San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode XI

Stan Lee at San Diego
Comic Con 2010

Saturday is the last day for most of the big panels, and the last full day of the convention. We again stood in line for Ballroom 20, and again we attended only the first half of the day’s panels so that we could explore other areas of the convention. For this morning we saw the panels, and full casts, for Chuck, Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, Futurama, and The Simpsons. Chuck was great, and the cartoon panels had script reads of upcoming episodes by the cast members. This was something wholly unexpected and a highlight of the day, especially with Seth McFarlane singing in the voice of Stewie from Family Guy. 

After leaving Ballroom 20 on Saturday, we explored the main hall, running into Danny Devito, Stan Lee, and having a photo taken with the incredibly friendly Jason Mewes –despite his abandonment by his handler and deep need to escape for a cigarette. After a failed attempt to meet Val Kilmer (who did not show up for his appointed meet and greet time), we decided to tempt fate and wait in line to enter Hall H to see Kevin Smith’s comedy panel and a few movie panels (including the Avengers). While waiting in line we discovered that someone was stabbed in the eye inside Hall H for yelling “Resident Evil sucks”; note, this is a rarity and Comic Con should not be thought of as ‘unsafe’. As it seemed that the Hall would be closed for the day we decided to walk over to the Indigo Room to see a screening of Cop Out, introduced by Kevin Smith (in person) following his comedy panel.As it later turned out, Hall H was not closed but even though we waited numerous hours to enter Cop Out, it gave us a well needed rest and guaranteed us front row seats. Additionally, when I had left the line-up I rode the escalator up with Joss Whedon who was returning from his announcement that he would direct The Avengers movie! It was a moment of awe, surpassed only by the priceless moments where we sat a few feet away from Kevin Smith, one of my favorite directors. The movie did not get out till very late and while walking back to the hotel we ran into Matthew Lillard (of the Scream movie fame) and Cassidy Freeman (from Smalliville fame). As every night on our trip to San Diego, we ended it with broad smiles!

San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode IX

Barenaked Ladies performing the theme
song to The Big Bang Theory, just prior
to the cast arriving to the panel.

The other three days of Comic Con went much like the first, filled with a crazy cacophony of pop culture entertainment. On Friday we went to Ballroom 20, which is the second largest room. There, TV show panels were put on, unlike Hall H that presents panels about upcoming movies. Ballroom 20, on Friday, included the casts of Stargate Universe, Caprica, and The Big Bang Theory. There were other panels too, but we only stayed for these first three. Big Bang was, in particular, great as it began with the Barenaked Ladies performing the TV show’s theme song. In retrospect we should have stayed in the room, but we were compelled to experience what else the convention had to offer. Unfortunately, we intended to meet the cast of the Big Bang Theory at the Warner Bros. booth. This was the most unorganized and chaotic booth on the main floor. I do not recommend trying to go there as for us our experience included waiting around for an hour wondering where the line began, only to discover the line was somewhere else. Other booths, such as the other TV station booths (ABC, NBC, FOX, etc), were much more organized and had well marked lineups for meeting the celebrities and someone who stood at the back of the line with a sign denoting if the line was full or not. Despite this, we did get to see Anna Paquin from True Blood as she walked past us to enter the Warner Bros. area to sign autographs.

The rest of Friday was not a bust. We walked around the floor checking out all the vendors. The hall is huge and cannot be done quickly. We focused on the comic book creators that were there and found one of our favorite artists /writers: David Mack. After the convention had ended for the day we headed outside into the ever-exciting Gaslamp District where we headed for the Broken Yoke. This is a great little breakfast place that is open late. The prices are affordable and located close to the convention center (between J and K street on 6^th Ave.). As an added bonus, most of the restaurants are to be found on 5^th Ave, so while this place is close not many people were there because the mobs stuck to 5^th. 

San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode VIII

Line for Hall H.

Day one of Comic Con began with a bang! Well, not literally. We woke up early and hustled our way out the door, debating on whether to walk or take one of the shuttle busses that the Con provides free of charge (there are multiple busses that pick guests up at a spot near or at their hotel and bring them to the convention center, and then can be picked up again at the convention center to be brought back). We opted for walking as the busses unfortunately do not run all that early, and if you want a good spot in a line you should probably find your own way there. It was a pleasant walk despite it being so early, and it gave us an opportunity to buy a coffee. This is important, as if you are a coffee drinker it is difficult to buy coffee (nonetheless good or cheap coffee) once you are at the convention center. Furthermore, the first few hours of each morning at the Con are spent in a line. You cannot buy food or drinks while in line as most things are still closed, so it is best to pick something up that morning or the night before. Thankfully there is a Starbucks located in the Gaslamp along 5^th Ave, which is the main street you want to walk towards the convention center if you are staying at a hotel in the downtown area.


