Comic-Con 2012 Saturday afternoon recap: Bryan Fuller, Bryan Fuller, Bryan Fuller, and Pushing Daisies

This year I spent quality, warm, daylight hours hanging out in the dark, well air-conditioned, San Diego Convention Center. For day 2, I had an early run in the exhibit hall but couldn't resist getting to Room 7AB super early in order to work my way up to best seat in the house for A Conversation with Bryan Fuller. Naturally, I did just that.

The two panels prior were PlayStation 3: The Unfinished Swan and VIZ Media: Shonen Jump Alpha, both of which I knew nothing about prior to going and know very little about now. Can you tell that I'm less interested in the games and comics portion of Comic-Con and more interested in the television portion? I know, that probably makes me a bandwagon nerd, but at least I'm not one of those people who only shows up for Twilight, right?

Back to Bryan Fuller...

Before the panel started, this woman made an announcement that photography and recordings of any kind were not allowed and my heart broke a little inside. Obviously, recording the sneak peek materials is a no-no, but no pictures of the panelists?! Everyone around me was bummed but we obeyed. Too bad these press people totally ignored the request and were busy snapping away and getting in our way the whole time. I wanted to get my camera out, but I also feared getting removed from the panel so all I managed was a stealth phone picture.

Butch Patrick, as in the original Eddie Munster, introduced the panel with a lead into some clips from Mockingbird Lane, starring Portia de Rossi (Arrested Development), Jerry O'Connell (Sliders), and Eddie Izzard. Mockingbird Lane is a remake of the original Munsters series, written by Bryan Fuller who considers himself a huge fan of The Munsters. Mockingbird Lane is currently filming at Universal, and the clips they provided show a young Eddie Munster transform into a werewolf while on a scout camping trip. He proceeds to terrorize his scout troop. We also get a look inside the Munster house and meet the family. I have not seen much of the original Munsters, so I have nothing to compare the plot to, but the clips did have a fantasy/dreamy feel, heavy in red and green hues that remind me of some of Fuller's other work. There is also this element of comedy in the horror. Fuller proves himself to be great at making dark situations, light. He credits this to the fact that he spent a lot of time at funerals as a kid, and that the funerals were more of a celebration than a sad gathering.

After talk of Mockingbird Lane, Fuller followed up with a discussion on his other upcoming project, the TV series Hannibal. They didn't have any sneak peeks of this project, but Fuller did credit NBC with being fully supportive of the project and he talked of plans for future seasons as though there was no question as to whether or not the show would make it. It is amazing how optimistic he remains despite the early cancellation of Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me. According to IMDb Hannibal premieres mid-season in January.

Naturally, Pushing Daisies came up in the Q&A portion and Fuller hinted that he is working on something that is not a comic or a TV show that would give us another chance to see the Pie Maker in action. He wouldn't give more details because "Then if it doesn't happen, I look like a jerk!"

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Bryan Fuller?

After the panel concluded I had no problem whipping out my camera, but first I raced to the stage for an autograph. I had a straight shot to the stage, which worked to my advantage because even before I managed to ask for an autograph, the room security was pushing people out of the room, "No time for questions! Please clear the room for the next panel."

Mr. Fuller was amazingly nice and obliged my request to autograph my Wonderfalls DVDs as I stumbled to form a cohesive sentence. I think I managed "I'm a huge fan" as I shook his hand and tried not to burst with excitement. That is actually a near exact retelling of my meeting Joss Whedon last year, only I'm pretty sure the excitement for Bryan Fuller was much greater.

And then I snapped randomly as we were shoveled out of the room to make room for the next panel.

We also got free Hannibal t-shirts.

Picture taken from @BryanFuller, mask not included.

Comic-Con 2012 Friday recap: Syfy Defiance, Anthony Bourdain, Falling Skies, Firefly

Comic-Con trip numero 2 has come and gone and I am finally getting myself back onto a normal sleep routine. We came a bit better prepared this year than we were last year, but we still faced some sad panel rejections because, yet again, we weren't there early enough.

We got in line for tickets around 5:30am, and were among the first 100 to register that day, so that worked out nicely.

