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By Greg Reifsteck – Follow on Twitter @moviemaniaceotm & Facebook @Movie Maniac
The Good, the Bad-Ass and the Undead.
Going to San Diego Comic-Con used to be a different experience. It wasn’t about getting a big bag of swag and lining up at 4 a.m. to see some big name celebrities in Hall H. It used to be a social experience to meet up with the same comic book fans year after year back, and be with like-minded people.
(c) 2012 Lionsgate Films
Now with the overcrowding of 120,000 comic book, movie and TV buffs squeezing into the exhibit halls and corridors of the San Diego convention center, and all of the movie and TV studios plugging their latest projects, Comic-Con has become a sociological experiment unlike any other.
Being the Movie Maniac, I will be bringing you up-to-the-minute online updates of the cinematic action going on at the Con on the EOTM Blog.
I will also be doing a round-up, including interviews from the convention on my new internet radio show Greg Reifsteck Movie Maniac debuting Sunday July 22, 5 p.m. PST on EOTM Radio.
Click here to be redirected to Greg Reifsteck Movie Maniac
Here is part one of a preview of what I feel will be the movie highlights of the Con.
DAY ONE -Thursday, July 12
The first day of the Con looks to be a marathon that won’t let up. Twihards will collide with Disney freaks and muscle head fans, all parking themselves in Hall H.
11:45 a.m. – Stan Lee’s World of Heroes Panel- Room 6BCF
What a fitting way to start the Con, by bowing down to one of the masters. Stan the Man will be joined by Luke Skywalker himself Mark Hamill and hottie Adrienne Curry to discuss his latest online venture.
12:45 p.m. – Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 – Hall H
Twihards will be camped out in the fitting darkness of the early morning to get into this one. Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and the rest of the blood suckers from the film series finale will be in attendance.
(c) 2012 Summit Entertainment
2:05 p.m. - Walt Disney Studios Panel- Hall H
It’s a heavy hitter panel with the Mouse House trotting out the two mega directors that will revive the studio after last year’s John Carter from Mars debacle: Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie, Sam Raimi’s Oz: The Great and Powerful. Also being featured will be the animated ode to 8-bit video games Wreck It Ralph, that my sore thumbs are going A,B,A,B, left, right, start over in excitement . Stars John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman will be in attendance.
3:00 p.m. 1982- Greatest Geek Year Ever Panel – Room 5AB
If you cannot get into the Hall from Hell, this lively retro panel will be a highlight for anyone from the MTV generation.
The editors of Geek Magazine along with a panel of other writers will discuss the year that gave us Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Blade Runner, E.T., Tron, Poltergeist, Conan: The Barbarian, The Road Warrior, The Thing, Liquid Sky, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Diner and 48 Hours.
3:00 p.m. Hotel Transylvania Panel- Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
More alternative programming if you cannot get into the Disney panel. A must-check-out for horror and animation fans, this hilarious-looking film will be presented by its director Genndy Tartakovsky.
4:45 p.m. Expendables 2 Panel- Hall H.
All of the big guys are back in Lionsgate’s sequel to the Sylvester Stallone-directed mega action star mash up. Van Damme, Schwarzenegger, Lundgren, Randy Couture and Terry Crews all will be there in their HGH inflated glory.
5:00 p.m – The Most Dangerous Women at Comic-Con Panel – Room 7AB
It’s tough to be a woman in the testosterone-fueled action film industry. Here will be some good estrogen-driven counter programming to the dudes in the Big Hall. Katrina Hill (GeekNation, MTV Geek) has assembled a team of women dangerous in their own right: Leah Cevoli (Robot Chicken), Holly Conrad (Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope), Adrianne Curry (Stan Lee’s World of Heroes), Clare Kramer (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Patricia Tallman (Night of the Living Dead) and many others with moderator Bonnie Burton.
8:30 p.m. – Comicon: Episode IV : A Fan’s Hope Screening and Panel- Ballroom 20
Documentarian Morgan Spurlock will put a capper on the day with his take on the Comic-Con phenomenon.
Petco Park Insanity
This year the Con has gotten so ginormous, it has spilled over into Petco Park next door. From 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday and in the daytime on Friday and Saturday, there will be the unbelievable Walking Dead Escape fan experience www.thewalkingdeadescape.com where you can hunt the undead or be a hunted zombie in a wicked looking 35 to 55 minute maze that overtakes parts of three levels of the baseball park. Price levels vary for the type of treachery you want to take in.
At night the first ever Dawn of the Con will take place at the park for Con badge holders only from 5:30 to 11 p.m… Rob Zombie will be the master of ceremonies, presenting a concert of remixes of his classic songs. There will also be exclusive giveaways every hour, as well as a photo op experience with Zombie’s Dragula car.
