The Sounds of VIVO

 

Jeri Jacquin

Currently on Bluray, DVD and includes an all-new Sing Along Edition from director Kirk DeMicco and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the song and story of VIVO.

It is the beautiful place of Havana, Cuba where Andres (Juan de Marcos Gonzalez) and his best friend Kinkajou Vivo (Lin-Manuel Miranda) spend their time playing music together. They are enjoying life together when an unexpected letter comes to the door. Marta Sandoval (Gloria Estafan) is about to retire from music and there is a history between she and Andres.

Going to Miami is a chance for Andre to finally, after all these years tell Marta his feelings for her and a song he wrote. Vivo becomes a tad jealous thinking that he will be left behind and accepting what is best for his friend. Unfortunately, their meeting is never meant to be. The arrival of Rosa (Zoe Saldana) and young Gabi (Ynairaly Simo) also changes Vivo’s life.

It is a chance to get to Miami so that Vivo can find Marta and give her the music that Andre always wanted her to hear. That can only happen if Gabi can get away from her group of girls called the San Dollars. Finally able to find Marta, Vivo watches a change in Rosa and Gabi and becomes a new resident of Miami!

Miranda as Vivo is a fun loving and loyal Kinkajou when it comes to his friend Andres. Then he knows what must be done for his friend and that’s when his adventure begins. Seeing the world in a different way and in a different city, Vivo is determined! Miranda gives a sweet spot to this character with his wonderful voice.

Simo as Gabi is not like the girls around her. She sees the world through different eyes and colors, and I could not love this character more. It is a wonderful character for young girls who are trying to find where they fit in by being themselves in unique and colorful ways. My granddaughter absolutely loved Gabi and Vivo together.

Gonzalez as Andres loves his life in Cuba with Vivo and the news of a secret love brings him so much joy. So much so that Vivo makes it his mission to do what Andres could not. Estefan as Marta lends her memories of a past with Andres as well as her voice to bring the film to a wonderful and tissue worthy conclusion.

Other cast include Brian Tryree as Dancarino, Nicole Nyer as Valentina, Katie Lowes as Becky, Olivia Trujillo as Eva, Lidya Jewett as Sarah, Christian Ochoa as Montoya, Bradon Jeffords as Mr. Henshaw, Gloria Kellett as Gloria, Leslie Baker as Bob and Michael Rooker as Lutador,.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment encompasses motion picture production for television, digital content and theater releases. The studios include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films and Sony Picture Classics. To see what is coming to theaters and to home entertainment please visit www.sonypictures.com.

VIVO is a colorful, wonderful, fun, musical story about loyalty, fun, adventure, love, dedication and friendship. Those are all fantastic reasons to see this film with your entire family. The music with Lin-Manuel Miranda leading the cast of characters is such a joy.

There is so much about this film that teaches children that friendship can come from anyplace, just ask a Kinkaju and love always finds its way back to someone’s heart. There is also Gabi’s story as this young girl just loves being unique and is learning that sometimes you have to stand up for that uniqueness, even if it costs just a little bit.

The animation is absolutely colorful which ask such heart and soul to the story. I watched the film with my family and trust me when I say this is one for the entire family to enjoy, of all ages.

In the end – one song can change anything!

 

 

It is the ENORMITY OF LIFE

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray/DVD and Digital from writer/director Eric Swinderman, Carmen DeFranco and Bayview Entertainment is the ENORMITY OF LIFE.

Casey (Breckin Meyer) is a man that is floating through life seemingly with no emotion attached to anything. Deciding that perhaps its time to check out, he is stopped by fate when a telephone call changes his life. A great-aunt decided that the only family member worth her small fortune is Casey.

Adding to his newfound life is Jess (Emily Kinney), a young woman who is having a rough time with a boss that makes her cringe until Casey steps in. Having a few bucks in his pocket starts bringing family out of the woodwork. Sister Missy (Debra Herzog) makes it clear that she is entitled to half of the money and now his own mother has gone missing.

Taking Jess to her home, Casey doesn’t find her but instead has a deep conversation with Jess about life, home and deep-rooted feelings about childhood. Offering to help Jess, Casey picks up young daughter Jules (Giselle Eisenberg) who puts him through the ringer with questions and has quirks of her own.