Unfortunately, we determined about 5 hours too late that attempting to get into Ballroom 20 on the same day we registered was not going to work in our favor. This means we missed the Legend of Korra panel and the Firefly Reunion :(

Placment in line for Ballroom 20 at 7:45am

Placement in line for Ballroom 20 at 1:00pm

I could literally see the entrance to Ballroom 20, but I didn't make it in for the Firefly Reunion that started at 12:45, and by that point the Legend of Korra panel was already over. I take solace in remembering that:
1) I made it to two panels featuring the Legend of Korra crew last year, plus I made it to the signing and walked off with a sweet autographed poster and free Korra t-shirt

2) I made it into the Joss Whedon signing at Dark Horse last year at Comic-Con

and 3) I saw Adam Baldwin and Nathan Fillion at the March Thrilling Adventure Hour.

The 5 hours spent in line were not so bad, the people I was around were really nice and made the time pass much more quickly. Given the overall outcome of the day, of course I would have preferred to have a more productive morning, but I am still glad we tried. Now we know for next year.

After some brief time fighting crowds in the exhibit hall, we went to the lovely Seaport Village for lunch. It was a nice break from the crazy crowds at the convention center, Seaport Village is so adorable! There was a live band playing mariachi music as we partook in some delicious Italian food by the water. Very picturesque, and yet I seem to have forgotten to capture the moment on photo.

Back to the Convention Center! I was determined to have success with panels in the second half of the day, so I opted to hang out in the lower numbered ballrooms that don't have the same crowd issues, while my brother and friends decided to pass the remaining time searching for comics in the exhibit hall.

I managed to see the Falling Skies panel, moderated by Wil Wheaton in 6BCF

I don't watch the show, but I have been interested in it and thought checking out a panel would help me decide if it is worth my investment. The conclusion: I definitely want to check this show out.

After that I got to 6DE early for a the Defiance panel, and ended up catching the better part of the Get Jiro panel, the food graphic novel written by Anthony Bourdain.

I'm always looking for recommendations on new graphic novels, so this was perfect. Not to mention, it is number one on the New York Times Hardcover Graphic Books List.

I actually had mixed feelings about going to see Defiance because I am still bitter at Syfy for cancelling Eureka and I fully blame the exuberant Defiance budget on Eureka's death. Incidentally, I am looking for a new Syfy show to fill my Eureka void and the concept of Defiance, a TV Show and Video Game, is interesting. So, to Defiance I went.

The show does sound interesting, it had a sort of futuristic/western feel to it that reminded me of Firefly. It also stars two of Dexter's ex-ladies, and a familiar face is always a plus when determining whether or not to like a new show. Normally, seeing Jamie Murray who played Lila would fill me with contempt because Dexter cheated on Rita with her; however, seeing Julie Benz and her banter on the panel like BFFs made me happy.

Thus ends my Friday the 13th at Comic-Con

For more pictures check out my g+ gallery and for notes from the panels, check out my twitter feed.

New Backstreet Boys Album Is Underway

@KevinRichardson And so it begins... pic.twitter.com/41WYmgeu

And so begins "4 weeks of solid work in the studio...The next @backstreetboys record is underway." via @Nick Carter.

Raise your hand if you are excited about this one?

I AM!

The announcement that Richardson would be on the next album was made in late April while BSB was on tour with NKOTB, and now it is happening!

If you find yourself distraught because Howie and Brian are absent from this photo, don't panic, because I can confirm that all five men are reuniting. Howie tweeted on Saturday
"On a plane headed to London where I will be catching up with my 4 other brothers from other mothers know as the BSB Crew. See you tomorrow!"

So rest assured, all 5 men are reuniting in London to record the groups eighth album.

Let the awesome love ballads and pop tunes commence.

Michael C Hall and an evening of Dexter music

On June 10, Angel and I got all fancy and headed to a concert at the Largo to see the fabulous composer, Daniel Licht. Licht is currently the composer for the showtime series, Dexter, though his resume is quite extensive. I have been a fan of Dexter for several years now, and for any of you who have not seen it I strongly encourage you to check it out. Well, after being a fan of the show for a couple years it wasn't until last summer at
San Diego Comic-Con, that I learned who about Daniel Licht. I was fortunate enough to find myself in a panel concerning musical composition in TV series, and was immediately impressed with Licht.

