Comic Con 2011: For Publishers, It’s Still All About Young Readers

I attended a couple of panels offered by publishers and writers at this year’s Comic Con, and whoa. I’m not sure anyone mentioned a thing outside of books for young adults and middle grade readers. I’d like to share some of their upcoming books with you all – some are the next pieces in established series, and others are first time offerings from debut writers.

The Simon and Schuster panel began with a fantastic tagline for a series of books called Morpheus Road by D.J. McHale – “Between the world of the dead and the world of  the living lies the Morpheus Road.” We’re awaiting the third installment, to follow Morpheus Road: The Light and Morpheus Road: The Dark. It begins with imaginary characters coming to life, a best friend gone missing, and of course, a beautiful girl.

Next up were several books for middle grade readers: a series of Starfleet Academy books, the Dork Diaries (by Rachel Renee Russell), and adaptations of classic Smurf tales.

We were treated to a trailer for Brandon Mull’s new young adult series Beyonders, which looks absolutely fantastic and is earning high praise from some of the biggest names in the field. The first book is called A World Without Heroes, which follows normal Jason as he’s pulled from our world into one he never dreamed existed, where he learns people like him, from Beyond, aren’t welcome any longer. It sounds great, the trailer made me want to see it even more.

The Accidental Hero by Matt Myklusch is about an orphan named Jack, who lives at Barnaby’s Home for the Hopeless, Abandoned, Forgotten, and Lost. Through the course of the book Jack finds out that he has an ability inside him that could either make him a savior or destroyer of more than one world. The sequel is the Imagine Nation, and the third installment, The Secret War, is scheduled to release August 9, 2011.

This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein, the lone adult book mentioned at the panel, is a gothic, dark, creepy prequel to Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppell. Seriously, I doubt I even need to say anything else because you’re already intrigued. Plus, great title.

Zombie in Love looks like a cute, disturbing, and hilarious picture book by the author of the best-selling The Sandwich Swap, Kelly DiPucchio (illustrated by Robin Joseph). It might be one you can read over and over to your kids without getting bored, because really, does a guy’s arm falling off mid-hug ever get old?

The second novel in a great zombie series by Jonathan Mayberry, Dust and Decay, is set to release August 30, 2011. The first book, Rot and Ruin, is available now. I’ll be picking these up to feed my current zombie addiction.

Fury, the first in a new trilogy by Elizabeth Miles, has already been option by CBS films. It’s about 3 beautiful, mysterious girls who decide who and how people will pay for their misdeeds. A takeoff on the ancient Greek and Roman myths of these avenging beauties is right up my alley, and I’m curious to grab a copy when it hits stores on August 30, 2011.

Lisa McMann, author of the successful Wake trilogy, has a new middle grade called Unwanteds, a story about a world where children are killed for showing creative aptitude, and a quiet young adult novel called Dead to Me, which I’m looking forward to.

William Joyce is embarking on a series called The Guardians of Time, some of which will be picture books and some that will be for middle grade readers. The first is The Man in the Moon and the second is Nicholas Saint North, which is out October 4. The stories follow our childhood mythological guardians as they fight to save earth from evil corruption. Joyce is also working on a film with Dreamworks, called Rise of the Guardians.

The 5th installment in The Fallen series by Thomas E. Sniegoski is The End of Days, and it will be available for all those waiting hands on September 6, 2011. The main character Aaron is the product of an affair between and angel and a mortal, and has been tasked with the job of redeeming the fallen.

The conclusion to Scott Westerfield’s Leviathon series is highly anticipated, and if you haven’t read the first two books (Leviathon and Behemoth) I’d get on that. The finale, Goliath, will hit stores September 20, 2011.

Another final book in a trilogy that’s ending this fall is Silence, the conclusion to the Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick. Nora and Patch’s journey will end October 4, 2011.

I received an ARC of Jeyn Roberts’ Dark Inside, a first book set in a post-apocalyptic future where some people turn inexplicably evil – an evil that’s reflected in black veins running through the whites of their eyes. The panelists promised nightmares, and I’m excited to read the novel (out November 1, 2011)

Of course, the highlight of Simon and Schusters fall will be the release of Clockwork Prince, the second of Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices books. Her first series, The Mortal Instruments, is being developed into a film property as well.

I also attended a panel hosted by young adult authors Andrea Cremer, Tahereh Mafi, Laini Taylor, Stephanie Perkins, Amanda Hocking, and Kiersten White. They talked alot about why they think young adult novels are so popular, and why they seem to resonate with adults and children alike. Amanda gave my favorite answer, which is that the emotional journeys in so many of these books are about firsts. First loves, first kisses, first adventures, and reading about them takes adults back to that time in their lives when everything was new and fresh.

They also discussed the recent controversy over whether some subjects are too dark for young readers, but they all agreed the answer to that question is no. Not every child is having the same experience, and it’s important to have books available for kids going through difficult times. It’s just as important to encourage children who aren’t going through horrible things to become caring, empathetic adults, and for parents to take an interest in what their child is reading so that discussions and growth can ensue.

They had advice for aspiring authors, which basically boiled down to don’t stop writing, and don’t give up. The panelists were well-spoken, articulate, and thoughtful – fantastic representatives of the community devoted to penning stories for children.

