“Star Trek Beyond” outdoor red carpet IMAX premiere
This special “Star Trek Beyond” premiere was the cause of my first ever Comic-Con sunburn. It was a bad burn, too! My entire face looked like a “red shirt” from “Star Trek.” Getting tickets to this outdoor Red Carpet Imax movie premiere was no easy task. It required fans to wait in the smoldering heat, and even the long wait didn’t guarantee you a ticket to the premiere. It was a lottery system, meaning that fans had to wait in the aforementioned line and pull a ticket from a bag. If you were lucky enough to pull a pink ticket, you were granted admittance to the premiere. If you pulled a green ticket, you could either go back to the end of the massive line and try again or give up. Well, as fate would have it, I did not pull a pink ticket. Not to be defeated though, my team and I hung outside the outdoor premiere venue until about an hour before show time, and with a little persistence and a lot of playing the waiting game, we miraculously acquired tickets. And boy am I glad we did, because this was a Comic-Con experience I’ll never forget. It ranked right up there with last year’s “‘Star Wars’ in concert” event. In other words, that nasty sunburn was a small price to pay for what was a truly unforgettable Comic-Con experience.
The entire “Star Trek Beyond” cast was on hand to talk a bit about the making of the movie. Producer J.J. Abrams and director Justin Lin were also present, and both storytellers offered up a heartfelt tribute to the late Anton Yelchin. Also in attendance was “Star Trek Beyond” score composer Michael Giacchino. Before the film screening, Giacchino conducted a few selections of the “Star Trek” score live. The live music was accompanied by a blindingly spectacular fireworks show. As cool as that was, Giacchino wasn’t finished yet. He and his orchestra proceeded to perform the entire “Star Trek Beyond” score live as the movie played. What an experience! Making the evening all the more special was the fact that the film was fantastic! It was easily one of the purest entertainments of the summer.
I have to hand it to Paramount Pictures. They spared absolutely no expense. They did this premiere up right: free food, a great movie, and awesome presentation. And if that weren’t grand enough, Team Paramount ended the evening by handing out gift bags. What was in them? A “Live Long and Prosper” hat, a “Trek Beyond” t-shirt, and four “Star Trek” Blu-rays (including a “Wrath of Khan” collector’s edition). It should be noted, though, that even if Paramount hadn’t given out these awesome gift bags, this event still would have been a slam dunk!
For a look at our “Star Trek Beyond” review, click here.
Marvel Studios presentation
“Black Panther”
One of the highlights of “Captain America: Civil War” was the introduction of Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman). This character left such an impression in that film that fans were all but immediately clamoring for a standalone movie. A “Black Panther” movie has always been a part of Marvel’s game plan. They just wanted to get all their ducks in a row first: mainly a script, a director, and a cast. I was already excited for this movie, but when “Creed” and “Fruitvale Station” director Ryan Coogler came on board, my expectations went from high to astronomically high! Boseman will star in the title role with Michael B. Jordan and Lupita Nyong’o filling out a stellar supporting cast. “Black Panther” hasn’t started filming yet, but Coogler and his cast were on hand to talk the project up. Coogler’s energy is infectious, and I suspect that unlimited energy will translate to the big screen when “Black Panther” opens in 2018.
“Thor: Ragnarok”
Taika Waititi (“Eagle Vs. Shark,” “What We Do in the Shadows,” and the soon-to-be-released gem “Hunt For the Wilderpeople”) has joined the Marvel family, and I couldn’t be any more excited. Waititi is sure to bring gobs of energy to “Thor: Ragnarok,” but he’ll bring his own brand of humor as well, and that’s reason enough for Marvel fans to rejoice. “Thor: Ragnarok” has only been shooting for a short while, but that didn’t keep Marvel from bringing the goods. Included is a hilarious, Waititi-directed mockumentary that answers once and for all, “Where the hell was Thor during ‘Civil War’?” According to said mockumentary, he was chilling in his apartment with his nebbish, soft-spoken roommate Darryl and sharing with him various conspiracy theories about the Marvel universe. I can only hope this mockumentary drops online, because it was hilarious! Beyond that, Marvel shared a brief “Thor” sizzle reel. It featured a few behind-the-scenes clips, stunning conceptual art, and a new (and supremely badass) “Thor: Ragnarok” logo.
“Spider-Man: Homecoming”
As is the case with “Ragnarok,” “Homecoming” has only been shooting for a matter of days. But star Tom Holland and director Jon Watts (“Clown” and “Cop Car”) still found the time to make the trip to San Diego, much to the delight of a very enthusiastic crowd. What’s more, they brought footage! Granted, it was raw, and very little of it touched on the action side of things. Instead, the majority of the footage in question featured Parker in his high school surroundings. The reel actually opened up with yearbook shots of all our favorite Marvel superhero performers. The “Homecoming” footage was light, breezy, and charming. The footage had a real “John Hughes” vibe to it, and I dug that about it. It’s nice that our first glimpse at “Spider-Man: Homecoming” was the human side. With Marvel in charge, Spidey is clearly in good hands again.
