I started the day by grabbing some brain food in Café Diem. Nope, I haven't overloaded my brain with 'Eureka' and slipped into a delusional trance, there's actually a Café Diem here in San Diego (or at least there is for the duration of the 'Con thanks to the Sci Fi Channel's American cousin/sibling/alternate self Syfy). It's a Eureka themed restaurant complete with appropriately named dishes and I was served by two very lovely chaps, one of whom had the most fabulous facial hair I've ever seen.
Camp-i-con
There was a 'Twilight' panel in Hall H (the biggest room where all the most famous panels are held) today and didn't we know it! The queue for the place was immense - people had literally been camping out overnight to save their spots in line - and I reckon my only chance of getting into that room would have been if I'd found a Robert Pattinson lookalike and thrown him to the baying crowds. Damn you, sparkly vampire people, and damn all your silly tents as well (though I respect your dedication)!
Luckily, however, Comic-Con isn't really about the massive events - anything shown in those panels will inevitably be aired at some point soon so you'll see it anyway. No, what Comic-Con is great for is the stuff you wouldn't be able to see anywhere else - the independent stores full of weird stuff, the fans in incredible costumes and the smaller panels where the people involved really speak their minds (and are up for grabbing a drink with you afterwards). I know you lot, though - you want the big goss, right? Ok, here it be:
Silly glasses: the next generation
We've all heard the rumours but today a room full of lucky fans got to test out the fledgling 3D technology for themselves as specs were donned and all manner of awesome was seen. Apparently the technology's not quite there yet but from the audience's reactions it's definitely a step in the right direction. The biggest buzz obviously surrounded the screening of 25 minutes of footage from 'Avatar' which, until now, had been kept fairly tightly under wraps. Fox apparently invested over $200million in the movie and that, coupled with James Cameron's heavy involvement with this next generation of 3D technology meant that expectations were very high with some predicting that this revolutionary development will one day be likened to the introduction of the talkies. A tad over the top perhaps but everyone seems to agree that it was superb, unusual and definitely an experience not to be missed.
Depp in 3D (but just one D in Depp)
Among the other 3D delights were a teaser trailer for Tim Burton's upcoming 'Alice in Wonderland' featuring Burton favourites Johnny Depp (as the Mad Hatter) and Helena Bonham Carter (as the Red Queen) and Burton confessed that Stephen Fry's performance as the Cheshire Cat was so creepy that it "confirmed [his] hatred of cats." The big surprise, however, came when Johnny Depp made a surprise (though silent) appearance on stage - unsurprisingly, however, the oestrogen and noise levels in the room instantly went through the roof.
Keeping on the Depp theme I talked to a Capt. Sparrow lookalike today who resolutely stayed in character throughout the interview (I LOVE it when the dresser-uppers do that). Apparently his job is "pirate by day, rum drinker by night" and if he could have any superpower he'd want "the ability to make more rum." I'm sensing a theme here...
The best things in life are free (but my new Hulk t-shirt rocks too)
I spent a lot of today wandering around the Exhibition Hall interviewing my fellow fans, gawping at the incredible costumes and checking out the booths. I picked up a couple of very cool tops and jeans patches but stopped before I got too carried away which I thought was remarkably restrained of me! I could spend SO much money in this place. Everywhere you turn there's a new pretty shiny thing that would instantly double your geek points. Luckily enough the one thing Comic-Con definitely has in abundance (apart from queues) is free stuff and by the end of the day my bag was so stuffed with free t-shirts, flyers and postcards that my back was in danger of giving out!
I also dropped by the x-sanguine booth where I met the organiser Kevin for the first time after weeks of zombie-related email communication. He particularly liked the behind the scenes clip on my website where I'm zombied up with live maggots on my face (ok, maybe 'liked' is the wrong word but I definitely got respect) and he was kind enough to give me three VIP tickets to Saturday night's big zombie party in exchange for recording his outgoing phone message. I should get paid for all of my voiceover work like this!
Horror and arm-wrestling
In other news, we were treated to a preview of the new Star Wars game 'The Old Republic' which looked very interesting indeed (Matrix-style fight scenes + lightsabres = win!) and during a filmed interview I somehow managed to provoke an arm-wrestling match between myself and 'Schrödinger's Girl' director Huw who, bizarrely, claims that I let him win. I do not refute this, partly because I wouldn't dare defy him but mostly because lying is naughty and wrong.
Once we'd got the feeling back in our biceps we finished the day by checking out a fantastic documentary called 'Every Day is Halloween' which stars American horror hosts Count Gore De Vol and Karlos Borloff, who I'd met earlier in the day. Despite their fearsome appearances these guys are the nicest people you'll probably ever meet and have a passion for what they do that instantly made me want to run out and make more movies.
The documentary charts the rise and fall of the Count as a local TV station horror host, and how he rose again in typically vampyric fashion thanks to the wonders of the internets. Not having a tradition of horror movie hosts in the UK this was something of an eye-opener for me, but it managed to somehow make me nostalgic for an era I was barely alive during and the very natural style of irreverent humour is something very special indeed. I really wish that more studios would man up and commission 'risky' stuff like this but until that day comes it's indie all the way, baby!
Karlos seemed quite adamant that I'd make the perfect English Elvira-style horror host, sparking a little project which I'll tell you more about at a later date, but until then the Count is keen to show both 'Blood Actually' and Huw's vampire-themed 'Ministry of Secrets' short as part of his short film show.
After that there was just enough time to pop into the local Irish bar that's become our regular evening haunt, where the sound of another English accent led to us chatting to a lovely chap named James from Forbidden Planet in Southampton. Hearing another Brit did make me pine for home a little but it's difficult to be too sad when tomorrow I'm back at the 'Con sampling a million new flavours of wow. Look at all the loot I've gathered so far, and it's only day 1!
Until I get back home next week you guys are 8 hours ahead of me. Don't tell me what happens (I hate spoilers).
Milly
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