Photos: (Screen Gems, Warner, Bros., Nickelodeon)
I only survived my #SDCC (San Diego Comic-Con) FOMO by dressing up like Pepper Potts and watching MTV Geek's nerdastic livestream of this past weekend's supernatural sneak peek -- which featured fandom's most insanely anticipated movies ("The Hobbit," "Iron Man 3," "Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2"), TV ("Walking Dead," "Fringe"), comics (all new Avengers and X-Men titles) and more. Now it's time to let Act's geek flag fly and hit y'all with the humanitarian highlights from Comic-Con 2012.
+ Elysium: Occupy Space!
Photo: Matt Damon goes H.A.M. in "Elysium." (Columbia Pictures)
"Elysium's" plot leaked right before Comic-Con but the second film from South African director Neil Blomkamp was still one of the most talked about flicks to show up in San Diego. His 2009 sci-fi social parable "District 9" was a cerebral, action-packed box office hit so it makes sense that activist actor Matt Damon would wanna sign up as the star of "Elysium." Damon plays a member of Earth's 99% toiling away on a devastated planet while the rich elite party on swagged out space stations hovering above the poor masses. (Symbolism alert!) When Damon gets zapped by some radiation and has a week to live, he decides to launch a one-man stand against the unfair power structure (repped by Jodie Foster) that effed-up his world. Young protesters of the Occupy Wall Street and Arab Spring movements have fought corruption and economic inequality so we're betting "Elysium" will hit close to home.
+Geek Girl Power!
Photo: Milla Jovovich kicks some a** in "Resident Evil: Retribution." (Screen Gems)
More than ever, the ladies are lasering in on their rightful place as celebrated fangirls, heroines and girly gunslingers in the often dude-centric Comic-Con craziness. There was the fierce femme panel "Powerful Women in Pop Culture" that featured Kristin Kreuk (CW starlet from "Smallville" and upcoming "Beauty and the Beast"), Nikki Reed (vamp Rosalie from "Twilight"), Kristin Bauer van Straten (a bloodsucker babe from HBO's "True Blood") and more dishing about going H.A.M. for nerdy roles and muscling their way into the spotlight. And some of the hottest topics at SDCC included the epic 9-minute girl fight between Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez and other ladykillers in "Resident Evil: Retribution" and why you should never piss off "Total Recall"'s Kate Beckinsale. Here's a hint: Her future hubby Colin Farrell is really in the parallel dimension doghouse.
+ Django Unchained: A Slave's Revenge
Photo: Jamie Foxx seeks revenge on Leonardo DiCaprio in "Django Unchained." (The Weinstein Company)
Quentin Tarantino already tackled killing off Hitler with his WWII epic "Inglourious Basterds" -- so why wouldn't the ballsy director take on slavery? Tarantino's spaghetti Western "Django Unchained" ain't your grandpa's John Wayne fare, that's for sure. Jamie Foxx plays a slave turned bounty hunter in the pre-Civil War South who's out to kill his racist white oppressors, played by Don Johnson and Leonardo DiCaprio, and free his wife, the gorgeous Kerry Washington. Also in the film is Chris Waltz who won an Oscar for his performance in "Inglourious Basterds." Foxx said, "When a project becomes special or magical it means at certain points in your life it parallels your story. Being called [the n-word] as a young kid growing up by grown people is something I had to deal with coming from the South. By having that done to me, I was able to grasp what was being said in the script." Sad but true. We're glad to see all these celebs signing on to this important project that will be sure to remind us why racism is so deep-seated and dangerous in the States.
+ The Campaign: Will Ferrell & Zach Galifianakis Want Your Vote!
Photo: That s*** cray! Zach Galifianakis goes up against Will Ferrell in "The Candidate."(Warner Bros.)
These freedom-lovin' funnymen surprised San Diego by swinging through to promo their hilarious new political comedy, "The Campaign," about an out-of-control competition for a North Carolina Congressional seat. The film pits Will Ferrell's slick incumbent Cam Brady against Zach Galifianakis's clueless small-town challenger Marty Higgins in a screwball parody of America's election antics. Good timing since it's a big year with the Oval Office on the line in November, so warm up those ballot-casting muscles, and your funny bone, with these two cray candidates. And if you think ridic mudslingin' makes DC more like a movie everyday, you better vote in November to flip the script!
+ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: They're Baaaaack!
Photo: Cowabunga! Our fave teen turtles are coming to a TV screen soon.(Nickelodeon)
Nickelodeon is resurrecting "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" the beloved 80s cartoon with a new animated series featuring the voices of Jason Biggs (Pie perv in "American Pie" franchise) as Leonardo and Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee from the "Lord of The Rings" films) as Raphael. So of course the duo had to show up at SDCC to tease the fan fave. The show will literally start on the day they pop outta of the sewers as half-shell, hormonal superheroes -- so expect plenty of growing pains and pizza parties as wise rodent sensei Splinter struggles to control his four green protégés. Astin told EW that it's all about the power of four. "It's like a band. You want a Beatles thing. I'm excited because there are four turtles. There were four hobbits. I love the idea that somehow guys in four can make a change in the world, make a difference," he explained. The Wanted and One Direction might disagree on the numbers, but we're stoked to see these teenaged turtles clean up the mean streets once again. Betta watch yo back, Shredder!
