Photo gallery: Comic-Con 2009
Cameron Diaz and Oklahoma native James Marsden promote their film “The Box” at Comic-Con 2009 in San Diego, Calif. (All photos by the Associated Press)
The massive comic book and pop culture extravaganza that is Comic-Con International took place last week in San Diego, Calif.
The 2009 event was crammed with thousands of fans and jam-packed with stars promoting several big upcoming movies, including “Iron Man 2,” “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Sherlock Holmes” and more.
For your viewing enjoyment, I’ve scoured the Associated Press photos from the event and gathered some of the best images for a series of Comic-Con ’09 photo galleries.
The Oklahoman’s Matt Price spent last week at Comic-Con and also posted numerous photos, stories and news flashes from the event. Click here to see just one of his many photo galleries.
The “Star Wars” Comic-Con panel was televised Sunday on G4 and included interviews about the new “Star Wars: In Concert.” The music and multimedia touring show is coming to Oklahoma City and Tulsa in October, and from the looks of the panel, it’s going to be an eye-popping, entertaining event.
Rick Fox of the Los Angeles Lakers pretends to be arrested by “Star Wars” Storm Troopers at Comic-Con.
People walk past a huge “Avatar” amp suit at the Mattel booth at Comic-Con.
Director James Cameron and actress Sigourney Weaver attend the Ubisoft “Avatar: The Game” party during Comic-Con.
Josh Brolin promotes his upcoming comic book film “Jonah Hex” at Comic-Con.
Megan Fox also stars in “Jonah Hex” and was on hand at Comic-Con to promote the movie.
From left, actress Olivia Wilde and actors Garrett Hedlund and Jeff Bridges speak about their upcoming movie “Tron Legacy” at Comic-Con.
See more photos after the break.
Dfest delights with music diversity
Alexandra Lawn of Ra Ra Riot performs at Tulsa’s Dfest over the weekend. (Photo by George Lang)
If you missed Tulsa’s huge Dfest Music Conference and Festival over the weekend - or if you went and already want to relive the joy - The Oklahoman’s George Lang not only covered the event, he also took numerous pictures of the music extravaganza.
He has two big Dfest photo galleries posted today at his Staticblog. Click here to be transported to that little piece of music lovers’ heaven. And start making plans now to attend next summer’s Dfest.
-BAM
“Harry Potter & Half-Blood Prince” falls to No. 2 at box office, opening in IMAX this week
“G-Force”
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
The 3-D talking guinea pigs caper “G-Force” managed to out-duel the magical sixth Harry Potter film, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” at the box office over the weekend.
According to the Associated Press, “G-Force,” a Disney film from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, opened with $32.2 million over the weekend.
“Half-Blood Prince” was a close second with $30 million. But that represented a surprisingly large 61 percent drop-off from its massive opening last weekend of $79.5 million, according to the AP.
The sixth installment in the Harry Potter series actually opened on Wednesday, July 15, with huge turnout at midnight screenings. It made $159.7 million, a franchise best, in its first five days, according to EW.com.
“Half-Blood Prince” has now made $222 million total, which is $14 million ahead of where the fifth film, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” was after 12 days in theaters in 2007, according to the AP. Passing the $200 million mark in less than two weeks is no small feat, even for the world’s most famous boy wizard.
The AP also notes that “Half-Blood Prince” is opening on 166 IMAX screens this week. The last “Harry Potter” movie showed in IMAX from the time it opened in theaters.
“So we’re coming in with this one (in IMAX) a little bit late, but it’s going to be a great addition and it’ll keep our momentum going,” Dan Fellman, Warner Bros.’ head of distribution, told the AP.
What the AP story doesn’t note is why “Half-Blood Prince” is just now making it to IMAX screens. Slashfilm.com reported earlier this summer that the IMAX release of “Half-Blood Prince” had to be pushed back two weeks because Paramount had inked a deal to give “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” an exclusive four-week run at IMAX.
“When Warner Bros moved the release of Half Blood Prince back to July 15th, they didn’t take into account Transformer’s IMAX exclusivity. So now Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince won’t be shown on IMAX screens until July 29th 2009, two weeks after its theatrical 35mm release. Will people wait to pay a premium price to see the few 3D sequences in the IMAX version?” Peter Sciretta pondered in the Slashfilm story.
He asks a good question, and I’m willing to bet that some Harry Potter fans rushed out last week to see the long-awaited film (remember, it was originally set for release in fall 2008) in 35 mm with plans to see it in IMAX a second time. That could account for a portion of the big drop-off for “Half-Blood Prince”; some diehards may be waiting for the IMAX release before taking their crucial second and third trips to see the film.