Their latest offerings are available now or soon, as follows:

Andrea Cremer’s Wolfsbane, the sequel to Nightshade, is out July 26, 2011.

Tahereh Mafi’s highly anticipated Shatter Me (which is completely brilliant) will be available November 15, 2011.

Laini Taylor’s latest, which Stephanie Perkins called her “favorite fantasy novel of the decade” is titled Daughter of Smoke and Bone. It will hit stores September 27, 2011.

Stephanie Perkins wrote one of my favorite contemporary books last year, Anna and the French Kiss. The companion, Lola and the Boy Next Door, will be available September 29, 2011.

Amanda Hocking, the girl who carved a successful career out of self-publishing (because her books are great) has her first traditionally published novel, Switched, coming January 24, 2012.

Last but certainly not least, the perky and adorable Kiersten White’s Supernaturally, a followup to Paranormalcy, is available July 26, 2011.

Images courtesy of Penguin Books and Simon & Schuster.

 

Comic Con 2011: The Return of The Walking Dead

Zombies are on the rise. Audiences are interested, new novels are being written, a World War Z film adaptation is in the works, and even the CDC wants us to be prepared for the possibility of a zombie apocalypse. AMC’s The Walking Dead is ahead of the curve, and if you saw the first 6 episodes last fall you know they bring us great, horrifying zombies and touching, terrifying stories about what it might be like to survive in that post-apocalyptic world.

In case you hadn’t figured it out based on the fact they’re promoting the show at Comic Con, they have been picked up for 13 new episodes, which will air this fall. Are they scared now that they have been given more time and more money? “It’s a bit of pressure, you know, that everyone loves the show because there’s some expectation now…I can say that it’s just made everyone work harder…it’s empowered us to try harder, to cross more lines, to tell bigger stories,” is the answer.

The show is an adaptation of a series of graphic novels by the same name, though fans of the comics have criticized the show’s departure from its source material. The author of the comics, Robert Kirkman, is part of the writing team led by creator Frank Darabont, and made it clear in both the panel and the press room that he sees the show and the books as separate entities, more companions than adaptations. He “wants people who read the comic to be able to come to the show and be surprised, and vice versa.” He also likes the chance to go back and “change things he regrets writing.” The example he provided was wishing he hadn’t decided to cut of Rick’s hand, so maybe that turn of events won’t arise in the television show.

Robert gave a few hints as to what might be arriving from the comic books in Season 2, such as the entrance of two new characters, Hershel and Maggie.

It turns out they run a zombie school in Atlanta, which is pretty awesome, and they draw the “extras” from there. What are they looking for in a zombie, you might ask? Well, here’s what the creator of the show had to say about that. “…picked people who had a great asthetic for a zombie, then went to zombie school and graded everyone. There’s two kinds of people in this world, the person who had a hairbrush and sang in front of the mirror when they were little, and the person who practiced their zombie walk. So we have these guys who are so excited to show off their zombie walks for somebody, he’s been practicing since he saw Dawn of the Dead, and we’re talking original Dawn of the Dead. We tend to go for the more physically gaunt, because gaunt makes you think corpse-like, but also gives the makeup people more to work with because they can build out.”

The quote of the press room came from creator Frank Darabont, who claimed “there are days I wish there were a zombie apocalypse, because then I could stop working.”

We were treated to a trailer of clips from Season 2, and it got me all excited about new zombies, new relationship issues, and new problems to deal with. One of the most interesting comments from the press table came from Jon Bernthal, who plays Shane, when he said the “zombies are going to be the least of their problems. They’re kind of predictable, you can fight them. The humans aren’t, and they’re going to be far more dangerous.”

Interesting.

He, Andrew Lincoln, and Sarah Wayne Callies talked about the potential love triangle between the three of them, although from what little they were able to reveal about the upcoming season it sounds as though they’ve got bigger problems than a girl who slept with her husband’s brother when she thought she was widowed. Sarah was quick to remind us that her character Lori doesn’t see herself as an adulteress, but in this world where things are changing and they are each other’s only family and they’re fighting to survive, there just isn’t an opportune moment to confess such a thing to your spouse.

I agreed with her assessment of why Lori and Shane rolled in the hay in the middle of the apocalypse. For her, it wasn’t about sex or love. “They’re in this place surrounded by death, and they just wanted to do something that, at it’s basest, it about life, and living.”

The show walks a fine line between horror and drama, and most of the time it does that well. They might not have a lot of minutes to sit and reflect on what is happening and what it means to them, but when they do get those moments they make them count.

