What can I say about our first full day at San Diego Comic Con? First off, there are people everywhere -- I'm absolutely starving (because lines to get any sort of food are tremendous) and everywhere I look someone has fake blood on their body. It's the most surreal experience ever -- sort of like attending a Woodstock-like concert in Fantasyland. But I dig it, and we're trying to do as much as we can, see as much as we can, and bring it all back to you without absolutely losing our minds.

Below is a collection of costumes from the first day of San Diego Comic Con '08. (I don't think I have to tell you which one is my favorite ...)

More coming ... including word from Max Payne, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Red Sonja, Frank Darabont, Twilight and, well, more, more, more ...

Cinematical's Official Comic Con '08 Hub

Cinematical fought through the massive crowds tonight on the convention floor to bring you tons and tons of photos from the 2008 San Diego Comic Con Preview Night. While we didn't spot too many people dressed in costume (except for a group doing a Batman theme), there were some very, very cool toys, games, statues, posters and movie props. Among the larger attractions was Nite Owl's ship from Watchmen (pictured below -- see inside by clicking through the gallery), a huge Iron Monger statue (in gallery), James Bond's hot set of wheels (in gallery), a ginormous Star Wars exhibit, with Star Wars: The Clone Wars statues alongside dudes in Storm Trooper attire (pictured above), as well as monitors displaying the new video game, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (which looks hella cool).

Check out a few images from Preview Night below, then definitely make sure to head on over to the gallery to see what this year's San Diego Con is all about.

P.S. Masters of the Web panel tomorrow morning, 10am. Be there! Say hello! Make it look like I have friends!



Nite Owl's ship from Watchmen (more images from inside the thing down in the gallery).



Our friends in Batman gear!

Cinematical's Official Comic Con Hub

Walking around Preview Night here at San Diego Comic Con and, well, we kinda stumbled upon this poster (click image to enlarge) for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The film wasn't supposed to have a major presence here at Con, so it's nice to at least see a poster for the flick, which hits theaters on May 1, 2009. We'll have a whole bunch of photos for you from Preview Night here at Con in just a little bit -- in the meantime, what do you think about this poster? Does it get you excited for the film? Starring Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber and Danny Huston, X-Men Origins: Wolverine will claw its way into theaters next summer.

For complete coverage of the 2008 San Diego International Comic Con, check out the official Cinematical Comic Con Hub.

Cinematical has officially arrived in beautiful, sunny San Diego! We somehow found a way to get our press badge before anyone else, and I'm here with our first 2008 San Diego Comic Con gallery -- featuring images of all the cool little goodies they gave me when I picked up my badge. Among the lot, there was an issue of Mad Magazine that tackles Botchmen (instead of Watchmen), trading cards, stuff on the new Batman LEGO video game and a massive events guide. They'll be letting us into the convention in just a few hours for preview night, so I'll slide in there and see if I can't bring back anything cool to show you. But before we get to the gallery, let me just say this: If you've never been to San Diego, get your ass over here because this town is gorgeous!

Last thing (and most importantly): Check out Cinematical's official Comic Con hub for all the latest and greatest from San Diego, as well as Moviefone's awesome Con hub. It just launched now and it's a little empty (and lonely), but we'll be filling her up soon enough.

Time to get our Con on fools! Be back later ...

I think Scott Weinberg's getting set for Comic-Con as I write this, so I'll briefly fill in on the gorehound beat. Mirrors director Alexandre Aja has released what he calls "a new tasty visual from one of my favorite scenes" in the film. Per Aja's penchant for extravagant gross-outs, the picture is -- how do you say? -- aggressive. I'm putting it under the jump. It's gruesome -- watch out.

It's also -- and some of you may petition to have me committed for this -- strangely beautiful, albeit in a way only a horror freak could love. Unlike, say, the work of Eli Roth, who's like a giddy kid in a candy store when it comes to gore, Aja's imagery has been kind of artful in its grandiosity. Of the Splat Pack membership, I think he's the most concerned with the egghead aspects of horror movie aesthetics: shot composition, the color palette, symmetry, etc. That's a large part of the reason I'm looking forward to Mirrors, which otherwise looks pretty standard-issue. A truly great-looking horror film might be able to get away with not having much of a concept.

Anyway, Aja will be at Comic-Con promoting Mirrors, and I'm sure Scott, Eric or Elisabeth will have something for you from there. Meanwhile, click through for the photo -- if you dare. Not Safe for Work.

Love it! Cinematical just received this poster and a whole slew of photos from the upcoming flick Bitch Slap, which will definitely have a presence at this week's San Diego Comic Con. Described as "a post-modern, thinking man's throwback to the "B" Movie/Exploitation films of the 1950's - 70's as well as a loving, sly parody of the same," Bitch Slap stars folks like Kevin Sorbo, Michael Hurst, Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor, as well as Julia Voth, America Olivo and Erin Cummings.