It doesn’t end there, Mom Dorothy’s psychiatric issues have surfaced in a serious way that causes Casey to make a financial death with sister Missy. On their way home, Jules has a serious episode wanting to go to a town where a school shooting took place to speak to a survivor. The crazy day has caused emotions to run high with Casey and Jess as unravel where they stand with each other after four days.

Meyer as Casey has had a hellacious life which explains his feelings about, well, nothing. Receiving a financial windfall does not change how he feels, in fact it just confuses him more. Meyer gives us a character that does not give the viewer anything, as if we needed anything else with the other chaos just happening one after the other. Yet, there is an acceptance by Meyer’s character that he already learned at a young age that no one is actually hearing what he has to say and certainly does not believe in moments of happiness. A fantastic job, truly.

Kinney as Jess has also seen her share of what life can do when your busy serving up food. Trying to do what is right by her daughter, she also realizes there is only so much you can do. Jess accepts her fate but, the difference between she and Casey is that Jess feels in the midst of her own tornado and invites Casey to merge his so they can go through it together. Kinney is lovely and understanding in this role.

Eisenberg as young Jules is a whirlwind of emotions. After seeing what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary, this character has an unhealthy addiction to facts and figures regarding mass shootings. Her mind can not get past the horror so that now the horror follows every step she takes. Eisenberg is wonderful and her reaction to Jules mindset is so well done and intense.

Herzog as Missy is that sister who can not be trusted with any responsibility. When Casey realizes that there is only one way to get her to do the right thing, it means a trust that is already on a razors edge.

Other cast includes Aubree Stone as Emily, Bryant Carroll as Randy, David Vegh as Detective Dunn, Allen O’Reilly as Abe Berkman, Katherine DeBoer as Connie Richman, Meg Rasmussen as young Dorothy, Jeff Timlin as Daniel Repas and Davis Aguila as Antonio.

BayView Entertainment, LLC, is a full-service media company committed to acquire, develop, produce, market and distribute audio-visual content. For over fifteen years, BayView made its name by being dedicated to releasing only the best programs in each category from some of the most trusted names in the field. BayView is honored to partner with hundreds of independent film and video producers who have trusted BayView with carefully planned distribution for their labors of love. For more please visit www.bayviewentertainment.com

ENORMITY OF LIFE is a story of one man’s journey through a hell that he feels no one else can possibly understand. Believing from childhood that his life is a target for death, there is nothing that has happened from then to adulthood to change that feeling. Jess and Jules coming into his life is a view into how it all could be.

The twists and turns take the viewer on a chaotic journey but that is important if we are to understand the thought process and the jaw dropping ending. This is an emotional lesson on the frailty of human beings from the first scene to the end.

In the end – sometimes to love you have to let go!

 

It is LIGHTYEAR in Space

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to 4K Ultra HD, Bluray and Digital as well as streaming on Disney+ from director Angus MacLane, Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Motion Pictures is the story of redemption for LIGHTYEAR.

Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Chris Evans) is on a mission with partner Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) and when their ship lands, it takes no time at all to realize that there are hostile creatures who do not want them there. Trying to escape, Lightyear tries to fly their odd-shaped ship back into space and when they crash land, everyone aboard steps up to create a camp.

Their new mission is to find a way home with the creation of crystals for the hyper drive. The problem is that with each test, Lightyear returns the same age but everyone else gets older and older with every test. Hawthorne encourages Lightyear and even gives him the gift of a techno-cat named SOX (Peter Sohn). Lightyear also sees Hawthorne having a life and creating a family on the planet.

The final test run against orders brings Lightyear back 22 years later even though the flight is finally a success. Realizing everything seems to have changed, he meets Hawthorne’s granddaughter Izzy (Keke Palmer). She tells Buzz how much time has passed and that there are robots out to destroy the base. Referring to them as Zurg (because that’s all they say), the chase is on.

Izzy introduces Lightyear to her team with the nervous Mo (Taika Waititi), and criminally minded Darby (Dale Soules). Believing that the trio have absolutely no idea what they are doing or that they can help, that is going to have to change if they are to protect the base camp and hold on to the precious power source.

It is time for Operation Surprise and prepare for a lot of surprises along the way that even Lightyear’s new team could not have seen coming.