The Walking Dead will return to AMC in October, 2011.
Images courtesy of Trisha Leigh for Poptimal.com

Andrew Lincoln, Sarah Wayne Callies (left to right) Andrew Lincoln, Sarah Wayne Callies (left to right)	Sarah Wayne Callies, Jon Bernthal (left to right) Sarah Wayne Callies, Jon Bernthal (left to right)	The Walking Dead panel The Walking Dead panel
Sarah Wayne Callies, Andrew Lincoln, Greg Nicotero, make-up effects supervisor (left to right) Sarah Wayne Callies, Andrew Lincoln, Greg Nicotero, make-up effects supervisor (left to right)	Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Andrew Lincoln (left to right) Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Andrew Lincoln (left to right)	Laurie Holden, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies (left to right) Laurie Holden, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies (left to right)
Jeffrey DeMunn, Laurie Holden, Jon Bernthal (left to right) Jeffrey DeMunn, Laurie Holden, Jon Bernthal (left to right)	Steven Yeun, Jeffrey DeMunn, Laurie Holden (left to right) Steven Yeun, Jeffrey DeMunn, Laurie Holden (left to right)	Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun (left to right) Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun (left to right)
Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Jeffrey DeMunn (left to right) Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Jeffrey DeMunn (left to right)	Frank Darabont, executive producer and writer Frank Darabont, executive producer and writer

Comic Con 2011: 20th Century Fox Preview

20^th Century Fox reserved an hour in Hall H, the largest venue at the convention center, on Thursday afternoon. To be honest, I was about to leave and grab a drink, but the girl sitting next to me was kind enough to mention that I might want to stay.

See, 20^th Century didn’t announce who or what would be a part of their panel ahead of time. Boy, I wanted to kiss that girl full on the mouth after they treated us to quite an hour and previewed three highly anticipated films.

Damon Lindelof, the co-creator of Lost, came out to moderate the panel. That was a good surprise in itself.

The first film they let us peek at was the highly anticipated Prometheus, the brainchild of Alien director Ridley Scott, which marks a return to science fiction for the genre re-defining director. Ridley didn’t appear on stage, but star Charlize Theron joined Lindelof and they discussed her excitement over working with Ridley, about the uncomfortable nature of filming in Iceland, and a scene involving naked push-ups. We also saw an early trailer, with commentary from Ridley Scott, and from what they showed us it’s going to try its best to live up to expectations.

In a surprise move, Ridley Scott and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’s Noomi Rapace conferenced in via video.  They stood in front of a barren, frozen landscape, bundled up in coats and wiping runny noses. Ridley Scott talked about how the movie will reunite him with a genre he loves after 25 years, and hopefully scare the pants off people at the same time. He also talked about the film being shot in 3D, but without a lot of CG work. Ridley said, “I’ll never work without 3D again, even for small dialogue scenes…it opens up the universe.” There is a robot rumor about Prometheus, and Ridley confirms there “may be two” in the film. He believes they’ve “become part of the science fiction landscape, so the real challenge…is coming up with the unique notions that make something fresh.”

Noomi spoke primarily about her excitement over working with Ridley, declaring her “respect for the man has been sort of growing, every day, and I come home smiling. When I read the script I was thrilled…it felt like we were discovering something I haven’t been involved in before.”

As a film student, seeing Ridley Scott – even on a video screen – was pretty geek-tastic. I hope Prometheus pleases crowds when it’s released.

Next, Lindelof brought out writer/director Andrew Niccol (who also wrote Gattaca and The Truman Show – brilliant, both of them) and he gave a rundown on the concept behind In Time, his new dystopian future action flick. The premise is this: in his future, time has replaced money as the world’ currency. Each person lives until they are 25, then they have one final year. If you don’t figure out how to buy or steal more time, you die.

The film stars Olivia Wilde, Alex Pettyfer, Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, and the last two on that list  joined Lindelof on stage to talk about the experience of working together with Niccol on the film. Niccol describes In Time as an “action thriller” along the lines of Gattaca. “The world you’ll see is very familiar, but everyone is engineered to have a body clock, and the clock is good for no one, as we like to say in the movie, because the poor die and the rich don’t live.”

Justin Timberlake shouted excitement over his first Comic Con, then mentioned that he “was a huge fan of Gattaca and…I love the stories of everyday men put into extraordinary circumstances and hopefully doing extraordinary things, and that was how he sold me on this guy.”

Amanda said the action in the movie “never stops, and it can be painful…running for our lives in this movie because we never have enough time, and there’s a lot of guns, which we both really enjoyed. Sometimes we’d go shooting after work.”

I’d love to give you a pithy, cute, or poignant quote from Amanda Seyfriend, but she really just stood there looking pretty and smiling at Justin. Not that I blame her, but…

We watched several clips, enough to get a nice feel for the concept and characters, and as much as I’d like to love it (because the concept is very interesting) I’m going to reserve judgment at this time. As much as I love Justin Timberlake (and I do love Justin Timberlake) he’s going to have to convince me he can carry an action film on his shoulders. I want it to be good. I have hope.

The final film 20^th Century previewed at Comic Con was Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which will be directed by Rupert Wyatt, and I swear with all the clips they threw at us I feel like I’ve seen half the film. The concept, for those of you who live under rocks and haven’t been bombarded with the trailer, is that main character James Franco’s father (John Lithgow) has Alzheimers, and a chimp, Caesar (portrayed using performance capture by Andy Serkis) lives as part of their family. When he injures a human being while defending the ill Lithgow, Caesar is taken away and placed in an animal sanctuary that turns out to be a prison. Caesar gathers his fellow apes, chimps, gorillas, etc to fight back against the people who have mistreated them. The film also stars Tom Felton (Harry Potter’s Malfoy) and Frieda Pinto (Slumdog Millionare), but Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings’ Gollum) was the lone Comic Con representative.

