Two nights, two days, in the solid deep-sea swell / he drifted, many times awaiting death.
The Odyssey, Book V, 11.388-89
Homer

Friday was Star Wars Day at Comic Con, although for some attendees that’s every day considering Star Wars costumes appeared to be the most abundant throughout the event. Panels covered upcoming Star Wars books toys, and computer games. There was also a trivia contest, a panel about its 30 years as a pop-culture phenomenon and a look at Robot Chicken: Star Wars.

Warner Bros started off the studio presentations. First up was Get Smart. Steve Carrell and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson got big hands when they came out, but the ovation Masi Oka received made clear Heroes fans were in the house. I was very leery when I heard this project announced but after seeing the presentation, Get Smart should do very well. The clips presented plenty of humor with intense action.

Before clips from The Invasion, the latest remake of Jack Finney’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Nicole Kidman appeared in a pre-recorded message to say hello from Australia where she was working with Baz Luhrmann. She seemed under the impression that all in attendance were young children as she spoke about how far away she was.

If you ask about the greatest panel at Comic Con, four people will consider it to be One Missed Call, the American version of the Japanese horror film Chakushin Ari. That’s because panelists Ed Burns and Shannyn Sossamon, who seemed slightly terrified, gave them iPhones for coming up and asking questions. The trailer for Roland Emmerich’s 10,000 B.C. was a blur and made the film look terrible. The cuts were so fast images were barely decipherable. It appeared as if they were trying to cover the CGI special effects.

Another trailer that suffered from a bad edit was Whiteout, based on the graphic novel by Greg Rucka and artist Steve Lieber. Rucka was present as was producer Joel Silver and director Dominic Sena, who came off as a bit of an oaf when his response to a very young boy’s question about high jinks on the set included the word “dildo.” The star of the film is Kate Beckinsdale, a fanboy favorite particularly for her work in the Underworld movies and because she’s hot. She was late due to traffic, but her fans didn’t care. Many cameras flashed as she strode across the stage. She was flirtatious and risqué, almost over-the-top in her efforts to be sexual. It came off as a tad silly, but a good way to keep your fan base is to give the illusion they actually have a shot at sleeping with you. It worked for most in the audience who I am sure ran her responses through their minds during their “alone time” that evening.