Thursday, July 12, 2012
Comic Con - Reviews are in '666 Park'
Friday, February 3, 2012
The Fray - Scars & Stories due out 2/7/12

Piano rock giants The Fray are dropping their long-awaited third full-length 2/7 on Epic Records. Now we're releasing some exclusive work we've done with the group chronicling "A Day in the Life" of the band. We also had the chance to interview lead singer Isaac Slade who graciously answered our questions on everything from the pitfalls of working in the mainstream music industry to the self-doubt that plagued him while working on his first two albums to the frustrations of often being singled out as a "Christian" artist. Laid back and easy going, Slade showed that the sincerity and genuineness that shines through in the Fray's music crosses over into his real-world persona as well.
Debuting with as much success as the Fray would cause even the most confident performer to fret about future releases. The Fray's debut album, How to Save a Life, peaked at #14 on the Billboard 200 and went double platinum. It spawned two massively successful singles, and the "How to Save a Life" single is tied for the sixth longest charting single on Billboard's Hot 100. Their self-titled follow up debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and went gold. Yet, despite such impressive feats to live up to, Slade seems more confident in the band's music than ever before.
"The first record was full of fear" Slade explained and the band was worried that this was the only chance they were going to have to get their music out. By the time The Fray LP was released, their new concern was hitting a "sophomore slump." Slade was quick to state that now the band is just concerned about "releasing a bad-ass third record." The first two albums were built out of Slade's need for "everybody to like me" and a "nice guy shell" he says he had growing up. He's able to say, "I trust my instincts a lot more now". Rather than trying to please everyone else, Isaac Slade and the rest of the Fray are simply making music for themselves now.
Much of the Fray's carefully driven piano rock/pop sound has been compared to the British piano acts like Keane and the mega-successful Coldplay, and while Isaac Slade says he enjoys those bands and that there are "much worse comparisons to have," he also offered up some surprising insights into the bands he felt had the most influence on himself and the other members of the Fray. Slade talked about heavily being into "late '90s college rock" and acts like Counting Crows, Better than Ezra, Pearl Jam, Tori Amos, Wilco, and Bush. Modern experimental rocker Gotye also got a mention from Slade as a more current act that he has been listening to.
Although the Fray don't make any overtly religious music, the band's past heavy involvement with churches in their local Denver has often led to the Fray being pegged as a "Christian" band. While Slade says the mainstream music industry has never tried to force him and his bandmates into a particular niche market, "the Christian market does. They try to sink their teeth into us." but since the band doesn't "sing about Jesus," they've managed to avoid that label. Slade was frustrated that the press seem to only be obsessed with rock acts that are Christian. Slade knows artists that are Christian, Buddhist, and Muslim but only the Christian artists seems to get pegged and specifically talks about how no one talks about the Killers' religion (Brandon Flowers is Mormon). Slade simply wants "to be loved or hated based on our music", not the band's religion.
During his time touring, Slade has had chances to interact with one of the biggest names in the music world (U2 who they toured with) and one of the biggest names in American politics (President Bill Clinton). While touring with U2, the Fray was taught an important lesson by U2's spiritual advisor who talked about how despite being one of the most successful bands in the history of popular music, U2 "never talks about being bigger. They talk about being better." That has become Isaac Slade's outlook on the future success of the Fray. They don't want "to get more vanilla" or "stop trying." Slade said "if bigger comes, I'll take it," but the band's focus is simply on being better, not making more money or playing bigger venues.
With the last-minute cancellation of Bryan McKnight, the Fray also had the chance to play at Hillary Clinton's birthday party, where Isaac Slade managed to embarrass himself in front of the former POTUS. Noticing that President Clinton was wearing an old and worn-out friendship bracelet on his hand, Slade made a friendly, jesting comment to the President about the bracelet. After the President smirked and walked away, Slade was pulled aside by Chelsea Clinton who explained that it was a bracelet given to the President by a survivor of the Serbian wars in Sarajevo and that President Clinton had refused to take it off even when going in for his open heart surgery.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the interview was Slade's advice for all of the aspiring musicians. "If at all humanly possible, don't do music for a living," Slade warned. "I love it. So glad I do it," Slade continued but he contends that playing music for fun rather than professionally keeps you "pure," "innocent," and "awesome." Doing it for a living exposes you to the "very, very murky waters of the entertainment industry." Though if you insist on pursuing it for a career, Slade says to just keep at it and keep working.
