I didn’t see this one coming. Been reading about it for a while and I always thought it was going to be a PG-13 “Big Daddy”-type ripoff. Turns out it’s hilarious! Should’ve known…Paul Rudd is awesome.

To all the haters out there, note the first review of Beverly Hills Chihuahua, straight from an online reviewer that should’ve hated it:

“Beverly Hills Chihuahua most certainly does not suck. And I will be taking my little girl to see it as soon as it’s on general release. It’s a breezy, funny, colorful and very good-natured comic adventure that youngsters are going to love, and that parents are going to enjoy despite their preconceptions. What’s truly surprising is that the trailers contain virtually nothing that’s actually in the movie – which is simultaneously a monstrous undertaking in untruth-in-advertising and a remarkable case of branding savvy. The previews issued by Disney were indelible, if for all the wrong reasons, and got tongues and tails wagging. A series of scenes featuring the live-action doggies and their CG mouths opposite the likes of Piper Perabo and Jamie Lee Curtis would’ve led to little but shrugs and yawns.”

Also note the praise for the genius marketing behind it. 

You’re going to see it…that’s all I’m saying…

; )

I’m a little ashamed to admit this, but I sorta got goosbumps after watching this teaser. It’s not Gone with the Wind, but it probably has one of the best taglines in recent memory: “New Model. Original Parts.” Bad….ass.

Oh boy.  Just got back from Comic Con down in San Diego, and I thought I’d share some of the best panels and presentations with you.  Imagine 150,000 people dressed as Spider-man and Darth Vader, all trying to see the same studio presentations in a room that holds 6,500 people and you’ll understand how insane this place was.  The fact that you can’t see the end of this hall in the photo below demonstrates the enormity of the convention. 

First, a few highlights from the fabulous con attendees…

When the entire family gets into it, Dad doesn’t stand out as a nerd.

This guy woke up at 6am to apply his Darth Maul makeup.  You laugh, but he got soooo many numbers from this gettup.

When there’s something strange…at Comic Con…who you gonna call?  Your mom, to pick you up in her minivan!….And if you’re wondering, yes, those two Ghostbusters in the middle DID makeout just after the photo was taken.

Holy Lego Batman and Robin, Batman!

 CLICK BELOW FOR ADDITIONAL COVERAGE OF THE STUDIO PANELS!

I went to all the major studio panels, but only have photos from a select few.  The highlights for me were definitely Watchmen, X-men Origins:  Wolverine, Terminator: Salvation & TR2N!  This shot of the room shows you how much nerd was packed into this hall.

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL

The first of the major panels, the day began with Keanu racing out on stage to an explosion of applause…Whoa…They showed some footage from the sci-fi remake to a farily warm reception.  Jennifer Conneley attended as well.  Soooo hot…

X-MEN ORIGINS:  WOLVERINE

At the end of the Fox panel, girls went nuts when Hugh Jackman ran out to surprise everyone with some surprise footage from Wolverine.  It was pretty badass…especially the last interaction between Wolverine and Sabertooth (played by Liev Schreiber): 

Sabertooth:  “How are you gonna kill me now?”
Wolverine:  “I’m gonna cut your goddamn head off!”

Ooh, dark X-men…I love it!

LOST

After catching the last couple minutes of the Heroes panel (I guess they screened the whole first ep of the next season) I sat through the panel for my favorite show, Lost.  Since they didn’t have anything of substance to show from the new season, the panel consisted primarily of some hilarious Q&A with creators Damon Lindeloff and Carlton Cuse.  They brought out an entire box full of prizes for those asking questions–very specific prizes for each type of question.  For example, for questions about the dog…a polar bear stuffed animal;  for questions about the boat people…a life jacket signed by the writers; for a random question about Richard Alpert (the guy who doesn’t seem to age)…a t-shirt that says “I asked a question about Richard Alpert and all I got was this lousy t-shirt;” and for THIS guy…

…a jar of “Dharma” mayonaisse!  He enjoyed the Hurley nod very much…

At many of the panels was a funny dude doing a schtick for some website.  He never broke character and always seemed to be on.  Here’s his question from the Lost panel:

Note that he showed up hours later at the Pineapple Express panel with the Dharma beer he’d received…empty.