Evans as Lightyear gives a serious side to this character but that does not stop the comedy from coming through whether he likes it or not. Every emotion comes from Evans voice as Lightyear deals with guilt and, in a way, isolation from friendships other than Hawthorne. He grows as a person, and everyone is thrilled by the end of the film for that.

Palmer as Izzy is a chip off the space family block, well sort of. Wanting to help save the base camp from Zurg, she is smart and creative even if Lightyear doesn’t see it right away. Palmer gives her character heart and soul.

Sohn as the voice of Sox has ruined me and my granddaughter because we want our cats to be as clever and cool as he is. We love Sox and agree that we both at least want a stuffed kitty in our Disney home collection.

Waititi as Mo is endearing, twitchy, clumsy yet this character fits in perfectly with Izzy and Darby. Speaking of which, Soules cracked me up totally voicing this character who has no problem breaking parole with her skills in three-object bomb making. Calm, cool and collected – I love Darby.

Aduba as Hawthorne knows Lightyear better than anyone which irritates Buzz to no end. Yet, he truly cares for his friend. The messages she leaves keeps her presence in the film that causes a few teary-eyed moments.

Other cast include Mary McDonald-Lewis as IVAN, Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Commander Burnside, Bill Hader as Featheringhamstan, Efren Ramirez as Diaz, Keira Hairston as young Izzy and James Brolin as Zurg.

Pixar has produced twenty-six feature films beginning with TOY STORY in 1995. Earning twenty-three Academy Awards, ten Golden Globe Awards and eleven Grammy Awards just to name a few. They are responsible for beloved family films such as FINDING NEMO, THE INCREDIBLES, RATATOUILLE, WALL-E, UP, BRAVE, INSIDE OUT and SOUL. For more about Pixar please visit www.pixar.com.

Walt Disney Studios continues to bring quality programming to kids and kids at heart. Home of the most beloved animated features including SNOW WHITE, PINOCCHIO and SLEEPING BEAUTY to name a few is what keeps families coming back for more. To see what is currently available to add to your own family library please visit. www.movies.disney.com for their At Home titles!

There is really a risk in taking a beloved character and try to bring him more ‘real’ to viewers. Most of us know Buzz Lightyear as a straightforward Space Ranger with a mission that is clear from the moment he is turned on. He is also the yin to Woody’s yang making it hard to see one without the other.

That being said, it did take me a bit to fall into the story LIGHTYEAR is trying to tell but it happened. What Disney and Pixar did was fill the screen with sounds, sayings and hints of the Buzz we came to know in 1995. I truly believe that is what brought the audience around. I heard the giggle, ‘ohhhh’s and laughter remembering and accepting – and all from the adults.

LIGHTYEAR is a fantastic family film that I truly believe is fun adventure and humor. Yes, it is a little intense sometimes but once the action roles and the story unfolds, everything comes together wonderfully. The animation is fantastic but then again, we are talking the stellar collaboration with Disney and Pixar.

In the end – to infinity and beyond!

The Fun and Animated Story of GULLIVER RETURNS

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to DVD from director Ilya Maksimov and Shout! Factory Kids is the call for the legend in GULLIVER RETURNS.

While sailing around in his life of adventure, Gulliver (voiced by Wayne Grayson) receives a message from Lilliput. When he arrives, he is greeted by a king (Billy Bob Thompson) he does not know and immediately put on trial for not being the giant the little town celebrates.

Standing up for Gulliver is Marcy (Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld) and confuses the king with facts (although that does not seem difficult). What Gulliver does not know is that Marcy is the daughter of his good friend Frelok (HD Quinn) who seems to be in a fog about who his friend is.

When General of Blefuscu comes banging on Lilliput’s giant door, Gulliver has to show how being a giant has little to do with size. Gathering help from the town’s people, they repair what is needed while preparing for the General to do his best to try and take what belongs to the good people of Lilliput.

Other cast include Marc Thompson as Peters, Yelisaveta Zinovenko as Squick, Tom Wayland as Pablo and Samuel Weintraub as Wesley.

Shout! Factory will be donating a portion of the net proceeds earned from the distribution of the movie from year one to World Central Kitchen, a non-profit organization that provides fresh meals in response to crises, which is currently active in Ukraine and surrounding countries providing meals for as many people as possible at border crossings, shelters, and other locations.

