San Diego Comic Con 2009 - Thursday

Wow, blogging while at Comic Con was harder than I thought. I hope you don’t mind the delay, as I’ve decided to recap things a little later than expected.

Thursday was over like the blink of an eye as my Thursday ended on Friday at 2:00 AM. I decided to take a break from the main exhibit hall. I was on my feet all day, fighting through crowds and un-air-conditioned parts of the convention center and the San Diego heat outdoors.

Thursday started early, as my fiancé was determined to secure seats for the infamous Hall H. She headed to Hall H at 5:30 AM (her enthusiasm caught me by surprise). My friends followed her near 7:00 AM, as I got there at 8. Sure enough, the line was long, but surprisingly not uncomfortable. We were on soft grass and it was overcast, so waiting in line for 5+ hours went by with ease. This was my first year sitting in Hall H so early. In the past, I reserved Hall H for Saturday’s, as Hollywood never really expanded into other days. You can see how much has changed since then. Finally entering into Hall H at around 10:30, we ended up nabbing some pretty good seats, smack dab in the middle where we could still make out live faces, rather than relying on the video screens. This year, they changed the main screen, where they split it in two. I’m not particularly fond of it, especially if the center screen is your only option, but the new system offers higher resolution viewing as well as digital 3D. We were all given special glasses the moment we walked into Hall H. Here were the events that we saw:

A Christmas Carol 3D - Robert Zemeckis – The footage looked great, as Jim Carey plays eight different characters in this movie. It actually looked scary, which I’m really excited for.
Alice in Wonderland - Tim Burton and a surprise entrance from Johnny Dep. He was in and out like a ninja, as the sea of women, my fiancé, included screamed like little babies. “Tim Burton everyone!” is all he said while waving, then quickly exiting.
Cloudy With a Chance of Meat Balls - Adam Sandberg and Anna Farris
Astro Boy – Kristen Bell
Tron – Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde – They basically replayed the same trailer they showcased last year, which was awesome, because it was my first time seeing it.
Twilight: New Moon – Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Kristen Stewart. This was the reason most of Hall H was packed. Dubbed “Twihards,” these were the uber-fans of Twilight that mainly consisted of tweens and mothers. Not that I’m complaining or anything. Team Edward and Team Jacob shirts were at every corner. I have to say that I found the trailer awfully funny, because to an outsider looking in, it seems the whole movie is about Edward and Jacob is having a shirt-taking-off contest if that has ever existed.
Avatar – James Cameron, Zoe Saldana – Avatar looks awesome! James Cameraon came prepared with 25+ minutes of footage from the film.
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnasis - Vern Troyer

As you can see, all of Thursday was spent in Hall H. I didn’t see direct sunlight until about 4:00 PM. The rest of the afternoon was spent in the crazy crowd of the main exhibit hall. That evening, my friend and I decided to take advantage of some of the after hour events. Mainly movies and such. We checked out “Kung Fu and Costumes” where an old dude pretty much showed highlight clips from old and current martial arts movies. I was really impressed by Ong Bak 2 (I had no idea a sequel was made). After about an hour, we moved onto the pilot screening of “Trick R Treat” a horror film featuring Ann Paquin. Pretty cool film, but it’s got “straight-to-DVD” release written all over it (which it is).

Later that night, we decided to roam the streets of the Gas Lamp, ultimately making our way to the Hard Rock Hotel. It turned out, this was where all the celebrities were staying, and partying. I ended up seeing Ashley Greene and Jeff Bridges. I ended up meeting Ray Park and Ernie Reyes Jr., both heavily sedated by the sauce. Funny thing, Ernie said what’s up to my friend and I as if we were long time friends. He was also wearing a green Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt. Any guesses as to what he was promoting? Overall… good day! I will post pictures of Thursday soon, stay tuned!