more than 425 people total!) have given us over the last 6 years. Just remember that when it’s all over, for better or worse, there’s never been anything else like LOST on television and there never will be again. And, by god and the smoke monster, it was GOOD!

So say we all.

(is a BSG reference inappropriate at this juncture?)

As an example of the creativity that LOST inspires in its fans, here’s an excellent fan-made trailer for Sunday night’s epic event. It’s so well done, it gives me goosebumps every time I watch it. Enjoy!

But no era of this magnitude ends without a bang (or in this case, a bash), which is what the Lost Live: the Final Celebration event was all about. Held on Thursday, May 13th at UCLA’s Royce Hall, the cast, crew, and more than 1800 fans celebrated six seasons of the show, its themes, its characters, and especially its music, performed by a live orchestra and conducted by the Academy Award-winning Lost composer Michael Giacchino. If ever there truly was an unseen, otherworldly character on the show, with as strong a presence as any of the remarkable characters and the actors who portray them, it’s the music of Michael Giacchino. After the show, I got a chance to tell Mr Giacchino what his music meant to me as an avid fan of the show, confessing to more than a few tears that crept into the corner of my eye during the performance, especially during the song “Oceanic 6” (I have no idea why it does that to me, but boy does it ever). He made it clear to me that there was nothing to be ashamed of when something as good as Lost (a television show!) can actually affect you like that.

“Don’t be afraid to let it out. I was once told, ‘Babies make noise. Real men cry’,” he said after I told him I didn’t want the girl next to me to think I was some kind of wuss for getting all bleary-eyed.

But he warned me that we haven’t even touched the tip of the emotional iceberg yet. After bursting into tears more than a few times while recording the score to the series finale, he recalled turning to producer Damon Lindelof and asking “how many times are you going to do this to me?”.

As we parted ways, he revealed to me what every Lost fan will need to know in order to be prepared for the finale: “Bring tissues. Lots of them.”

As for the show itself, it was nothing short of astounding. A perfect night for any Lost fan. The evening started off with the reading of a letter of congratulations to executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse from a notable fan of the show:

Congratulations on pulling off an amazing show. Don’t tell anyone… but when Star Wars first came out, I didn’t know where it was going either. The trick is to pretend you’ve planned the whole thing out in advance. Throw in some father issues and references to other stories (let’s call them homages) and you’ve got a series.
In six seasons, you’ve managed to span both time and space, and I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I never saw what was around the corner. Now that it’s all coming to an end, it’s impressive to see how much was planned out in advance and how neatly you’ve wrapped up everything. You’ve created something really special. I’m sad that the series is ending, but I look forward to seeing what you two are going to do next.

         George Lucas

Damon later apologized before the packed house for ever saying anything bad about the Star Wars prequels.

Before the music could begin, Damon and Carlton thanked ABC, the audience, and Lost fandom in general for their support before introducing some of the cast members who played the characters that we’ve come to love and hate over the years. Twenty actors from the series, both featured and supporting throughout its six year run, appeared on stage to wild applause and more than a few lusty hoots and hollers from the fans, including: Sterling Beaumon (Young Benjamin Linus), Kim Dickens (Cassidy Philips), Lance Reddick (Matthew Abbadon), François Chau (Pierre Chang), William Mapother (Ethan Rom), Rebecca Mader (Charlotte Lewis), Daniel Roebuck (Leslie Arzt), Jeremy Davies (Daniel Faraday), L. Scott Caldwell (Rose Nadler), Sonya Walger (Penelope Widmore), Titus Welliver (Man in Black), Malcolm David Kelley (Walt Lloyd), Harold Perrineau (Michael Dawson), Ian Somerhalder (Boone Carlyle), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin Kwon), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond Hume), Michael Emerson (Benjamin Linus), Jorge Garcia (Hugo “Hurley” Reyes), Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert), and Josh Holloway (James “Sawyer” Ford). Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the primary masterminds behind the show, introduced each of them with often humorous stories of how they came to join the cast and their contributions to the show as a whole. Later, they set the spotlight on the show’s core writers, producers, and the mostly unseen and unheard third man in their creative trinity, director Jack Bender.