Bitch Slap was inspired by films like Dragstrip Girls, Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill and Kung Fu Nun, and a cool fun fact is that the very awesome Zoe Bell (Kill Bill 1 & 2, Grindhouse) did all the stunt work on the film. Check out the flick's official website for more information and a trailer, and definitely check out the totally rad photos in the gallery below with the synopsis after the jump. (Warning: Lots of cleavage in below gallery. Might be NSFW.) All three of the main girls will be at The Con along with the filmmakers, so we'll try to get you some more sweetness later this week.

Who's ready to get slapped?

You know, I've seen a lot of 'behind the scenes' photographs over the years, but these latest from Crank 2: High Voltage win the "what the heck is going on here?" award, hands down. The LA Times is now hosting 19 new images from the set of the follow-up to the 2006 action film. In fact, I have to be honest with you: I can't for the life of me figure out why directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor would need a giant foam head of Jason Statham -- but now that it has my interest piqued, it had better be good.

This time around, our favorite hit man Chev Chelios (Statham) has to chase down a Chinese mobster who has stolen his nearly indestructible heart and replaced it with a bum ticker. But that's not all: on top of everything else, Chev has to keep his heart running on jolts of electricity (where's James Bond's dashboard defibrillator when you need it?). Joining in on the fun are Amy Smart (who we saw on set a few months ago in a 'questionable' costume), Dwight Yoakum, Bai Ling, and a cameo from '80s cautionary tale, Corey Haim (and for his sake I hope things went better on the set here than they did on Lost Boys 2).

Crank 2: High Voltage is expected arrive in theaters in 2009 -- maybe by then we'll know what all those big foam heads were about.

Having gotten the chance to visit the Watchmen set, I thought nothing could be cooler. But even though I saw a little of what was coming, nothing compared to the trailer that came with The Dark Knight, and the long-awaited appearance of Dr. Manhattan. But there wasn't a nibblet of Carla Gugino as Sally Jupiter.

But now I give you two doses. Above there is a pin-up that was sent to AICN by artist James Jean, who created the pin-up pic for the movie (see it full-length over there). Of course, this was back during her heydey, before her daughter took over and found herself some different superhero action. After the jump, you can check out a pic that Warners sent us late last week (along with other images). It's the interlude between Jupiter and The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

You know, I remember going to see Spider-Man when it came out in theaters a handful of years ago, and being all excited, but that was like finding a dollar on the side of the road compared to the bag-full-o-cash fangirl excitement I have for this film.

I have an unfortunate knee-jerk reaction to the title Soul Men. Almost against my will, my mind is flung back to that 1986 C. Thomas Howell atrocity Soul Man, in which rich white kid Howell tried to pass himself off as black man to secure a scholarship. (Excuse me while I try to calm down the tremors shaking through my body.)

Happily for everybody, Malcolm D. Lee's Soul Men bears no relation to that earlier film. Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac star as two feuding back-up singers who reunite for a tribute concert. Jessica Barnes detailed the plot and gave us a look at the first picture from the production a few months ago, a back stage shot with Isaac Hayes, who is playing himself. Cinematical has received the great-looking image above, showing the Soul Men in performance.

Reportedly, Jackson and Mac are doing their own singing and, even though they're playing back-up singers, I'm hoping we get to hear them solo -- or duet. Jackson was mighty impressive as a blues guitar player and singer in Craig Brewer's Black Snake Moan, even if that movie is better remembered for Christina Ricci's naked display of her physical assets than Jackson's musical prowess. I can't remember Bernie Mac singing in any of his roles, but he's such a great stand-up presence that I can really see him excelling in this part.

Are you ready to watch Sam and Bernie as the new Soul Men when the film opens on November 14?

One of the most wonderful things about geekdom on the Internet is how fast it sets to work. The Watchmen trailer hasn't even been out for 24 hours, and already folks are analyzing its every second -- with one dedicated fan comparing its frames to the panels of the original book. The hardworking one is Brad Brevet over at Rope of Silicon, and he really has done a great job. If you decide to look, and are unfamiliar with the source material, beware of spoilers.

As he did with 300, Zack Snyder has really managed to bring the frames to life. His eye for this is uncanny. There are few comic book adaptations where one gets goosebumps, or jumps out of their seat and says "It looks just like the book!" Of course, Snyder has tweaked it -- he's changed the costumes, and he's given it his own style -- but it's still better than I ever thought it would be. Whether he brings the book to life is, of course, the million dollar question. I'm happy just being entertained by the possibility, though.

For me personally, the money shots were the funeral, Jon being ripped apart into particles, and Archie the Owlship. Even my sister, who loathed the book, is in love with the faithful rendering of Archie. The shot of it flying out of the water is actually enough to convince her to buy a ticket. (I'm not sure why, but let's just leave that up to her.) And surely if she can be sold on it, the rest of us can be too.

Watchmen opens March 6th, 2009.

UPDATE: Warners sent us over a whole new crop of Watchmen photos. Check them out in the gallery below ...