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BFI & Empire Movie-Con 2 : Day 2 - EVENT REPORT

T he full schedule for Movie Con 2 can be found over here on Empire's website. Below are my highlights from day 2:

Day 2 started with a flash of fury, explosions and red metal, that's right! Some seriously awesome clips from Iron Man 2 were on display introduced by Robert (I'm in town to shoot some additional scenes for Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes) Downey Jr. Unfortunately I was late and missed what was a highlight of day 2.


The legendary Kim Newman ran his now infamous Movie Quiz with the precision of a T800 which was loads of fun. One of the prizes was for a winner's name to be used in Mr. Newman's next novel.

Next up was a clip from the super tense Hurt Locker and Q&A with Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal. Loosely based on Boal's experiences in Baghdad. Hurt Locker is refreshingly direct and will keep you on the edge of your seat. It could be seen as a natural progression to Point Break.

Optimum rolled out a hilarious and heartwarming presentation for Bunny And The Bull. Hosted by Director Paul King and Star Simon Farnaby. If you are looking for something that lands somewhere between a holiday, run by The Mighty Boosh filmed by Michel Gondry.

"Bunny & the Bull is a road movie set entirely in a flat. Stephen Turnbull hasn't been outside in months. Living with a painfully restrictive routine, he refuses to interact with the world or think about the past. When a sudden infestation of mice forces him to change his ways, he finds his mind hurtling back to the disastrous trek around Europe he undertook with his friend Bunny, a womanising, gambling-addicted booze-hound. Unable to stem the flood of memories, Stephen’s flat becomes the springboard for an extraordinary odyssey through landscapes made up of snapshots and souvenirs, from the industrial wastelands of Silesia to the bull fields of Andalusia. A story of love, disillusionment, stuffed bears and globalised seafood, Bunny & the Bull is an offbeat and heartfelt journey to the end of the room."

Next Director/Writer Stuart Hazeldine introduced Exam.


"Eight talented candidates have reached the final stage of selection to join the ranks of a mysterious and powerful corporation. Entering a windowless room, an Invigilator gives them eighty minutes to answer one simple question. He outlines three rules they must obey or be disqualified: don't talk to him or the armed guard by the door, don't spoil their papers and don't leave the room. He starts the clock and leaves. The candidates turn over their question papers, only to find they're completely blank. After the initial confusion has subsided, one frustrated candidate writes 'I believe you should hire me because...,' and is promptly ejected for spoiling. The remaining candidates soon figure out they're permitted to talk to each other, and they agree to cooperate in order to figure out the question: then they can compete to answer it. At first they suspect the question may be hidden in their papers like a security marker in a credit card, and they figure out ways to change their environment to expose the hidden words. But light, liquids and other plans all come to naught. Soon enough, the candidates begin to uncover each other's background, prejudices and hidden agendas. Tensions rise as the clock steadily descends towards zero, and each candidate must decide how far they are willing to go to secure the ultimate job." Tense stuff.

The end of the day closed with a 3D spectacular! You should know that I love 3D! Even the crappiest film in the world can become wonderful by either showing it in IMAX or 3D format. I have never seen a bad 3D film at the IMAX. Even the big screen 3D trailers are Worth the entry alone. So what if this new push towards 3D was engineered by Hollywood marketeers to revitalise the industry and shaft Movie piracy. I love it. The final hour and a half of of Movie Con was spectacular. In order:

Disney presented; The trailer & loads of footage from the mind boggling A Christmas Carol, the trailer for Toy Story 3, and footage from the much talked about Up.

Welcome back Flynn!
Then we were shown the 3D trailer/footage from Tron Legacy ! This was the same bootleg footage that haunted the net after Comic Con last year and was recently released onto the net in high def. Except that this was in 3D on a BIG screen! Tron Legacy looks like it will be worth the 27 year wait.


Finally we were treated to footage from Jim Cameron's 4 years in the making AVATAR. Stolen from Empire's blog:

"James Cameron recorded a short introduction, just for Movie-Con II, to two scenes of footage from Avatar, due out in December. We wouldn’t be exaggerating too far if we say that jaws hit the floor. The first, short scene gave a flavour to the threat in the film: Stephen Lang’s Colonel Quaritch explaining to newcomers just how dangerous the world of Pandora is, and telling them frankly that they won’t all make it out alive. Then we saw Jake Sully’s (Sam Worthington) Avatar alive and working in the jungles of the planet. Having faced off one rhino*/hammerhead shark added by me:)*-looking beastie, he’s surprised by the much more dangerous spider-lynx looking monster, and a spectacular chase scene occurs. We also get a glimpse there of Sigourney Weaver’s Grace in action: check the next issue of Empire for more on that.

Naturally, we had to see that again, so we rewound and went for a second go." The team also let us know that there would be more & different footage shown on AVATAR day this Friday. Info here!

All that is left for me to say is thank you Empire & BFI. I had a wonderful time. Next year please bring some display cases and props with you. I'm just saying.

The Establishing Shot: BFI & EMPIRE MOVIE-CON 2 DAY 2 - EVENT REPORT