Los Angeles! See American Reunion Early And Support A Good Cause

If you have been following All Things Fangirl for a while, you know we are huge supporters of the charity event Hell Walk, currently gearing up for the intense second installment. In the next couple weeks, we'll sit down with Josh Tate again and discuss the 2012 event, taking place on June 30th. In the meantime, I wanted to direct your attention to a screening of American Reunion happening in Westwood tomorrow night in support of Hell Walk 2012. If I wasn't covering the Jason Reitman Live Read that night, I would be there in a heartbeat, so I highly encourage all of you available fangirls in the Los Angeles area to head over there Thursday night and show your support in my stead! Oh and be sure to head here for more information on Hell Walk in the coming months!

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Best Finds of Wondercon 2012

As per tradition, here is our wrap up of the best finds on the Wondercon floor. As a Dealer's Room junkie, I always like seeing what I missed at various conventions, and enjoy providing that service for you readers as well.

Gaming Table
One of the absolute coolest booths on the entire floor, the gaming furniture created by Geek Chic is truly after my own heart. Each piece is individually made and can be custom fit for whatever type of geek you are. Need a place for your controllers to live? Done. Need a gaming table with a built in area for throwing dice? Easy! How about a simple way to organize your comics? Done! I mean, yes, these pieces cost between 2000 and 3000 dollars, but I JUST WANT ONE SO BAD. Oh man, the unnecessary items I will buy if and when I am a rich person. Beginning with a custom made table that makes playing Xbox and the Battlestar Galactica Board Game slightly more convenient for me. WOOT!

Nine more peaks at the best of the Wondercon floor after the jump!

Locke and Key Board Game
Every time I walked past this booth, I saw folks playing the Locke and Key game. From the makers of the extremely popular Walking Dead board games (or rather ONE of the Walking Dead board games), the Locke and Key game is card based and inspired by the Locke and Key comic. I'm a sucker for both card games and comic based games, so everything about this screamed WANT. Of course, I didn't have time to go buy it before Wondercon ended. Le sigh. But man, as soon as I own this, I am playing the crap out of it, don't you worry.

Quantum Mechanics EVERYTHING
Four words. Obsessed obsessed obsessed obsessed. Okay FINE, one word four times WHATEVER, the point is, QMx is the greatest company in the history of ever. The booth had items for sale on display, but also had an entire section devoted to prototypes, which had me losing my mind. Among them was a Viper model with a WORKING DRADIS. Let me repeat. WORKING DRADIS. I could have stared at that fluid blue line all day long. And on the shelf above that? A plushie viper and raider. Also, minor plus, the very nice guy working the area had a British accent. What's not to love?!

Game of Thrones Photo
After missing getting my photo taken in the Iron Throne at all of the conventions last year, I made it my mission to get my head on a pike. War is coming in Game of Thrones season 2, which means thousands of heads will roll. Thanks to some nifty green screen work, anyone who was willing to wait in a little line got to give their best dead face and see how they'd look without a body. Be sure to head to the Game of Thrones facebook account and sift through the galleries which range from extremely disturbing (some little kids partook) to the hilarious (some people are fanTASTIC at looking dead. Others? Notsomuch) and you might even catch the heads of something you know. Excuse me, used to know.

Lil Bookwormz
Hello, place where I will one day buy all of my baby clothes! If you too want your kids to get a head start on being intellectually superior to those around them (is that such a bad thing to want?!), then head to Lil Bookwormz. All of the designs are either famous quotes or graphics matched with the alphabet such as N is for Noir, S is for Science Fiction, W is for William [Shakespeare], E is for Edgar [Allen Poe] and so on. Plus a portion of all proceeds is donated to the literacy foundation, WORDs. There is no part of this I do not approve of. I wish I knew a baby for whom I could purchase a onesie! Get on it, friends.

Captain America Charm Bracelet
If only I had not already purchased @Eruditechick's birthday present, this lovely little piece of jewelry would have made the cut. Simple, sweet, and to the point, it's a great item for any Cap fan. Sad times for me, I neglected to write down the name of the company who makes this item, but you can expect me to have my eye out for them at C2E2, Comic-Con and NYCC later this year.

Watchmen Painting
I mean. That. I need to own. But like. Seriously.For only $100? I should have just bought it. Idiot, Muse!  Artist/rapper/producer/fanboy Rocom, also offered the Star Wars, Pokemon, and Fantastic Four pieces, featured above, but unfortunately none of them seem to available in his Etsy store. Dear Rocom, if you are reading this - hi! I love your work. I want to buy some. Please come to all the conventions ever. Love, Muse.

Lord of the Rings Valentines Cards
The perfect valentines cards for any geeky couples out there, made by Monkey Minion Press, who also boasted some fantastic buttons (love the ninja turtles set) and supercool prints (I will keep fighting, Cap, I will!) I highly recommend checking out their online store and perusing their goods at upcoming conventions. I fully plan on hitting them up for some birthdays later in the year.

Womanthology
This entirely female created anthology made its big debut at Wondercon, with both a panel and a booth in Artist's Alley. I contributed to the Kickstarter and am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my copy, but kind of wish I had purchased one there, just so I could have gotten it signed by some of the hundreds of women that contributed, who were present at Wondercon. The book is absolutely beautiful and I highly encourage you to pick up a copy if you haven't already!

Batman Corset
You can never go wrong with a corset. Or Batman. So a Batman corset is pretty much a no brainer. Pendragon Costumes, who created this item, had tons of other comic themed items, as well as steampunk, scifi, and renaissance outfits, covering the whole gamut. Whenever I see this corset again, I'm gonna take the next step and actually give it a try.

For more photos from Wondercon, featuring items from the floor, head to the All Things Fangirl Wondercon 2010 gallery.

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16 Reasons to See Hunger Games This Weekend

Happy Hunger Games!

If you weren't one of the one million people who saw the film at midnight last night and are wrestling with whether or not to go this weekend, here are my 16 reasons why you should make a point to make the trek out to your local theater and catch the film as soon as possible.

Jennifer Lawrence

Not only is Jennifer Lawrence the perfect Katniss (I take back all my naysaying!) who nails her internal struggles, telling us everything we need to know with her eyes, but as a person, she is one of those rare gems we need more of in this industry. Self-effacing, real, honest and unafraid, she has the potential to become one of the definitive great actresses of the next generation and here is the film that will catapult her into stardom. Seeing the movie both supports her career, and grants you the pleasure of watching her embody the iconic Katniss Everdeen inside and out.

