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HANGING AT THE CON

by
in Filmmaking
on Feb 24, 2007

The second annual New York Comic Con seems like the last place Filmmaker would be at but yesterday I was at the Javits Center to see new footage of Eli Roth’s sure-to-be gore fest Hostel: Part II and got a look into fan boy paradise.

Showing up a little early to get my badge, I walked around the trade show which is split up in designated areas for comic giants like DC Comics and Marvel, turn a corner and you can try your hands at some of the newest video games, and a little farther down are racks of memorabilia as far as the eye can see. Taking one lap of the venue is exhausting as my eyes try to keep up with everything coming at me. I see three Spider-Mans in the span of twenty footsteps, Batman is trying to get a picture with Princess Leia who’s wearing her slave outfit from Return of the Jedi, I run into a few other comic book characters but my limited geek knowledge causes me to not be as excited as some others around me.

Working my way to the conference hall where the panels take place I run into a heard of Star Wars characters and must pause to take in the sight. Vader, Boba Fett, Storm Troopers, Obie Wan, Anakin, they’re all there in their glory pausing for the handful of fans who want photographs. Finally in the conference hall I get the biggest treat of all, the ultimate fan boy, Kevin Smith, is at the podium. Now I’ve heard of his college speaking tours, but seeing his skills live is indescribable. Nothing is sacred.
“What do you think of Reese and Ryan’s break up?”
“Yeah, Ryan’s gay.”
“Do you think I can get in your next movie?”
“I’ve already got one fat bearded guy in my movies.”
“You’ve been starring in a lot of movies lately…”
“That’s Hollywood trying to tell me to stop directing movies.”

After close to two hours, where Smith answers every single question, he gives up the podium for Roth and actors Heather Matarazzo and Roger Bart. Without giving away too much, all I can say is fans of Hostel will not be disappointed in the sequel (opens June 8) as the clip he showed, and how he describes it, sounds more sick and twisted than the first movie.

As I leave I turn around one last time to take in The Con. We had some laughs but it’s time to head back into that cold real world.

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