I just got back from a midnight screening of The Incredible Hulk with my younger brother (a big thanks for my dad for driving us to and from the movie and having to stay up until 2 am to get us. Thanks Poppy!), and, as with Iron Man, I had to write about it before I headed to bed (except this time I don’t have an internship to get up for and rush to in the morning). I really enjoyed the movie; it was definitely an improvement over the 2003 version. Marvel should produce all of its movies from now on cause the casts from the 2 they’ve taken charge of themselves (Iron Man and Incredible Hulk) are spectacular. Edward Norton is just nerdy/tough/emotional enough to be Bruce Banner, and Tim Roth is pretty bad ass as Emil Blonsky. The movie had a great mix of action, humor, and romance, and it didn’t seem too slow or too fast. Hulk looked a lot more realistic and The Abomination was pretty cool too (the CGI was A LOT better). Their fight scene was well done, and it looked like 2 “monsters” were actually tearing up “New York City” (aka Toronto where it was filmed). Plus the movie sets up perfectly for not only a sequel (Bruce not able to hold The Hulk in for as long and still can’t fully control it or get rid of it so has to remain on the run) and its villain (THE LEADER), but also an Avengers movie (thanks to a Tony Stark cameo and his mention to General Ross about how “we’re putting together a team”). I love how the Marvel movies are being interconnected whether it’s through that last scene or the mentions of SHIELD and Stark Enterprises. They acknowledge that there’s a bigger universe out there, and I love it (it’s be great if DC did that too, but then we might get that crappy JLA movie they were developing so maybe not). I highly recommend The Incredible Hulk and think that comic book fans will really enjoy it while other moviegoers will also like it as well; though not as spectacular as Iron Man, it was still entertaining and, well, incredible. Here’s hoping it does well throughout the summer and gets a sequel lit. HULK SMASH!
Quote of the Day - Bruce Banner (in Portuguese no less): Don’t make me hungry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m…hungry? Wait, that’s not right.
I think Brad Pitt could be Thor (he proved he could look godlike as Achilles in Troy. Yes, I know Achilles wasn’t a god, but he was the son of a goddess). I’m skeptical of Leo as Cap since he would need to bulk up, but you never know. People were hesitant about the casting of RDJ and Norton as Iron Man and Hulk in the beginning (not me though - I’ve supported both castings since the beginning). This is just a list of people Marvel is looking at so there’s no guarantees that either will be offered the role. So we’ll see. The Avengers movie would be full of hotness if it was RDJ, Norton, Pitt, and DiCaprio though. =) And I would hate to see Matthew McConaughey or Josh Lucas as Cap cause they are both terrible actors and wouldn’t do Cap justice. So please branch out from that, Marvel. Thanks! (Oh and I wouldn’t mind Matt Damon as Cap so you can look into him!)
I sincerely hope that Marvel brings back Jon Favreau for Iron Man 2. He did an amazing job as the director of the first one, and I think they’d be taking away a vital dynamic. He and Robert Downey Jr. work well together, and I’m worried that if Favs drops out, RDJ will leave too (which would make me scream nooooooo!!!). It’s because of Favs that RDJ was cast as Tony Stark, something I’ve supported since the beginning since RDJ was Stark in another life (pre-rehab). Favreau and Iron Man are a match made in heaven, and I really REALLY hope that Marvel gets its act together and hires him to return. I’d rather have a good quality movie by Favs than a movie that was rushed through production and is crap. Haven’t we learned anything from crappy comic book movie sequels?
On another note, The Incredible Hulk is getting good reviews from early screenings and hopefully this good word of mouth will lead to a great box office return. I’m excited to see it and will be seeing it with my younger brother at the midnight showing. I’ve had faith in this movie since the news of the casting, and I’m glad to know that it will make fanboys happy while also be extremely entertaining. Hulk Smash!
Not only am I seeing Iron Man in 30 hours, but they are also supposed to show the new trailers for The Incredible Hulk, The Dark Knight, and Indiana Jones beforehand!!! I am freaking out!! I feel bad for my friends who have to experience my nerdiness, but who cares??? It’s going to be amazing! And since they’ve only put the new The Incredible Hulk trailer online, I’ll post it here for everyone’s enjoyment (including mine). I know I’ll be watching it a few more times tonight and squealing over the hotness of Edward Norton. This trailer looks even better than the teaser, and I am SO excited!
I’ve noticed that comic book writers and artists automatically put their arms around fangirl shoulders when taking pictures with them. I got to experience that many times in the past 2 days and was very happy.