Which, given the roles he’s played, seemed to be just fine with the audience in Hall H on Thursday.

Rupert Wyatt had this to say about his lead actor: “Andy Serkis is a phenomenal actor, first and foremost…it’s quite hard to push all the tecnhology to one side…has really embraced performance capture as an actor, as a performer.”

As for Andy, he is excited to bring “depth and humanity” to another non-human character. “Caesar is a huge emotional challenge because the relationship between he and James Franco…it requires a lot from an actor on a live action set to work with an actor in performance capture. But you forget about it immediately because performance capture is only another way of showing an actor’s performance, it’s a tool.”

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is set for an August 5, 2011 release, In Time should be released October 28, 2011, and you’ll have to wait until June 8, 2012 for Prometheus. All the films are courtesy of 20^th Century Fox.

Images courtesy of Trisha Leigh for poptimal.com

SDCC: Comedy Central’s Ugly Americans Press Room

Do you ever feel like everyone around you is just a monster or a zombie put on this earth to ruin your day? If so, you’re definitely not the only one and that’s what led the creative team behind Comedy Central’s Ugly Americans, a show which depicts aliens and monsters living amongst the people of New York City as no big deal. On Day Two of Comic-Con International in San Diego, I got the chance to sit down with the creative team and members of the voice cast to learn more about their inspiration behind the show and why they love making it.

In attendance at the Con this year was producer and creator Devin Clark, director of animation Aaron Augenblick, and voice artists Matt Oberg, Randy Pearlstein, and Kurt Metzger. The gang was on hand to promote the currently underway second season of the series as well as an Xbox and Playstation game based on the show that is being released next month.

Speaking on the creation of the series, producer and creator Clark said that the idea initially came from a series of shorts he was working on about monsters being interviewed on banal topics like the weather and current events. This eventually spawned the concept of creating a world where such creatures actually do live normal, day to day lives alongside humans who think nothing of the horror film mythos around them. Clark thought that the timing was perfect for a show like this now that the horror, sci-fi, and fantasy genres have become so prominent in popular culture and “we’re able to keep it fresh with seemingly never-ending stream of characters and references to throw into the mix.”

Director of Animation, Augenblick, got involved with the series from the ground-up with Clark and was inspired by 1950s horror comics for the show’s design. “I really wanted it to look like an old, dark, gritty, pulpy comic from the 50s and I think that really came through in a way that I’m proud of,” he said.

Together Augenblick and Clark design every character that appears on the series but sometimes significant changes are made after hearing the voice performance recorded. One such example came with the zombie character of Randall who was initially conceived as a typical, skinny, gaunt zombie but upon the casting of Kurt Metzger who provided the voice with a distinct Jersey largess, his appearance was changed in a big way….pun intended.

Metzger, a standup comedian by trade, joined the show with little interest or previous experience in acting but says he has enjoyed the challenge. When asked if there is anything about the show’s sometimes wild content that has shocked him, he mentioned a robot that once appeared who was full of sperm that was squirted out onto people. He says that it’s funny what the censors and advertisers choose to get offended by and object to letting on the air. Metzger insists that in many cases, the solution to these objections are worse than the thing they objected to. And while he wouldn’t give any specific instances, it kind of makes the mind wonder doesn’t it?

Matt Oberg, who voices the show’s lead – Mark, is excited to be a part of the series and thinks “its a great way to depict New York City where I’m from. Its a fun world to explore and I continue to be thrilled by it visually.” Randy Pearlstein who voices Leonard agrees with the enthusiasm for the show and bases that enthusiasm on his interest in some of the intense psychological issues that many of the characters suffer from. “That is what keeps it real and relatable.”

Pearlstein based the voice of Leonard on comedian Dick Capri who was a huge inspiration for him, but gets to vary his work by playing other roles such as Man Bird, Emo Robot, and the Great Brain. When asked if he gets to do much improvisation with his dialogue he said he doesn’t and is actually happy about it because “it will drive me crazy trying to make it perfect.” As a screenwriter (he wrote the horror flick Cabin Fever) he also has a lot of respect for what the author has put on the page and doesn’t believe in changing it arbitrarily.

Together the cast and creative team look forward to doing more seasons of the series and ask fans to keep coming back for more because in a world where New York is populated with monsters, they’ve got a whole lot of stories to tell!

Ugly Americans airs Thursday nights on Comedy Central at 10:30/9:30 Central.

Images courtesy of Comedy Central.

Comic Con 2011: FilmDistrict talks Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark and Drive

Film District arrived at Comic Con with an army of filmmakers dedicated to brining quality movies to screens, even if they have to cut through the Hollywood red tape to get it done. The Comic Con audience was treated to extended previews for two upcoming films, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, written and produced by Guillermo Del Toro, and starring Katie Holmes and Guy Pearce, and Drive, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Carey Mulligan and Ryan Gosling.

Del Toro and Refn stole the show on the panel, spouting curse words, comparing directing movies to sex, and relaying hilarious stories from the sets and meetings with their casts.  They were joined on the panel by Guy Pearce, Carey Mulligan, and Ron Pearlman.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is the newest scary movie offering from the director of Pan’s Labrynth, and if the trailer is representative of the film as a whole, he’s not going to disappoint us this time around. We saw a montage trailer type clip of Katie Holmes’ daughter being terrorized by whispers coming from the walls of their house.