The line for the Thursday morning was not all that bad. We had heard horror stories of the line ups, especially for the main hall that we were in line for on that morning –Hall H. We soon realized that this was from the previous year’s Twilight panel. As none of the actors from that movie were there in 2010, the line ups were not so bad. It was made that much more pleasant because of the people around us. We befriended a few people standing in line with us and talked to each other over the next few hours. It was great as these people were not only friendly and shared mutual interests, but they had attended Comic Con before and were able to give us advice on what to expect. That is one of the key features of Comic Con; the people standing in line with you tend to be super friendly and will always have sage advice on how to maximize your fun!

Paulie Shore at the
San Diego Comic Con!

As I’ve already said, the line ups were not too bad. As the line began to move we saw Paulie Shore doing an interview for some new talk show. He went around interviewing various people that were waiting in line and as he did so someone farther back in the line started yelling out the names of the movies he’s been in: Biodome! Stepson! Etc etc. Definitely a cool moment.

Inside Hall H.

Once inside Hall H we were struck by the enormity of the room. Hall H holds over 6,500 people. The seats are arranged into large square groupings with even larger screens hung from the ceiling at multiple locations so that no matter where you are seated you can still see the action! Not only do these screens show what is happening on the big stage at the back of the Hall, but they also show the clips and trailers for the movies that the guests are promoting. When first entering the room, a line of people giving out swag bags great you. Make sure to take what they have as many times there are special tickets inserted into random bags (these tickets get you into the events happening throughout the downtown area I had mentioned in the previous post).

We had found ourselves two seats with a decent view, but not exactly close to the stage. Roughly 1/2 way to 1/3 up to the stage was where we sat. This is something to remember: do not fool yourself into thinking you will get prime seats in Hall H. There are thousands of other people thinking the exact same thing! Many of the sections close to the front are also reserved for special attendees and press, making it that much more difficult to obtain prime seats. Despite the fact you may not get a great seat, you will still be able to enjoy the event(s) as the screens will show you everything that is going on up front, not to mention that the guests have mikes. 

Michael Cera dressed up
Captain America.

We decided to stay in Hall H all day as there were just too many great panels happening! We did not leave our seats until the panels had finished at around 5 pm. As a bonus, there are bathrooms and a food /drink vendor in the Hall. It extremely difficult to get back into Hall H once you leave the room, so you have to make that commitment that if you leave, you will probably not get back in since the line up does grow longer throughout the day and that there are many other people like my wife and I who decided to not leave at all! So why didn’t we leave? Well, the panels were amazing and included cast members from: Megamind (Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, and Jonah Hill), Tron (full cast),  Battle Los Angeles (Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez), Salt (Angelina Jolie and Liev Schreiber), RED (Bruce Willis, Helen Mirin (who, as always a class act, walked out wearing a Harvey Pekar shirt, who had just passed away), Mary-Louise Parker, and Karl Urban), J.J. Abrams and Joss Whedon discussion (both were there!), The Expendables (Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Terry Crews, and Randy Couture), and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (full cast including Michael Cera, Kieren Culkin, Anna Kendrick, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh (Superman!),  and Jason Schwartzman). OK, so that was an impressive list of names right? Well, as my posts about Comic Con have already been INCREDIBLY LONG, I will not go into detail about these panels, except that everyone listed above and more were there! It was amazing to here the stories of how the movies were made, what the stars thought of the movies, and other side stories they had –Stallone was the best for this. In addition, other stars just randomly showed up, like acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro, Simon Peg, Nick Frost, and more! One final note though, each panel is hosted by an individual that is often of some relation or importance in the entertainment industry or Comic Con. While I did not recognize all of the people hosting the panels, I did recognize that The Expendables panel was hosted by Harr Knowles of aintitcool.com! Aint that cool!