To support films with female leads

They say films with a female lead generally can't open, no matter how often the mysterious "they" may be proven wrong. So continue to support strong leading roles for women by throwing your weight behing Hunger Games.

Katniss is the role model young women need

Unlike the lead in a certain other young adult series cum film franchise, Katniss' purpose isn't to simply be with a man, but rather  protect her family and *all* of the people she loves. She is fueled by keeping her promises and doing what is right, via wit, reasoning, and courage, despite her fears and insecurities. She may be a teenage girl, somewhat broken by poverty & war, who at times makes irrational decisions, as you do, but ultimately, her heart is in the right place and she exhibits all the qualities of someone we actually root for and want to succeed. Please prefer Katniss over Bella, future daughter. I beg of you.

Relevant

Author of the books and co-writer of the screenplay, Suzanne Collins, has been very open in talking about where her idea for Hunger Games came from. Yes, it all goes back to greek mythology ultimately, but the specifics came from flipping back and forth between war footage and reality television. Is the future we see in the Hunger Games really that much of a stretch? There are enough similarities in the world we see in the book and film to make it almost tangible, and thus all the more frightening. The series is ultimately about the awful truths of war, a war that is painted over, made to look pretty, disguised as something entertaining, as something necessary, as something we should be honored to be a part of. Collins does a great job of drawing us in, only to rip the rug out from under us. The film does a great job of beginning this journey at an extremely appropriate time in our history.

Josh Hutcherson

I doubted him. Boy did I doubt him. But that face! That sweet, expressive, totally in love face! Although I thought the character didn't get to do quite enough, I thought Hutcherson stepped up to the plate with gusto in order to nail what material he was given. The brief moment when he looks out the window and loses it while leaving District 12? The thoughts running through his head when he says he doesn't want to forget? The way he looks at Katniss ALL of the time?! Well done, Hutcherson. You have officially won me over.

To be a part of the conversation (potential spoiler alert)

I liked the movie. A lot. I also have some problems with it, namely the short shrift the Katniss/Peeta relationship gets. Not because I'm girling out and wanted a better makeout scene (but also, I am and I did), but because even though I understand certain areas had to be emphasized and other areas had to be deemphasized in order to properly set up the series' enormous tone shift of a final installment, putting Katniss' relationship with Peeta so far in the background takes away a lot of what the first book so wonderful and potentially harms the impact of certain events in book two and three. My ultimate theory is this will be fixed in book two, but, for those of who don't know what I'm talking about - don't you kind of want to? I want to debate! I want to see who feels similarly! Who agrees, who disagrees, who liked the movie and who didn't, and the long list of reasons why. If you don't see the movie, you will immediately be in the minority, especially if you are in the entertainment industry, and this is an *exciting* conversation to be able to partake in.

Maintains the integrity of the work

It's pretty rare that a movie so captures the tone and atmosphere of its source material the way Hunger Games does, and although it's not a word for word adaptation and many parts do get truncated, what the film gets right, it gets perfectly, and anything that is wrong seems to have a reasonable explanation. Everyone involved in the making of the film wouldn't have it any other way, and shouldn't we be supporting that when we can? The film was not dumbed down and did not placate to the Twilight audience. Quite the opposite in fact, as I mentioned above.

So you can tell Jeff Wells what's what

He said you can't trust female reviewers of the movie and that essentially the only right answer is that the film is stupid because it alters itself to be more appealing to teen girls. This is so far from the truth or sense of any kind, that it makes me want to scream. Scream with me, won't you?

Elizabeth Banks

Thank goodness Banks campaigned so damn hard for this role. She is perfection, bringing in roughly 95% of the laughs in the film with her overly enthusiastic and forgivably snippy line readings. There is an authenticity Banks brings to the role with ease that I can't image other actresses fans considered, such as Kristin Chenoweth, could bring to the table.

Maybe it'll make you rent/buy Battle Royale?

One can always hope, right? PS - if you *wanted*, you could buy your new blu-ray of Battle Royale right here :)

Music

Okay, so this isn't really a reason to see the movie, but more a reason to buy the soundtrack. It's fantastic. Rock, appalachian, americana, alt-county, but all with a unifying sense of "We send our children into an arena to kill each other." Artists include personal favorites Low Anthem, The Civil Wars, Glen Hansard, The Secret Sisters and Arcade Fire, and that's just to name a few. Three of these songs play over the closing credits. So hey, that totally counts as a reason to see the movie after all! Huzzah!

Successful World Building

If you appreciate solid production design, costumes, hair, makeup, art direction and so on, you will get a huge kick out of Panem and everyone in it. The capitol is decked out in bright colors and outrageous accoutrements, each citizen a feast for the eyes. Meanwhile, District 12 represents the polar opposite, existing in seemingly another era, much more Appalacia of the 1800s then the flamboyantly variegated landscape of the distant future. While both areas are completely different, they still feel as though they exist in the same universe - not an easy feat. Overall, the movie is an undeniable treat for design junkies, however you may feel about any other part of it.

Caeser Flickerman

Stanley Tucci is aces in the role of Caeser Flickerman, completely encompassing what the "host" of the Hunger Games would really be like. He is a slightly more sinister Ryan Seacrest with blue hair and no apologies and watching Tucci have a ball with the role is a hoot.

Relate to the kids!

So I don't have kids or work with kids anymore, and frankly still kind of consider myself a kid, but if finding ways to relate to the youth is of importance to you, seeing Hunger Games will certainly help. Be the open parent that goes with your kids and discusses it afterward, or the hip parent that can impress your kids' friends with your insight and knowledge into their beloved franchise. Here is something you and your pre-teens/teens can enjoy together, that is potentially so important to them, that anything associated with it will create a long lasting and important memory.

It's even better the second time!

Anything that bothered me the first time melted away upon a second viewing, allowing me to truly dive in to the small, but crucial moments between Katniss and Peeta, and really take in every clue about how their relationship turns out post Hunger Games during the rushed ending. Once you're past the first viewing when you spend most of your time judging, you can settle in and let yourself absorb how solid the adaptation really is. But to get to a second time, there must be a first.