It reminds me a little of a Dean Koontz novel I read once. I didn’t sleep for a week.

Del Toro made the comment that the creatures were one of the things he fought for, because others thought they needed to be bigger to be scarier. Del Toro maintained “little BLEEPers, I fought with the studio over making them bigger, but I think the fact that they’re small…that they could be hiding behind the dresser or really anywhere…makes them scarier.”

After watching the trailer, I couldn’t agree more.

It is rated R, though they originally tried to go for a PG-13 rating. When Del Toro asked what he would have to change to get the lower MPAA, the rep replied, “pretty much all of it.” Del Toro admitted that when he watched the film back he realized they were right, and that several of the scenes were very intense. That said, “if it’s R, it’s R. BLEEP it.”

Classic.

I wish I could include my audio of the entire interview, because you would pee your pants with laughter, but I’m pretty sure this site has a PG-13 rating.

The movie looks as though it’s going to be creepy, and frightening, and along the lines of the previously delivered horror films from Del Toro. In other words, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Drive is a story about a man who drives stunt vehicles for a living. He falls in love with a woman whose husband is in prison. I’m not clear on the details from there, but something related to her incarcerated husband puts her and her daughter in danger, and Ryan Gosling’s character in the role of protector. This film isn’t going to pull any punches, based on a very sexy, very violent, very graphic preview scene that had the entire audience covering their eyes and gasping in disbelief. Let’s just say it involved Ryan’s boot and a dude’s face that wasn’t a face for too long.

Ick city.

Nicolas Winding Refn, the mind behind Valhalla Rising, kept up with Del Toro’s antics and added some of his own. He compared directing a film that was well casted to sex, because “even when it’s bad it’s still good” and came up with a great quote about what directing is – “inspiring everyone else to do their best and then putting your name on it.”

He told an amazingly hilarious story about how he came to the film, which Ryan Gosling found and wanted to do before going after Nicolas Winding Refn to direct. Apparently Refn agreed to meet with Gosling but arrived hopped up on cold medicine and nearly blew his shot at the job. What saved him was singing an enthusiastic rendition of  Can’t Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon; the pop ballad gave him a burst of inspiration that allowed he and Gosling to connect over the heart and soul of the movie.

I promise it’s a funny story, just not the way I told it. Again, I have the audio but it’s the opposite of clean content.

As for Carey Mulligan, she stayed pretty quiet throughout the panel but honestly, I don’t know how she would have gotten a word in. If she had, it would have been anticlimactic after everything the men had said up to that point. She did claim that she chose to be part of the film because she “wanted to work with nicolas Winding Refn, not because of the plot or the character.”

“My job in this film was to fall in love with Ryan Gosling…rough, right? He’s great, he’s so sweet…everyone loved him.”

I, for one, would have loved him a lot more if he’d, you know, showed up for Comic Con. I forgive you, Ryan. Just this once.

Drive wowed audiences on the film festival circuit and comes to theatres September 16, 2011.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark premieres August 26, 2011.

 

Comic Con 2011: Torchwood Miracle Day

With the way the last season ended some Torchwood fans were worried that there wasn’t going to be another one.  But fret not Captain Jack fans! Torchwood is back with Miracle Day. At a press room at Comic Con they weren’t allowed to reveal may spoilers but I was able to find out when this season hot sex scene will take place (Episode 5).

John Barrowman IS Captain Jack Harkness. Charming isn’t a powerful enough word for this guy. But during Miracle Day you might find his bravado lacking. In a world where nobody can die and Jack finds himself mortal for the first time. During the first few episodes Jack is not his gregarious self. John says it won’t last long. “Pretty soon all hell’s going to brake loose. And the only reason he’s a little subdued is that he can die and it’s frightened him. He’s been immortal for all this time and now he finds himself mortal… and later on you find out how he really feels about it. And he decides what he wants to be.”

During Miracle Day the audience finds out more about their favorite characters and maybe who their true loves could be. John teases what we can expect: “We learn about Jack and Gwen’s relationship and it’s not what you think. And you delve into Jack’s past and you get this beautiful romance between two men. And it’s great that it’s portrayed on television and I’m really proud of that. As a young man growing up I would have loved to see that on television knowing I can have that kind of romance. Like, what I was told we’re not supposed to have. And we show it in a very wonderful beautiful way. And we have sex. It’s a hot sex scene. It’s not humpty-bumpy. It’s very passionate.”

Is this ‘the one” for Captain Jack? ” You know if we have more seasons he can move on to someone else. But I don’t think he will ever have “the one.”  The problem is they all die and he doesn’t.”

The British Torchwood team comes to America and Mekhi Phifeer plays a no nonsense CIA agent who is mortally wounded very early on in the show. Meki says that his character has to eventually face a tough reality. ” It comes down to me realizing if I solve this problem, will I die? And once I realize the sacrafie I have to face I start making interesting decitions and changes. I can’t say too much.”