SHOUT! Factory has grown into a tremendous multi-platform media company. Releasing new animated features such as the exquisite Long Way North, and the epic fantasy Beauty and The Beast. Also, their own original horror film, Fender Bender gives fans a good scare. For more of what SHOUT Factor has to offer please visit www.shoutfactory.com.

GULLIVER RETURNS reunites the classic character from Jonathan Swift’s timeless tale. The king sends shocks through the town declaring that Gulliver is Gulliver but not the Gulliver they celebrate. The idea for this returning tale came about by Ukrainian President Volodymryr Zelensky who has become a symbol of the fighting spirit with a giant’s heart.

The animation has Tony Bonilla as its animation director who was part of ENCANTO and MOANA. The film is lively, fun, full of giggly scenes and yet a story that continually reminds the viewer that standing up for what is right and help those who need it the most.

GULLIVER RETURNS is definetly a family film and needs to be watched together. There is so much to talk about once the film has ended as well. Grab the popcorn and prepare to return to Lilliput!

In the end – new adventures from a big hero!

 

 

DC LEAGUE of SUPER-PETS

 

Jeri Jacquin

Flying its way into theatres this weekend from writer/director Jared Stern, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures is DC LEAGUE of SUPER-PETS.

Krypto (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) is Superman’s dog and has been since being force to leave their home planet of Krypton as a baby. Feeling wonderful about having such a best friend, Krypto becomes a little confused when he sees Superman (John Krasinski) and Lois Lane (Olivia Wilde) and becomes a little jealous.

Lois notices and suggests that perhaps they find a canine friend for Krypto. At the local shelter, Ace (Kevin Hart) and his other caged friends including PB (Vanessa Bayer) the pig, Merton (Natasha Lyonne) the turtle, Chip (Diego Luna) the squirrely squirrel and the ever-plotting Lulu (Kate McKinnon) the hairless guinea pig.

All Ace wants to do is escape and all Krypto wants to do is hang with his bff Superman. Especially since Lex Luthor (Marc Marcon) is up to no good trying to get a piece of a meteor that he thinks will give him super powers. First of all he has to get the League out of his way including Batman (Keanu Reeves), Wonder Woman (Jameela Jamil), The Flash (John Early), Cyborg (Daveed Diggs), the Green Lantern (Dascha Polanco) and Aquaman (Jemaine Clement).

His plan fails and he ends up in jail but what he does not know is that Lulu gets a hold of a piece of the meteor and deduces that it only works on animals! Breaking away from the shelter, she did not count on what happens next – all of the animals gain super powers. But Lulu has other plans as she goes straight after Superman and Krypto falls for trick that makes his powers disappear.

Krypto needs help and discovers Ace and the others. He has no choice but to ask for their help in exchange for taking them to his farm in Smallville when it is all done. Now the battle for good and evil begins as animals and humans must come together to fight a deranged hairless guinea pig. Well, it just goes to prove evil comes in all shapes and sizes!

Johnson as Krypto gives us Superman’s best canine friend. There is not anything Krypto wouldn’t do for his Super-friend wanting to keep the promise to his parents. Always faithful but completely stubborn, trying to work with Ace after he gets superpowers proves to be his biggest challenge. He is learning to be a regular dog and what friendship truly means.

Hart as Ace gives his usual comic attitude of a dog with a broken heart of his own. Yet, he is always thinking of his fellow cage-mates, well, with the exception of Lulu. Once he realizes he has super powers, teaching Krypto to get a dog, Krypto also teaches Ace how to be a superhero and have faith in himself.

Bayer as PB is charming, sweet, cute, and filled with self-doubt and there is no way you can’t love her. Lyonne as Merton is hilarious and is enjoying his new status as a superhero in a very unusual and funny way. Luna as Chip has the same insecurities as PB and his superpowers make that feeling a tad more stressful but dang if he isn’t the cutest. Now, McKinnon as Lulu was the perfect choice to play the slightly, oh lets just be honest, totally deranged hairless guinea pig who has issues and is kind of love struck in a twisted sort of way. I just love her performance and it made me laugh – a lot.

Krasinski gets to be Superman, Wilde tries to keep up with evil as Lois, and Keanu Reeves is the voice of Batman. Can we please put him up for the role? He is difficult, dark, funny and charming voicing the man behind the mask.