The panel featured Licht as well as the crew from Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra and Falling Skies.

Until that moment, I never thought about how the music in a series is made, or inspired, or really what the music represents. I absolutely love movie soundtracks. I love how a well placed song has the ability to bring you back to a particular scene and draws out in you the emotions the characters are feeling. However, I never really considered this in a series.

One thing that caught my attention about Daniel Licht while he was discussing Dexter compositions was his mention of tools like saws and knives that he utilizes as instruments. Everyday equipment that Dexter uses becomes a potential instrument. Additionally, he also made reference to instruments a particular indigenous tribe allowed him to use that are actually made of human bones. Needless to say, I was really impressed. So when I found out he was performing at the Largo and tickets were only $30, I jumped at the opportunity to hear him live. The promise of Michael C. Hall being there to introduce the show was an added bonus.

The show was so great. Michael C. Hall was adorable when he came out and introduced Mr. Licht and credited him for the success of the show. Oh my gosh, I was like 5 feet from him, I totally would have jumped up and grabbed him if I didn't think that was totally inappropriate.

Licht had a full orchestra on stage with him as they went through a large collection of Dexter pieces, including the blood theme. Licht was amazing, jumping around one piece to the next, shuffling through instruments, swapping a pair of scissors for a piano and knives for glasses filled with water. He blew me away. One of the most mind blowing moments was when he played the xylophone with a couple of bows. I never knew you could play the xylophone with bows. The players in his orchestra were also insanely talented. I would like to purchase the recording of the show and listen to it over and over again, reliving the live moment through sound.

Grant it my musical exposure is limited, but I'd say the show is a close second to the Sufjan Stevens show I caught at Zellerbach in 2007. Oh my gosh, live orchestras are so amazing!!!

The other highlight was meeting him after the show and talking to him a bit about his music.

Of course, the music immediately conjured up scenes from the show and I am now giddy with excitement at the thought of what the next season will bring when it premieres in September.

Sister, Sister Reunion

Oh heeeeyyyyy!

via @TiaMowry

Tia and Tamara Mowry recently met up with Sister, Sister co-star Marques Houston at the first birthday party of Cree Cree.

Doesn't seeing the three together bring back happy memories of The WB? Also, doesn't it make you smile when you see that Marques grew out of that kind of awkward Roger stage and is looking mighty fine today?

This begs the question, will we ever see a Sister, Sister reunion? I suppose watching Tia and Tamara's reality show is kind of like watching a reunion, but seeing more of the costars in a sit-com scripted (not reality show scripted) environment would be fun in that "re-living my 90's glory days" sort of way. I miss my 90s glory days.

Bonnie Wright and Jamie Campbell Bower call off engagement

Great news for Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley is back on the market!

Bonnie Wright, who portrayed the youngest Weasley in the Harry Potter franchise, has called off her engagement to Jamie Campbell Bower, whom she met on the set of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I.

The couple announced their engagement in April 2011 but never set a date. Bower and Wright have both kept busy schedules since the engagement and it appears that might be the reason for the split. The two English actors have been playing the long distance game with Wright in America filming Shakespeare's Daughter, meanwhile Bower in England where he is preparing for his third franchise, The Mortal Instruments.

Let's not forget that Bower plays a Volturi in the Twilight Saga, so this Twilight/Harry Potter relationship was probably doomed from the start. Sparkly vampires and badass wizards are like water and oil, they don't mix.

It is always sad to see a couple fizzle out, especially when the couple looked so happy walking the red carpet together last year! Alas, young love is a fickle thing. With both of them pursuing the crazy life of an actor, it is no surprise that they are calling it quits.

Bonnie doesn't look to beat up over the split, last week she appeared relaxed and full of life on the New England set of Shakespeare's Daughter.

Photo from @NancyHemingway1

Wright also recently graduated from London College of Communication and in May she made a directorial debut in Cannes with an 11-minute short titled, Separate We Come, Separate We Go. Needless to say, Wright has probably had very little time to plan a wedding, let alone be in a relationship.

And, on the bright side, now we can continue to pretend that she and Daniel RadcliffeHarry Potter will live happily ever after together.