It May Be Called 'WonderCon,' But It's All About Watchmen

As I was having dinner with Nic Cage last night, I tried to press home the point that his new film, Knowing, is just like the last. Next, which was the last. See, even I'm confused. I mean, they even start with the same letter. Sorta.

Nic put down his Coke (sheesh, the guy doesn't even drink, which is really boring) and stared at me. It seems he can't stare without using his hands. "No," he shook his head, moving his hands above his head. He then closed his eyes for the longest time. Then he started to explain to me the concept of the movie, going on and on as he often does, and didn't see me mentally slip back to WonderCon.

But I will say: the trailer for Knowing at WonderCon did not allow anyone to daydream. Weak on concept it is, but heavy on action it is. Subway train crashing into subway train was just one of the thrilling rides, and the aircraft crashing in front of him was a close second.

We got to watch the Knowing trailer, an extended trailer, as it turned out, and it was spectacular. But there won't be any internet noshing or word-on-mouth in Mudville. There were maybe three other people in the room where it ran. It came right after an hour of Watchmen. What a mistake.

Watchmen is what everyone came to see. The entire cast was there except for....ooooh, who's that cool British guy from Matchpoint who plays Ozy. Matthew Goode. He wasn't there. But Zach Snyder and everyone else was. You had to laugh when a fan, who had been one of a thousand or so people to see the movie the previous night, said to
Billy Crudup, "Man, they short-changed you." He didn't fill in the details, but for those of us who know who Crudup plays -- Dr. Manhattan, the big, blue scientist who'd just as soon jump to Mars as read a newspaper -- know what he was referring to, as Manhattan is mostly nude. And apparently that even goes for the film. Crudup just replied, "Then I have to say to you: congratulations!" And we all laughed. (Pictured: Billy Crudup, then Jeffrey Dean Morgan below.)


We got to see extended portions of Watchmen, including the montage in the beginning that people were beginning to talk about that shows various historical moments in America -- it really rocks. And most of the beginning. I think it's a tricky move to kill off one of your superheroes in the first scene. And, as it turns out, he's not the best role model going.

I'm definitely going to see this one. I will probably save my DVD dollars for the extended director's version. I already know this and I haven't seen the film.

So, what else was going on today? Well, like yesterday, I immediately headed to the freebie table. I didn't realize that this table WASN'T the real freebie table -- it was just the DC table with a lot of freebies -- until I heard them announce that you can get a Watchmen button (smiley face with the drop of blood, rather iconic) at booth 242, the WonderCon table. So, I got in line there -- they had already changed everything around since 12 hours ago, but that's how it goes at these things -- and I got to talking to the guy behind me, who rescued another Watchmen coffee promo card for me. He wanted to know if Comic Con was any bigger than WonderCon. I just had to laugh.

But it turns out he and I had the same plan: get the freebies, run upstairs to the Espalanade room, which holds about 3,000, and sit there all day for programming.

I was greatly disappointed that there were no giveaway freebies at the door when you walk in, like the last two years, but it's always hit or miss.


As it turns out, I left after Watchmen -- went straight to the WonderCon table and picked up a Watchmen button -- and then the bathroom, then back into the room. I am always afraid they'll cap the room -- they did several times that day -- but nobody was attending the Astro Boy and Pandorum presentations, it seems. I got back in time to watch most of the Alien Trespass promotion.

Alien Trespass is a modern copy of a 1950's sci fi film, complete with cheesy monster. It stars Eric McCormack and Robert Patrick and a bunch of other actors like Dan Laurie from The Wonder Years. The director/producer, R.W. Goodwin, is famous for directing several X-Files episodes, so he knows what he's doing. And he's funny in his own right. It seems this is a genuinely cheaply made movie, as principal filming only took 15 days.

The Paramount Pictures presentation was Star Trek, the new movie, the one that's been in the can for some six months now, waiting for a May release. There was no announcement as to who would show up, but much to our delight director J.J. Abrams (Lost) kicked things off, then Zachary Quinto (Spock), Chris Pine (Kirk) and Zoe Saldana (Uhura) came out. We saw an extended trailer which didn't tell us anything new. And Quinto and Pine sound so much like new actors, talking all about the process, so we got nothing new from them. Except maybe gushing about J.J. Abrams. However, this film looks like a fresh, new look on the old franchise. I will try to see it the first day it opens.

It was interesting to see the crowd during Watchmen vs. Star Trek. The hall was completely filled for both. But the level of anticipation was so much higher for Watchmen than Star Trek. There is a great deal of worry, though, from director and the studios, that neither will make their inflated budgets. Watchmen is a particularly hard sell: there's a lot of jokers in costumes standing around talking, and, it seems, very little else. And you have to figure out all these characters and the mystery. Star Trek looks to be the easier sell, which is an action film where the characters we already love will build these relationships before our very eyes. I say: Bring 'em both on!


I was waiting for the Pixar presentation, but had to sit through something called 9. It seems it was a film school film that Tim Burton and his people took an interest in. It's produced by Burton but directed by Shane Acker, and it's another quirky animated film. The voice star, Elijah Wood, was on hand to talk with us. Elijah is always gracious, always fun in his answers. But one of the first questions was, how does the character 9 compare to Frodo? Elijah said with a resigned look on his face, "I guess I'm going to get that question for the rest of my life." I immediately felt sorry for him, then realized I shouldn't. He appeared in an incredible project at the age of 18, and now everyone compares everything he does to it. He's still very young.

9 boasts quite a cast and an interesting story, but it's very dark (I know, I know: it's Tim Burton). 9 comes out on 9-9-2009.

UP. Up is Pixar's new movie, a movie which opens May 29th. Director Pete Docter showed us several peeks at the film -- maybe 6, if you can believe that -- pretty much telling us the whole first and maybe second thirds of the film. Each and every bite was delicious. Very good animation. Very funny every step of the way. You could recognize Ed Asner's gravelly voice as character Carl Fredricksen spoke. Carl is 78 years old and sick of people. So, when they're trying to drag him off to an extended care facility, he ties his house to thousands of balloons and floats away to South America. Or at least that's his plan.
Just a delight.

I made another mad dash at 4 pm after Up for the dealer's room. It was interesting to see that Watchmen characters have replaced the usual Star Wars characters in costumes fans choose to wear. A few more freebies were available at WonderCon, including a Knowing puzzle. Cute. A puzzle. Won't help me figure out the plot.

My dinner with Nicolas wasn't very eventful. How could it compete with superheroes in campy costumes? I'll see your film, Nic, so I'll get back to you. It had better not be anything close to Next (which I liked, by the way). But in the meantime, I'll be waiting in line on the first day to see Watchmen. Have another Coke while you wait.