Another quick note about the day in Hall H was that the Tron panel became interactive! The director announced that they still needed some audio for the movie, so on the sayings were shown on the screen in which the audience was supposed to repeat. These sayings (and stomps and claps) were the sound of an audience cheering and jeering were to be used in a race scene from the Tron movie. 


As we left Hall H we were immediately introduced to the blaring sun and throngs of people moving left and right past the building. We decided to look at our maps and figure our what we wanted to do. The downside to attending a panel all day is that there is little else occurring at the convention center specifically, and the main hall floor is already closed. So as we stood there we saw a few guys rushing past us. We quickly realized that Nick Frost was whom the guys were rushing towards! We followed suit and asked for a photograph, and he politely said yes even though the gentlemen escorting him around said he did not have time. It was great, and made even better with just how friendly Nick Frost was! It was a great almost end to the day!

My wife & I with Nick Frost

We left the convention center after our run-in with Nick Frost and sought food in the Gaslamp district. We walked around looking at all the events occurring in the area, and ran into Bill Duke who played Mack in the movie Predator! It was absolutely awesome as I am huge Schwarzenegger fan and this is probably as close as I’ll ever get to meet him, not to mention that Bill Duke’s character was one of my favorites from the movie. Bill Duke, much like Frost, was incredible nice and kind enough to have a photo taken with me. I grinned from ear to ear for the rest of the day!

Me and Bill Duke!

San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode VI

Wednesday was a day of shopping. Michelle, my wife, wanted to visit a few stores not found back at home in Calgary, Alberta. So we ventured out from the hotel, waking up early to take advantage of the day. We figured we would head to a few malls that we wouldn’t have a chance of visiting during the rest of the vacation due to Comic Con.

To be frank, the mall we visited was a bit of a bust. There were a few stores that she enjoyed looking around in, but the place was pretty quiet and didn’t have too much in the way of attention grabbing attractions. The mall was also not too interesting in the way it was laid out. It was your typical mall. However, it did have a Target (though its better days had passed it by) where it was selling comic style t-shirts; I picked up Star Wars and Ghost Busters shirts, and Michelle picked up a “I Love Nerds” shirt. Following the trip around the mall, we stopped by another mall that was on the way back to downtown and located just off the train tracks. We wondered around a bit but began thinking we should reserve our energy for the next few days. This would prove key and highly recommended to those attending Comic Con. Make sure to have at least one day of low-key adventure before the Con begins. You will find that each day at the Con requires substantial endurance! Also, getting one good night’s sleep before the Con is also essential. In all likelihood, you will be out from 6am to at least 11pm everyday of the Con. There is plenty to do, be it going to the downtown bars or attending late night film screenings, you will want to take advantage of whatever is going on, and with that being up late everyday and running on very little sleep. 

Gaslamp District

 Once we returned to the hotel we dropped off our stuff and headed back out to the Gaslamp district. We were in search of food, and in that we located a Planet Hollywood. I was cynical of the place as I had vowed to eat nothing but freshly made local food with a Mexican flair. This would not always pan out for me, and as Michelle desperately wanted to go to a Planet Hollywood, I budged. It turned out to be a good choice as it did not take long to be served and the food was exceptional. However, one thing to keep in mind about America is that they like to serve medium-rare hamburger. I had ordered a burger (which was delicious) but constantly wondered if I was going to regret eating it a few hours later! That did not turn out to be the case, and instead it was a wonderful evening to another great day in San Diego. The next would prove to be even more eventful as the San Diego Comic Con Preview Night would take place!

san Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode V

At the San Diego Zoo, we walked past many of the animals but paid special attention to those we were most interested in. As I am an archaeologist and have studied primates to some degree, I was most interested in the primate sections. Michelle sought the ‘cute’ animals, such as the pandas and koalas. We walked to the far end of the zoo and found ourselves quite depleted of energy, as much of the park is a series of hills. Fortunately, there are escalators on some of the steeper hills (image upper left). There is also a gondola ride that takes you from one end of the park to the other (image upper right). The gondola ride seems like a romantic way to oversee the park, but when you are two scaredy-cats like us, it may not be so romantic. It brings you up what seems to be 100’s of feet off the ground and gently sways side to side, along with an occasional jarring bump. The wind was picking-up speed and becoming increasingly colder. As we sat in this off-the-ground-prison I began to think of how a strong wind could easily push the cart around and perhaps off the cable it was sinuously attached to. Michelle’s face had become white the moment we entered the cart and her grip became increasingly firm on the cart’s sides -I was no  different. Upon exiting the cart we decided we would never do that again, but it did give us a nice view of the park no matter how frightening it was for us!