Today I woke up at 7:15 and surprisingly made it to Javitts Center before 8:30 (even after a Dunkin Donuts stop). I pretty much ended up in the same spot in line, and Lina and Antonia joined me around 8:45. We got in at 10:00 and went to the back of the hall to see if they had tickets available for the Incredible Hulk signing. The line was already extremely long so we decided not to wait. Instead, we roamed around Artists Alley, and the three of us chatted with Peter David, the writer of X-Factor and She-Hulk. His young daughter was at the table with him and drawing pictures and selling them to the fans. She was adorable, and he usually includes blurbs about her in his X-Factor recap pages. Peter was very excited that our passes had a picture of his new book. I told him that I missed Layla MIller in X-Factor, and he told us that she would be coming back eventually and he was glad that fans liked her after hating her in House of M (I’ve always liked her). Lina complained about the M tattoo on Madrox’s face, and Peter said fans always complained about the lack of reprecutions and this showed that he was still affected. His daughter had a Madrox shirt on, and he said he wished he had twins so it would be perfect. Peter David was amazing. We then headed to the Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian and Wall-E panel downstairs in the IGN Theater. We met Kat in line, and got seats in the 5th row. Jim Morris, a producer of Wall-E, showed us 4 never before seen clips from the movie. I wasn’t very excited about it beforehand, but it looks extremely cute and funny. And Mo may be my new favorite character. Then William Moseley (Peter), Ben Barnes (Caspian), Peter Dinklage, and Mark Johnson came out to talk about Narnia. They showed us the new trailer that won’t premiere until May 2nd then chatted about the movies. William and Ben are very good looking so we all fangirled. The girl in front of us asked William for a hug and got one then proceeded to freak out back in her seat.
We left at 12 to go to the Countdown to DCU panel in which we listened to the writers and artists at DC not really tell us anything about what’s coming up. And we’ve agreed that Dan Didio has the most annoying laugh in the world and is also not the nicest guy (some of his comments…). But Geoff Johns was making jokes and being awesome so it was ok. And Gail Simone announced she would be doing an ongoing Secret Six series which was one of my favorite miniseries in the past 4 years. =) At 1PM, we headed back to the floor and went to the Marvel booth. Dan Slott was scheduled to sign at 1PM, but they were running late and it was insane on the other side since Tim Roth and Louis Leterrier were signing posters for people with tickets. I took pictures of them since they hung around the booth for a long time. We waited in line and didn’t get to the front until after 2. Stefano Caselli, Olivier Coipel, Serge LaPonte, and Yannick Paquette were all signing as well, and we listened to them speak French to each other while waiting for Dan. We then chatted with Dan who couldn’t understand all the fan love he was getting at the Con. I complained about Pug and She-Hulk not being together which he explained. And he told us about how his mom called him and told him to fix his Wikipedia page since his picture on it was old and she wanted to set him up with a friend’s daughter but was worried the picture would scare her away. Gotta love hearing about the personal lives of comic book writers.
We then headed back to Artist Alley, and I joined the long line to see Geoff Johns. He stopped the line a few people after me since he had to go to the DC Booth at 3PM. When I got up to him, I told him that he didn’t have time to sign my books yesterday when I saw him, and I’d appreciate it if he did today. He said it was no problem and asked how I was enjoying myself. Lina sidled up to cut the other people and get her book signed, and then asked if Geoff had gotten my note!!! I was so embarrassed after being so calm, and I turned bright red. He asked “oh, this note?” which was still on the table by him, and I explained (or tried to explain) that we came by to see him yesterday and he wasn’t there but then we saw him right afterwards. His friend came to talk to him and heard about it all, and said it was “awesome”. Geoff smiled and was totally cool about the whole thing (and hopefully wasn’t thinking, dear god, this girl is stalking me). He then thanked me for coming by again, and said “have a great rest of the weekend, Christina”. And I nearly fainted right then and there since he remembered my name! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the reasons Geoff Johns is amazing. Best weekend ever!
I decided to check to see how The Incredible Hulk panel line was while everyone ate. The line wrapped around at least 12 times downstairs so I decided to skip it. I kind of wished I had went since they apparently showed a clip that also included Iron Man. That would have been awesome to see. Oh well. I headed back upstairs and joined Cettina in the Marvel line. We chatted with Fred Van Lente and Greg Pak who write Incredible Hercules. (Greg is still as adorable as last year but more scruffy.) Greg was drawing on an Iron Man card, and I told him I was sorry to interrupt his doodling. He signed my book afterwards and John Romita Jr was very entertained by it all. We met John Romita Jr. and Sr. since they were at the table as well. I chatted with Jr. about previous cons and the insane amount of people that come on Saturdays. I then told Sr. that I loved the Daredevil cover he did a few issues back, and he said they suckered him into doing it since he used to draw romance covers, but that he really enjoyed it. All of us then roamed around until 5:00, and I bought a new Green Lantern shirt. And I was very entertained by a shirt that said “May the F=ma Be With You”. Lina and Antonia were confused, but I thought it was hilarious. And I’m not a big fan of science; but then again, I do love Star Wars and all its nerdiness.