To be a part of the phenomenon

One million pre-sale tickets for a midnight show doesn't happen very often. As we've touched on, these ticket sales are for a film based on a book, written by a woman, with a *strong* female lead character, that doesn't compromise the ultimate point of the series or integrity of the story by dumbing it down for audiences, with an incredible soundtrack and spot on performances. Don't pass up the opportunity to see it during all of the excited fervor. Anticipation and quality rarely match up so heartily and it would be a shame to miss out on experiencing it properly.

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Here Are a Few Of My Favorite Things: Wondercon 2012

Cross-posted on Film.com


This weekend, Wondercon headed south to Anaheim where fans braved a stupidly intense storm and ridiculous traffic all weekend for the chance to see their favorite writers, creators, publishers, actors, directors, artists and personalities and hopefully take home a few souvenirs. We were on the scene from start to finish and compiled a list of the best this Wondercon had to offer. Details on the best finds of the floor coming in the morning.

Girl Power
Something that really stood out to me during Wondercon, especially in the main ballroom on Saturday, was the hearty amount of female empowerment. During the Sound of my Voice panel, co-writer, co-producer, and co-star Brit Marling talked about being fed up with the bland and sterotypical roles she was being offered, and after realizing her choices were get a sex change or create her own work, she began writing and producing, and soon both Another Earth and Sound of my Voice were born. The extremely well spoken creator struck me immediately as a great role model for disheartened aspiring artists out there, as well as fangirls in general. And fun fact - the film had a female DP in Rachel Morrison! Later panels saw Charlize Theron taking a real ownership of her take no prisoners sass, insisting that Michael Fassbender smells like "musk and chillies with occasional mint thrown in", and telling a small child who asked a question a. if he was single and b. if he would call her when he broke up with his girlfriend, Kristin Stewart talking about how great it was to play a strong character, and while never being unwise enough to insult Twilight, definitely seemed to have appreciated playing such a different character, and Milla Jovovich (headling the first ever series to have five films with a female action lead in Resident Evil: Retribution) discussing her weapon collection and love of She-Ra and Thundercats. Not to mention Maggie Grace and Emma Stone representing their respective movies without their male co-stars present. I felt some sort of unexpected camaraderie with the women on stage during Wondercon's Saturday that I don't recall ever feeling before. And that's not even taking into account the multiple female artists and creators with spotlight panels all weekend long, including Renae De Liz (debuting Womanthology!), Rebekah Isaacs, Carol Lay, Fiona Staples, Felicia Day and Jane Espenson. Hooray for fangirls!


More after the jump

Levity
Also very present in the main ballroom was a sense of levity. Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender faux acting out the Prometheus trailer was silly fun and Milla Jovovich knowing all the words to Montage from Team America was a surprising bit of badassery. We also got to see lots of strong friendships inspire fantastic discussion, in the case of Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij and Rian Johnson and Joseph Gordon Levitt, and hearty laughs in the case of Seth Grahame-Smith and Benjamin Walker, and Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. The room had much more of a "I'm here cause I want to be" vibe instead of an "I'm doing what I'm told" one. This increased tenfold on Sunday when panels from Fringe and Community had fans in stitches, more details of which can be found in my articles highlighting those panels tomorrow.

Giveaways
One of my favorite parts of any convention is giveaways, and this Wondercon had an eclectic mix of awesomeness. Fox handed out Weyland Industries business cards and 3D mini posters for Prometheus and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Battleship handed out heavy duty mini posters, Once Upon a Time created notebooks reminisicent of the book from the show, the Sound of my Voice booth had tattoos like Maggie's in the film and posters demonstrating the secret handshake, and the Fringe panel gave out raffle tickets, rewarding 50 of them with a free Fringe comic penned and then signed by Josh Jackson. 

Watchmen Prequels Calming Fears
Wondercon seemed to act a coming out party of sorts for the Before Watchmen series, set to launch in June. The beautiful #1 covers for each character were displayed at the DC booth and at their Saturday panel, the creators showed plenty of concept art as they talked about the process. Lots of people have been complaining about this series, but I am all for it. Why should Alan Moore's characters be untouchable? He who created the League of Extraordinary Gentleman will not condone his characters being used by anyone else? Really? The talent behind the upcoming prequel series is INCREDIBLE and they all radiate passion for this project, Len Wein in particular. Newsarama live blogged the panel and I highly recommend checking it out to assuage any fears you may have. 

LOOPER
Perhaps the best panel of the entire Saturday was Looper. The debut trailer brought the house down, stealing the show for many more than just me, and I felt like I could listen to Rian Johnson and Joseph Gordon Levitt talk forever. The panel was a regular love fest, with Levitt comparing Johnson to Spielberg and Nolan, noting that all three truly love movies, which shows in their work. More than one question directed love for Hit Record towards Levitt, and the admiration for him only grew when he expressed his love of The Matrix, Quantum Leap, and Isaac Asimov. When the audience reacted to his sci-fi shout outs, Levitt noted "You know you're in a cool room when Quantum Leap gets a bigger reaction than The Matrix." Johnson gave a much appreciated shout out to Primer, a film he loves, adding "I'm convinced Shane [Carruth] actually knows how time travel works." Consider this film now in my top five most anticipated flicks of 2012. Well done, boys.

Cabin in the Woods Screening
Although it's a damn shame this movie had no panel, robbing thousands of the chance to hear Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard, and that incredible cast goof off and talk shop for an hour, since this is a movie to best go into totally cold, perhaps it is for the best that my first true exposure to any part of it was a screening itself. Hosted by Geoff Boucher of the LA Times, the Cabin screening held at the Ultraluxe theaters (supposedly the most state of the art theater around, and yet, the screen was too dim...hmmm) was one of the major highlights of our Wondercon experience. Attendees randomly received passes to the event in issues of the Hero Complex magazine being passed out in front of the Convention Center. And this movie. THIS MOVIE. An absolute treat for horror fans, but accessible enough to be enjoyed by everyone, I cannot recommend Cabin in the Woods enough. The film is distinctly a Whedon/Goddard joint, and will fit perfectly into the oeuvre of work from all the Buffy-creators-post-Buffy. Speaking of Buffy creators post Buffy, the lovely Jane Espenson was in the audience as well and we have it on good authority that she too enjoyed the crap out of the film After the screening, there was a Q&A with Whedon and Goddard that answered some lingering questions and provided plenty of laughs. 