Shout out to Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz as guinea pigs Keith and Mark. They had me cracking up so much and just wanted to cuddle the stuffing out of them!

Other cast include Keith David as Zypto, Richard Arnold as Waffles, and Alfred Molina as Jor-El.

Warner Brothers is home to one of the most successful collections of brands in the world and stands at the forefront of every aspect of the entertainment industry from feature film, television and home entertainments with worldwide distribution to DVD and Bluray, animation, comic books, videogames and broadcasting. For more please visit www.warnerbros.com.

DC Entertainment is the entertainment company for DC Comics which is one of the largest American comic book companies. Bringing such films as JUSTICE LEAGUE, AQUAMAN, SHAZAM! and soon BLACK ADAM, fans are watching the continuing film library that is being led by such directors as Patty Jenkins, Zack Snyder, James Gunn, James Wan and Jaume Collet-Serra. For more please visit www.warnerbros.com.

DC LEAGUE of SUPER-PETS is a fun family film that will be enjoyed by everyone. There are moments that surprised me with its adult language (sort of) and humor. But then again, if you want parents who love DC to sit with their kids who love animated films, you are going to have to throw a bone to them right?

There is fun, adventure and fighting the bad guys, well, er, um, the bad-mad guinea pig. The animation is everything one would expect from DC and the cast gives the audience plenty to love and laugh about. Lets face it, we would all think it cool to have a super-pet of our very own.

In the end – sit, stay and save the world!

Final Day of San Diego Comic Con 2022

 

Jeri Jacquin

Sunday, the final day always seems a little bit more relaxed when gathering my things to head over to Hall H. Everyone is heading to the convention center to get the last-minute collectable, see friends one more time before heading back to where ever they have journeyed from, get pictures taken with kids who are spending their Sunday meeting their favorite super heroes or characters.

Me? Well, I’m back to Hall H for two of my favorite television shows and both from the fantastic FX channel. This morning it is the return of MAYANS M.C. and the vampire comedy WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS.

The crowd is told some good news when Elgin James announces that the motorcycle club drama is being given the green light for another season. That’s good news considering we have to know who is responsible for blowing up the warehouse that EZ says in the final episode of season four is ‘the clubs legacy’. The entire cast is not only excited but a few tears of joy were shed.

The panel, along with Elgin James, consisted of J.D. Pardo, Clayton Cardenas, Danny Pino, Sarah Bolger, Emilio Rivera, Michael Irby, Raoul Truillo, Frankie Loyal, Gino Vento, JR Bourne, Vincent Vargas, Emily Toasta, and Vanessa Giselle. Each and every one spoke on their experiences working on MAYANS MC and, most of all, thanking fans for its continual success and, from my perspective, it felt absolutely sincere.

James says of the show, “And every single member of the Mayans family, from our top of the call sheet to our set Pas and every single person in between have put their blood and sweat into making MAYANS something special on the set and on the screen. I’m deeply indebted to John, Eric, Nick and all of the FX and particularly Colette Wilson who’s been in the trenches with us from day one for allowing us to continue to explore and create.”

The last episode of the season left us with EZ taking over the top dog seat, Bishop in a shocked second and Padrino walking away from a club he was trying to keep alive. With the last battle in their own ranks, the vote to go to war with the Sons of Anarchy is ahead. Now, the we are all going to have to take sides!

“Kurt Sutter and I talked about how EZ has this path. The universe was going to spit him out back where he belongs – that was always going to be his fate.” James talked about EZ never knowing if he was in or our because we all saw the mistakes he was making yet still rising in the ranks. “That’s what he’s doing now with the club where there are egos in the way like Bishop and Angel, and I don’t say ego in a negative way.”

Bishop spent the season licking his wounds and Angel spent the season going in and out of love and sadness as his own family starts to change his feelings toward life. But, EZ, well, EZ has the look of a man that is either going to succeed in taking down SAMCRO or, well, lets leave it at that. There will be more on this in a longer article once I have recovered from Comic Con, hey, a girl has got to get some beauty sleep here!

Attendees are told as well that their gift ticket is none other than a MAYANS MC t-shirt and trust when I say that it is the first best nightshirt in my 2022 collection for Comic Con this year.