Mekhi also lets on if the show addresses what happens to a world if nobody can die? “There are all these problems with food and water and medical supplies and what happens to these things if people stop dieing. All of this is addressed in the show.” Mekhi had a good time filming in Great Britain, but there was one issue he did not like. “It was so cold. It’s a great place and wonderful people but it was too cold there while we were shooting.”

This was actress Eve Myles‘ first time in America and she wanted to soak up the California sun. “It was just so nice. And I was just waiting for a ride one day after a meeting and I was just sitting on a bus stop and just looking around and enjoying every minute of it.” Her character Gwen is now a mother and she says that her motivation for saving the world has changed. ” She’s a mum. That’s why she does it, that’s why she’s trying all she can to save the world be cause she has to protect her child.” But Eve also says that Gwen also just likes the action. “When she’s fighting and shooting she’s in her element. She doesn’t think about it, it’s her drug.”

Torchwood also introduces the viscous Oswald Danes played by Independence Day POTUS Bill Pullman who in researching for the part found inspiration for his villain from old research books.”I was reading these theories from the forties where they argue that there is evil in all of us. Oswald just embraces it. I think film noir was like that and I think this show is like that too. I’m just another side of John’s character, and we understand each other.”   Bill doesn’t let on much about what is going to happen to Oswald this season, not even when he’s on camera shooting a scene. ” I like to just step aside  and do the scene clean. I like to just do a scene and…let’sjust see what happens. I don’t like to project too much, and make it about fate.” Bill Pullman is crazy deep.

I wanted to know if we were going to see Bill in more TV shows now that he has done Torchwood. “It was such a good experience working on the show I am worried I will be dead meat now. Because I will then do another show and it will be a crappy experience. Overall I don’t like TV I don’t watch it a lot. And I don’t like the structure. Everything is explained in TV shows. I like it when everything isn’t shown or said. Sometimes the story is about what I don’t see what isn’t said.”

Catch the next episode of Torchwood on July 29, 2011 on Starz.

For more Comic-Con coverage, click here.

Images courtesy of poptimal.com and Starz

John Barrowman, "Torchwood: Miracle Day" John Barrowman, "Torchwood: Miracle Day"	Mekhi Phifer Mekhi Phifer	Eve Myles Eve Myles
Mekhi Phifer Mekhi Phifer	Alexa Havins Alexa Havins	John Barrowman John Barrowman
Jane Espenson, Writer Jane Espenson, Writer	Alexa Havins Alexa Havins	Mekhi Phifer Mekhi Phifer

Comic Con 2011: Penn & Teller Tell A Lie

After delving for eight years and sorting through all the BullSh*t Penn and Teller are coming back to TV with Tell A Lie. Confused? Well don’t be. It’s exactly what you heard: Penn and Teller have a new show airing on the Discovery Channel, Penn & Teller Tell A Lie. In their new series, the two master illusionists and BS callers test the potency of their audience’s BS meters with a show built entirely around discovering which of the stories featured on the show is a complete and utter lie. On a San Diego Comic Con Panel to promote their show, Penn and Teller asks their fans to call them on their bull.
For example can a wrecking ball be stopped by a wallpaper? Can the human hair hold in midair a midsized car? How about this one, can Teller survive after being thrown in a pool of piranhas? Okay, the last one is quite obvious when I tell you that Teller was indeed at the panel on Thursday night and in good spirits as it were. So when you see that one air, it should be ringing loud and clear but you get the point. In their new show, Penn and Teller are going to present the audience with a number of different scenarios, one of which is a lie. Going onto their show’s website on the Discovery Channel (or as Penn calls it, the Disco Channel) fans vote for which story they think is false. That last part is basically to show you how many other fans are tricked into believing complete and utter nonsense, just as you presumably will be.

In spite of the profanity laced panel, Penn and Teller assure us that their new series will be rated G when it airs this October. But until then, let me tell you about why cursing turns out to be good for you. In one of their early shows Penn and Teller do an experiment which tests people’s reaction to pain when they are allowed to curse versus when they focus on keeping it PG. Surprisingly, or maybe not so much, when the test subjects were allowed to express themselves through, to borrow a phrase from Spongebob, “sentence enhancers,” they were able to withstand the stimulus of pain for much longer. So, next time you’re caught dropping the f-bomb at Thanksgiving dinner, just tell Granny Tate you were taking a pain reliever. Or maybe you should just not curse at the family dinner. Whatever works.

Much of the panel was spent looking back on the duo’s time spent on Bullsh*t, and the two revealed that the series was left incomplete as the two jumped aboard to their new show. Looking back on the series, Penn and Teller tell about how over the course of filming their opinions about what was Bull- softened as they dug deeper into some subjects. For example, on the topics of religion and second hand smoke, the two revealed that by the end of the show their strong stand on the topics on the BS list were decidedly wishy-washy. Penn revealed that although he’s unwilling to say that his stance has completely changed, he is decidedly more lenient on these topics.