Nowhere To Go
Although I disliked everything about the layout of the Anaheim Convention Center (despite there being two sets of two escalators connecting the 2nd and 3rd levels, you could only go up one set and down the other. Why not have one up and one down in each set? WHY?!) and disliked the fact that getting anywhere in Anaheim is a pain in the ass, the fact that no one had anywhere to go actually made hanging out at night a whole lot more manageable. The Hilton Anaheim acted as what the Marriott next to Comic-Con used to be - the main hub for all libation consumption. Being the closest hotel to the convention center, the Hilton lobby was where professionals and fans alike spent their evenings. This led to the afterhours having a nice communal, classic con feel. Oh and the photo of Tintin has nothing to do with this, I just had to put it somewhere because ZOMG CUTENESS.

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Paleyfest 2012 - Vampire Diaries, How I Is Hearts You!

Saturday night at the Saban Theater in Los Angeles, The Vampire Diaries, now in its third season, returned to Paleyfest for the second time. During their 2010 appearance, the only actors who appeared were Nina Dobrev (Elena), Ian Somerhalder (Damon) and Paul Wesley (Stefan). This panel had not only the original trio, but Candice Accola (Caroline), Matt Davis (Alaric), and Kat Graham (Bonnie), plus showrunner Julie Plec.

Side note: I originally had no intention of attending The Vampire Diaries panel at Paleyfest, but then this little thing called wisdom teeth surgery happened. Since I'm 26 and was supposed to get them out, oh, 10 years ago, the recovery process took roughly three weeks. So how did I spend this time? I watched ALL of The Vampire Diaries, from start to finish, until I was completely caught up. I resisted for so long, believing there was no way it could be as good as I had been told, even though the people telling me this had great taste. I couldn't be happier that I finally gave in because HOLY CRAP do I love it. The show moves incredibly fast, yet no relationship or storyline ever feels rushed, the writing is smart, the actors are all incredibly talented and appealing, which I find is kind of rare on television lately, the mythology hits the most important tropes and diverges in the most interesting possible ways, and almost never is good and evil black and white - everyone exists in a shade of grey and we never know who to trust - or who is going to die. I highly recommend taking this show for a spin, especially if you have a history of being obsessed with vampire shows (ahem, Buffy).

So of course, with my newfound obsession coursing through my veins, I was ecstatic to accept an invite to the evening and revel in finally getting to see these actors interact with each other off screen. But first, we got to see Thursday's brand new episode, 1912, of course. Julie Plec asked us to keep the big reveals in the episode to ourselves, but I will say this - despite a serious lack of Caroline and Klaus, it's a huge episode, that moves the serial killer storyline into place as the next major arc of the season - and not in any way you could possibly see coming.

After the episode, moderator Debra Birnbaum brought out the panelists and after 10 minutes of episode discussion, which will stay private, as it was extremely spoilerific if you haven't seen the epyet, they jumped into the main part of the panel, which was simultaneously streaming online. What started as a normal panel session quickly degenerated (in the best way possible) into an almost free for all, with the actors taking the reigns away from the moderator and simply being as silly as possible, delving into long form jokes about Match.com, the casting couch, and fan fiction. Each actor came off in a very distinct way - Accola as friendly and upbeat, Wesley as intelligent and funny, Somerhalder as goofy and charming, Dobrev as shy, but expressive, Davis as delightfully strange, and Graham as reticent, but sweet & engaging if encouraged. The evening was so chock full of awesome moments, we decided to break them down for you into a list of highlights.

Lost References

Okay, fine, there was only one. On discussing whether Alaric would make it through the season, Somerhalder threw out, "Good luck, buddy, I've been killed on television before," which drew a hearty audience reaction.

Elena and…Alaric?

I'm not the only one who thinks Alaric and Elena have chemistry. When a potential love connection between Elijah and Elena was brought up, Plec responded, "I think Elijah has to get in line behind Alaric" and the audience went INSANE.  Wesley then brought up the movie The Guardian, Somerhalder noting "They made out." Plec brought up Matt Davis starting an Alaric/Elena campaign over Twitter, commenting that if that happened, it would be totally unacceptable, Dobrev agreeing that it would be inappropriate. But Somerhalder shot back, "and yet - fanTAStic! When the ratings slip…!" Later, when Birnbaum asked if Elena would ever end up with someone who wasn't a Salvator, Somerhalder offered "Hopefully Alaric."

@ErnestoRiley

Beginning a shipping campaign for Alaric and Elena isn't the only thing Matt Davis is doing on Twitter. Through his account @ernestoriley, Davis writes Vampire Diaries Fan Fiction. Really. He does. Remember how I said he was a little strange? Just recently he wrote a piece where Alaric gave Damon some advice, to wait on pursuing Elena until she had time to grow up and learn more about the world, like who John Lennon is, cause why would a 165 year old man want to date a naive 18 year old anyway? Truer words, Matt Davis. Truer words.

When Your Friend's Wife Plays Your Love Interest

Somerhalder told us a story about how when Davis found out Alaric was going to get a love interest this season, he was apparently over the moon, wondering who it would be, excited to get a love story like everyone else and for Alaric to "get some". And then of course, his love interest was cast with "his buddy's wife" (Torrey Devito, who plays Meredith, is married to Paul Wesley.) Somerhalder noted how horrified Davis was when he found out, and Wesley joked "HE'S horrified? Forget him!"

Real Life Coupledom

There were also plenty of glimpses into Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev's real life relationship during the almost ninety minute session. Somerhalder made a point to reference his relationship with Dobrev a couple times, first by making a joke about the women in his life torturing him before giving a glance at Dobrev, which can be found in gif-form here, and later by putting his jacket around her shoulders when he got cold. The audience went crazy both times, natch. Later, when Elena and Damon's evolving relationship came up, Plec noted, "Oh, [Damon] wanted to get in her pants from day one" to which Somerhalder replied "Who wouldn't?"

What Is To Come

This season Bonnie will be teaming up with Caroline a lot and will get a love interest that won't die! Or at least won't die yet. The love triangle may not come to THE head, but it will come to A head. Though if Dobrev had her way, Elena would travel abroad ("Gossip Girl did it!") to Italy and meet some non vampire Salvatores. But this season, "Maybe, she has a choice to make." We may also get to see a flashback of Elena's parents while they were still alive, and there was also a hint that not everyone is making it out out season three alive. On a lighter note, when the question was posed whether or not they would show off Kat Graham's voice in the future, perhaps with a drunken karaoke episode, Plec commented that everyone on the show is fairly musical, all the girls sing and back when David Anders was on the show, he played bongos, plus Plec obviously loves Once More With Feeling, and though she doesn't think they could pull off a musical episode, she would "LOVE a drunken karaoke night."