Once the curtain was raised, the orchestra played through a selection of the series’ seven most distinct and recognizable themes while images and video from the six year run were projected onto the screen above them. Between each song, a different cast member took the stage to read a “message in a bottle”, which were essentially imagined letters from Oceanic 815 survivors we never got to know, punctuating the humor, fear, joy, and despair that many of the background characters were likely feeling upon finding themselves on a strange island at the mercy of fate while Kate, Jack, and Sawyer were off battling smoke monsters and Others. Giacchino then finished off his portion of the event by donning a Dharma jumpsuit with “Composer” stitched onto the back, treating the crowd to a selection from his Oscar winning soundtrack for Pixar‘s “Up“.

And to finish off the night, they presented to us the complete series’ penultimate episode, “What They Died For“. I will give no spoilers here, but I can almost guarantee you that this will become one of fandom’s all-time favorite episodes, even though it can in no way stand on its own, as it’s truly the first third of the series finale. It moves at a breakneck pace, surprisingly with a bit of humor, giving up a number of answers to some nagging mysteries, surprising us with the re-appearance of old faces gone too long, and what one actor I spoke to afterward described as a welcome “return to type” for his/her character. They may no longer be doing character-centric episodes anymore, but this actor more than makes this episode his/her own… with giddily terrifying results. It ends on a goosebump-inducing declaration that takes us full throttle into the finale with metaphoric guns a-blazing, letting us know that, one way or another, what’s to come will truly be THE END. It was exhilarating to sit amongst an enthusiastic crowd of fans that screamed and cheered in joyous frustration when the screen thudded to black with the all-too-familiar stark white “LOST” title emblazoned across it, making us desperately wish for a donkey wheel or a Delorean or something we could use to time travel ahead to May 23rd NOW!

Since we weren’t allowed to bring cell phones or cameras into the event, there is a dearth of actual footage available from the show. However, ABC did film the event for posterity, so expect it to show up on DVD or elsewhere in the near future (don’t hold out on us ABC!). Until then, here’s footage of the rehearsal, courtesy of the Los Angeles Times, featuring the heartbreaking track, “Oceanic 6″. God, it gets me every time…

Lucky WonderCon 2010 attendees get to see it a few weeks early when it screens at the annual San Francisco geek gathering on Saturday, April 3rd! I hope to be among the lucky few in the crowd as this new era of The Doctor.

Doctor Who premieres Saturday, April 17, 9:00p.m. ET/PT. Doctor Who premiere episode is an extended version with limited commercial interruption. Check out the brand new trailer below…

The series has episodes written by Richard Curtis (Pirate Radio, Love Actually) and Toby Whithouse (Being Human, Torchwood) and guest stars including Alex Kingston (ER, Flash Forward), James Corden (Gavin & Stacey, The History Boys) and Oscar nominee Sophie Okonedo (The Secret Life of Bees, Hotel Rwanda) and Tony Curran (24). For more visit http://bbcamerica.com/doctorwho

The 2010 PaleyFest event wrapped up a week ago at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills and I’m already jonesing for next year’s schedule to be announced. I’ve been going to select events hosted by the Paley Center for the last few years and the PaleyFest is easily the pop culture highlight of my spring. I can only afford to hit up a few of the events, so I was happy that I was able to snag tickets to two of the best: Dexter and Breaking Bad. Both are shows with stellar, award-winning casts and creators/writers that take astounding storytelling risks, not just season to season, but episode to episode. They fall into a sub-genre of television that I like to call “Consequence Television”, where the characters are in a constant state of change and the events that shape the characters are not forgotten by the time the next episode airs a week later. I’m not the first person to make this observation (certainly the producers are aware of what they’re doing and why they’re doing it), but it needs to be said. This is not “safe”, friendly television that you cozy up to after work (well, they do air on Sundays). These shows are tense, thrilling heart-and-mind benders that make Mondays in the office seem not so bad in comparison. These are the types of shows that you expect to be affected by. After watching the season 4 finale of Dexter, I was shaken for days afterward. I have friends that still have trouble talking about it. And Breaking Bad usually sets up the beginning of each episode with a visual cue, a mystery that is either solved by episode’s or season’s end, but never in a way you see coming. And I love it. Going to editorialize and put it right out there. I enjoy being made uncomfortable by television. I LOVE it (and hate it and love that I hate it) when the characters I care so much about, like Breaking Bad‘s Walter White (portrayed with such engrossing rage and subtlety by Emmy-award winning Bryan Cranston) make such bad decisions… even if it’s for all the right reasons. Most people can’t handle this type of storytelling. They want their heroes pure and their decisions true and just. And if there is a wrongdoing, it’s done by mistake or it’s done to the hero by the clearly defined bad guy. Dexter and Breaking Bad are not those types of shows.