At 5:00, we headed downstairs to go to the Cup O’ Joe panel. Security was insane; there were a ton of people coming in and out of the panel halls so they had to stop all of us and back us up. We then had to wait until they cleared the hall and rooms and then let us in if we were going to the Cup o’ Joe panel. We made our way to the front and security kept skipping us when counting off 10 to let in even though we were in the front for 2 minutes. Finally the female security guard told them to let us in, and I was so mad. I don’t know why they didn’t think we wanted to go, but it shouldn’t have been that insane or long. We ended up getting seats in the 2nd row at the panel, and Dan Slott saw us and waved. Dan Slott is awesome, and it made us feel better after the stupid security. We got to sit behind Richard Isanove who was very entertained by some of the questions and even recorded some of them on his phone. Joe Quesada showed some slides and then answered questions for the rest of the time. He was interrupted by 2 NYCC workers for a minute, and then later, the door by the stage opened and I elbowed Lina because it was STAN LEE!!! The audience freaked out and gave him a standing ovation. He talked about Quesada for a few minutes and then left. Amazing. We had a lot of fun at the panel, and we seem to enjoy the Marvel panels more than the DC ones. The guys are more laid back and fan friendly and actually answer questions. Plus they also seem like fans themselves. A great group of guys at Comic Con. We then headed back upstairs because Lina wanted to see if Rob Liefeld was at his table so she could harrass him. He wasn’t, but Phil Jimenez was so we went to see him. He was working on sketches for people and also chatting with others. And Lina and Antonia kept pushing me to interrupt. But I let him chat with the people in front of me and was nice about it (He’s a cutie as well). He was erasing a sketch, and I asked him if I could take a picture with him. He said sure and shook my hand and asked how I was doing. We took a picture, and then I asked if he would sign my Spider-Man, but told him that “I didn’t want to keep him from his work”. He said “well…” and smiled and signed it “Phil Jimenez” with “Keepin’ Me From My Work! =)” underneath it. He then thanked me for stopping by and I’m sure I was blushing. And that is the end of Comic Con for me. Again, the artists and writers were all extremely nice and willing to chat. We had a great time at our 3rd NYCC!!!
What is with all the Incredible Hulk drama? What I would really like is for Marvel and Edward Norton to sit down and talk all this out so the STAR of the movie can actually do publicity for the movie that he was willing and excited to film. And I hate that every internet article brings up the fact that he’s been a “difficult” actor in the past (American History X). But the fact that he’s keeping quiet in the press about this one means he’s trying to work it out and not be seen in a bad light. Edward’s passionate about the project, as is Marvel, and they need to talk about it and send the main actor out to promote the movie. I agree that internet gossip is blowing this way out of proportion. I wouldn’t want to go do interviews for a movie either if I knew every interviewer was going to ask about the “dispute”. I’ve been excited for this movie ever since they announced the cast, and it saddens me that it’s getting negative press because of this. I understand why Edward Norton and the director want to lengthen the movie and edit it in their own way; we don’t want a repeat of the 2003 Hulk movie that was a lot of action and strangeness (although the comic book panel look was cool). I feel bad for the director, producers, and Tim Roth on Saturday at NYCC because you know I’ll be asking about this (as well as a lot of other people).
What is with the rude people in NYC lately? I walked out of my job today, and a woman asks if I can help her with directions. I said ok, and she asked where 89 Washington Square was. I asked “Washington Square what?” since there are 4 sides to Washington Square. She gave me a look and said “Washington Square around the park”. I told her I understand but there’s a North, South, East, and West. She then asked if I lived around there as if I didn’t know the places nearby. She pulled out her directions and discovered that it was 89 Washington Place. Being an NYU student, the Washington Place I know is the street on campus. So I told her it was on the other side of the park and thought that was it. About five minutes later, I was walking on Washington Place to go to the computer lab and was talking to my friend Erica who I ran into. That same lady from before is walking across the street, sees me, and walks to stand in the middle of the street and yell at me! She starts yelling about how there’s another Washington Place closer to 6th Avenue, and that I didn’t know anything. I was in shock that this lady was yelling at me in the street but was so pissed off. I apologized and told her I didn’t realize. It wasn’t like I deliberately gave her the wrong directions. She kept yelling and scoffing so I got riled up and told her that she was originally on that side of the park so she shouldn’t have needed directions and shouldn’t yell at me just because she couldn’t read the directions she printed out. She finally stomped away. I was so so so angry. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was interviewing for a position at NYU since there are a lot of rude people that work for NYU. I can’t believe how rude people can be. Who stands in the middle of the street to yell at someone about directions? I would have understood if she had came up to me and calmly explained the situation. But she was acting like an idiot. So much so that I wished aloud that she would get hit by a car. But due to my Catholic guilt, I kinda hope that she didn’t get hit by a car but at least didn’t get the job she wanted.
This is the official poster (finally) for The Incredible Hulk, out June 13th. I’m actually excited; the first one wasn’t that great, and I love Edward Norton and William Hurt. Please, let this be good. I’ve also discovered that Tim Roth will now be at the Hulk panel at NYCC this weekend. Sure, it’s not Edward Norton (which would cause me to faint), but Tim is still cool. Plus I can ask about his weird accented singing in “Everyone Says I Love You” which has no relation to the Hulk whatsoever. And I’m tired of at least 50 people on livejournal asking “wasn’t there already a Hulk movie” every time there’s a Hulk post. It’s called reading the responses above you! Sheesh.
And as a nice compliment to the Hulk, I had to include Iron Man as well since this movie looks amazing based on the trailers. And Robert Downey Jr is Tony Stark. I cannot wait for May 2nd!!! (And am secretly excited for drunk Iron Man in the 2nd movie).