One of the more spectacular exhibits was that of the Panda’s. Michelle dearly wanted to see them, and upon approaching the exhibit we saw that there was a line-up. Visitors had to line-up and enter the facility in a single file. There was to be no stopping while in the area as the staff tried to make sure that everyone would get through. As this was a weekday during the summertime, the line was long but not too bad. It took about 20 minutes to enter the facility and we spent another 20 minutes inside looking at the pandas. I think Michelle took about 50 photographs while we were in there as two of the pandas were moving about. Once we exited the facility we saw that the line was much shorter, and we went in again. In total, we went through the facility three times and each time was as special as the first for Michelle. I had to admit though, the pandas were pretty cool to see.

As the day wore down and night approached, we worked our way towards the front gates. The list of animals we saw is too long to list, but trust me that it was a lot! The enclosures at the San Diego zoo are amazing and very well kept. Even though the zoo was first opened in 1915, you would instead think it was built only a few years ago. 

 At night the zoo takes on a wholly different atmosphere. Lights of various color turn on across the park. It becomes more romantic and exotic with the sounds of tigers roaming about. The attendance at the park also drops, so we began to feel a little more private about our walk through the park. Before finally leaving we stopped by the gift store and purchased a zoo mug that had an image of one of the pandas –we try to pick up coffee mugs from wherever we go even though we ran out of room for them in our cupboards a long time ago. We left the zoo complex and decided we would again take a cab ride back. To the side of the main entrance was a collection of cabs. By the time we reached our hotel it was quite late and we were hungry as our last meal had not been for hours and consisted of the re-heated, previously frozen chunks of semi-identifiable food. Perhaps not our best judgment call, we decided to walk to the Pizza Hut that was on the corner of the Grey Hound station attached to the hotel. The pizza was cheap, warm, and enjoyably tasty. We sat in our room, stretching our calves and bemoaning the condition of our sore feet while engorging ourselves with greasy pizza. That night we slept satisfied with the past two days of vacation, ending again on a high note.

San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode IV

Day two in San Diego was centered around visiting the local Zoo. An average zoo, such as the one back home in Calgary would require about 5 hours to walk about, although I feel that many more hours than that are needed to fully see the zoo. Nonetheless, the San Diego zoo is massive, being 107 acres in size. Built in 1915, the zoo now has over 4000 animals comfortably living within its borders that represent 800 different species. This is also one of the very few zoos in the world that houses pandas, which were a particular draw for my wife.

We didn’t have to go to out for breakfast that morning since we purchased groceries the night before. We woke up early and Michelle showered and got ready for the day while I packed the backpack for our trip: various snacks and batteries for the camera, along with a map of San Diego. We debated about taking transit to the zoo but opted instead for a cab. The cab ride was about $15 round trip, which was cheaper than purchasing a day pass for the transit. The cab ride was much faster than the transit, plus we didn’t have to worry about catching the correct bus. As we were staying at a hotel in the downtown area, there were always cabs outside, albeit primarily there waiting for people to exit the Greyhound station next door.

The ride to the San Diego zoo was quite fast. We exited the cab at the front gates and found that even though it was still early in the morning, around 9 am, there was a large group of people waiting to enter the zoo. There were a few summer school groups there, a number of other people likely taking the day off from work to take their kids, and other people much like us who were visitors to the area. While waiting in line we again met another friendly San Diego’ite (or whatever you call the native people of San Diego). He was with his son and spoke to us about how great the zoo is and how they were to visit Lego Land the following day.

The San Diego Zoo is a massive place. It can easily take a day to walk through the complex, but this would do it no justice as you would have to walk briskly past almost every enclosure. We decided to walk a counter-clockwise route and take advantage of the daylong trip. The morning weather was nice, but not exactly summer-like. As the day wore on it became increasingly cooler, and as we were wearing shorts and no jacket, we soon began to shiver.