So it was with great pleasure that I got to witness the PaleyFest events/screenings featuring Dexter and Breaking Bad over the last 2 weeks:

The Dexter screening featured the season 4 episode “Hungry Man“, where Dexter is faced with possibly the worst Thanksgiving day ever. Afterward, the primary cast, including Golden Globe-winner Michael C Hall (Dexter), his real life wife (and on-screen foster sister, Deb) Jennifer Carpenter, and cult tv favorite Julie Benz (Rita), mostly spoke about the devastating season 4 finale and what the future holds for Dexter as a result of that game changing episode. Between the sometimes usual awkward questions, the cast opened up about their favorite moments on set, the show’s odd connection to Lost, and the need for humor on a serial drama where the hero is a serial killer.
[Dexter pictures are available at the popculturegeek Flickr site]

The Breaking Bad event wasted no time in giving the packed house what it wanted: the season 3 premiere, directed by star Bryan Cranston, almost 2 weeks before it’s official debut on AMC (Sunday, March 21st at 10pm). I won’t give anything away, but it starts with one of the most bizarre openings I’ve ever seen anywhere, introducing us to 2 new characters that will likely play a big part in Walt and Jesse’s futures in the coming weeks. The main cast chatted about the often shocking turns that their characters are faced with and why main character Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) had not been killed off in the first season as originally planned. But what stood out most through that evening’s discussion was that Bryan Cranston is an astoundingly funny story teller.
[Breaking Bad pictures are available at the popculturegeek Flickr site]

The videos show some of what was discussed much better than I can. There are 6 videos for Dexter and 7 for Breaking Bad and they are all worth watching, especially if you’re already a fan. Just make sure you’re caught up on each series or you might be in for some unsettling surprises.

Bryan Cranston talks about directing the two new “bad guys” in the Season 3 premiere (no story spoilers).

The Dexter cast talks about their favorite moments of the series so far.

Breaking Bad season 3 returns to AMC on Sunday, March 21st, 2010 at 10pm.
Showtime rolls out Dexter season 5 on Sunday, September 26th, 2010.

For more videos and information on the Paley Center and its very busy event schedule that goes year round in Los Angeles and New York City, go to paleycenter.org.

It gave us more of Whiplash, more of War Machine, more of Black Widow, more of everything… plus this little beauty pictured on the right, the details of which I won’t give away, but it’s a Marvel fan’s dream come true, even if it lasts only a few seconds. Just watch the new trailer already and you’ll see what I mean…

Scroll below the trailer to see both parts of the Robert Downey Jr interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live (the 2nd part also includes the trailer).

More info on the movie can be found at ironmanmovie.marvel.com.

It’s not really news or anything. It’s just funny. Enjoy!

(By the way, popculturegeek is also a big fan of Community. Quickly becoming the funniest part of NBC‘s Thursday night line up. But since the Olympics are currently sucking up all of the NBC primetime slots, you can check out the latest episodes of Community on Hulu, if you were so inclined. Same goes for LOST, but I know you’re watching that in real time…)

After nearly 4 months of LOST inspired artwork being created and sold as prints on damoncarltonandapolarbear.com, the 16th and final piece (by Taylor Stout) was revealed at an exhibition of all the original works, along with dozens of additional LOST artwork done in various mediums by an amazing and diverse collection of artists. The concept of LOST-inspired fan art was presented almost 5 months ago at the final San Diego Comic-Con LOST panel by comedian Paul Scheer playing the part of an overzealous fan (was he REALLY just playing a part?) forcing the odd but transparently named Damon, Carlton, and a Polar Bear velvet painting upon the executive producers (the velvet artwork was actually done by the artist Misha, but pulled from the mind of Scheer). Little did the fans know at that point what would be born out of that manic presentation back in July… an online scavenger hunt with cryptic clues leading to random locales all over the world, limited edition prints selling out within seconds of being offered, and eventually an exhibit put on by the people of Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles with executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse in attendance along with a number of more anonymous LOST creative staff and many of the artists who contributed the art adorning the walls that night.