“Bullsh*t of Bullsh*t” was the planned but untaped final episode of the series in which the two hosts would look back over the series and point out the many mistakes and inconsistencies in them. The final point being, ‘what the hell do we know.’ Penn and Teller are the first to acknowledge their lack of training and expertise in these subjects, and in a perfect cap to the series they planned to finally call an end to their own BS which was BS. I have to admit, I love the thought of this episode and I still hope that they go back and do it but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

Along with Tell a Lie, Penn and Teller are working on a new series to premiere in the UK titled Fool Us, in which aspiring magicians show an act in front of the magical mythbusters and if Penn and Teller can’t guess how the trick was done the talented magician will be flown out to Las Vegas to open for Penn and Teller. Speaking of the series, Penn and Teller tell us that their favorite part of the show is when they can’t guess the trick. Calling back to childhood admiration of magic and wonder, Penn and Teller say that they have become somewhat disillusioned by magic and that it is a joy for them when an artist completely manages to stump them. Penn and Teller hope to bring this show to the US soon, but until then you can check out the new G rated Penn and Teller when Penn & Teller Tell A Lie airs this October on Discovery Channel.

Comic-Con 2011: Game of Thrones Panel

Game of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin graced San Diego Comic-Con attendees Friday afternoon with his presence as he moderated the much anticipated HBO series panel of the same name. Ballroom 20 was already jam packed with fans and another seven thousand were waiting eagerly to get inside. It was definitely the panel with the second most fans today, the first being Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn of course.

Making their appearances were showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and actors Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kit Harrington, Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Jason Momoa, and Emilia Clarke. Fans were thrilled to see their beloved characters in person from the roaring applause that they received.

Martin began by asking Benioff and Weiss how they got into the series and how they got involved in the madness. Benioff responded saying that six years ago, he got the first few books and it was like crack on paper. He couldn’t stop reading.

The actors proceeded to answer questions on how the show has changed their lives and Headey in particular talked about how people have come up to her saying “I hate you.” Still she loves to play Cersei Lannister because she views her as a very confused and misunderstood character, who imagined life to go quite another way than it has.

Momoa, who is also playing Conan in the new Conan The Barbarian movie added that in a fight, Khal Drogo would kick Conan’s ass. He shared how after finishing working on that film, he wanted to show how bad ass his character on the series was. The result was an intense scene where Momoa rips out a man’s tongue bare handed. He goes on to talk about how as he was reading the books and loving the series, the moment he came on upon Drogo dying, he went to the nearest Barnes and Noble and had to look for Drogo in the next book.

Benioff and Weiss talk about finding Momoa through a fan message board. Someone had suggested the actor and the showrunners felt that he was Drogo-y and had him come in to read for the part. Momoa blew them away at his audition as he broke into an impromptu dance. This audition may be in the upcoming Game of Thrones season one DVD and Blu-Ray. Other goodies fans can look forward to are artwork from storyboard artist William Simpson, first auditions from the cast members, and a lot of other supplemental materials.

For season two, audiences can expect a whole new set of great characters like the red priestess Melisandre. We also get to see those dragons and wolves grow up, as well as see the bad things lurking north of the wall.

The showrunners felt that one pivotal scene they are looking forward to is a scene they are calling RW. Readers of the books know what this mysterious RW is, but for us purely TV viewers, we’ll just have to wait to find out.

Lastly given the question how the actors end the series if they could chose, Dinklage had the best response, “Dance number.”

Comic Con 2011: Shameless Takes Hold

Shameless has come to Comic-Con. And before your head goes pulling up wild and crazy images of Geeks Gone Wild, which if it’s half as uncomfortable as it sounds will send me right back on that plane to…well, no I think I could deal with it, there’s something about pocket protectors and cowboy boots which doesn’t tell me no, but never mind. I digress. Showtime’s television series has come to Comic-Con, with series writer John Wells as well as lead stars William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum, and Justin Chatwin. The three sat down in a Q&A with press to discuss the return of the second season of their wild and raunchy series. Topics of interest in the day include the changing relationship of the cast, what’s coming up in the second season, as well as what everyone loves about William H. Macy.

Shameless stars Macy as Frank Gallagher, the drunken reprobate father of six wild and undisciplined kids. With no job, a love of partying that eclipses everything including his children, Shameless tells the story of how Frank’s family manage to make do with the little support they have. Held together by eldest daughter Fiona Gallagher, who struggles to hold the family together as well as deal with her own troubled and crumbling love life, Shameless is part comedy, part drama, all the way ribald. The second season of Shameless picks up we are told with Frank’s relationship issues, Steve’s disappearance, and Fiona’s struggle to find herself. After Steve takes off and leaves town, Fiona makes an effort to rediscover herself. Continuing in that theme Frank’s relationship is tested when his agoraphobic girlfriend makes the first steps toward walking into the outside world once again, causing new difficulties for Frank.

When asked about his troubling task of making his character Frank sympathetic to the audience Macy tells us that it’s simple: he doesn’t even try. Frank’s a scoundrel, a drunk, and when it all comes down to it an unavailable (read very present but completely unhelpful) father. And while it’s true that the family would be better off without him, there’s just something about him that works. Describing Frank as a hard working good hearted guy, (those two don’t actually work together as the only thing Frank works hard at is trying to figure out another scam to get him by) Macy says that Frank’s heart is generally in the right place.

