Comic-Con: Astro Boy, Sorority Row, and Some Movie Called Twilight

We spent most of our day on Thursday in Hall H at the San Diego convention center. Hall H is the biggest room in the convention and because it holds the most people it usually has all the high profile events. After the Disney 3D panel Summit Entertainment hosted a panel which featured three upcoming releases for the studio. These included the animated kids movie Astro Boy which featured voice talent Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland) and Kristen Bell (Heroes) for a look at the movie due in theaters this October. The footage was mostly what we had seen before in the trailer with a little extra added to make it “exclusive.” The second feature was for the new horror movie Sorority Row. The cast consists of several hot chicks all of whom had a chance to stand at the microphone to tell the audience the “complex” nature of the characters they play.

The clip from Sorority Row was once again just a longer cut trailer, however as much as it seems I am bashing this movie, I will admit I want to see it. The movie looks like a fun slasher flick, and although it will probably not be all that good, it has the potential to be a good popcorn flick.

The third part of the Summit Entertainment panel was what everyone was there to see. The cast of Twilght Saga: New Moon hit the stage to promote the sequel to the hit blockbuster Twilight. Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, and director Chris Weitz attended the panel where all you could hear were the ear piercing screams of teenage girls in Hall H. The cast brought two exclusive clips for the fans to see and oh boy did the fans enjoy them. I will just state right away that I realize these movies are not made for my demographic. I respect the passion these fans have for the movies but I just could not enjoy Twilight. On a positive note I will say that New Moon looks much better, but I will most definitely not get my hopes up.

The first clip we watched was of Bella (Stewart) riding a dirt bike, crashing the bike, and cutting up her head and bleeding. Jacob (Lautner) comes to her rescue by taking off his shirt to clean up the blood. When Lautner takes off his shirt my ears began to bleed as 6000 teenage girls screamed all at once. The second clip showed Bella in Italy running to stop Edward (Pattinson) from walking out into the sunlight. These scenes look cool, but not having read the book I am unsure of what is really going on. My problem with Twilight isn’t with the fact that I think the fans are over passionate (that is awesome) but with the fact that these actors are really stupid. Listening to them talk for over thirty minutes was mind numbing. I will give props to Lautner for being the only actor there to answer a question coherently. Between Pattinson and Stewart I am not sure who looked and sounded like more of a train wreck during this panel.

Overall the Summit Entertainment panel was a wash. It was just a bridge between the 3D Disney panel and Cameron presenting his Avatar footage. I appreciate the passion these fans have for the film, and I hope the film is an improvement over the first, but for this moviegoer, I was definitely in the minority when it came to Hall H and my opinion of Twilight.