Some fans lined up for more than a day to be the first to witness the unveiling and get access exclusive LOST goodies, including a t-shirt based on one of the most popular prints. All artwork was available for purchase (often at prices crafted from the show’s ubiquitous numbers, such as $815 or $1516), signed by the artist and LOST Lindelof and Cuse. For those that missed the event, the work will be on display exclusively at Gallery 1988, 7020 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 90038, through December 24th, 2009. For information on gallery hours and more, go to Gallery 1988.

To see images of every single work of art (and their prices), go to lostundergroundartshow.blogspot.com. You’ll also find pictures from the event: the art, the crowd, and the best Team Jacob shirt ever on the popculturegeek Flickr site.

Music in the video is by Geronimo Jackson, a band made famous on the LOST tv series. © 2009 ABC Studios. No infringement is intended.

While the original movie wasn’t as good as it could have been, feeling much like 3 episodes haphazardly cut together rather than an actual complete film, the first season of the animated series outshone the movie in every possible way with every passing week. Maybe it’s the 22 minute episodic treatment that made the storytelling easier to digest. Or maybe it’s me. I seem to have found a love serialized tv that now far outweighs my love of movies (but recent 3D theatrical releases are helping to balance those scales). I don’t know, but I do know that Clone Wars season 1 was full of great stories and amazing action throughout. If season 2 is half as good as season 1, we’re in for a fun ride exploring new and classic characters as well as corners of the Star Wars universe we’ve never seen before. And, hey, it’s now got more bounty hunters than you could shake a gundark at!

To get a taste of what’s to come, go to the official Clone Wars site or check out the trailer below:

Titan Maximum is actually the latest Adult Swim series from the minds behind Robot Chicken, Moral Orel, and the writers of various acclaimed Marvel and DC comics. Created by Tom Root and Matt Senreich, you have to know that Seth Green is going to be involved. He executive produces and, of course, provides the voice of one of the series primary characters, the douchebaggy villain Gibbs. Other Robot Chicken regulars Breckin Meyer (Palmer), Rachel Leigh Cook (Jodi), Dan Milano (Willie), Eden Espinoza (Sasha), and Billy Dee Williams (Admiral Bitchface) round out the cast. Chris McKay of the now canceled Moral Orel stop-motion series directs and fan favorite Marvel and DC comics writers Geoff Johns and Zeb Wells lend their writing talents to the stories.

This perfect storm of geek talent has churned out a solid half hour (well 22 minutes) debut episode that will likely find a place among the other classic Adult Swim half hour series like the Venture Bros and ummm…. well, does Family Guy count since they’re only reruns? Don’t know. Doesn’t matter. For fans of either Robot Chicken or Moral Orel, there’s a few things you have to get used to. No more scattershot, lack-of-attention-span satisfying mini clips. Titan Maximum actually tells a single fully-scripted story in 22 minutes. And the characters look more like the stop-motion Moral Orel characters than they look like supersculpey-enhanced action figures and Megos, so there’s a consistency to the look and feel of the characters across the board.

Ah, but what is it about, you say? Well, Titan Maximum is a giant robot that’s formed out of 5 spaceships controlled by 5 cocksure young pilots. More than a few geeks out there will find this concept familiar, since pretty much of Japan’s modern popular culture is built around the concept of way too many young people having control over massively powerful robots that beat the crap out of stuff and destroy everything. If you know what I’m talking about, I can assure you that Titan Maximum has the prerequisite headstrong hero type, the surly second in command bad boy, the sweet and spunky good girl, the sexy bad girl, the lovable fat guy, the kid sidekick who stays back at the base and worships them, and, oh yeah, a monkey. But the guys behind TM weren’t satisfied with just sending up the genre. They took the concept and the characters to their logical conclusions. Without spoiling too much, let’s say that youth fades, not everyone is cut out to fly a giant robot appendage, and goatees are almost always the first sign that your friend will one day become a world dominating douche. Oh, and Leon steals the show without speaking a word. But I think the creators knew that would happen (he does bear a striking resemblance to a certain stoopid monkey).

If you’re a fan of the humor found in Robot Chicken, Moral Orel, and Venture Bros, or you just happen to be facing the TV most Sunday nights with the channel turned to Cartoon Network when you should be cramming for that Monday first period test or maybe even sleeping, then this show’s for you. It’s even more fun if you can appreciate the obvious nods to classic Japanese anime like Voltron or Battle of the Planets (sorry, *ahem* I meant Gatchaman) or anything particularly Gundam-like.