Once again, the Fray's new album drops 2/7.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Why The IGN Theater Is A Science: Dalin’s Quick Review of Saturday’s Big Panels.
AVENGERS - Assemble at NYCC

"The Avengers" assembled Saturday night at New York Comic Con 2011 -- and it was pretty awesome. Some of the principal cast members of the upcoming Marvel superhero epic were in attendance, including Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Evans, an unannounced Mark Ruffalo and even Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige.
At times it felt more like a sporting event. There was uncontrollable screaming, shaking and maybe even a few tears for a few lucky fans who were able to ask the stars questions. The noise was deafening. The panel opened with the trailer (and let me tell you, it looked even more amazing on the big screen), and the screaming and cheering was so loud, you couldn't hear a thing. But here's what The Huffington Post did learn, judging by scream levels: Fans love Tom Hiddleston's Loki, but aren't so impressed with Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow.
But the biggest cheers of the night came from the announcement that director Joss Whedon had cut new footage to be screened at Comic Con. What follows is all of the spoiler-y action and the six things that we learned at "The Avengers" panel at New York Comic Con:
New footage reveals that Bruce Banner hasn't turned into The Hulk in two years -- and he doesn't really want to talk about it.
The footage shows Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) tricking Banner (Mark Ruffalo) into a confrontation in India, and it's full of sexual tension. Nick Fury sends Black Widow (Romanoff) to find Banner because he needs Banner and his scientific mind to help with the Cosmic Cube. Meanwhile, Romanoff teases Banner about his little secret, and Banner reveals he hasn't turned into The Hulk in two years. It's sort of a touchy subject, as he gets a little testy and Romanoff pulls out her gun. Another scene shows Tony Stark (Robert Downy Jr.) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) at Stark Tower, where Loki tells Stark that he has an army waiting for them. In a third scene, Stark tests Banner (by zapping him) in the Stark labs to see if The Hulk will appear.
Mark Ruffalo claims that he's the only actor who officially gets to play Bruce Banner and The Hulk.
Previous films based about Bruce Banner have leaned heavily on CGI to create The Hulk, but in "The Avengers," Ruffalo will actually play Hulk using stop-action, stop-motion capture. Think "Avatar" but greener.
Everybody loves Tom Hiddleston.
Seriously. The cast loves him -- especially Chris Evans -- and the fans must really love him, because Hiddleston was the subject of almost every single question asked during the Q&A. Everyone wanted to talk about Loki. At one point, when Chris Evans was finally asked a question (okay, it was a panel question, but that counts, right?), he said, "Sorry, I got lost in Tom's glow. What was the question? Was it about Tom? I love Tom, too."
Perhaps supervillans are more interesting than superheroes? Or is the Norse god of mischief just that bad-ass? Or is it because he can sing? For the last question of the night, Hiddleston recalled an incident from drama school when his classmates said he looked like Gene Wilder, so he then wooed the crowd with the theme from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." Now if he was dressed as Loki, that would have been quite a sight. Regardless, it looks like Hiddleston may be the true breakout star of this "Avengers" film.
Clark Gregg made up his own "Avengers" theme song
Regardless of all the Tom Hiddleston love in the IGN Theater, I really love Clark Gregg. Not only does he seem like an awesome guy, but I have a soft spot for Agent Phil Coulson. The crowd prompted Gregg to perform the "Avengers" theme song he wrote, and he eventually did sing it for the crowd -- but not before telling the crowd to imagine Trent Reznor singing it. Here's a sample of the lyrics: "We've got muscles so bulky, and we have a Hulky."
