as we got off the plane, the crisp chill in the air reminds me I haven't packed properly, i can hear my little Mom, "bring some warmies" and no, i didn't.
that didn't stop us from getting on the cable car (with a pile of Buddhist monks in bright orange) and heading for Fisherman's Wharf:
we ate delicious Dungeoness crab sandwiches and headed back to our Tenderloin district hotel. (a neighboring marquee) :
we walked over to the Mosconne Center where CHarles and the rest of the Comic Book Defense League was toiling away to set up the WonderCon booth: look at this architecture we saw on the way:
Charles had a favorite Chinese place near the complex and someone, not me, ordered this dish that is nick-named "SuperBacon"...
we went to an art opening in North Beach area and i was inspired by the FOURTEEN YEAR-OLD photographer, Mister Larson..
Charles and Drew on the night street.
first day of Con:
stormtroopers, getting ready for Mark Hamill's appearance...Carrie Fisher comes on Saturday:
Pam, our old friend, called me with the electrifying words "do you want to go to the sneak IMAX showing of WATCHMEN??" i said YES immediately, but then found out it was a midnight for the almost three hour film. The ever-smart Jill Thompson said, save it and go support the box office. With heavy heart, I didn't go. but oh, i wanted to. (i awoke to a text from Pam, STUNNING) All I want to know, did they put Bubastis in??!?
the incredibly talented artist Dave Johnson sketched in our booth, his lines are so economical... I even signed a few of my comic SUGAR in the Tori Amos COMIC BOOK TATTOO collection. you know that made me goofily happy.
FAIRIES!! these sassy ladies from SLeeping Beauty made my day:
and just who is this steam punk?
We had a very successful Friday, I tried unsucessfully to post this blog, the hotel firewalls were tough! so I have another one to post shortly, with photos from days 2 and 3, before I head off to the east coast for Neil and Charles' NYC BLUEBERRY GIRL signing. more details to follow.
thanks to Boss for all the twittering about the Con, I met quite a few of you followers!
Driving in LA has long been known to be dangerous.
Now these fabulous color-drenched WATCHMEN billboards are making things even more scary, as I find myself dreamily staring at them, while the road unrolls unnoticed beneath me...
look:
on buses everywhere:
this was a real showstopper, the one above the ?? Tiger Yard Sale on Venice @ La Brea....
they knew at ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY that I love The COmedian most, so they sent me THIS version of the collectible covers...
I will be in NEW YORK CITY when the film comes out, and I will be getting no love there, it is tough to get into a theater there on the slowest of days...so, i guess it will be a BALTIMORE IMAX i will give my dollars to.
Now, back to packing up Neverwear goodies for WONDERCON this weekend in San Francisco. I will be working the CBLDF BOOTH # 725 so please come and see me. I will have some special giveaways and while we are mentioning it, am still in need of the perfect BATGIRL costume...
ps am already breaking my own rule of posting same post here and on Neverwear blog, but my worlds do, in fact, collide. COME SEE ME!!!
i really dislike the word "hate" except when it is the title of one of my favorite comic books.
so when I read THIS ARTICLE suggesting that Coraline might be the only teenager to hate the Jonas Brothers, I was a bit sad.
I mean, I know business is business, and things move along in the movie world fairly quickly.
It just strikes me as wrong to suggest that 3D is the ONLY way to see CORALINE.... not true! yes, it's definitely better but still an amazing viewing experience in 2D. I know it was made in 3D....and I am the 3D queen. (I went to see BOLT, for pete's sake.) I saw BEOWULF in and out of 3D. I saw NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS in both versions. It all still works.
in the words of reporter Kevin Mason: If Kevin, Joe and Nick weren’t landing Friday, there’s no telling how much stronger little blue-haired Coraline could have performed.
me again, Henry Selick's intricate work is still there on the screen, please, just don't give up movie-viewers...
we went to CORALINE in 3D (again!) (and here we are at the popcorn counter, supporting the Hollywood economy):
and here is Sean with the boys:
even when I told him that I might show up in the Jonas Brothers film somewhere (i was on the tour while the 3D crews were filming), he says he's not sure he wants to see it...
can you find me in our end-of-tour crew shot?
ps there is a new blog up on my Furrytiger journal about our : film shoot
this has been a very busy 2009 so far, but we always take time for our Oscar week ritual. from far away, we see the tower with the little gold statue:
every year since they built the Kodak Theater I go down and pad around looking at the crew setting up the red carpet.
and we eat sushi...
and usually we go to the little exhibit where you can hold one of the (surprisingly heavy) statues, like so:
but this year, that exhibit was in Chicago---so we didn't. maybe next year?
