by Shane “Comic Book Guy” Hnetka
Regina will experience its first major comic book convention May 3-4. Well, technically it’s something called a “Fan Expo”. Doesn’t matter — this thing traces its DNA back to the comic conventions of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s*. What does this mean and what does this have to do with the awesome world of movies (the thing I write about from my armchair)? Well, over the years these expos or conventions have become less and less about comic books, and more and more about movies and celebrities. So let’s talk about Fan Expo.
*And Star Trek conventions.
Regina Fan Expo
For Regina’s first Fan Expo (which is being put on by the folks who run the Toronto and Vancouver Fan Expos), the headliners are the celebrities, not the comic creators. Not that comics aren’t important, but the convention scene over the last several years has moved comic books to the back seat (unfortunately). The San Diego Comic-Con has pretty much evolved into a big Hollywood trade show for upcoming summer blockbusters — this year’s event will reportedly feature the unveiling of the title for the next Star Wars movie. And this year’s Calgary Comic Expo boasted a reunion of the cast of Aliens.
So let’s take a look at our Regina guests.
There’s Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Nicholas Brendon (Xander) from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Tia Carrere from Wayne’s World, Ray Park, a.k.a. Darth Maul from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, IronE Singleton from The Walking Dead and Kevin Sorbo from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. It’s not quite the cast of Aliens, but not too shabby for a first-year con.
Moving on…
Double Indemnity
One of the all-time great noir films, Double Indemnity (1944), has made its way onto Blu-ray thanks to the good folks at Universal Studios. Touch of Evil also was released on Blu-ray the same day, but I wrote about that in a recent Sunday Matinee column on the blog.
Double Indemnity is one of those classic films that everyone has ripped off and paid homage to, but it being an old, black and white movie, very few people have had the opportunity or desire to see it, it seems. This is a crime that should be rectified.
Shane Hnetka is a Regina film and comic book nerd. He also writes Dog Blog’s weekly “Sunday Matinee” column at prairiedogmag.com.