Gregg also wins for funniest line of the night. When asked how it felt to see all of the Avengers assembled together (minus The Hulk), Gregg replied, "I felt like it was the 'Make-A-Wish Foundation,' like I only had a week to live and no one told me, so this was how they were going to break the news to me."
The Avengers assembled! ... in Albuquerque for a little post-filming fun.
It started with a text. Gregg revealed that the greatest text message he ever received in his life was from Chis Evans, and it said simply "Assemble." The cast then reminisced about a post-shoot gathering in Albuquerque -- a night that no one can seem to remember. There was a lot of dancing, and Gregg seemed to believe that Scarlett Johansson had the best moves in the Avengers bunch. However, Evans and Hemsworth didn't take part in the dancing, instead they were trading workout tips.
"I look over," said Hiddleston, "And there was Chris Evans asking Chris Hemsworth, 'But how do you get that right here?' and Hemsworth was like, 'I don't know, just work out, mate.'"
Kevin Feige is in pre-production talks for "Iron Man 3" with director Shane Black.
Feige calls it Phase 2 of the Avengers Initiative and will lead into an "Avengers" sequel. Feige also confirmed a post-credits scene at the end of "Avengers." He also mentioned that "Guardians of the Galaxy" would be its own movie and won't be introduced in any of the other movies.
Walking Dead: Shane Walsh, Jon Bernthal, describes the various mannerisms that make Shane unique


The actor who plays Shane Walsh, Jon Bernthal, describes the various mannerisms that make Shane unique and dishes on which survivor he would most want by his side in the event of a zombie apocalypse.
Q: I didn't think this was possible, but the walkers have gotten even more terrifying this year.
A: Greg Nicotero is the best in the business, we all know that. Last year he blew all of our minds by turning gruesome vulgarity into beautiful art. What I'm seeing this season is that there's a specificity with each zombie. You can actually tell who they were before they got infected and how they got infected and where they were bit. I think that's really what we're trying to do with the show: nothing is taken for granted.
Q: A lot of people all have dreams about work. Do you ever have dreams about walkers, or dreams that you're in character?
A: Yeah, I do. And I hate zombies. Call me a silly method actor but you spend all day hunting them and killing them and running from them and there you go. I love the people that create them and the people that play them, but the zombies themselves I hate. When I go to a publicity event and there's some guy paid to be a zombie for the night and they walk up to me, my first instinct is to take their heads off.
Q: Shane always gets to tote the big guns. Do you enjoy acting with a gun on set? Are you gun person?
A: You know I do love Shane's shotgun. In real life I kind of have a shotgun similar to it, but I'm not a huge gun guy. Only thing about Shane's gun is it's super loud and attracts other zombies. We shoot blanks on set and there's still a good kickback.
Q: Shane and Rick have a love-hate relationship. Do you have a lifelong friend like that?
A: Man I think a lot of people have that relationship with me!
Q: Have you enjoyed playing a character with a dark side this season?
A: I think that Shane really has figured out that in this world it's all about making hard decisions. If you have a group of people and you're trying to survive what do you do if one person is holding you back? Do you get rid of that person? Or do you do the "right thing" and keep that person alive? I think Shane has discovered this new world order; he discovered it in Season 1 when he beat Ed up down by the water in Season 1 or when he trained the gun on Rick. Things like guilt and shame -- are those valuable emotions in this world, or do they actually have no place in them? I love those themes of the show.
Q: Shane is the only character with a sex scene thus far. Do you give Andrew Lincoln a hard time because of it?
A: I never have, but now that you said that I'll be sure to do it today.
Q: You used to play high school football -- and we hear you get to be back on a football field this year for an upcoming episode. What was it like?
A: It's great, that was down at Newton High and they have a really good team. I grew up in Washington DC and while high school football is important there, down here it's huge. It's like religion, the teams are serious! One of the things I really wanted to do this season was go to a game.
Q: What's the biggest prank you ever pulled in high school?
A: Man ours were pretty vulgar, I don't know if I want to talk about our pranks. The first thing I thought of I definitely can't say.