QUICK UPDATE< the Oscar winner for make up on BENJAMIN BUTON, Greg Cannom, just thanked our own MILES TEVES Super congrats to Miles, he invited me to come to the studio a few years ago, and showed me the amazing models of Brad Pitt's face in several ages, from baby baby to old man...of course I culdn't take photos and had to sign a non-disclosure agreement...Miles, one day you'll be up there yourself, darling.
***and the new Oscars look grande, the screenwriter's montage was the first time they have made writing interesting to watch.
ps there is a new blog up over at furrytiger.com about our little movie shoot. THE EXECUTIVE
the waving streams of light from outside the window signaled that premiere night approached:
that morning, first up were several more interviews for our man Neil. That he could still string sensible sentences together and Twitter at the same time is a testament to his stamina. He was able to round up several thousand followers in the Twitter community to spread the CORALINE word.
CORALINE creator Henry Selick, Neil and Maddy under the marquee...
the theatre was next door to the hotel, so it was an easy commute (see how close by spotting Maddy in the hotel window over the sign)
here's my view of the klieg lights:
we looked in at the big press line for the red carpet through the windows and could smell the popcorn from outside:
if you look on the red side, you can see Maddy in her gorgeous green Grecian goddess dress chatting with Henry. Robert Bailey Jr (voice of Wybie) and our Neil being interviewed on the right:
the very beautiful Teri Hatcher (photo by Drew, only he was tall enough to get over the press line):
cameras. everywhere.:
on to the after party...we had been hearing rumblings about for some time, how the Laika animators were re-building some of the sets on-site, along with many of the props and puppets from the film. We followed the button lumieres around the block to the Portland Museum of Art:
see Henry & Neil up ahead of me? I was so busy taking photos, i lagged behind:
when entering, the first thing you see is the intricate blooming CORALINE garden:
here is another snippet of a movie from my camera: (I will new-years-reso to get better at these, but I wanted to show the button "go-bos"--the swirling light cut outs on the party floor)
Cynthia, one of the lead painters, gave us a fascinating demo of how the faces popped on and off to form the many expressions:
I was taken with the use of cookie sheets and speed racks, they were like tiny plasticine cookies baked in the imagination of these dedicated artists.
she had two glass cases of my favorites, Spink & Forcible, and looking at how tiny and delicate the paint strokes would have to be, close-up, I got a better sense of the real amount of work:
flash-back bonus: an old shot from when we were in Portland in January of Neil signing an unpainted model of the teeny naked dancer:
the Dad/piano set:
bits and bobs from a creative desktop:
some of the incarnations of Other Mother:
we spent a good deal of time trying to find Shelley, our favorite lady from Laika (see her peeking up in the background) and I must say, young Harry Selick (in the argyle sweater) who does one of the voices in the film, has grown up into quite a charmer:
the food and drink laid out everywhere was a beautiful temptation. I drank the WIllamette Valley pinot noir and yes, I got a little wine lip (the red crust on the lips, this is not to say I got lippy) Here is a view of the wine glass stacks and in the background is my favorite set, the dreamy firefly house:
oh how i love you, pumpkins!
here is a closer view:
even closer:
here is Maddy with Teri:
and with Dakota:
here is Georgina, head of the puppet department and Neil and Drew and Travis Knight, lead animator:
As we made the rounds, people approached Neil and he tirelessly chatted and posed for photos all night(if any of you reading this got your photo taken by me, email me at "neverwear@gaiman.net" and I will send you a copy) One sweet girl gave him a handmade teapot which i packed carefully in his suitcase this morning. Mister Gaiman went home almost without a voice, by the way.
The crew of LAIKA toiled away to set this up for the party, foregoing the premiere to work all night, and then, they stayed OVERnight and took down the sets, total dedication. That speaks volumes for Henry too, that he is the leader of such a fierce pack.
an honor and a pleasure to be a part of this magical night in Portland.
Now William and Nancye are taking us to see SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE at a theater that you can eat pizza in. Am i in heaven?
