New York Comic Con Wrap Up - Friday

What a weekend!

The whole All Things Fangirl staff attended the New York Comic Con this past weekend and had a fantastic time. As we were constantly going to panels, walking the floor and drinking hanging out with guests of the con in the after hours, none of us had time to update - apologies!

By now we've been scooped by all the blogs I read, but we Fangirls (and boys) still have our opinions, videos and pictures - so let the wrap up begin with Friday's events!


Alien Trespass



From the studio,

In 1957, a fiery object from space crashes into a mountaintop in the California desert, bringing the threat of disaster to Earth. From the flying saucer escapes a murderous creature - the Ghota - which is bent on destroying all life forms on the planet. A benevolent alien from the spaceship, Urp, inhabits the body of Ted Lewis - a local astronomer - and with the help of Tammy, a waitress from the local diner, sets out to save mankind. An homage to 1950's alien invasion movies with a visual style that masterfully revives the bright, Technicolor look of the era.

My favorite smaller panel of the Con, it's a shame more people didn't know about it, but the crowd that was there absolutely loved what they saw. The panel began with a hilarious featurette on the story behind the making of Alien Trespass. The idea is that this 1957 film, starring the grandparents of modern day actors Eric McCormack, Robert Patrick & Dan Lauria, which was set to be the greatest Sci Fi epic of its day, got the kabosh put on its release after a contract dispute. Now, 50 someought years later, it's been unearthed and will be released in theaters for the very first time this Spring! Most of the featurette, which had snippets of interviews with the "original actors", news footage from the 50s and clips covering the discovery of the film and what it means, can be viewed in segments on the Alien Trespass website. I definitely recommend heading over there and checking them out.


On hand to discuss Alien Trespass were director, R.W. Goodwin, of X Files fame, and Dan Lauria, one of the leads in the film. Here some tidbits they shared:

-The 3 50s sci fi films that Alien Trespass was most inspired by are The Day the Earth Stood Still, It Came from Outer Space, and The War of the Worlds.
-The monster in the film, The Ghota, looks like a 7 foot long penis with an eye in the middle. Woot!
-For the most part, Goodwin only used FX techniques that existed in the 50s. There is one CGI shot that Goodwin challenges us to find.
-The movie is not intended to be a spoof or "laugh riot", but rather a genuine recreation of a 1950s sci fi film. Any humor in the film is the kind of humor we see when we watch those kinds of movies today - totally inadvertent. Goodwin refers to his approach as "intentionally, inadvertently funny".
-The movie was shot over 18 days in Canada (because most of Goodwin's contacts & favorite people to work with are stationed there, due to his time on X-Files, NOT because the film is Canadian. Cause it's not Canadian, Variety.) and the cast had a fantastic time, to quote Lauria, they had "more fun than is legal."
-Dan Lauria appreciated the dedication & talent of the actors, who had no problem shooting scenes in one take, something common in the 50s, but a frightening notion to today's actors. Lauria recalls working on a project where he and a younger actor were asked to perform a 3 page scene all the way through, and when the younger actor freaked out about the length, Lauria assured him that 3 pages isn't long - Richard III is long. I thought that was BRILLIANT. Goodwin specifically sought out actors who had been trained in theater so he knew they could handle the lack of quick cuts.
-The film makes you feel like you are traveling "back to the 50s for 2 hours". But fear not, those with an aversion to long movies! It it runs only 88 minutes.

Below is one of my favorite clips on the making of Alien Trespass - it cracks me up - followed by a trailer. Enjoy!

P.S. If you're going to Wondercon in a couple weeks, Eric McCormack & Robert Patrick will be on the Alien Trespass panel, along with Goodwin. Can't wait!!

MTV Biggest Movie Badasses



This panel was pretty fun. Commenting on the choices were Method Man, James Toback, Judah Friedlander, and Chuck Nice. Odd. But it worked!

You can watch the full panel here, thanks to MTV, or, if you don't have time for such things, just check out the top ten list below.

10. Rambo
9. Boba Fett
8, Khan
7. Pike Bishop
6. Sarah Connor
5. Walker
4. Mad Max
3. John McClane
2. Ellen Ripley
1. See Below

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Interesting list, no? I'm ashamed that I've only seen four of these characters in action cause I've only seen Star Wars, the Terminator films, some Die Hard films & some Alien films. Oops. The crowd seemed a little confused at times since I'm pretty sure it was made up of mostly youngins. But I commend MTV for actually trying to pick the REAL movie badasses instead of just dishing out a list filled with Han Solos & Wolverines...though to me, Han Solo will always be the ultimate Badass. Mmm, sexy Han Solo badass. ... What was I talking about?

All in all a pretty fun panel, glad I went. Brought Friday's 30 Rock cast member spotting total to two. Scott Adsit was hanging out with his friend, artist Mark Brooks, and we chatted with them for a while, cause, how could you not?

As for the rest of the day, EruditeChick and I chatted it up with genius Peter David, I picked up book five of Scott Pilgrim and I finally scored one of those sweet as hell Bat Signal pens from the DC Universe booth (see right). I also tried out the Godfather Part Two game and wished I had any idea what I was doing cause it seems like it could be pretty fun if you have a grasp on any of it. Grand Theft Auto type engine + one of my favorite movies of all time = how could I not like it? Now I just need a video game console...

Stay tuned for write-ups on Saturday & Sunday of the con, featuring photos & video from the Warner's Panel (Watchmen, Terminator), Dollhouse & Fringe and some footage of EruditeChick winning the Marvel Debates at the Ultimate Alliance 2 booth!