Q: Shane has a very distinctive walk. He also rubs his head a lot. Are those Shane or Jon gestures?
A: No man, I hope that what I'm doing is Shane. I've tried to find mannerisms for him, especially this season. He has things he does when he gets nervous or agitated. Shane is constantly boiling and constantly at war with himself, and I think that these gestures and movements come out of what's going on inside of him.
Q: If you had to be stuck with only one of the characters from the show in a zombie apocalypse who would it be and why?
A: Daryl Dixon. I think Shane kind of figures that out this season as well. I think he's an enormously valuable member of the group. He can do things and he's down to do things that a lot of the other members aren't.
Q: Do you personally feel like you're better prepared for a zombie attack now?
A: Yeah I do, because I think there's definitely some things I know now that I didn't know then. But I gotta tell you, when you really let your mind go there and you think about the ins and outs of what would go down, I think we'd really all be screwed.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
NYCC CONAN CAST SPEAK ABOUT THE MOVIE - 2011
Although it got trashed by the critics (scoring a 23% at Rotten Tomatoes) audiences who came out to see this past summer’s fantasy adventure Conan The Barbarian seemed to enjoy the film, giving it a “B minus” CinemaScore. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough audiences showing up to see the film to hit any higher than fourth place at the box office its opening weekend.
This weekend at New York Comic Con, the film’s three stars Jason Momoa, Rose McGowan and Stephen Lang appeared at a panel to discuss the film. Invariably, the subject of the film’s poor box office and the chance of a sequel came was brought up. Momoa, who had stated when he was doing promotion for the film that he had written a story for a possible sequel, stated that there was little possibility that a sequel would happen.
I haven’t heard a word from anyone and it’s kind of sad because I feel a little cheated myself because we really busted our asses to make it amazing for the fans. I was a fan and I think we really hit it but to tell you the truth a lot of people didn’t go see it so I doubt that they’ll make a sequel. I would love it, but there would be less money there and [a sequel] is something that I would want to be bigger and better.
McGowan jumped in to add that a fate of a movie can often be outside the control of its cast and crew, stating that the film’s R rating may have kept some audiences away while the PG-13 rated horror film Fright Night, which opened the same day, further siphoned off potential ticket buyers.
People don’t understand behind the scenes stuff. Lionsgate and Millennium, the people behind [the movie], to an extent did a really good job. But the entire distribution team at Lionsgate just got replaced. Also the second weekend Hurricane Irene happened and two-thirds of the country was shut down so it was just bad luck essentially.
McGowan went on to draw an analogy as to what it was like to make a film she was proud of only to have it fail at the box office. “It’s essentially like giving birth to this really great baby, you hand it to the nurse and it falls out of her hands and flies out the window,” she said.
“They dropped my baby?” questioned Momoa after the laughter in response to McGowan’s statement died down.
“They did!” she replied. “They drop kicked it!”
Lang added that he has participated in a number films that weren’t successful right away but still went on to find their audiences. He also stated that he was disappointed that he wouldn’t get to see more of his castmate Momoa continue to explore the character of Conan in future films.
It’s really easy to do a postmortem on the thing. I think that the R didn’t help the business of the film one bit. Maybe it was necessary for the movie. I see that. I think Rose says it pretty well that the distribution didn’t work out quite it should have. I sure wish this one had done much better than it did. I think it deserved a number of sequels and I would like to see Jason track that character for a long time.
CONAN panel at NYCC 2011

Stephen:
Favorite Role: Khalar Zym from the new Conan the Barbarian movie.
DreamRole: Theodore Roosevelt.
Rose:
Favorite Role: Paige Matthews from the TV show Charmed.
Dream Role: Would like to do a Jazz period piece or play Scarlett O'Hara
Jason:
Favorite Role: Conan.
Hardest Role to play: Khal Drago
Dream Role: A Braveheart hero set in Hawaii. He would love to do a movie about his people and his native Hawaii.
Stephen: Thor, Spiderman, Fantastic Four, Captain America
Rose: She doesn't have a favorite comic book, but wishes she could play one.