When speaking about how the cast relationship has changed over the past two seasons Rossum, who plays Fiona Gallagher, thanks the production staff for locking them all in a room together this past season. That was clearly a joke…I think. But seriously, Rossum says the cast and crew are mostly to thank for their easy working relationship, because somehow they manage to choose a great group of people who at the end of the day love working together. Also, Chatwin (who plays Fiona’s love interest Steve on the show) says that the group has become very comfortable with each other thanks in part to Rossum’s weekly game night. This last bit of news appeared to come as a shock to Macy who it seems has not been invited to the party. Rossum says it’s because he has a family, and wife and all that, but still an invitation would have been nice.

But non-invitations aside, it turns out that both Rossum and Chatwin love working with Macy. In fact, when recounting the very first scene that he had with him Chatwin tells us that it was Macy’s coaching of Chatwin to be harder with him that led to making Chatwin comfortable to work with Macy onset. For her part Rossum adds that she just loves that Macy is a wonderful husband and father, unlike that of his character Frank. Not to be outdone, Macy begins to tell us his favorite thing about himself, but unfortunately modesty got the best of him for the moment making that one a mystery. But trust me when I say, we know it Mr. Macy, we know…

Be sure to watch Shameless as it premieres on Showtime.

SDCC: Showtime Panel Featuring Dexter, Shameless, and Homeland

The parade of popular television shows greeting fans on day one of Comic-Con International continued with a panel from the Showtime network that brought out the cast and crew of two established hits (Shameless and Dexter) along with a series set to premiere in the fall, Homeland.

Up first was Shameless which brought out cast members William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum, and Justin Chatwin with executive producer John Wells, who is most widely known for his work on The West Wing. Some fans may have been a little surprised to see Chatwin take the stage since his character apparently ditched town at the end of the first season finale, but his participation in the panel confirmed his return for the series’ second season. When asked about his pending return though, executive producer Wells noted that the road will be difficult for Chatwin and Rossum’s characters as they continue to search for love in their somewhat sordid lives.

Another character set to return for the second season is Sheila Jackson portrayed by Joan Cusack, but those looking for more hints about what the show will bring in the future were left with little to nibble on. Wells did conceded that a large part of season two (which is filming now) will focus on Rossum’s character seeking out her own needs and desires now that her siblings are getting a little older and more able to take care of themselves.

There was certainly no sign of the cast growing tired of the characters and their antics though with Macy stating that this is his favorite job ever – even if it means getting his head peed on as it did in the season one finale. Pushing the content envelope will remain a priority for them and even though most of season one was based on the original British series, Wells insists that they will now be charting their own course and taking things in exciting new directions.

And naturally they ended with a plea to those who haven’t seen the show yet to catch up when Season One hits DVD on August 1. This will hopefully give them more than enough time to get up to speed before Season Two debuts in early 2012.

Next, panel attendees were treated to an extended trailer for the network’s newest series, Homeland, which stars Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin, Damien Lewis, and Morena Baccarin (who was on hand with producer Howard Gordon to discuss the series and field questions from future fans). The footage shown promised a taught and tense drama that will follow a U.S. solider (Lewis) who returns home after being held prisoner of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. What could be heartwarming though, gets ratcheted up when his loyalty is questioned by a CIA agent (Danes) as the fictional storyline plays out in the very real world of terrorism and espionage that we live in today. The series premieres on Showtime on October 2 right after Dexter.

And that leads us perfectly to the third and final entry of the Showtime panel with Dexter, which clearly has major fan loyalty judging by the amount of cheers and applause sustained from convention-goers. The series also managed to muster the largest panel I’d seen all day with no less than eight participants including two producers and six cast members including Michael C. Hall, David Zayas, James Remar, C.S. Lee (not C.S. Lewis as one fan called him during the Q&A), and new recruits Colin Hanks and Mos Def.

Def actually didn’t appear until much later in the panel when he surprised everyone during the Q&A session by feebly approaching the microphone in the audience with a question for the cast. Those hoping for any hints regarding his or Hanks’ roles were sorely disappointed though as absolutely nothing escaped their secretive lips about who they’ll play and what their addition to the cast will mean for Dexter Morgan and company.

Rabid fans were treated, though, to a debut trailer for the show’s upcoming sixth season which promises to be VERY dark based on the footage seen in the trailer. Not only do we see Dexter taking out some victims with his hammer, but there are also numerous shots of scary snakes and Colin Hanks looking evil all set to a creepy version of Depeche Mode’s classic song ‘Personal Jesus.’ This clip may actually have created more questions than answers to people’s queries so this will certainly keep them occupied until the show returns on October 2.

When it came to information directly from the cast we learned that a major focus of the new season will be on Dexter trying to decide what he does and doesn’t want to pass onto his young son. He’ll also be dealing with being single again and what that means for his psyche. But by far my favorite piece of information from the panel came from a question in the audience when someone asked if the show would return to material and characters found in the original books that the series is based on. The answer (which was surprisingly blunt) was that they don’t read the books. Period.

In their defense though, they admitted that they have taken the original characters on new and different paths from the books, so it wouldn’t really work to try to force those storylines back into it. This will likely rub some fans the wrong way but I think we can assume that most will remain crazy about it and won’t be going anywhere fast. In fact, I think its safe to say we’ll be seeing Dexter at future Comic-Cons for years to come and I won’t be surprised to see Shameless and Homeland tagging right along with them. Showtime is building a very strong base of programming and only time will tell how far their success will grow.

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