Next up, the FX hilarious comedy WHAT WE DO IN SHADOWS. The cast panel included Executive Producer and writer Paul Simms, Executive Producer and writer Stefani Robinson, Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillen, Mark Proksch and Kristen Schaal (who cracks me up EVERY time).

Starting out watching an exclusive screening THE NIGHT MARKET, Simms teases that it is the biggest episode yet. That’s fine by me because it had me giggling for half an hour. The process was “Lot of hours of twiddling with my sword and playing with my sword and putting my sword up against Harvey’s sword. Take that as you will, my fellow Nandermo lovers”. The crowd loved it!

Demetriou as Nadja, talks about the hottest vampire club saying, “The reason we have the nightclub is because they’ve seen me dance. When you see a talent like that, you have to use it.” What the audience doesn’t know at this point is that the Comic Con gift from WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS is a tee-shirt with Nadja’s outline and club on it, suitable for becoming the next best nightshirt in my collection.

Simms says that future episodes including the gang in one room and a ‘boys weekend’ which is going to be epic when you think about it. Other tidbits are teasing that viewers are going to meet Guillermo’s family while he tries to find love. WHAT WE DO IN THE SHAWDOWS is on FX and can be seen Tuesday nights with new episodes and streaming the next day on Hulu.

That, my friends, is how I ended my journey through San Diego Comic Con International 2022 at the convention center in San Diego. There was excitement, surprises, trailers, talent and things to do walking around downtown to welcome back fans after a two-year absence. Comic Con did their utmost to protect attendees and with that, masks became part of costumes and it worked!

It a joy to see friends once again, reconnect with our fellow attendees and the excitement that we will once again come back to San Diego Comic Con International in 2023!

See you then!

 

 

Saturday at Comic Con Brings Action and Action Heroes

 

Jeri Jacquin

After a long night of waiting in line, and some since Friday, for Hall H on Saturday, there turned out to be a lot to be excited about.

Moderator Tiffany Smith begins the morning with SHAZAM! Fury of the Gods with the panel including Zachary Levi, David F. Sandberg, Asher Angel, Dylan Grazer, Lucy Liu and a screen appearance from the ever-delightful Helen Mirren as Hespera. Mirren made it clear, “I absolutely loved playing Hespera. She’s such a baddie and a bad-ass. And Zach, I have such a lovely time kicking the s**t out of you! Yea, pussy power!”

Levi introduces the trailer for the film by saying, “We’re all just trying to figure it out. It adds for a real great interesting bedrock of reality that you can connect to as a human being because we’re super heroes but we’re human beings.”

Next is Warner Bros. bringing out Dwayne Johnson as only they could – in his costume for the DC Comics film BLACK ADAM high above the rest of us mere mortals. Causing quite a ruckus of, he gives the death star before announcing, “Hall H, you’ve been warned. The DC Universe will never be the same again.” Well, after all, he is The Rock so I tend to think we should all listen to the man.

The panel includes Jaume Collett-Serra, Quintessa Swindell, Aldis Hodge and Noah Centineo along with Dwayne Johnson making a quick change out of his extremely tight super suit. He also makes it clear that his goal is to bring in ‘a new era in the DC universe.”

Johnson also says, “It has been a long journey, one that has been fueled with passion, with commitment and grit to push BLACK ADAM along. It has easily been over ten years as Jaume and I worked together for over five years now. The journey has been an incredible one and as many of you know I love coming to Comic Con but to be here in Hall H representing DC, DC superheroes, super villains is truly a dream come true.”

Continuing he says, “Because the dream when I started in this business many moons ago, I would come here and bring movies here and you all would be here. I would always hope people liked them and my dream and Seven Bucks Productions and to be here today to watch BLACK ADAM throw around lightening like he was passing out candy, I have to tell you it really is a dream come true. So, thank you so much for this kind of love and support.”

Of course, fans responded with enthusiasm and equal love.

Over in Ballroom 20, AMC’s INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE is taking a bite out of fans even before its premiered. Moderator Damian Holbrook has the opportunity to talk about Louis played by Jacob Anderson, Lestate played by Sam Reid and Claudia played by Bailey Bass and the story through the eyes of Daniel played by Eric Bogosian.