Riling Up The Audience

After Somerhalder joked about the show's low ratings, pissing off the loyal audience, Accola encouraged him to make it up to us by taking his shirt off, setting off perhaps the loudest I've ever heard an audience get outside of Hall H during a Twlight panel at Comic-Con. Note: He totally didn't follow through.

Industry Advice

Perhaps the coolest part of the entire panel was when an audience member asked about the experience of everyone on stage with getting yeses and nos, how they made it through the rejection, and any advice they can impart to the audience. What followed was a lengthy, fascinating discussion about the industry, including how Somerhalder bombed his network test so bad, he got a no, but Williamson fought for him to get a second chance, which led to him eventually getting the role. Somerhalder knew Damon was his and had to make it happen. Somerhalder, Wesley and Accola all offered great advice, Accola emphasizing positivity, with Wesley agreeing, "The single most important thing is believing in yourself." Accola also offered some extremely enlightened advice for aspiring artists "No doesn't mean never, it means not yet." Somerhalder reiterated the well known adage that luck is when opportunity meets preparation, so you as an artist must always be prepared so that when opportunity arises, you can grab it. He ended with "Every time you lose, you get better."

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The World of Downton Abbey: A Companion Book Done Right

As any fan of the British sensation Downton Abbey will tell you, the idea of waiting a whole year for new episodes (or 6 months if you're okay with that whole illegal downloading thing) is unbearable. So what to do while we wait? HOW TO FILL THE GAP?! Sure, similarly themed shows can help, but that's not the kind of filler I'm talking about. When I finished Season 2, I just wanted MORE, more of the world, more of the characters, more of the costumes, more of the Dowager Countess saying badass things, and the list goes on. Even the DVD of season two only has a half hour of extras! So what is the answer?! HOW DO WE GET OUR FIX?!

Fear not! Solution! Though it was released at the end of last year, no American dared to lay their eyes on companion book, The World of Downton Abbey until this past week, when the second series, spoiled even on the cover, had come to an end. But now that we're all of us on the same page (at least until September, when suddenly places like tumblr and twitter become a hotbed for major spoilage) I highly recommend picking up this book to make the time between now and then easier and in the process, make yourself appreciate what Downton Abbey has accomplished even more.

This companion book, by writer, editor and niece of Julian Fellowes, Jessica Fellowes, is the real deal. This history textbook meets coffee table photo book meet meets art book meets featurette meets interview meets quote book clocks in at almost 300 delectable pages. Unlike some other books for review that have landed on my desk recently, The World of Downton Abbey finds the perfect balance between being chock full of information, yet a breeze to read. It is divided into nine chapters - Family Life, Society, Change, Life in Service, Style, House & Estate, Romance, War and Behind The Scenes, plus at the very end there is a complete cast list and recommended further reading. The pages are colorful, filled with sidebars, photos, quotes and more to keep the eye engaged as well as the mind. This also allows for the option to read every word of the entire book, or if you're a guest in someone's home, or showing it to a friend, the ability to flip through, reading just side bars, excerpts from the teleplays, and quotes, and still get a sense of what the book is trying to teach.

Details after the jump!



The World of Downton Abbey has all of the regular trappings of a companion book in that respect. There is a whole section about the behind the scenes experience, accounts of a day on the set, quotes on what it's like for the actors to play these characters and play off of each other, costume sketches - the usual. But where this book really makes itself stand apart is how in depth it goes into the historical context of the show. Sure, watching it, you get a sense of, okay, clearly the Dowager Countess doesn't like how things are changing, clearly everyone has important reasons for not wanting Sybil to get involved in the suffragette movement, clearly it's absurd that Cora wouldn't get to pass her money onto her women, but it's also clear that it simply isn't an option, clearly some of these servants have aspirations beyond washing clothes, and so on. The show definitely let's us know where the conflict in class and change is, but as someone who isn't particularly educated in the massive changes Britain sustained from the turn of the century to World War II, I never had any real context for what was going on. But this book takes everything you might need to know, from the extremely relevant, like what the exact jobs of each person in the house might be, a full explanation as to why the Earl of Grantham would have an American wife, and the prominent danger of certain militant suffragette groups, to the less exactly topical but still completely important in world building, like how the cinema had evolved and when the first non stop transatlantic flight was completed. The book is littered with numerous one lines from the Dowager Countess, always relating to what is being discussed on that page, and after learning all about David Lloyd George,who would soon become PM, I suddenly understood the exchange,

Grantham: And Mr Lloyd George's new insurance measures will help"

Violet: "Please don't speak that man's name, we are about to eat."

What was a superficial understanding before became a complete one.

The book ends up useful as a manual of sorts as well, for Halloween costumes, a Downton Themed party, or if the SCA has an early 20th Century Britain division. Not only does the book go into incredible detail on the inspiration for the costumes, and how they were made or acquired, but there are sample menus for dinner or garden parties, receipies for food, shoe polish and shampoo, a guide to properly washing silver, helpful household suggestions, a breakdown of how every day would work, for both the calm upstairs and the bustling downstairs, details on the decor of the house, and what exactly each room would be used for, particulars on hair and makeup, and tips on word pronunciation.

And for those most concerned with the goings on off camera, aside from the numerous quotes from the actors, creators and production on what the experience is like, in the behind in the scenes chapter, we also get the whole story of how Downton was conceived, amazing shots of the cast shooting scenes as a cameraman moves on the dolly surrounding the dining table in a perfect circle, models of the downstairs set, which stands at Ealing Studios, and production tidbits like the reasons why we never see the characters eating at dinner Here we also get my favorite fun fact of all - that Maggie Smith has the entire cast "in stitches" whenever they are on set. I was also fascinated to learn that since the upstairs and downstairs are shot on different sets - Ealing Studios vs Highclere Castle, life imitates art in that some of the actors playing servants rarely if ever went to the castle, or when they did, suddenly felt a real life change in status that helped inform their performances. Plus did you know they often have historian Alastair Bruce on set to make sure everything happening is accurate? Or that Winston Churchill was born to an American mother who came over to Britain for an English husband who would accept new money, the way Cora did? Or that upstairs is mostly shot smoothly and downstairs handheld? Or that married women in that time got to have breakfast in bed? Or that all the actresses playing the daughters have only sisters in real life? I could go on for days. There are so many fun facts in this book. I LOVE FUN FACTS.