Titan Maximum premieres this Sunday, September 27th, at 11:30pm as the newest part of Cartoon Network‘s Adult Swim lineup.

If you’re a big fan of Lost, you NEED to watch these videos. It’s an example of just how much fun we have every year with 6500 other fans in one big packed-to-capacity room. If you want to see everything in the order it happened, pay attention to my notes below, pause at the designated moments (usually when they say “roll the clip”) and watch the other parts when noted.

If you watch all of the videos exactly in the order as listed below, you will have seen the Lost panel in its entirety, but without standing in line for hours (many people slept outside overnight to get front row seats).

Watching everything here will take about 45-50 minutes.

The opening FINAL SEASON image (worst video of the bunch, but it’s the best I could find… still has lots of fun clues…):

A quick little promo ad for Lost University, the latest alt-reality thingy from ABC:

PART 1 –

At 2:05, pause and go here to see the fan video compilation (very funny):

PART 2 –

When it takes a break at 4:20, pause the video and watch each of the following items, then resume PART 2 – THESE ITEMS ARE HUGELY IMPORTANT CLUES FOR SEASON 6!!!

The end of PART 2 leads directly into this video:

PART 3 –

(By the way, in the middle of PART 3, a guy shows up named Bob Stencil. If you’re curious about who he is, go here: http://www.firstshowing.net/bobstencil/
But it’s not necessary to view in regard to Lost itself. He’s just a hilarious “character” correspondent that is found all over Comic-Con every year.)

PART 4 –

Pause PART 4 at 2:59 and watch this video and resume:

Pause again at 8:10 and watch this video which will take you to the end:

However, watching the end of the PART 4 video will give you a little hint about season 6 that other videos won’t. Just mouse over the box that appears on screen when you see it.

And if you want to also catch the LOST meta-reality series that explores the secrets of the Dharma Initiative through a long lost investigative news series that never really existed, check out Mysteries of the Universe.

Of course, if you aren’t doing so already, make sure you’re checking out damoncarltonandapolarbear.com to get exclusive, limited edition artwork based on the characters and concepts of Lost.

And if you’re at all interested, check out our pictures from the final Lost panel and from the booth showcasing the Lost props that will be auctioned off next year.

The hallway in which we lined up for the exhibition hall must have been 100 degrees in there, but while the stench was strong with us, no one wilted or died.

I stood in line for more than an hour and a half to get a Harry Potter bag o’ goodies (giant RARE signed Luna Lovegood card!), but I missed out on lots of other swag that disappeared quickly (but hey, I did get a few of those shirtless dudes of Twilight card sets… Really Summit? Really?! *sigh* Well, I do have to admit they know who they’re marketing to…)

When the night was over, we grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant called Cafe Diem from the show Eureka on the newly renamed SyFy channel.

Pictures are uploaded to the Flickr site, but it’s this baby that makes me happy. Got to see Seth Rogen up close as he revealed the Black Beauty car from his upcoming Green Hornet movie to a exclusive gathering of press folks, including me. Here’s a little video I just threw together of the reveal…

Kudos to Rebellious Pixels on Blip.tv. This video should be screened in front of every public Buffy episode screening for as long as it takes until Twilight is barely a memory in the minds of the pop-cultured and teenage girls immediately wonder “Who was that creep with the giant forehead stalking Buffy?”

If you’re going to the San Diego Comic-Con, you haven’t missed your chance to see the Battlestar Galactica Orchestra just yet. The tickets just went on sale for the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday performances (July 23, 24, 25) at the House of Blues in San Diego. Space is limited, so get your tickets now! More information about the shows is available on Bear’s Battlestar Blog.

By the way, in earlier posts to our Twitter, I mentioned that they weren’t permitting pictures to be taken, even though Bear had expressed a desire to get photos from fans on his blog (UPDATE: now his blog says no FLASH photography. Too bad the folks running the show didn’t make that distinction or I would have taken more pictures and probably would have held the camera in a way that would have yielded me better results). And sorry for not getting any of Katee, but she was on the other side of the stage. In fact, she appeared on stage with so little fanfare, that I wasn’t even sure it was her until after the show when I asked one of the band members. Oh well, next time.

