How To Talk Dirty And Influence People

Lets face it when a movie is being promoted these stars are put through a massive gauntlet of interviews and TV appearances where they will be herded like cattle from one interview to the next and asked the same 6 questions phrased 100 different ways. By the time it's your turn they might be so numb and checked out that the odds of a great interview are so low..lower still if you are not real great at the interview process in the first place. But today it's my duty to face my fear and fondness of the process and take one for the team...and hope that I don't screw the pooch.   Now doing interviews at Comic con is an animal of a different nature. Schedules will change, get cancelled and then be back on again within the space of moments. It happens all day as different press lines overlap and compete for attention. Being prepared is next to impossible and the odds of being put in front of someone who you have no idea who they are and what their project is are pretty high.

That said I sat there with a full bladder and a lump in my throat repeating my mantra for this trip over and over in my head: "Of course it's crazy otherwise this probably wouldn't work." And waited for my first time up at bat.

First up was J.J. Abrams for his new show Fringe. As I sat there kicking myself in the ass for missing the Fringe pilot screening on Wednesday night JJ walks up behind me and asks if we are ready for him. The interview went so dreadfully awful I'm praying it never sees the light of day..I don't even want a copy of it. Nobody wants a highlight reel of fuck ups do they? I think even JJ was looking at me wondering if perhaps I might have been on some serious medication. Damn I got put in front of a person I'd really wanted to talk to and utterly blew chunks all over the interview...oh this is going to be a long long day, and I still can't split for a moment to take a piss. (I did find out there should be a full trailer for Star Trek in late fall though)

After that another curve ball is thrown into the mix and they decided to mix the press lines for Pineapple Express, Terminator Salvation, And Pixar with interview subjects approaching from the left and the right forcing me to not only stay on my toes but switch gears..scratch that..forcing me to grind gears from movie to movie like a kid with ADD doing the pee pee dance to boot.

First up was Seth Rogen and I was thankful because he's so relaxed it set the mood for the rest of my time on the front line. In my mind the interview went well but who knows if the powers that be will ever see fit to release it to the masses. If not I will be requesting a copy of it and perhaps post it here as part of my own coverage.

After that director McG was placed in front of me, thankfully as a fan of the Terminator universe I felt I could handle it with ease. The interview went well and I think I got some decent info out of him about the new movie. Again who knows the difference between my mental version of how it went and reality..time will tell.

While I finished up with McG a glance to the right showed that James Franco was waiting for his turn with me. Time to grind gears again.

James and I didn't click the way I had with McG or Seth, I could tell right off the bat this was not going to be something great. I don't feel like it went awful and it's hard to know if the fault was on my shoulders for sucking at this stuff or on his for just not digging the Comic Con scene. Lets call it a 60/40 split with mine being the 60 percent. (in reality probably more like 90/10 my way)

After James walked I was approached by Danny McBride and I was feeling confident about it. Before getting started he noticed my bottlecap necklace (made by Henry) that I'd been wearing the entire trip as a good luck charm. The interview went swell, I had to hold back geekin out on him since I'd seen Tropic Thunder less than 24 hours before.  The guy was cool and you could tell just honestly happy to have found the success he has worked so hard to get.

During the Danny McBride interview sadly I lost my shot at Bryce Dallas Howard and a chance to make Erich drool with envy. Can't win am all I guess.

I did get a chance to chat with Sam Worthington about his role in Terminator. By that time I was so mentally wiped I couldn't tell what the heck we talked about or what was said. So when that interview pops up I'll be just as surprised. I might have even told him about my pressing need to relieve my bladder.

I got to talk to Common between interviews but didn't interview him. Nice guy though...and a lot bigger than I thought. Size is a funny thing with people on the screen VS reality. Arnold and Sly..tiny. Mark Wallbergs arms...fucking huge!! Jamie Kennedy's eye...bloodshot!

After that it was a long wait where I STILL couldn't leave for a potty break they decided to mix in interviews for Drag Me To Hell and Land of the Lost. While I waited to talk to Sam Raimi, Justin Long, Allison Lohman, Will Ferrel and others I got to say hello to Tad Raimi. While I never saw Will enter the room our interviews were cut short after Sam and we were done for the day...and not a moment too soon my bladder was fit to burst at this point.

Back at the Hard Rock party prep was in full swing and tension was high. On top of everything going on my luggage had been secured to a room I had no access to and I had no place to shower, shave and get ready. As time drew near I was starting to panic that I'd be stuck in the stinky clothes I'd been in all day and look and smell like shit for the night. To top that off I still had no phone and was expecting a call from Beth to join me at the party and no way to get in touch with her for a meet up.

By the time the party started I had solved the phone problem but not the luggage one and was on the verge of turning into the Hulk (I can do that ya know). But 30 minutes into the party I got my clothes, did a whores bath (wash in the sink and some body spray), and had my first drink in hand. Victory was mine!

The party was packed within the first hour and wall to wall people mixed and mingled with celebs and girls wearing nothing on top but an X of electrical tape. The night was off to a good start.

As I sat there with Beth getting hammered we talked about the old days and cleared off the old battlefields of our past and flipped many many reset buttons. And with the interview stress of the day past me this extra weight lifted off my shoulders made me feel like I was in zero G. Victory again!

The party was off the chain, and though I would have loved to mingle more the crush of the crowd and the exhaustion of the week kept me in a very localized section of the party. Thankfully that section was a magnet to many of the guests at one point or another and I got to say hello or chat briefly with quite a few people. Even get into some near fight fights with a few (a story for another time and in person), hit on by others, and even find a new catch phrase to annoy Beth with for a time. I drank, smoked, and cursed like a space marine till the near crack of dawn before literally crashing to sleep for a brief 3 hour nap before the last day was to begin.

See Party Pics HERE and HERE.

Keep checking back for more updates, pics and links.  

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