As you can probably tell by now, this book has A LOT to offer. Reading it not only brought me great joy, but helped me have a much more comprehensive understanding of Downton Abbey's historical context, something I was desperate for and having it all laid out, complete with parallels in the show and information on the figures that inspired particular characters was a wonderful treat. This is an absolutely must own for any fan of the show and will definitely take at least some of the sting out of waiting so damn long to find out what happens next in the world of Downton Abbey.

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Dear New Yorkers with ears: go to this show!

The phenomenal rock musician Damon Daunno will be performing this Monday night at Mercury Lounge in the LES. From his sweeping vocals to his great songwriting skills, everything about Daunno's music is fantastic. He regularly gets compared to Jeff Buckley--a comparison he's more than earned. Having had the pleasure of seeing him live a few times now, I highly recommend going to his upcoming show. At just $10 a ticket, it'll be a steal.

Damon Daunno
Mercury Lounge
Monday, March 12th
6:30pm
$10

His EP is also available for download on iTunes so get on that deal as well!

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Game Of Thrones Blu Ray Review: Easily A Must Own.

FINALLY. All of you non HBO subscribers out there who are sick of hearing about how awesome Game of Thrones is, without the ability to watch it, it is the dawn of a new era. An era where Game of Thrones Season one is out on DVD and all is right with the world. If you haven't seen the show yet, you may want to hold your horses now, as spoilers in this review are fairly inevitable - but heed these very important words: go buy or rent this blu-ray immediately and watch every episode. Don't walk, run. Don't drive, speed. Don't glide, fly. Don't take a mule, take a horse. I don't even KNOW WHAT I'm SAYING, just go WATCH IT.

For those of you who watched season one and are on the fence about picking up this Blu-Ray set? Well you can keep on reading and then your fate shall reveal itself. After the jump.

The Packaging

While not something like a mini Castle Black or King's Landing, that usually gets saved for the complete box set, the packaging for season one isn't half bad. An emblazoned slip cover brings a regal sense to this five disc set. Open it up and remove it from another protective piece of packaging and main characters grace the inside covers. Each disc contains episodes and bonus features, and a booklet with house/family trees and a map of Westeros is included to keep things straight for you first timers. Or second timers. Or any timers. Things can get confusing. Nothing too grand, but still a nicer than your standard Blu-Ray packaging.

The Episodes

Each episode has 5 options - play, play with in episode guide, play with commentary, recap of previous episodes, and preview of current episode, if you can't stay awake for that next episode cause it's 4am, but you need a little morsel of what's to come.

The Show

Few, if any television programs, have ever been made on this kind of scale, at this intense level of consistent quality. Granted we've only had ten episodes so far, but with full support from author George R.R. Martin and a creative team as talented as it gets, there is little doubt in my mind that when all is said and done, Game of Thrones will be widely regarded as one of the best television shows of all time. It is perhaps the only television adaptation to ever be so faithful to the source material, it is practically word for word, and staying true to this material is weaved into the very fabric of the series' existence. It would not exist were it not 100% faithful. It would make no sense. For a lot of shows based on books, it's the premise and characters that matter, with borrowed plot lines here and there, case in point Gossip Girl, True Blood or The Vampire Diaries. But Game of Thrones takes more of a filmic approach to adaptation. You wouldn't put Lord of the Rings on the big screen and change what happens to the characters. That would be sacrilege. Same with Game of Thrones. So far the only changes from the book have been whatever would facilitate it's journey into a new medium, but that's it. It's truly something wonderful to be behold, for fans of the book and non fans alike. Rewatching the show is just as riveting as the first time around, as there was endless foreshadowing of certain events that went right over my head the first time around.

Audio Commentary

With a show like this, commentary is a must. There is just SO much to learn, about the sets, locations, the costumes, the actors, the weapons, storyboarding, similarities and differences to the book, the process, continuity errors, fixing those errors, addressing specific complaints, and so on. There are mild spoilers for the books, but just little things like, mentioning that a character is still around in book five. The commentary is not only filled with information about the technical aspects of the show, but hooks you back in emotionally by mentioning when a scene is the last time two characters might see each other, or the only time three characters ever have a scene together. Very disappointed there is no commentary for episode nine, probably the biggest negative in the entire box set.

There are seven commentaries in total,

*Winter is Coming. Executive producers/writers David Benioff & D.B. Weiss - informative, production wise, especially about the differences between the original and reshot pilot.

*The Kingsroad. Lena Headey (Cersei), Mark Addy (Robert) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime) - Hilarious. Be sure to count how many times Lena Heady calls various characters "shits", especially Joffrey.

*Lord Snow. Sophie Turner (Sansa), Maisie Williams (Arya) and Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran) - Adorable. They sing along to the opening theme, and keep talking about how nice everyone is. I mean, amazing.

*Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things. Writer Bryan Cogman and Kit Harington (Jon Snow) - Where to get the writer's perspective on adapting specific scenes, introductions and relationships.

*A Golden Crown. Director Daniel Minahan, Peter Dinklage (Tyrion), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys) and Harry Lloyd (Viserys) - This is where to go for a lot of clever laughs and intelligent commentary and discussion, has a nice flow to it. Worth it just to hear them praising Maisie Williams.

*The Pointy End. Co-executive producer/author George R.R. Martin. Fantastic. This is where to go to hear most about the parallels to the books, and what didn't make the final cut deliberately, and what Martin wishes was still there.

*Fire and Blood. Benioff, Weiss and director Alan Taylor. A very comprehensive commentary track that goes into more technical aspects as well as discussing elements of the story and providing behind the scenes anecdotes. Also, keep your eyes peeled for George W. Bush's head on a pike.

Now, This is a given, but you know, worth saying. DO NOT watch the commentary if you haven't seen the show yet.  If you haven't seen the show, you can feel free to use the Inside Guide feature if you find yourself very confused.