Panda bear at the
San Diego Zoo

We forgot that we had packed snacks for the day. We bought food from a few of the vendors, where it was found to be re-heated previously frozen chunks of what might pass for food if you were trapped on a desert island. Not exactly appetizing and I do not recommend it. Water was also not something easily obtained, and when it was found it cost about $4. We opted instead for the more hideously satisfying fountain beverages, where you could buy one large cup with a gaudy plastic animal lid. The cup held about 1 litre of pop and could be refilled at no extra charge, which sounded like the most rationale choice even though the thing cost over $10. Nonetheless, I would recommend buying one of these if you forget to bring a water bottle, which we had. Also, even though the food was marginal at best, it did satisfy our hunger and didn’t empty our pocket books too much. 

San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode III

Comic Con banners in
 downtown San Diego.

With the bags unpacked we ventured out from our hotel. We took a stroll down to the Gaslamp district for some shopping, supper, and to pick up some groceries. While leaving the hotel we could see Comic Con 2010 banners hung from the streetlights. These were set up throughout the city, increasing my excitement a hundred fold; the banners promoted the upcoming Tron movie. Not only were there banners, but there were also signs in almost every storefront window. These signs said that the merchants were supporting the convention. It really brought the entire city together. Previously when we had picked up our room keys, the person at the front desk asked us if we were going to dress up. We said no, but it turned out that the staff dressed up every year for the event! In addition, during the morning hours when I waited for Michelle to get ready I would watch the local news. Everyday the news would discuss what to expect for Comic Con. They would talk about how many people were flowing into the city for the event and gloss over various events happening throughout the city in support of it. It was amazing and reminded me of the influence that the Stampede has in our home city of Calgary, Alberta.

J.K. Simmons,
in a scene from Spider-Man.

An outdoor mall called Horton Plaza was just a block from our hotel and screamed sophistication. There were about four floors of various shops. Many of these were high-end specialty stores and department stores. We surveyed the shops and at our final stop we walked through an upscale Nordstrom’s store, where I saw J.K. Simmons who to me is famous for his role as J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man movies and in Thank You For Smoking. I did not ask him for an autograph or photograph as he was with his wife and two daughters, but the fact that I saw him was astounding enough. I felt it was the perfect start to the vacation!

After walking through the out-door mall we tried to find a restaurant in the Gaslamp district. We made a large loop in the district and finally decided on a pub that we had seen at the very beginning of the loop; we can be fairly indecisive. The pub was cozy and made their own beer. TV’s hung from the ceiling but was not too loud. Michelle ordered southern fried chicken and I ordered enchiladas. Both our plates had enormous portions, which turned out to be the norm in San Diego. Our food was great and Michelle had leftovers. We also ordered drinks and they too were great. My beer was one of their in-house brews, and Michelle ordered a strawberry margarita that had a healthy dose of tequila. Following supper was a trip to a grocery store and then it was off to the hotel. Coming from Canada it was a nice to see liquor sold at the grocery store. This was expected, but what was not were the prices and selection. They had everything including hard alcohol, wine, and beer. Tequila was very cheap, but we opted for a six pack of a local brew and a bottle of wine that Michelle just had to have since it was called Château de Michelle. We also picked up snacks (both healthy and not so healthy) and in particular breakfast food items. One of the keys to making any trip affordable is to immediately visit a nearby grocery store and pick up food. This cuts down on how much you will spend at restaurants (limiting it to only suppers), and allows one to try more of the local foods.

Once back at the hotel we relaxed and put the food away. Eventually we left again to visit the 7-11 across the street. While walking over there we noticed how busy the Greyhound station was that buttressed one side of the hotel. This was one of the drawbacks to The Sofia hotel as this station attracted a number of sketchy individuals and had us walking a little faster than normal. Nonetheless, we entered the 7-11 on a mission to buy some of the Farmville products as Michelle was trying to get the codes for her Facebook game. This was the end of the day for us where we flew to San Diego and managed to explore a small portion of the downtown area near the hotel and get some food for the week. I always enjoy the first day in a new city for it holds so much promise, and it is wonderful when the city lives up to this, which San Diego does in spades. The Gaslamp district is amazing at night, but the areas outside of here (past The Sofia) are not so enticing. Our day was done and we then planned our second, full day in the city where we would travel to the Zoo.  

