While many of you are happily packing for the next week’s annual trek to Nerd Prom, aka the San Diego Comic Con (I refuse to call it Comic Con International), I will be crying into my beer because I haven’t been to a Comic Con since 2002. I’ve got many happy memories from Comic Cons past, including the time where I was immortalized in a Lea Hernandez Near Life Experience webcomic panel for which I’m always going to regret not buying the original art… but I digress.
Nonetheless, I will be wishing you much happiness and joy as you will have the toughest choices ahead of you. Will you blow your wad in the first 15 minutes, or will you wait till Sunday and pray that what you want to buy hasn’t been picked up by someone else? Will you wait in line for panels or will you wait in line at autograph booths? Will you be rejected at the bar by a hottie or whoop it up at the Masquerade? Will you use your DS to Pictochat during the Eisner awards ceremony or will you be Twittering?
Luckily, Movie Make-out is here to take some decisions out of your hands and help guide you through what we consider to be the cream of the convention’s movie and film-related offerings for Thursday and Friday.
Thursday, July 24
11:00 am to 12:00 pm The Disney Animation Story Process (Room 32AB)
Featuring members of the creative teams behind Bolt!, Rapunzel, and The Princess and the Frog, this panel focuses on “old school” drawn animation and how Disney does it. Stay as long as you can, for they’ll be giving attendees a sneak peek at Bolt! footage as well.
3:00 pm to 4:00 pm Disney: Race to Witch Mountain (Hall H)
Oh come on! You remember the two Witch Mountain movies from your childhood, right? Well, there’s a new one coming out, and stars The Rock–I’m sorry, Dwayne Johnson–and Carla Gugino (who will also be in Watchmen) and director Andy Fickman will be on hand to talk about the movie and how off footage.
6:00 pm to 7:00 pm Bill Plympton’s Idiots and Angels (Room 7AB)
There’s a reason why Plympton is one of the gods of American animation, and he’s been quoted as saying that he drew every single frame of his latest feature all by himself. You owe it to yourself to check this out.
7:00 to 9:00 pm Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist (Room 7AB)
Fresh from its premiere at New York City’s TriBeCa Film Festival, this documentary film profiles one of the greatest comics creators who ever lived.
Friday, July 25
10:00 am to 11:00 am TheOneRing.net: The Hobbit (Room 32AB)
Thanks to TORn’s coverage of the first three LotR movies, the website has a very close relationship to Peter Jackson and his teams, so expect to see and hear a lot of news you probably haven’t already read yet.
11:55 am to 1:00 pm Warner Bros.: Watchmen (Hall H)
Do I even need to explain what this panel’s about?
1:30 pm to 2:30 pm Joss Whedon (Ballroom 20)
In addition to talking about his comics projects, the writer/director, some of his other writers, and some cast members-to-be-named-later will be showing off clips from his new short film Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.
2:45 pm to 3:45 pm Lionsgate and Odd Lot Entertainment: The Spirit (Hall H)
If you’re very lucky, you may be able to sprint over from Whedon’s panel just in time to catch an exclusive preview. If you don’t feel lucky, you could probably stand to chill out in line in Hall H after the Watchmen panel for a while, anyway.
4:00 pm to 5:00 pm The Saga Continues: Star Wars 2008 (Hall H)
Yeah, you’re probably never going to leave this hall. Looks like SDCC will get to premiere the Clone Wars footage instead of Japan, which is a small consolation for not being able to talk to Mark Hamil and Anthony Daniels.
7:15 pm to 8:15 pm Mystery Science Theater 3000 20th Anniversary Reunion (Room 6B)
You can go listen to his podcasts if you want to listen to Kevin Smith ramble about his newest film project. How often are you going to get most, if not all, of the MST3K cast and crew in the same room for a Q&A session? I thought so.
10:45 pm to 12:00 am Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (Room 6B)
No, not another panel, but a screening of the entire short film! What a perfect way to end a Comic Con day!