Live(ish) from San Diego Comic Con!

Anne Marie here, writing from the Big Daddy of all conventions, San Diego Comic Con! For the next four days, over 100,000 geeks and geekettes of all ages will take over downtown San Diego. Haters state that SDCC "sold out" and stopped being about comics long ago; I say that's a good thing. Studios, TV networks, video game companies, and publishers all vie for a place here.  Think of SDCC like an all-inclusionary media festival, if most of the media was made up of trailers, demos, behind-the-scenes panels, and free tchotchkes in the shape of Simpsons characters.

SDCC has been playing an increasingly large role in the pop culture landscape. As many as half of 2014's Top 10 Blockbusters had a presence at Comic Con last year. But it's not just about the lowbrow. The Academy Award-winning Gravity premiered its trailer at a panel last year where director Alfonso Cuaron discussed its now-famous technological challenges. The year before, Quentin Tarantino assembled the cast of Django Unchained to talk about his eventual-Oscar-winning film. But awards aside, SDCC is all about the fans.  

a detail from the first Ant-Man poster 

Each year, the studios vie for fans' attention (and social media connections), and two studios always loom large: Warner Bros and Marvel. This year, there are rumbles that WB will not only show off the new Batman/Superman film, but may give us a glimpse at the Justice League. Marvel, the crowned king of Comic Con, will not be overshadowed. They've been planting bread crumbs in the form of press releases leading up to SDCC, but will Saturday be when we finally learn what films are attached to that maddening set of release dates Marvel teased earlier this week? Will they redeem Ant Man after Edgar Wright's very public departure? A little panel can go a long way towards smoothing things over. 20th Century Fox and Legendary will also be making noise with everything from Batman '66 to a rumored Godzilla 2. And that's just what's happening in the movies!

For the next four days, I'll have my thumb on the pulse of pop culture, and I'll be sharing what I find with you. Follow me on Twitter for live updates, and stay tuned here for interviews, panel reviews, and more. Have something you want me to see? At Comic Con yourself? Tweet me or post in to comments below!

Tragically...

... this is the closest you will ever get to Jake Gyllenhaal's lips. 

A Year with Kate: The Iron Petticoat (1956)

Episode 30 of 52:  In which you’d think Katharine Hepburn would have learned to stay away from accents by now.

The 50s were a time of great growth for Kate. The studio system collapsed and stars became more autonomous (Kate had left MGM after Pat & Mike) and Kate used the opportunity to break out of the glamorous-but-dull mold she'd been thrust into. She pursued scripts, directors, and collaborations that electrified her onscreen and off. She toured in Shakespeare, worked with Oscar-nominated directors, and forged a career renaissance even as her contemporaries flailed. Yes, the films she made contained the dreaded "S" word, but if her ladies were single, they were also single-minded and smart. Kate could have been pushed to the side. Instead she found great roles and challenged herself with the opportunities a collapsing system afforded. If her films seem troublesome now, the craftsmanship and artistic growth of this period cannot be denied.

And then there's The Iron Petticoat.

Folks, I sprained my shoulder on Friday and ended up in the emergency room. Despite the pain, I would almost rather go through it again than re-watch The Iron Petticoat. It’s that bad. [More...]

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Yes No Maybe So: The Imitation Game

The Imitation Game trailer was released a few days ago, I think, but I'm just now breaking its code. If your patience has expired waiting for me to Yes No Maybe So this, that makes you Charles Dance. Nobody wants to be Charles Dance! He will never understand the importance of Yes No Maybe So but you do.

So join me for indecipherable gadgets, Keira's clipped sass, and elaborate hand gestures after the jump

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TIFF Lineup 2014

There's been a snafu with my TIFF credentials so I'm currently in limbo. Therefore today's listing is not an 'OMG Look What Prezzies I Get in September' humble brag, merely today's listing. Which of these 46 films hitting Toronto (not a complete list) are you most excited for? If I do go to Toronto I may well use you readers as film-picking guide.

TIFF Lineup So Far 
100s more films to come
(If we've already covered the film somehow, it's linked up) 

I demand custody of... your Oscar!

Black and White (Mike Binder) - Kevin Costner reunites with his Upside of Anger helmer for a racial custody battle drama. Octavia Spencer co-stars
Breakup Buddies (Ning Hao) - a "raunchy romantic comedy" 
Cake (Daniel Branz) directs Jennifer Aniston and other stars in this drama about a depression support group 
Coming Home (Zhang Yimou) - Gong Li doesn't remember her husband, returned from mail, in this drama
Dearest (Peter Ho-sun Chan) 
The Dead Lands (Toa Frazer) a New Zealand action epic. You don't hear that every day.

40 more after the jump...

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