In Episode Guide

Aside from audio commentary, the blu ray offers an In-Episode Guide, which follows the action and provides you with helpful hints regarding characters, lands and histories, letting you know who is in every scene and where they are, plus gives you the option of hearing one of 24 legends of Westeros told by the characters themselves, also watchable in the Complete Guide (see below) to help fill in some of the gaps. Even for someone who has seen all of season one and read the book, being able to get real time details on where you are and who you are watching at any given time was very cool. At any time you can exit into the Complete Guide and get even more in depth. If you are wondering, yes you can have the guide on while you listen to commentary, you just have to turn it on after the episode is already playing.

Recaps

You have the option of watching the "previously on Game of Thrones" recaps, which if you aren't watching every one in a row, is pretty helpful, as it reminds you of the specifics you need to know going into each episode, though I know some people consider this a spoiler.

Extras

Complete Guide to Westeros (Disc 1, over an hour)

FAVORITE ALERT: As I touched on earlier, at any time during the In Episode Guide, you can exit into the Complete Guide, which features all of the information on characters and maps that shows up in episode, but with a bit more detail, especially when it comes to the extensive maps that lay out and explain the land, plus thorough and engaging accounts of the houses and histories. The characters themselves are the ones recounting these stories with fantastic voiceover set to beautiful lightly animated sketches or art resembling a story book or stained glass. Pretty much the greatest thing ever. Helps you to understand any reference that has come up or will come up. Here, we also different perspectives on things like the Night's Watch, when the Targaryens overtook Westeros, and the Mad Kind Aeyrs. Seeing the history of just how Robert took the throne and getting a real sense of the scene for how Ned's father and brother were killed by the Mad King and witnessed by Jamie Lannister and the whole court, made my heart break thinking of Ned's own fate that would come years later, after surviving through Aerys demanding his head. FUCKING JOFFREY. The first person accounts, Mark Addy and Harry Lloyd in particular, do a stellar job with their memories of the rebellion. Plus, with the sketches, we get an idea of what they looked like when they were younger, which is kind of fun. You really get a sense of why everyone feels the way they do about everyone else.  This guide is so brilliantly stuffed with information, it'll make you feel like an expert by the time you are finished and have you completely prepped for the second season.

Character Profiles (Disc 1, 30:42)

Profiles on 15 characters that feature footage and interviews with each actor talking about their characters and how they feel about everyone else. The profiles play in alphabetical order: Arya, Bran, Catelyn, Cersei, Daenerys, Jamie, Jon Snow, Khal Drogo (the most amusing one since his normal accent is so pedestrian), Ned, Littlefinger, Robb, Robert Baratheon, Sansa, Tyrion, Viserys. Definitely worth watching all the way through.

Anatomy of an Episode: A Golden Crown (Disc 3, about 61)

One of the best features of the entire Blu-Ray and one I hope is added for every episode for season two. This reminded me a lot of Maximum Movie Mode, an extra I loved on the Harry Potter blu rays. It's essentially commentary with visual aids, picture in picture style, and getting to see every person talking allows a host of folks to speak about what's on screen, because it's not up to us to try and discern their voices from one another. This allows us to find out about specific fights, sets, special effects, and more, from almost every member of the production staff. My favorite bit of information was learning how four departments came together to make the golden crown sequence work.

Making Game of Thrones (Disc 5, 30:02)

A behind the scenes featurette with footage allegedly unavailable anywhere else - on set interviews with cast, crew, and Martin himself, plus tons of behind the scenes footage. We learn how the creators got involved (their love of the source material is so so evident), and about casting, locations (they scouted 14 countries!), score, production design, set decoration, art direction, construction managing, why the different kingdoms look the way they do and how they look the way they do, special effects, costumes, animal wrangling, fight direction, stunt coordination, prop managing, and more, talking to every member of the crew involved in any of that. Here we also learn that the composer is pretty hot. Plus, PUPPIES!

From the Book to the Screen (Disc 5, 5:14)

Interviews with Martin, Benioff and Weiss on adapting the books. Mostly an overlap with the longer Making Of featurette, but definitely goes into a tiny bit more depth on this specific subject for the last two minutes. I love how included Martin was in this entire process.

Creating The Show Open (Disc 5, 5:07)

Reasons behind the Emmy winning opening credit design with concept art and details on creation and development. Interviews with Benioff and Weiss, plus Hameed Shaukat, the producer of the credits, Rob Feng, the art director, Chris Sanchez, the lead designer, and Angus Wall, the creative director who conceived of the whole idea.

Creating the Dothraki Language (Disc 5, 5:27)

Some of this reuses footage from the featurette, but not as much as the Book to Screen bit. This section goes way more into the specifics of how the language was created. The man who came up with it was David J. Peterson from the Language Creation Society, based on the information about the Dothraki in the books. Fascinating what was taken into consideration while developing this language. Every translation had the spelling, plus the phonetic pronunciation and an mp3 of Peterson speaking it. Also a look at how speaking the language worked for the actors and were aided by the on set dialogue coach. This section rules.

The Night's Watch (Disc 5, 8:07)

More on the Night's Watch, the wall, the Wildlings, the Whitewalkers, and what lies north of the wall, from Martin, Weiss, Benioff, and the actors playing the men who have taken the black. Any extra featuring Martin talking about his creation is awesome in my book, and this definitely qualifies. Emphasizes one of the coolest things about the Night's Watch that I didn't realize - it's really the only place in Westeros where hard work can get you to rise in the ranks - doesn't matter where you came from, only what you do once you're there.

Hidden Dragon Eggs (Disc ??, ?:??)

So there are hidden dragon eggs spread across the 5 discs that offer more exclusive content, but HBO warned that they require skill, and I couldn't find any :(

This is one of those rare occasions where I would recommend buying this right now, no matter what. If you've seen the show and read the book, getting to hear the commentaries (especially George R.R. Martin's) and a look into the filmic aspects of the experience and how they adapted the books will be a dream. If you haven't read the books, it's worth it not only for that, but for the complete histories, that will help provide background and context. If you haven't watched the show, stop reading this immediately, go buy it, and watch the whole series in one day, and then enjoy all of the extras. You have till April 1st to be caught up! I wouldn't even wait for the box set of the complete series as people often do, because the extras are too good and informative to ignore before season two begins. Fantastic box set, clearly everyone involved with Game of Thrones cares about it to their very cores.

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leetUP 2012: Welcome, Nerd Art Party. It's About Time.

