chris . word

This whole time change thing has got my internal clock messed up or something as I’m normally, at least these days, tired at this time of night and ready to go to sleep. Yes, its sad. I know.

You wouldn’t think one hour more or less would make that much of a difference, but apparently it does. Anyway, it gives me a chance to do a blog post and also watch some great (or not-so-great) TV shows or movies.

Right now, I’m choosing between ‘Disturbia’, ‘Open Water 2: Adrift’ or ‘Executive Decision’ and am leaning towards the first one, mostly because its an updated version of one of my favorite Hitchcock films: ‘Rear Window.’ Here’s the trailer, just in case you’re interested.

Or, there’s probably something already recorded on the Tivo I could watch. At the moment, the Tivo is filled with shows like the series finale of ‘The Wire’, episodes of ‘The Tudors’ and probably a couple ‘Reaper’ episodes too. Also, probably a few movies as well including ‘Torn Curtain’ (another great Hitchcock film) and ‘Last King of Scotland’ starring Forrest Whitaker as Idi Amin.

Oh, I almost forgot about all the stuff on the Apple TV that streams from my media iMac in the office and also has been downloaded fro the iTunes music/TV/movies store. On that device, I believe, are episodes of ‘Weeds’, ‘Baslisk’, ‘Babylon 5′ and movies like ‘Eastern Promises’, ‘Shoot ‘em Up’ and ‘Live Free or Die Hard.’

So, more things to consider when trying to decide how to keep myself entertained while I can’t sleep. With all this media and entertainment basically at my fingertips 24/7, why am I worried about trying to sleep? Maybe I should just enjoy being awake and catch up on all my movie and TV viewing.

Choices, choices, choices. I guess its a good thing but really, I probably watch too much TV. Maybe, instead of sitting here and watching programs created by other people i should get back to creating some of my own?

I think that’s a good idea . . . right after this show’s over.

Direct and to the point, just how it should be. Plus, I happen to agree with him

Apparently, the previous video is not the complete story because there’s this. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Are we really alone?

Build and launch your own X-Wing Fighter? Sounds impossible? Not for these guys. Although, it doesn’t end so well. 

This is pretty funny and features some pretty good performances (at least by potato standards).

Enjoy and happy Turkey Day all. 

For some reason I’m up late watching Conquest of the Planet of the Apes on Sci-Fi Channel. I don’t know the exact reason for watching it other than it happens to be on and I like Planet of the Apes movies. This is the one where the apes revolt against their human oppressors and take over the planet in futuristic 1991. The movie was actually released in 1972 and was partially filmed in the then very futuristic-looking Century City Mall — now known as Westfield Century City.

A great deal of the film was also shot at the very nice UC Irvine Campus as well. The college’s buildings have also seen quite a bit of film production over the years, including this Apes film and sequences from other films like Ocean’s Eleven, Poltergeist and TVs Arrested Development.

If you ever get to Irvine, or better yet, LA you can go to the mall and see the actual locations used in the film. They are still there and in most cases look pretty much the same. Century City is a pretty popular area where other films like Die Hard and Liar Liar (starring Jim Carrey) were filmed — which makes sense, especially in the case of Die Hard, as the entire area used to be part of the giant backlot of 20th Century Fox Studios. In fact, the infamous Nakatomi building in the film is actually the Fox Tower.

But really, you can’t go very many places in LA without seeing a place where something was filmed for some movie or TV show. In fact, its hard to drive through the city sometimes without running into some actual filming taking place on the streets, in the buildings or at the swimming pool of your favorite hotel.

You can always tell when you see old and obviouly retired motocycle cops sitting on their motorcycles on the side of the road that you’re getting near to some film or TV production. Orange cones are many times a telltale sign as well. Also, look for the big trucks filled with all sorts of equipment and a whole bunch of people mostly standing around waiting to spring into action at a moments notice.

