San Diego, Hollywood South

Just returned from this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego. Best year yet for celebrity appearances, and that's saying a lot. Past guests include James Cameron, Ang Lee, Angelina Jolie, Kate Beckingsale, Halle Berry, Jude Law, Keanu Reeves, Ben Affleck, Arnold Schwarzennger and more.

I skipped the "V is for Vendetta" panel on Friday with Natalie Portman and Joel Silver.

Saturday morning we lined up a 8am for the 10:30 Superman panel with Bryan Singer. He showed a 3 minute trailer for the film. It rocks. He said he's making a sequel to Superman 1 and ignoring the other films and it certainly looked like he nailed it. When I heard John Williams music (he's keeping it), I got goosebumps. He's also using outtakes of Brando to play Jor-El, another great idea). They showed a very sinister looking Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. I can't wait for this one; it looks amazing.

I ducked out of the big room and skipped the "Aeon Flux" panel with Charlize Theron. Also passed on the Kevin Smith panel, as I'd already seen him two previous times.

I went back in for the "Serenity" panel with Joss Whedon and the cast of the film. I didn't really follow "Firefly", the short-lived show on which the film is based, but I did think the cast came across as entertaining and genuine. I'll probably catch this when it comes out later this year.

Hung around for Sony's panel for "The Fog", "Zathura" and "Ghost Rider". "Zathura" is a quasi-sequel to "Jumanji". Director Jon Favreau was on hand to show an 8-minute clip. It looked like great family fun.

Next, Scott Speedman and Kate Beckinsale for "Underworld: Evolution". Kate was gorgeous as always. That was followed by the Ghost Rider presentation. The guests included producer Avi Arad, director Mark Steven Johnson and star Eva Mendes. Nick Cage was shooting a movie and unable to attend. Johnson debuted a short teaser, but did not have any shots of the flaming skull of Ghost Rider yet.

New Line had their panel. Rob Cohen, director of the upcoming Stealth, showed up with all three of his stars... Josh Lucas (Hulk), Jessica Biel (Blade: Trinity) and last year's Best Actor Jamie Foxx. Foxx was funny and engaging.

Then Paramount did their King Kong presentation with a Peter Jackson video which included three minutes of rough footage of Kong fighting two t-rexes. Then the three stars made a surprise appearance... Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Best Actor Adian Brody!

Then the night wrapped up with a 45-minute set by Tenacious D (Jack Black & Kyle Gass) who rocked the motherfucking house! No pictures were allowed during this set.

Tremendous movie presentations and overall, a good con this year.

For loads of pictures, visit the full-featured version of this blog