“Doctor Strange”
With Marvel giving fans a look at their slate a year in advance and beyond, they did take time to talk up a movie that’s coming out in a couple of months. Like “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Doctor Strange” looks to be a pleasant departure from most Marvel properties in that it isn’t a superhero movie in the conventional sense. This is more of a mind-bending fantasy with Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role. Cumberbatch and director Scott Derrickson were on hand alongside Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mads Mikkelsen, and Rachel McAdams. We were treated to an entire sequence from the Nov. 4 release. The scene featured Stephen Strange’s first meeting with The Ancient One (played by Swinton). It was trippy to say the least, but in a good way. This exclusive sequence was followed by a brand new trailer, and it was pretty great! I have to say, I’m really looking forward to “Doctor Strange.” It has a “Inception” thing going, and given that I’m a fan of that movie, it stands to reason that there’s a good chance this one is going to be right up my alley.
To see the official trailer, click here.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”
James Gunn is awesome! That’s all there is to it. Marvel hiring him to direct “Guardians of the Galaxy” was a stroke of genius, and that stroke of genius is leading into “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” This highly anticipated follow-up to 2014’s blockbuster just finished shooting, and due to a rigorous post-production schedule, we wont even be seeing this bad boy in theaters until May 2017.
Gunn was on hand, and he brought several cast members including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, and Dave Bautista. Also along for the ride was the great Michael Rooker … in blue face! That’s right! Rooker attended the conference as Yondu, and he was an energetic force to be reckoned with! Cooler still, Gunn brought along a brand new cast member: Mr. Snake Plissken himself, the legendary Kurt Russell! There’s been a lot of speculation in terms of who Russell is actually playing in this movie, and as expected, the actor was tight-lipped.
Not one to come to the conference empty handed, Gunn brought a shit-ton of footage to share with the crowd, and it was glorious! First up was an entire sequence in which Yondu (Rooker) engages in a prison break of sorts, and he does so through the aid of Rocket and Baby Groot.
It was a stunning sequence, visually speaking, with lively work by Rooker and Bradley Cooper. But make no mistake: It’s Baby Groot who left the biggest impression! With his childlike innocence and puppy dog eyes, there is very little doubt that Baby Groot will be the most talked-about movie character in 2017. He’s positively adorable, but don’t let those looks fool you. Baby Groot still knows how to kick ass!
Following the prison-break sequence, we were treated to a montage of numerous clips from the movie. These moments gave a sense of the overall tone of the film, and it’s clear that the cast camaraderie and character rapport has only strengthened in the few years since the first picture graced the silver screen.
What’s more, the footage offered up a couple of hefty spoilers!
Stop reading now if you want to go into this movie with fresh eyes.
On the minor end of spoiler territory, there was a brief moment in which we see Kurt Russell face to face with Sylvester Stallone, making “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” an official “Tango and Cash” reunion. Again, the moment was brief and gave no indication as to whether or not Sly is playing a pivotal role or just appearing in a cameo.
The larger spoiler at play was a major Kurt Russell revelation. No wonder Russell was being coy during the Q&A. Clearly, he was well aware that everything we wanted to know about his character would be unveiled by way of James Gunn’s epic sizzle reel!
Russell is playing Ego, who is essentially a planet in human form. If you’ve read the comics, that probably makes sense to you. For the rest of us, I’m sure it’s weirder than it sounds. In addition to this nugget of information, a priceless bit of footage featuring Star-Lord, Drax, and Ego informed us that this planet in human form does in fact have a penis. What’s more, there was an even bigger revelation regarding Ego, but I’m not going to spoil that one here.
If there was any sort of blowback during the “Guardians” portion of the Marvel presentation, it was during an announcement in which the studio revealed that a “Guardians” attraction would be opening at Disneyland next year. Why would such an announcement cause such an uproar? Apparently, the “Guardians of the Galaxy” ride will be replacing “Twilight Zone Tower of Terror,” and there was a healthy portion of the Hall H crowd that didn’t take kindly to this news.
The boos quickly subsided, however, when Marvel made one final announcement during a truly epic panel: Brie Larson has been cast as Captain Marvel!
With that surprise bit of info, out walked Brie Larson! If the cheering in the room was any indication, it’s clear that Marvel has made a solid choice in casting.
All in all, Marvel brought the house down! The entire presentation went over like gangbusters, but it was the “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” portion of the panel that truly obliterated everything in its wake. Long live Baby Groot!
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