Paramount's panel followed directly on from "Star Wars" and "Sin City" so admittedly it was a tough act to follow but they did it and in style with promotions for two of their big Fall projects. First up I take a look at "Team America: World Police".
The guys behind the brilliance that is "South Park", Matt Stone & Trey Parker, were on hand for quick promo for their action/comedy/musical marionette movie which pokes fun at everything from politics to blockbusters. Up til this point, no footage had been seen anywhere for the film outside of Paramount. That all changed when both a very Bruckheimer-esque cut trailer and two clips were shown to big laughs amongst the crowd. The trailer showed glimpses from a bunch of scenes (including the already infamous sex scene), whilst the photos last week gave us all a good idea of what the articulate puppets looked like.
The 'Paris sequence' had the red, white and blue Team America repelling down from a chopper to take on Middle Eastern looking terrorists. In the ensuing firefight, the 'team' accidentally collapses the Eiffel Tower and assorted civilians get killed. Making it all the funnier is that it's cut totally seriously like an action movie. The second sequence is in Kim Jong Il's palace where the NK dictator turns a visiting UN inspector into a meal for his giant catfish. The panel talked mostly about the difficulty of shooting just simple tricks with puppets and the two guys, although quite exhausted, entertained. Expect a lot more from this project right here shortly.
Meanwhile, the film that everyone was talking about for rather secret can't disclose reasons at the con was Kerry Conran's "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow", the all CG background 30's sci-fi serial epic. Buzz reaction overall from the crowd was very enthusiastic, especially from select members for those aforementioned reasons. In coming days I'll have in-depth interviews with five key members of the cast and crew so be prepared for a look at one of the Fall's biggest reasons to salivate.