They also did a funny bit with actors pretending to be part of the real “Dharma Initiative.”  At a booth on the convention floor, attendees could schedule an appointment with a hot Australian girl working for Dharma.  Apparently you’d then go into a booth and answer a series of random questions.  Not knowing what this was being used for, the people were surprised when the “leader” of Dharma played a reel of his “test subjects.” 

Then one of the alleged test subjects from the video ran out on stage screaming, saying he’d uncovered some secret footage.  He waved his videocamera around and was dragged off stage, but not before he played the footage.  It was a little drawn out, but it basically showed him runing through the convention floor and into the booth, where another secret Dharma video (w/ the Asian scientist guy) played.

UP 

 Disney had some great panels for Race to Witch Mountain, Bolt & Up.  They also showed the first footage ever from the rumored sequel to TRON.  It was probably one of the coolest things at the con this year.  Wish I had some video to prove it, but I do have pics of a cool stunt they pulled at 5 hotels around the city for UP, the next Pixar movie.

Watchmen

The Watchmen panel was probably one of the most anticipated, considering it’s based on the most acclaimed graphic novel in history.  The footage they showed was pretty great, but the real treat was seeing the “Owl Ship” up close and personal on the floor…

 
A couple new photos from the panel…

Twilight

By far the LOUDEST panel of the con was Twilight.  It’s based on a hugely popular “sexy vampires meet Harry Potter” series of books, which have a huge young female fanbase.  I think every one of those fans came out for this.  Girls were camped out at 4pm the previous day for the 11am panel.  Once the panel started, it was pretty much non-stop screaming the whole way through.  I can’t say I really knew much of the cast (except the kid who died in Goblet of Fire).

I’m not sure if the dude was drunk or stoned, or just surprised to be met by 6,000 screaming girls…either way, he was retarded.

Pineapple Express

This movie is opening in a just a week, so it was a little unnecessary to be here, but the panel was actually one of the funniest of the con.  Judd Apatow moderated a Q&A with the entire cast and–even though there were probably some kids in the audience–it was exceptionally filthy.  Good stuff.

All in all, it was a great Con this year, but I’m glad to be back home.

What happens when you combine Star Wars and Rush Hour?…

I’m a bit surprised this is online in such high quality, but it’s great, so I’m glad.  If you’ve seen WALL-E, you’ve seen this amazing short from the guys up at Pixar.  It’s incredible what they can do in 5-minutes. 

If you head out to the theatres to see WALL-E this weekend, you’ll get to see a hilarious Pixar short called “Presto,” as well as the brand new trailer for the next movie from Disney Animation Studios, Bolt.  It stars John Travolta & Miley Cyrus, and is going to be one of the funniest films–animated or otherwise–to come from the studio in a long time.  Rhino the Hamster is going to be classic!

The reviews are pouring in and WALL-E is on its way to becoming the best-reviewed film of the year.  With 52 reviews in so far (now 91), it’s at an incredible 98%…just shy of perfect due to one contrarian reviewer in Phoenix (the same guy who made sure his negative review of Ratatouille was the first posted on RT…oh, and he gave The Happening 3 stars).  Check out a sampling of some of the praise below:

 Dangerously close to the sublime, a film that will be dissected and enjoyed for years to come.

 A jewel of a film in conception, execution and message.

 Some day, there will be college courses devoted to this movie.

 One of the best movies of the year. Just so beautifully done.

 It is one of the best movies ever made. 

And a final piece of video to whet your appetite.  It’s a very raw BTS piece that provides a great look at how Andrew Stanton created his masterpiece, WALL-E:

One of the most moving scenes in recent film history…

If my gushing (and well written, if I do say so myself) WALL-E review found below wasn’t enough to get you out to the theatre on opening weekend, perhaps this new mini-trailer will do the trick.  Believe me when I say, WALL-E is up there with the great Pixar films, including Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, etc.  Seriously…