San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode II

The week before we left for San Diego I was on another work trip. This one lasted about a week and a half and I arrived home the day before we left for San Diego. It was hectic to say the least! Despite this, Michelle and I managed to get packed and off to the airport early on a Sunday morning. The flight was about 3 hours long and was occupied by a few other people traveling to the convention. The flight was fairly uneventful, though I did geek it up by watching Doctor Who episodes on the Space Channel. When the plane came in for its approach, I was pulled away from the TV and began watching the city through the window. The approach was interesting for it takes the plane straight over the city of San Diego. The airport is situated close to the ocean so the planes (I guess) tend to land through flying low over the downtown portion of the city. We could see Balboa Park (filled with museums and the city zoo) and a fair bit of the city’s layout. Once landed, we filed through what appeared to be a small airport and grabbed a cab to our hotel. Our driver was nice, which was a trait shared by many of those who lived and worked in San Diego.

Room keys with Comic Con theme!

Our cab ride took us along the San Diego coast. The ride cost about $10 as the airport is very close to the downtown area. The drive was scenic as it gave us a glimpse of the U.S.S. Midway and other boats permanently moored. The cab dropped us off at our hotel –The Sofia- and we were quite pleased. It was a historic building made of red bricks with a small French bistro that had patio seating stretching onto the sidewalk. We dragged our bags into the hotel noting a life-like bronze statue of a businessman holding a magazine that stood by the front door. The entry way was classically furnished and friendly faces bustled behind the front counter. Businessmen and fellow travelers sat in the lobby with their laptops open, and later we discovered that this was the only place in the hotel that had free wireless internet. We checked in and were given Comic Con styled room cards; we received one with Tom Welling who played Superman on Smallville and one with Morena Baccarin from the recent V TV show. We had our choice of rooms, which was unexpected, but welcomed! We chose the top floor (5^th). The room was incredibly tiny and had an east view, which didn’t show too much. The large windows looked out onto the downtown area, which from this angle showed only large uninteresting buildings and a Greyhound station below. The room itself was impeccably decorated in a modern style. The bathroom was memorable for it was small and had only a shower stall but without a door; only a sliding door separated the bathroom from the rest of the area. This resulted in large puddles of water spreading into the bathroom when taking a shower. 

The Expendables

As a child of the 80's, my bread and butter were action movies. I also loved all other genres of film from an early age, but there was something truly fascinating about the movies that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Stallone. Movies such as Rambo, Predator, Commando, Cobra, Rocky, and Conan (to name but a few) were some of my favorite movies as a child and continue to be so today. In particular Rambo was an interesting phenomena for it spawned a cartoon and series of toys. The movie was further attractive to me for it told the story of a hardened Vietnam vet, who I saw akin to my own father. These movies (I believe) were also attractive to other children of the 80's for they espoused true heroism. They featured heroes that never faltered and always won when they pursued the right and honorable course of action; such actions commonly centered around defending one's country and woman. The story's protagonists and antagonists were all black and white. There was no questioning the motivations. Such stories are rarely told today, and some of the classics from the 80's are considered today as chauvinistic, weak in plot, redundant, ultra-violent, and etc. Nonetheless, it is for the reasons I outlined above that I am still fond of this genre of movie and why I felt so incredibly drawn to the recently released movie, The Expendables.

(The Expendables panel at the San Diego Comic Con 2010)

The movie, The Expendables, is about a rag tag group of mercenaries. They go into difficult places to perform difficult deeds and get paid quite well for it. The story in the movie is about this group of mercs who get a job to kill the dictator /overthrow the government of a small island. Predictably however, the job is not as straightforward as it seems, but then again the storyline itself is pretty straightforward. The plot is not as interesting as some of the 80's classic action movies and the comedic lines are nowhere near as funny either. Nonetheless, the storyline hearkens back to those classics and it is that nastolgia for this genre that pulls you in. You know it's over the top and corny as all hell but it is still enjoyable because you rarely see this type of movie anymore. Another big factor is the BIG cast the movie has. You absolutely cannot go wrong with a cast that includes: Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Gary Daniels, and Steve Austin. As if that was not enough, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger have cameo roles. Sure there are plenty of actors that could have been added (most notably Jean Claude Van Damme), but you can't have everything; as a side note, at the San Diego Comic Con 2010 The Expendables panel, Stallone mentioned how there were plenty of actors that had commitment conflicts or who had personality conflicts!

One of the notable aspects of this cast is that each actor was featured in their own style of action. Jet Li was filmed as Jet Li with his trademark martial arts style, Jason Statham was filmed in his own style with the fast action sequences, and I noticed that Randy Couture used combat moves he is familiar with in the UFC octagons. This was great as it really took advantage of all the actors they had on the screen. However, what the movie did not allow for was giving the audience a chance to know any of the characters or care for them. This is where the plot was obviously thin and that the focal point of the movie was really only to showcase how many friends Stallone has.