Last night marked the first ever leetUP, the brainchild of G4 creator Charles Hirschhorn, and Attack of the Show host Kevin Pereria, that could best be described as a "Nerd Carnival." The idea was to create a kind of mix of a convention with an art party, encouraging a bunch of nerds (and I include myself in the definition of "nerd," obviously) to get together, drink, mingle, play, and watch their favorite personalities podcast it out on stage. For those of you that couldn't attend, I thought I would lay out the evening for you.

leetUP was held at Club Nokia downtown. While the layout of the space was perfect for this kind of event and could clearly handle the ample A/V needs, there were some major drawbacks as well. For one, the drinks were MASSIVELY expensive. As in 8-12 bucks each for a tiny plastic cup of wine or liquor. I don't drink beer generally, but if I did, it was hardly the cheaper option. The only food available (I assume because those were the rules of the space) were the disgusting refrigerated options from Club Nokia itself. Plus the security was bizarrely tight (metal detectors? I have to take my jewelry off? Really?), I heard Ticketmaster, who sells tix for Club Nokia, had an insane service charge, our parking cost $25, and the line to pick up tickets was unreasonably long, with no separate entry for press. Still, none of this was the fault of the organizers or producers, so I don't mean this as a criticism of the event, but rather as an encouragement to find a more accommodating venue next year. 

But on to the good stuff, which was everything else. After the ticket takers, but before entering the space, there was a merch table set up with items being sold by any guests, DJs and sponsors. In retrospect, I really wish I had picked up one of the Tru Protection anti glare iPad screens and taken more of an in depth look at everything else offered. 

Inside the doors, to our right was a giant bar that struck us as rather space-shippy. A sign told us we could only have two drinks maximum, but we laughed at it and then had three. Unfortunately, 3 drinks for each of us ended up costing a hefty $66 bucks. That plus parking came out to $91, and for the people that bought tickets off on ticketmaster? Easily $150 bucks for two to attend and drink over the course of five hours. Again, not the fault of the producers, but eff you, Club Nokia.

In the center of the space was the giant general admission area, with a huge stage, balcony up top for VIPs, and huge lightboard. Around the perimeter were the various funzones. To the right, past the bar, was the gaming area. Here there were a bunch of wiis set up, and a classic arcade game section, where my +1 and I had a blast trying to get a handle on Burger Time. We died a lot. But had a damn good time doing it.

To the left of the bar was the step and repeat with a red carpet, a Media Hound booth, and a mini gallery of some awesome pieces from the ACME archives.  Any attendee could take their photo on the red carpet, which is always fun, and even cooler, Media Hound would put your photo on their website if you created your own personal movie playlist. Let me backtrack. Media Hound is a new service that tells you how you can access any movie or tv show instantly (legally of course) and at what cost. This would have been handy for my "How to watch all the academy award nominated movie" article a week back! My friend created a 90s Weekend Jam with all TV shows from SNICK and TGIF and the always wonderful @meli_molina came up with "Best original movies that have been or will be remade" - an idea that everyone at Media Hound loved and got lots of love over the course of the evening. There was a whiteboard up for writing ideas for playlists, and computers available for sifting through the playlists created earlier in the evening. 

The rest after the jump!

In the center, surrounding the lightboard area, were some other fun stations, including playing with bucky balls (WANT!) and a booth for Tru Protection, a great accessory company specializing in screens and cases for iPhones and iPads that is "female and minority run," socially conscious, and makes a point of getting involved with charities. 

On to the show itself. Kevin Pereira acted as MC for the night, naturally. Before he took the stage, DJ R-Rated was spinning, taking requests from Twitter and engaging in fun contests like offering prizes to people who could guess the theme song he was playing. Around 8pm, he wrapped up his set and Pereira introduced the evening with a brief comedy set before bringing out the first guest, Jimmy Pardo. Pardo did a fun stand up routine, and then the first panel began. For about an hour, Felicia Day, Alex Albrecht and Harley from Epic Meal Time took to the stage to talk about making videos on the internet, you tube comments, and general entertaining conversation. 

The living room like set helped create an easy going atmosphere that encouraged everyone on stage to let loose a little and allowed the audience to choose either to get up close and listen or hang back at the bar/fun stations, socialize, and pay attention to what was happening on stage, also playing on screens around the venue, whenever they felt like it. 

After an Epic Meal Time inspired audience-members-eating-disgusting-things contest, the panel wrapped up and DJ Mike Relm began his set, which was absolutely killer. During this break was when we did most of our exploring and socializing, including deciding the DJ was the best ever and should be snatched up for Comic-Con parties NOW. At around 10, Ask a Ninja came on stage and I think killed Justin Beiber? I had been drinking a lot by that point. Then Pereira jokingly said Kevin Smith and Doug Benson never showed, so the evening was over. Some people actually believed him and left, which I don't THINK was the intention. Shortly after, the final panel began, featuring Kevin Smith, Chris Hardwick, Doug Benson and Greg Fitzsimmons. Smith dominated the beginning of the panel, and was so hilarious, as usual, that I kind of wished he had gotten a solo spot or Q&A, since I always have to miss those at Comic-Con now and love them so much. 

Here, the late night, relaxed vibe I was referring to earlier also brought out the blue. But you can't really expect to get those guys on stage together and NOT talk about jerking off and anal sex. Unlike conventions, which these folks are mostly used to, there seemed to be no rules here, and the panelists reveled in it. Benson was clearly high out of his mind, f-bombs were dropped left and right - the whole thing was bridging on anarchy, in the best way possible. Nerd anarchy! One of my favorite moments was when Doug Benson made an awkward reference to Glee that NO ONE in the audience understood. Nothing like outing a stoner as a Glee fan. The panel was a raucous good time, and even though we had to book it at 11, I heard the audience interaction portion involved a honey badger and multiple bongs and that once everything had finished, tons of items were given away on the stage. Which reminds me. I heard there was a way to win a Roomba, but I never found out how. I want a Roomba, Kevin Pereira! 

All in all, a hilarious, drunken, nerdy evening was had. I'm already looking forward to next year's leetUP, though I beg of you leetUP folk to find a new venue, and get some food trucks involved! Otherwise, an aces evening. Be sure to keep an eye on leetup.com for the podcast of the event and information on when the evening may be coming to your town. 

For all of my photos of the evening, head here

For the official leetUP photos, head here

Keep an eye on the leetUP website to get to hear the podcast of the panels for yourself!

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