Mandy Anne Murray

There’s so much to say about a trip to Comic Con. This year, we went three days instead of the two of last year—the first year at Comic Con. We learned some things (like it’s better to buy the four-day pass, no matter what), saw some awesome stuff, and met some cool people.

Before we begin, I must apologize for my camera. It takes awesome pictures, outside, in the sun, but inside and from far away, everything gets blurry and not so nice. I will be getting a new camera prior to ComicCon 2010, mark my words. Some of these were also taken with a cell phone camera. I tried.

Day one (Thursday) was filled with standing in line.

Standing in line for badges began at 5:30.

(Me and The Boyf. Please notice I am nerded out.)

We ended up standing in back of a really nice couple formerly of San Antonio, who now live in L.A. We talked a bunch about Dr. Who, Torchwood, etc. And the menfolk traded gamertags.

Then we wandered—more like ran—over to the line for Hall H. People had been camping out in this line since 2 p.m. the previous day. All for New Moon. Two friends of ours had gotten in line at 5 a.m. We’re pretty serious, but not ridiculously so.

They let us into the Hall at 10ish, and we settled into seats in the middle of the room with 6,500 of our closest friends. Sources say there were somewhere around 7,500 people waiting to get in … I think that might be erring on the low side.

We sat almost directly underneath one of the giant HD screens. (Note to self for next year, if you can’t sit closer, sit in front of one of those screens.)

The first panel we watched was on Disney 3D. Patton Oswalt hosted, and he was hilarious.

Robert Zemekis talked about A Christmas Carol, and we got to see snippets of the movie. Jim Carrey is “playing” the role of Scrooge (the movie is computer generated, but the facial features have been taken from the actors), as well as 7 or so other characters. I’m not a fan of one person in this many roles. I don’t know what it is about it, it just bothers me. This is why I have yet to see The Polar Express.

Next up was Alice in Wonderland. Excuse my *squee*. Tim Burton came out to talk a little about the movie, and showed us a trailer. Oswalt played it once … then had them immediately afterwards play it again. (Before Burton left the stage at the end of the bit, we watched it again. Something tells me Oswalt was a fan. But if you haven’t watched it, definitely do it now.)

Partway through the panel, Oswalt asked Burton if there was anything else he’d brought along to show. Burton hemmed and hawed a little, mentioning only that he had an “imaginary friend” that liked to travel with him from time to time.

The Hall went nuts. People had been whispering about the possibility of a certain member of the cast showing up all morning. And then he walked out on stage.

Johnny Depp, ladies and gentleman. No, really. The crowd went crazy, possibly even more so than for the cast of New Moon. I mean, really. It was JOHNNY DEPP. Who could blame us?

He said, literally, three words, and then walked backstage. But that was enough for me.

(More Alice pics.)

The Tron: Legacy group closed the Disney panel. It looks good … I haven’t seen the original Tron in ages, so now I feel like I need to. The music behind all the stuff they showed us—by Daft Punk—really made the clips.

Olivia Wilde

Jeff Bridges

Next up came another 3-D movie ’stravaganza, which featured clips from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs—Andy Samberg and Anna Faris came out on stage, waved, and then left—The Hole, and The Final Destination. (Yeah, the fourth in the series has added a “The” to the title, perhaps to signify this really is the last one? We can only hope.)

Finally, it was time for what most of the fangirls in the audience had been waiting for. The Summit panel.

Of course, they drew us in with New Moon and they made us watch some other stuff before giving us the goods.

Freddie Highmore and Kristen Bell came out to show us a bit from Astro Boy.

The boy has certainly sprouted since Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

A whole bunch of girls I don’t know, and two that I’ve at least heard of (Rumer Willis and Audrina Patridge) came out to show us a little from Sorority Row.

And then the screaming started. The Boyf took a cell phone video of the madness, just so he could have people listen to the insanity.

Chris Weitz, Rob Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart and Ashley Greene showed up to talk to the crazies us about The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

They spoke about working on the movie, showed us some clips (one of the motorcycle scene in which Jake and Bella first give their refurbished motorcycles a try, and the other of the trip into the city of Volterra) and answered questions from the crowd.

Chris Weitz was the shining star of the afternoon. He really came across as knowing a lot about the whole shebang. And he was funny. When the news was first announced that he’d be running the show, I wasn’s sure how to feel. I knew from various sources that About a Boy was a great adaptation of the novel, and I enjoyed the movie. But Golden Compass was such a fiasco. I know that it’s not just the director that’s in control of the movie, but I’m pretty sure they play a large part.

He spoke a little about his last movie, and although he didn’t name it, I knew he was speaking about Golden Compass, and how control had been taken from him; the final product was something he didn’t like. I breathed a sigh of relief after he said that.

Rob was gorgeous, ruffled, and as awkward as all get out—as usual

(This was the screen above our heads.)

Taylor was completely put together, and seemed way more mature than his 17 years. The Boyf turned to me at one point and said, “I think he’s the attractive one in this group.” I giggled, loudly. Oh, and Taylor’s teeth are WHITE.

Kristen was a mess. She looked not only like she’d just rolled out of bed, but also like she’d been attacked during the night with a weedwhacker, and had been wearing the same clothes for days. She’s a pretty well spoken person, when she’s not being awkward and/or playing at being mature. I feel/hope like a lot of her “strangeness” comes from her being nervous; I know I come across as bitchy when I’m placed in uncomfortable situations with people I don’t know.

Ashley looked gorgeous and poised, and at times a little bored. But I was super glad to see here there; I was itching for more Cullen.

The best line of the day came when the actors were asked what they looked forward to in filming Eclipse. Kristen mentioned that she was really looking forward to being pregnant … and Rob immediately chimed in that he couldn’t wait to be a part of the c-section.

(More New Moon pics.)

The final panel of the day was James Cameron’s Avatar.

I hadn’t heard much about the movie, other than it was nearly 15 years in the making, so I was pleasantly surprised at the almost 25 minutes of footage he brought to show us. It’s a movie about humans on another world who have their brains/consciousnesses transferred into the bodies of human/alien clones. The aliens are absolutely gorgeous, and the creatures and plants of the new world, Pandora, are stunning. It’s obvious to me, from first seeing The Abyss long ago and now these snippets, that Cameron has a really good imagination.

James Cameron

Sigourney Weaver

Zoe Saldana

Sam Worthington (Who wasn’t there, but I took a picture anyway.)

(More Avatar pics.)

By the time the panels were over, we were starving, so we headed across the street to the Gaslamp District to hunt and gather. We went looking for a Hard Rock Cafe in the Hard Rock Hotel (where we were accosted by a “journalist” looking for Rob Pattinson—”Do you know if he’s staying here? I heard he’s staying here.”) but there was none. There was, however, a cafe in the back that had been taken over by the SyFy (blech) Channel and turned into Cafe Diem. (Good eye, Love.) There were cardboard cutouts of all the channel’s stars, specially made menus (we stole one) and TVs on the walls playing previews for the shows. It was awesome. And the cheeseburger was fantastic.

After eating, we headed back inside to the exhibit hall and wandered around a bit, in awe, before calling it quits on a very long, but very awesome day.

Look for part two of my wrap-up tomorrow or Thursday; it’ll encompass both Friday and Saturday.

<3