While Oklahoma City still doesn’t have an IMAX theater – which is an outrage that forces OKC cinephiles to go to Tulsa or Dallas to see large-scale versions of big movies – notching huge numbers in IMAX helped “The Dark Knight” and “Transformers 2″ reach their mega-blockbuster status. It will be interesting to see how Harry Potter’s IMAX predicament affects the box office totals for “Half-Blood Prince.”
I saw the sixth Harry Potter film during its opening weekend and was impressed and thoroughly entertained. The films have continued to improve throughout the series, especially under David Yates’ direction, though none of them can even touch the magic of J.K. Rowling’s amazing books.
“Half-Blood Prince” certainly didn’t deserve to come in second to a guinea pig spy flick that the Mouse House refused to screen in advance for critics in order to make a fast, dirty profit off of as many families as possible. I haven’t seen “G-Force,” so I can’t judge it too harshly, but it is depressing to see Disney once again mine the old, stale talking-animal tactic for quick cash.
The success of “G-Force” does illustrate a need for more family-friendly fare in theaters. The top two films this week are both rated PG. But they appeal to totally different segments of the PG audience.
With its more than 2 1/2-hour runtime – along with scary images, some violence and dramatic death scene – “Half-Blood Prince” is for tweens, teens and adult fans of the books. It isn’t for the preschool or early elementary set.
That’s precisely the pint-sized audience that “G-Force,” with its cute computer-generated guinea pig heroes, 90-minute runtime and mild action/rude humor PG rating, is targeting.
In the absence of something more creative, the film clearly hit the mark with parents desperate to give their kids something to do in the waning days of summer vacation.
-BAM
Box Office Report
Well, in a small surprise to box office analysts, the family film “G-Force” managed to knock “Harry Potter” out of the top spot at the box office. However, Potter fans shouldn’t worry; the sixth film still fared well this week and its total is well above $200 million.
In other new releases this week, Katherine Heigl’s new romantic comedy “The Ugly Truth” performed respectably, despite the bad reviews it received. The new horror film “Orphan” also landed in the top five for the week.
Here are the top ten movies for this weekend, courtesy of the IMDB:
1.) “G-Force” $32.2 million (New)
2.) “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” $30 million ($222 million)
3.) “The Ugly Truth” $27 million (New)
4.) “Orphan” $12.8 million (New)
5.) “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” $8.2 million ($171 million)
6.) “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” $8 million ($379 million)
7.) “The Hangover” $6.46 million ($247 million)
8.) “The Proposal” $6.42 million ($140 million)
9.) “Public Enemies” $4.17 million ($88.1 million)
10.) “Bruno” $2.72 million ($56.5 million)
—3D
Monday Catchy Quote
A catchy quote from a movie, TV show or other source to brighten the beginning of your week:
Tony: You should never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
- Click here to learn the source
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on July 27
The Rocketboys
Today’s featured event:
TULSA – Hear Austin, Texas-based indie band The Rocketboys with Dear Future at 7 tonight at The Marquee, 222 N Main Street.
To hear The Rocketboys’ music, go to http://www.myspace.com/rocketboys.
For more information on the show, go to www.ticketstorm.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Mama E’s to be featured Monday on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives”
Guy Fieri (Photo by Paul B. Southerland/The Oklahoman Archives)
Oklahoma City soul food eatery Mama E’s Wings & Waffles will be featured Monday on the new episode of the hit Food Network show “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.”
And you might just see yours truly and my family on TV when the episode premieres.
The episode will debut at 9 p.m. Monday, according to FoodNetwork.com. Just to be safe, I called Mama E’s the other day and confirmed that Monday is the run date.
Titled “Mama’s Cookin’” (the name has changed from the title I originally saw online), the episode will feature Mama E’s as well as restaurants in Dallas and Los Angeles. Here is the episode description from FoodNetwork.com:
Guy Fieri rolls out to places still doin’ it mama’s way: In Oklahoma City, a couple doing wings & waffles soul food style; in Dallas, a family home turned family restaurant; and in LA, a Polish joint in a strip mall serving pierogis & stuffed cabbage.
The episode will air again at midnight Tuesday and at 8 p.m. Aug. 14, according to the Web site.
If you’ll remember, I blogged here back in May that my family and I turned out for the filming at Mama E’s. We were interviewed by the crew; filmed eating the world’s messiest food, fried, smothered ribs; and went back a few days later to meet Fieri.
We’re looking forward to seeing the episode, not only because we might be in it, but also because Mama E’s is just the kind of hidden gem that deserves to be on the show.
