Aliens, an Astronaut and a surprise Charlie Hunnam bring the action to Comicpalooza 2016

The date may have changed this year for Houston’s foremost celebration of the geek-dom and nerd-rule, but one thing about Comicpalooza stays the same: The comic and pop culture convention is still ginormous. With 2000 hours of programming compressed into three days, every year Comicpalooza’s event schedule seems to grow exponentially.

To help organize the fun and interactive chaos, the con designates programming by genre tracks. From anime, comics, films, literature, art, gaming, sports and science, convention-goers could probably focus on just one interest and still have enough to do the entire weekend, but I think it’s better to play the convention field, maybe literally if you feel like a game of quidditch.

So whether you’re an autograph collector, budding author, or cosplay artist here are just a few highlights from the weekend you might want to fit into your schedule, with special emphasis on both big stars and Houston’s own creative talent.

Get Face Hugged by Aliens
Game over, man, because the ultimate event of this year’s Comicpalooza will be the 30th anniversary Aliens cast reunion (yes, we’re all that old) with Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton, Paul Reiser, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Jenette Goldstein, William Hope, Ricco Ross, Mark Rolston, Daniel Kash, and Cynthia Scott all attending. Besides autographs and photo opportunities, the cast will participate in an Aliens Q&A session Saturday at 2 pm. You might need to lineup early for this one.

First person to request the whole cast do their best variations on “Nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure,” wins my undying nerd respect.

Meet A Real Space Woman
Since H-town is also Space town, the Comicpalooza programmers perhaps feel it’s their duty to present many real science discussions and panels under their science faction and education tracks. Before meeting the Weaver, the woman who has probably been in Hollywood outer space more than any other actor, why not meet real astronaut, Dr. Shannon Walker, who’s logged 163 days in space, 161 of those days on the International Space Station. She’s be a part of a panel discussion on Friday.

Take a Page from the Literary Track
The stars aren’t just from the movie and television realms, so don’t miss meeting some great writers, who might even offer advise on your own creative endeavors. There’s plenty of authors and graphic novelists of all genres to choose, from but be sure to check out hometown favorite Mat Johnson, whose Loving Day will soon be a Showtime series. He will be hosting a panel with bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon titled “Working on Novels vs. Comics” on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Hugo and Nebula award-winner Ken Liu will be contributing to several panel discussions and giving the solo presentation “Chinese SF in Translation: Conformance, Estrangement, and Translation as Practice and Metaphor.” I believe you’ll automatically receive some grad school credit for attending that one.

Have Some Weird Fun
Weirdness in all its lovely permeations will bloom throughout the weekend, but I always enjoy the quirky little presentations and performances sometimes hidden in the schedule. For example, every year I try not to miss what local thespians Classical Theatre Company are doing. For the Bard’s 400th birthday, they’ll be performing two dramatic readings of one of his lesser known works, William Shakespeare's Star Wars, (parts one and two) by Ian Doescher.

See a Flick or Learn How to Make Your Own
Besides showing 1,200 short films and several features during the Film Festival, Comicpalooza will also host film education programs presented from the likes of SWAMP, the Houston Film Commission, the Houston Cinema Arts Festival and NASA. If you didn’t get to see the finalists from the first annual CineSpace 2015 back in November, don’t miss the screening on Friday. On Saturday, local artists and first place winners, Mary Magsamen and Stephen Hillerbrand will answer questions about their film Higher Ground after a screening.

One Very Surprising Guest
Anyone paying attention to Houston con news or Sons of Anarchy and Pacific Rim star, Charlie Hunnam, news might be aware that the actor was recently in Houston on Memorial Day weekend for the Space City Comic Con. And while what happened here wasn’t quite as action-packed as giant robots fighting equally giant space monsters at sea, there was a bit of a kerfuffle. But the story doesn’t end there, because late Tuesday Comicpalooza announced that Hunnam, wanting to make it up to his disappointed fans, is coming back to Houston to try again.