The panel brought executive producer Matt Johnson, showrunner Rolin Jones, Designer Mara LePere-Schloop along with Anderson, Reid, Bass and Bogosian. John says, “The books are so fun and so different, it is hard to believe they are connected in that way. The Anne Rice world is going to go on for some time on AMC.”

Anderson says of being cast, “I watched the movie when I was a teen. As soon as I got the email about the audition, I got this weird feeling in my stomach. I am really excited to be part of this world as I deeply connect with Louis.”

What I am excited about is that Rolin Jones teases, “If you have read Prince Lestat, The Vampire Armand and Interview with the Vampire, you’ll see lots of nods to the material. We are trying to build a universe, and there is some witchery thrown in there as well”. I have read ALL of Anne Rice’s books and if Marius makes an appearance, I’m going to lose my mind as he is my favorite character with a rich history.   

Back in Hall H, the Netflix series THE SANDMAN proves to be another amazing move for the streaming service. Tom Sturridge stars as Dream, the younger brother of Death who has been captured by a wizard. After his escape, he goes on a quest to find his lost powers. Comic creator Neil Gaiman has brought the story to life and will be seen by all August 5^th.

The panel moderator Kari Byron included Neil Gaiman, Allan Heinberg, Tom Sturridge, Vivienne Acheampong, Boyd Holbrook, Gwendoline Christie, Joanna Constantine, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Mason Alexander Park, Vanesu Samunyai and Patton Oswalt.

Gaiman said, “What I’m really excited about is that in less than two weeks, everyone’s going to see what we made. I’m so excited about it. I’m so proud of it.” Playing the role of Dream, Sturridge says, “I care so deeply about this piece of literature. I read and re-read the comic over and over.”

Leave it to Christie after spending years in armor in her role as Lady Brianne in the GAME OF THRONES series, she is in a different set of armor. In the role of Lucifer, she reminds the audience that at one time Lucifer was God’s favorite angel before falling.

After hundreds and hundreds of fans had spent almost 48 hours sleeping on concrete, their dedication will not be in vain. Hall H is about to erupt as Marvel Studios brings their slate. Starting with the iconic voice of Stan Lee, he says tell the audience that, “Marvel has always been and always will be a reflection of the world right outside out window.”

Moderator Ash Crossan asks Kevin Feige about WAKANDA FOREVER and are told that the film is the last Phase 4 film. Moving on to the next phase, the films ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: Quantumania, SECRET INVASION, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, ECHO, LOKI Season 2 (which I have been waiting ages for!), THE MARVELS, BLADE, IRONHEART, AGATHA: Coven of Chaos, and CAPTAIN AMERICA: New World Order.

Also included in that slate are the eighteen episodes of DAREDEVIL: Born Again and THUNDERBOLTS which concludes Phase 5.

SHE-HULK: Attorney at Law has Jamila Jameel commenting on her role and character as, “She’s extremely annoying and I learned that from myself” also claiming jealousy is what motivates her. SECRET INVASION has a trailer as well with Nick Fury (minus an eye patch) talking about Skrull. Cobie Smulder as Maria Hill calls the film an exciting thriller.

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: Quantumania is up next as Kathryn Newton, Evangeline Lilly and Paul Rudd are introduced by director Peyton Reed to kick off Phase Five. There is a trailer to get fans captivated telling a little of the upcoming story so check out the trailer as soon as its released tomorrow morning.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 has James Gunn taking the Hall H stage. It is also the end of the Guardians Era. The good news is that Bill Murray will be part of the cast in some way or another. The cast gets a chance to see the first trailer and trust me when I say the cheering for Groot and Rocket was pretty cool.

It is the drums and vocals of Baba Maal that lead the audience cheering for BLACK PANTHER: Wakanda Forever. Ryan Coogler, director of the film, has the audience sending out cheers as he acknowledges the late Chadwick Boseman and his “enormous hands.” Bringing out Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Florence Kasuma and Winston Duke he also includes newcomers Tenoch Huerta and Dominique Thorne.

Huerta has a chance to speak about being in the film and says, “I come from the hood. Without inclusion, I wouldn’t be here. By the way, Namor is amazing!”.

What a way to end Hall H for the evening and very difficult for Kevin Smith to follow with. Those that left, walked away very tired but very happy with what they have seen and the reason for Comic Con in the first place – the shared experience.

One more day folks!