While in Oklahoma in May, Fieri and his crew also filmed at Cattlemen’s, Nic’s, Ingrid’s, Eischen’s in Okarche and The Diner in Norman. Those pieces will be spread out over several episodes.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on July 26
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Today’s featured event:
TULSA - Hear Hollywood Undead with Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Mest and The Sleeping at 7 tonight at Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N Main in Tulsa.
For more information, go to www.cainsballroom.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Oklahoma country stars to be featured in CMA Music Festival TV special
Brooks & Dunn (The Oklahoman Archives photo)
Miranda Lambert (Associated Press photo)
Reba McEntire (AP photo)
ABC will air performances from the 2009 CMA Music Festival, along with ”revealing” segments with country music stars, Aug. 31.
The TV special “CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock” will broadcast from 7 to 10 p.m. Monday, Aug. 31 on ABC. The annual music special, expanding to three hours for the first time, will air in HD with 5.1-channel surround sound.
The show will include performances by Oklahomans Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn and Miranda Lambert, along with Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Kenny Chesney, Julianne Hough, Jamey Johnson, Kid Rock, Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride, Jake Owen, Brad Paisley, Kellie Pickler, John Rich, Darius Rucker, Sugarland, Taylor Swif, and Zac Brown Band.
In addition, Kid Rock will perform his smash hit “Picture” with McBride, while Wynonna and Naomi Judd reunite as The Judds to perform together for the first time at the CMA Music Festival in six years.
The special will show highlights from the CMA Music Festival, which was June 11-14 in Nashville, Tenn. On- and off-stage segments and day-in-the-life vignettes showcasing the personalities and lifestyles of fan favorites will be presented, including:
- Aldean declares it “Ladies Night at the CMA Music Festival” during a nightclub concert. He treats everyone to a performance of his hit, “She’s Country” that segues to his performance at LP field.
- Viewers encounter Paisley during a quiet moment alone on his tour bus speaking about his fans then encountering hundreds of them as they greet him outside his bus. His personal recollections then segue to Paisley and his band electrifying a standing-room-only crowd at Fuel club with his hit song, “Then” to LP Field where he sings “American Saturday Night.”
- Pickler’s off-stage persona is captured as she spends the day with fans, charming them with her quick wit and sweet disposition. Pickler’s admirers join her for some shopping at famous Nashville stores such as Ernest Tubb’s Record Shop, where she autographs and gives some lucky fans her own CD’s and stops by Mike’s Soda Shop to taste “Kellie Pickler” ice cream. Later that night Pickler performs “Best Days of Your Life” at Fuel.
- The special takes a candid look at the hectic and fun day-in-the-life of Hough from getting ready at home to the convention center to a slew of press interviews such as “Good Morning America” with “All My Children’s” Cameron Mathison. She then heads to sound check and wardrobe changes all the while meeting fans all along the way.
Throughout the special, Pickler introduces interviews with some of the Festival’s biggest performers in this multi-star segment. Brooks & Dunn (which includes former Tulsan Ronnie Dunn), Chesney, McBride, McEntire, Rucker, and Sugarland offer celebrity insight and share their personal stories from the road, home and tours with viewers. Then Swift answers submitted questions from her six biggest fans and later she surprises them in a meet and greet.
The annual CMA Music Festival runs for four days filled with more than 100 hours of live music, 30 hours of autograph signings, hundreds of artists and celebrities, and a party list of thousands of avid fans. This is the fifth time ABC will broadcast a post-fest special, which invites the whole country to America’s biggest country music bash. This year an average of 56,000 fans attended each day of CMA Music Festival, its biggest turnout yet.
-BAM
Rascal Flatts’ “Summer Nights” gets video, featured on ESPN
Not only is Rascal Flatts’ latest hit single “Summer Nights” climbing the country radio charts but the song can also be heard on ESPN’s Major League Baseball coverage. The fun music video to the song also made its premiere this week.
Fans of Major League Baseball can also hear Rascal Flatts’ “Summer Nights” during ESPN televised games, according to a news release.
The country band, which includes Joe Don Rooney of Picher, took a different approach to the video for “Summer Nights” and doesn’t appear within the music video itself. Instead, Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Rooney can be seen in the intro and outro for the video. The video was directed by Shaun Silva and shot in Pismo Beach, Calif., “Summer Nights.”
Rascal Flatts recently placed its fourth consecutive studio album atop the Top 200 chart with the release of “Unstoppable,” with first week sales of 351,000 albums. It also became the biggest country release of 2009 and the best in country first week sales since November 2008. Since they launched their career in 2000, LeVox, DeMarcus and Rooney have sold 20 million albums, scored 11 No. 1 singles and 18 top 10 hits .
Check out the entertaining video for “Summer Nights,” posted here from Yahoo! Music:
-BAM
