Conning

Since I last wrote you, it's all been one hurried haze. I woke up Wednesday morning in Tokyo, went to some meetings, and then in the afternoon boarded a plane. I then suddenly woke up and it was Wednesday morning again, but this time in LA. I vaguley remember being somewhere on the Fox lot eating a grilled cheese with Bradley J. Fox, eating dinner with Irene's mom and then falling asleep again watching TV pilots again with my lawyer/agent/advisor. Somehow, next thing I know, I'm in San Diego for the big Comic Con and GodDAMN its big. Today is my fourth day here and I have barely seen anything. However, I can easily tell you the best thing I have seen here is without a doubt the first ever footage from SUPERMAN RETURNS, which Bryan Singer presented yesterday morning. It's of, what I call "the holy shit variety". Obviously, I've always been a Bat-Fan more than a Super-Fan, but 12 minutes of new footage, new EXCELLENT looking footage, really makes me think they could make a SUPERMAN movie that reaches the genius level of BATMAN BEGINS (again, the best comic book based movie ever made). It looks like a cross between the Max Fleischer cartoons from the 40's and the Richard Donner films. This felt like an absolute winner to me and the kid playing Superman seems to have been cloned from Christopher Reeve's DNA. Bryan Singer is a brilliant filmmaker and I cannot wait for this film.

Sadly the annual STAR WARS spectacular was less than stellar since they basically, for the first time since I have been coming to this Con, no movie to promote. It was basically: Yes, there's going to be a TV series, yes there's an animated series coming, but in 2007, so here's some footage of our new digital facility. Eh. Plus having the guy who did General Grevious' voice as the special guest compared to having Hayden and Carrie Fisher last year, is a bit of a let down. To their credit, they DID show a deleted Ep3 scene, the "Birth Of The Rebellion" scene featuring Jimmy Smits doing more than he has in the whole series, so I was somewhat happy. It all felt a bit Star Trek to me...know what I mean? However, as the new catch phrase says, STAR WARS IS FOREVER, but hey, I kinda knew that already, guy.

Announced here was the ULTIMATE DIRECTOR'S CUT of THE WARRIORS, which could change my life and I actually WON the Mattell BATMAN con exclusive after my huge defeat last year. Spent some time with some old faces, some new faces, some famous faces. I got everything I was looking to pick up this year, and found some things I didn't know existed. Once again the infamous "F.J. meets Stephen Chow at the Con" story made the rounds to much embarassment, but at least now with KUNG FU HUSTLE having permeated the public conscious, I look a bit ahead of time again.

Supposedly, I leave from here for LA for a DAY, then I am off to San Fran for a few, back to LA and then home. Then, for the entire month of August, I fully intend to never leave the City of New York unless I'm forced.

What time is it?

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