Really, that’s what a lot of film and TV production is — standing around. Well, sometimes, if you’re smart and/or important, you actually get to sit. Either way, you end up waiting for the opportunity to do something much of the time. Not that people who work in production don’t work very, very, very hard. They do, believe me. I’ve been there. Its just that you have a lot of downtime and waiting around and then a period of intense activity. Then, its back to waiting again. That’s just the nature of the business. Hurry up and wait.

Man, what a week. Going to the Comic-Con is like running a marathon. I’m pretty beat (and beat-up) but I did manage to get quite a bit of stuff written while at the Con, meet some great people and have a good time during those rare moments when I wasn’t running around or pushing my way into this panel or that one. If you’ve got some time on your hands, head on over to Cinematical or Comic Book Resources and check out the Comic-Con coverage. There’s a crap load of it.

One of the best things about the Con for me was getting to spend more time with people that I only talk to on the phone or via email. I also get to meet a couple people in person that I’ve never met before. That was very cool and may lead to other opportunities for me, which is always a good thing. Another major highlight for me was getting the chance to meet and interview one of the head honchos of one of my favorite TV shows of all time: Battlestar Galactica.

I spent some time speaking to Mr. Mark Verheiden, Co-Exec. Producer of Battlestar, about the show, his movie projects and a bunch of other stuff. He was a very nice guy and talked as openly as he could about things. All and all a pleasant experience and one that I would like to repeat again sometime. It was that fun. That interview is up over at CBR now. Right here.

Other than that, there were the obligatory celebrity sightings like Jessica Alba, Robert Downey, Jr. and Ali Larter from the TV show Heroes (who looked smashing, btw). Although, as I live and work in LA and see celebs pretty regularly at my local Starbucks, walking their dogs in the park or eating at local restaurants, that part was less interesting to me than some other things.

If I lived in Minnesota or somewhere like that I would probably be much more excited. Although, seeing Ali Larter and shaking Stan Lee’s hand was pretty darn cool. I’ll come back later with some more info, but in the meantime go to the other sites cause we need the hits. Thanks.

This is an interesting piece in LA Times regarding the death of the comic book business and how it might be saved by a move to the web. I don’t know for sure if that’s right but I do know I really like the feeling of a book in my hands. I don’t especially love reading things online. I’ll do it but its far more fun to flip the pages and feel the paper when reading a “real” book — comic or otherwise.

Although, the piece makes some interesting points and I gotta believe the cost of production and distribution would drop quite a bit for comics shown on the web versus those in print form. In the end, economics will probably make the decision for most publishers. If comic books sell in print form and make a profit, we’ll still see them sold that way. If not, well then its off to the web we go.

In other (related) news, I will be traveling down to San Diego next week for the madness known as the San Diego Comic Con. This year I’ll be covering it for CBR and also doing some stuff for Cinematical as well — along with my pal Kevin Kelly who is a far more talented writer than I am. So, if you want the latest and greatest news from the Con, check out those two sites next week.

If you happen to be going to the Con, feel free to say hello. Look for me on the show floor, in the various panels or on the CBR boat docked next door at the Marriott marina! Yes, CBR honcho Jonah Weiland got a boat for this years Con. Yes, he’s a pretty fun guy.

This morning at the gym I found a penny on the floor and it was heads up. So, I picked it up and put it in my pocket. What could be better than finding something like that today — the luckiest day of all? I don’t know but something pretty darn special better happen to me today. If not, what’s the point of being superstitious enough to pick up a penny on 7 – 7 – 07 anyway?

If you just don’t feel very lucky even though today should make you feel that way, at least you can take a look at this picture of Megan Fox (from a recent FHM Magazine article), currently co-starring in the mega-hit Tansformers. Dating her — now that would be lucky.

Whatever happens, good luck to all of you today.

Sure, you could call it cheesy but what the hell. its got action, swords, guns, explosions and hot babes. All you could ever want in a movie. And heck, even Eric Roberts is in it too. What could be better? Enjoy!