Check out our photos on Flickr

I know. Just take a deep breath. We WILL work through this unrelenting rage you’re probably feeling right now, Buffy fans and Whedonites. I know what you’re thinking. How can they even consider such a thing? How do they even have the rights to see it through without consulting Joss first? Well, the Hollywood Reporter has more details on the subject, but all I can say is that Kuzui, being the one that purchased the script from Whedon back in the day, never relinquished their production rights to the character and also retained an executive producers credit on the tv series as well.

Buffy fans would love to see a big screen continuation of the story and characters we have all learned to love, but it’s universally agreed that a Buffy without Joss or its core actors would be reviled and rallied against from day one. Oh, that’s right… it’s already begun and this story is a little more than 3 hours old!

Don’t they realize just how obsessive and vocal the Buffy/Whedon fans are? Don’t they realize that their names will soon be mud before we’re through with them? They won’t be able to rent a movie, much less make a movie about Buffy by the time fandom has finished tearing them a new one.

But I do have to admit that I’m not a hater of the original movie, despite much of the drama that surrounds it (Paul Reubens‘ endless death scene steals the film). It had its moments, even though it doesn’t hold a candle to the tv series that redefined serialized storytelling and television as a whole during the 7 years that it aired on the WB and UPN. There’s a reason it’s called one of the greatest tv series ever made.

I realize that Kuzui and company are hungry for some of that bloody Twilight vampire money and that the idea of a reboot/remake isn’t as horrible of a prospect as it was a few weeks ago before the re-imagined Star Trek film equalled boffo box office, but I’m pretty sure they have no idea what they’d be getting into if they made a brand new movie about a vapid teenage girl called upon to fight the undead hordes without taking into account anything that’s come before it. Buffy’s story is still being told in comic form from Dark Horse comics, overseen and written by Joss and many of the writers from the acclaimed tv series. There’s no reason to reboot it.

But while it’s pretty much a given that Whedon/Buffy fans around the globe will revolt at a Whedon-less Buffy movie, here’s one option I want to throw out that might soften the blow and allow them to make a movie without us rioting in the streets and boycotting it outright should our efforts not stop production before it gets started:
The movie could be about the Slayer, but not be about Buffy. If it becomes a Japanese film, even better. We could pretend that this is an alternate universe Slayer or a slightly different time period before Buffy became the Slayer or whatever. I can totally see a crazy hyper-kung fu asian action comedy monster flick about Tamaki the Vampire Slayer (make it anime and you’ve got yourself a deal). Just don’t put Buffy in the title if you’re not using Sarah Michelle Gellar. These people couldn’t make a kick ass movie the first time, I can’t imagine they’d be able to do it now. I’m sorry, but nobody in that cabal has JJ Abrams‘ franchise rebooting credentials. They would need Joss even if it wasn’t about Buffy.

Of course, even if they made that movie, there’s no guarantee that it wouldn’t flop. But you can guarantee that if it does move forward with the Buffy name but without Joss or Sarah involved, the outrage that accompanied McG‘s attempt to make an American version of Spaced will seem like a light scolding. It’s not so much that McG (Terminator Salvation director) wanted to remake Spaced (my all-time favorite television comedy series), it’s that he said he was making it WITHOUT EVER CONTACTING OR CONSULTING THE PEOPLE WHO CREATED THE ORIGINAL AND MADE IT WHAT IT IS!!! Same goes for this so-called Buffy remake. I don’t care if the brilliant JJ Abrams wanted to remake Buffy (and he can do no wrong in my eyes)! If he doesn’t consult with the Master, Joss Whedon, he has no place in remaking Buffy. I can understand someone wanting to remake Buffy 20 or 30 years after the the phenomenon ended and Sarah Michelle Gellar was no longer able to kick up her stylish but affordable boots and spike her share of vampires as she did in her youth, then yes, remake Buffy for a new generation. But Sarah can still kick ass with the best of them. Edward Cullen wouldn’t last a minute with her… although I’m sure she’d probably have the urge to boff him before getting around to slaying him. He IS a sexy vampire after all. And she has a… thing… for vampires. It’s complicated. But that complication is no reason to start from scratch. So until we hear from Joss himself that he’s involved (in charge!), the existence of this movie will be found until the end of days. Although Tamaki the Vampire Slayer does have a nice ring to it…