One small downside to this movie is the special effects. There is not too much CGI in this movie (thankfully), but when it does appear it does so with no justice to the scene. In one instance the plane that the mercs use is flying at night over the ocean. For some reason it was shown via the usage of CGI and it looks incredibly fake and pulled me out of the movie for a few seconds. The usage of CGI in these few scenes was even more noticeable because it is hardly used. Like the action flicks of the 80's, the majority of the scenes were filmed with real actors kicking but and using real guns that caused real explosions; it was nice.

Overall, if you are reading this and are a fan of those 80's action flicks that I too was of, then you will enjoy this movie on many levels. However, if you are not (like the annoying lady behind me in the theatre), then DO NOT GO. This is also not the greatest movie of its genre but it also offers something that has not been done before, bring together this large cast and do it well. Hopefully they will make a sequel that bring back even more of these 80's action heroes and this time add in a better story.

SGU & Todd & the Book of Pure Evil

Two shows on the Space Channel are definitely worth watching this year. One show is returning for its second season, and the other is airing its series premier. The first is Stargate Universe, or SGU for short.
 It is returning for its second season following a dramatic cliff-hanger ending. The story is of a mixed group of scientists and military personal who have become stranded on an ancient space ship that is trillions of miles away from Earth. The ship is launching itself ever farther from Earth and the stranded group have been trying to return to Earth via a transporter that is found on the ship. The transporter works, but it has only a limited range except for particular portal stations that are close to Earth but are exceedingly rare and cannot be (as yet) connected with the ship's transporter; connecting is called 'dialing' on the show. This probably sounds complicated, but it is explained very well on the show. The first season is available on DVD in two separate sets: season 1.0 and 1.5. This is an absolute money grab by the Syfy Network that produces the show, but it is nonetheless worth watching.

SGU is just as good as some of the best sci-fi shows that have been produced over the past 10 years. To me, the last decade has been a high-water mark for this genre. Shows such as Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Dr. Who, Reaper, and the Sarah Connor Chronicles are some of my favorites, and SGU proudly stands shoulder to shoulder with them. SGU is also similar to the writing style of Battlestar Galactica, and has a familiar gritty feel to who the show is shot. The atmosphere is always foreboding, but characters such as Eli (played by David Blue) add an element of humanness that keep me coming back. In addition, while at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con I caught the SGU panel and it reminded me of just how great this show is. They didn't drop too many hints as to how the show's story would play out in the upcoming season, but to see and hear how the actors relate to one-another was priceless. Also, Robert Carlyle, who plays Dr. Rush, revealed that he directs one of the episodes. Carlyle is a truly great Scottish actor who to me will forever be remembered for his role as Begbie in the movie Trainspotting and his funny-yet-scary character in Ravenous.


SGU returns in Canada to the Space Channel on October 1st, 10 E/P

Todd & the Book of Pure Evil appears to be another great show. It is not like SGU in subject matter or style of filming /story, but is similar in that it seems to be another great science fiction show that will be truly memorable and yearned for week after week. All that I know of this show comes from a hand full of TV trailers and a short blip I saw on a recap show of this summer's Toronto Fan Expo. The show is about a group of high school students who come across a 'Book of Pure Evil'. Monsters and demons appear to pursue the students because they have this book, and of course, hilarity ensues as these students are shown to be nothing but a group of well meaning bumbling fools. The series is based on a Canadian short film that was made and aired at festivals back in 2003. I have never seen the short film, but the tv show thus far appears similar to Reaper, which is always aces in my book. Also aces, is that this is a wholly Canadian show. It is shot in Canada, with a Canadian cast, and produced by the Canadian Space Channel! I feel like I should eat a poutine doused in maple syrup while watching the first episode. However, one element that is not Canadian is that of Jason Mewes. Most people know him as Jay, from the Jay and Silent Bob fame. He can be incredibly funny, and more importantly if he believed this show was worthy enough for him to appear in, then it has to be at least half decent.


Todd & the Book of Pure Evil premiers in Canada on the Space Channel, September 29th, 9 E/P
A special in-depth preview of the show airs on the Space Channel's excellent program, InnerSPACE, on September 22, 9 E/P