Jason: Wild Cats and Spawn.
Stephen: Kate Winslet. He also would have loved to work with Marlon Brando. Actually he said Brando and Jason teased him about it, saying he's dead and good luck with that.
Rose: Russell Crowe or Julianne Moore.
Jason: Daniel Day Lewis or Gary Oldman.
Stephen: Khalar Zym or Stonewall Jackson
Rose: Paige Matthews
Jason: Conan. He also said the one character he's played he would never have over is Drago, because Drago would bend him over the dinner table and do his thing. (If you've seen Game of Thrones, you know what he means). The crowd was in hysterics over that.
Stephen: Gene Hackman. He also has worked with Lucielle Ball and Dustin Hoffman and couldn't stop raving about both, especially Lucielle who he said had beautiful blue eyes.
Rose: She acted with Peter O'Toole and kept in contact with him and his family. He once said to her, let's start a scandal together.
Jason: Rose and Stephen.
Stephen: He wouldn't say anything because if he did, it would be a butterfly effect and he wouldn't be where he is now if he didn't take the roles offered.
Rose: Get an education first. Very important.
Jason: He would have taken more serious roles, perhaps taken acting classes like at the Actors Studio. Someone from the crowd said he loved him in Baywatch and Jason blushed. He joked how he didn't want to talk about that and Rose said it was a way to pay the bills.
Rose:
There has been many rumors about Rose playing Red Sonja in the remake. She says she would love to but can't because she broke a certain bone and if she does a stunt wrong, she could end up paralyzed and won't take the chance.
Jason:
He's dying to do a romantic comedy because he thinks he's "funny as fuck" (he was extremely hilarious at the panel, so I say, GIVE THIS MAN A ROMANTIC COMEDY). He's tired of frowning in his movies and he wants to make a movie his children can watch.
Jason won the role of Drago by doing the Haka, a sacred native Hawaiian dance that's usually reserved for weddings and funerals. Someone asked him to do it but he said it's too sacred to do for fun. Jason had to learn the Dothraki language by listening to a CD that sounded like a cross between German and Arabic. He did not have a fun time learning Dothraki.
A man stood up and said his girlfriend, who was sitting next to him, would love him forever if Jason could say "you are my sun and the stars" in Dothraki. Jason did in his Khal Drago voice and everyone in the room swooned.
Jason would love to do more film making. He did write a script for a Conan sequel, but since it didn't do well, the sequel won't get made. Right now he's filming a movie that takes place on a Native America Reservation that he wrote the script for and is directing. Its a drama and a road movie (think Jack Kerouac). From what I gathered, the movie is about a Native America woman who is raped on the reservation by an outsider. Since any crimes on a Native America reservation still must be taken up in federal court, it could take years for the trial to start and the criminal to be brought to justice. Someone close to the rape victim, probably a male character would kill the rapist and would be in the lam, thus the comment about the road movie.
Jason hates horses. He doesn't mind petting them, but he has this vision of riding on one and it falls on him and he dies. Then he couldn't be there for his children. He was, shall we say a bit fearful as Drago at 240lbs riding a horse. So says the King of the Horses.
Stephen:
Loves the fact that Avatar has been remastered and brought back into theaters and doesn't mind if Avatar keeps coming back to the theaters better than before. I've never seen Avatar, but after hearing Stephen speak, I want to see the movie.
All three were very proud of their word in Conan the Barbarian and loved working together. They're all disappointed that they can't do a sequel or there won't be a sequel. Rose thought that even though Conan was a total popcorn movie, Conan had everything to be a success.
They didn't seem too pleased with Comic Con in San Diego. The energy is pretty much the same in NYC. Jason hated San Diego because it was too sunny and bright (ha!) and loves New York. I found this funny because he comes from Hawaii.
Stephen, Rose and Jason were very funny, down to earth and very personal. You could see how much they love their jobs and they were so happy we came to their panel. Whenever anyone would stand and say how much they love their work and them, the three were so grateful.