Hunnam will offer free autographs to the Sons of Anarchy VIP ticket holders from Space City Comic Con and Wolf Studios will honor unredeemed VIP photo op vouchers from Space City Comic Con. Though Comicpalooza and Space City Comic Con are mightily unaffiliated, Comicpalooza officials stated they will issue one free adult 3-day pass to each of those Sons of Anarchy VIP ticket holders.

Will there now be peace in pop culture convention land? Head on down to George R. Brown Friday through Sunday (June 17-19) to see.

Charlie Hunnam returns to Houston for a surprise appearance.

Comicpalooza Courtesy Photo

Charlie Hunnam returns to Houston for a surprise appearance.

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Movie Review

How to Train Your Dragon remake puts a fresh twist on the original

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Toothless and Mason Thames in How to Train Your Dragon.

Let’s get it out of the way right at the top: The new live-action How to Train Your Dragon, coming a mere 15 years after the original animated film, serves no real purpose other than to make more money for Universal Pictures and Dreamworks Pictures. However, unlike Disney’s approach toward remaking their animated movies, this attempt manages to succeed on its own merits instead of being a half-baked vessel for nostalgia.

As fans will remember, Hiccup (Mason Thames) lives in Berk, a town on a remote island populated by Vikings who constantly have to defend themselves against rampaging dragons. Hiccup’s dad, Stoick (Gerard Butler), is the community’s vaunted leader, with a legacy that seems impossible for Hiccup to measure up to, especially since he’s stuck in the armory alongside Gobber (Nick Frost).

But Hiccup has a knack for inventions, and his use of one new weapon during a dragon attack takes down a feared Night Fury. Finding the wounded dragon deep in the forest, Hiccup decides against killing it, leading to an unexpected bond between the two of them. Most of the film shows Hiccup trying to prove himself to his townspeople, including the fierce Astrid (Nico Parker), while also nursing the dragon he dubs Toothless back to health with the help of another one of his ingenious creations.

Written and directed by Dean DeBlois (who’s had the same roles on all four HTTYD films), the film is most notable for how engaging it is despite it retelling a story many already know and love. The biggest reason for this is a pivot away from telling a story mainly for kids toward one that feels like an extremely light version of Game of Thrones. Almost right away, there are real stakes for the people in the film, and the way DeBlois and his team stage the scenes, the danger can be felt by the audience.

This sense of “realness” comes through especially well in the scenes between Hiccup and Toothless. The design of Toothless is faithful to the original, but the CGI makes the dragon feel amazingly believable. And when they start flying, the film literally and metaphorically takes off. At multiple points, the camera seems to have trouble keeping them in frame, a smart move toward verisimilitude when the filmmakers clearly could have made it an overly smooth watching experience.

Even though it’s more serious than the original, the film still has plenty of fun to offer. Characters like Gobber (who replaces his two missing limbs with odd contraptions) and the ragtag group of teenagers who come to be in awe of Hiccup’s skills at taming dragons provide more than a few laughs. Hiccup isn’t quite as goofy as he was when voiced by Jay Baruchel, which turns out to be a good thing as his sense of purpose amps up the drama of the story.

Thames’ performance gets better and better as the film goes along, as Hiccup goes from town whipping boy toward hero. He really shines in the last act when he’s given a few scenes that show off his acting range. Parker is equally good, demonstrating the girl power needed for the role, but also the softness of a potential love interest. Butler, the only actor reprising their voice role, is a great presence who sells the outsized personality of Stoick.

Against the odds, this new version of How to Train Your Dragon is equal to the success of the first film, accomplishing the goal of making it feel like you’re watching the story for the first time. If live-action remakes are going to continue to come out, future filmmakers should study this film for how to respect both the history of the franchise and the audience paying good money to be entertained.

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How to Train Your Dragon opens in theaters on June 13.

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