Tag: Cosplay

Morgan Spurlock’s new documentary “Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope” has plenty of familiar speakers — Joss Whedon, Stan Lee, Olivia Wilde and Kevin Smith are among the commentators on fanboy culture — but the most memorable voice might be the droll, self-deprecating Holly Conrad. The amateur costume designer is one of the Comic-Con pilgrims followed by Spurlock’s cameras. Hero Complex caught up with her too. Hero Complex: What was your first thought when you heard about the documentary — did you have anxieties about the tone or motivation? Holly Conrad: I didn’t really at all. Even when Morgan first called me and told me I was in, I knew this was a movie made for all of us, and with Joss Whedon behind it how could it not be awesome? Plus at the time I was still finishing the ...

Jay West, a frequent contributor to Hero Complex who writes about fan culture, collectibles and alternative reality games, braved the rain last  weekend to visit WonderCon in Anaheim. He brought his camera along and, of course, what member of the cosplay tribe can resist a photo op? Above, West’s collection of costume memories from the convention. RECENT AND RELATED Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, back in black WonderCon: Felicia Day’s Geek & Sundry arrives WonderCon: Watch for free Hero magazine ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ comes to WonderCon New comics: ‘Dragon Tattoo,’ Anthony Bourdain Andrew Garfield: Fame terrifies me ‘John Carter’: Creating Woola, lizard-dog of Mars Johnny Depp in ‘Lone Ranger’ first look Batman Live arena show starts U.S. tour on Sept 5

REVIEW In Japanese, otaku simply means “you,” but in America, it’s used to describe a fan of Japanese pop culture: anime, manga, video games, J-pop and/or cosplay. American otaku range from casual enthusiasts to hard-core fanatics; the latter are the subject of the eight-part reality series/documentary “America’s Greatest Otaku,” which premiered on Hulu on Feb. 24. Stu Levy, the founder of TokyoPop, a major publisher of manga in the U.S., serves as host, assisted by six college students who are self-proclaimed otaku. Over eight weeks, they visit 20 U.S. cities, observing various aspects of Japanese fandom and interviewing candidates for the title of America’s Greatest Otaku. It’s an uneven series, veering from interesting to just plain silly and superficial. In one of the better sequences, the apprentice reporters visit the Texas headquarters of Funimation, the largest U.S. distributor of anime. After ...

What’s the word from the muggle nation? Thousands of fans flocked to theaters Thursday night to catch midnight showings of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part I”,  which made a lightning mark at the box office with $24 million. Wizard wannabes and Death Eater doppelgangers endured long lines, crowded cinemas and red-eye fatigue (some theaters hosted second screenings at 3 a.m.) and they weren’t afraid to sound off about it.  To see the fandemonium from across the country, click here. – Nardine Saad RECENT AND RELATED Tom Felton’s tattoo prank VIDEO: ‘Potter’ stars arrive at London premiere Tom Felton: The final films will not disappoint Rupert Grint: I’m happy to be unemployed Radcliffe on his tearful final day on “Potter” set Forget Hogwarts, stars love fugitive life Which star needed fat-suit after weight loss? EXCLUSIVE: Tom Felton gives tour of ...

It’s a Hero Complex world, and a world of complex heroes. Here’s a  story we just had to share with you from My Modern Met… A few years ago, French photographer Sacha Goldberger found his 91-year-old Hungarian grandmother Frederika feeling lonely and depressed. To cheer her up, he suggested that they shoot a series of outrageous photographs in unusual costumes, poses, and locations. Grandma reluctantly agreed, but once they got rolling, she couldn’t stop smiling. Frederika was born in Budapest 20 years before World War II. During the war, at the peril of her own life, she courageously saved the lives of ten people. When asked how, Goldberger told us “she hid the Jewish people she knew, moving them around to different places everyday.” As a survivor of Nazism and Communism, she then immigrated away from Hungary to France, forced ...

Silly fun at the recent “Megamind” event at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles … – Geoff Boucher RECENT AND RELATED: Singer: “First Class” has to be about Prof X & Magneto Cameron vs. Zemeckis? An insider’s take on rivalry Dick Zanuck, too busy for nostalgia “X-Men” director: Superhero genre “mined to death” Snyder: I lay awake imagining Superman  flight scenes Is Kraven the villain for new Spidey film? After “Inception,” Vaughn axed “First Class” scene James McAvoy will think big as Professor X Reynolds: “Deadpool” is the “Barfly” of superheroes Raimi on Spidey: “I would have done everything differently”

The Hero Complex didn't make it down south to DragonCon this year but we feel like we were there when we watch this video by Chad Vader...

Here’s a longer version of Wednesday’s Los Angeles Times story on Anime Expo 2010 as well as a promotional video for the event that starts Thursday …  On Thursday, Nicki Ousley will don a Victorian-style blue dress with white lace and wield a fierce saber. Kate Hopp and 11 friends will dress up as residents of feudal Japan, wearing kimonos, peasant pants and straw hats accessorized with samurai swords and plastic snakes. Jayson Nufable will tie a bandanna over the mullet hairstyle he’s grown and cover his body in futuristic head-to-toe armor. Their clothes will be unusual, but Ousley, Hopp and Nufable won’t look out of place. They’re headed to the 2010 Anime Expo, which hits downtown Los Angeles Thursday through Sunday, offering the chance for anime and manga fans to revel in a celebration of Japanese pop culture. Expecting to ...

Linda Whitmore is our specialist here at Hero Complex when it comes to classic “Star Trek,” and today she checks in with a report about “Star Wreck,” a parody that required her to boldly seek out life forms in a Nordic sector of the universe. — Geoff Boucher What would happen if the Starship Enterprise and “Airplane” crashed into the Babylon 5 space station somewhere in the skies above Finland? The loopy result would be “Star Wreck (The Imperial Edition),” the Starfleet parody from a Finnish writer-actor-producer named Samuli Torssonen and his crew of amateur moviemakers. Seven years in the making, the farce opens on the bridge of the USS Kickstart with the not-so-cosmic sound of a toilet flushing – the men’s room, it seems, is conveniently located right next to the vessel’s command center. The film introduces us to the intrepid Capt. James ...

Check out this story from the U.K.'s The Guardian (with links added by yours truly). What's next, you won't be able to bring battle-axes to the theater to see "The Hobbit"? I'm hoping this guy gets a fancy attorney, you know, one who speaks Klingon and carries eight-sided dice in his briefcase… — Geoff Boucher Tesco has been accused of religious discrimination after the company ordered the founder of a Jedi religion to remove his hood or leave a branch of the supermarket in north Wales. Daniel Jones, founder of the religion inspired by the "Star Wars" films, says he was humiliated and victimised for his beliefs following the incident at a Tesco store in Bangor. The 23-year-old, who founded the International Church of Jediism, which has 500,000 followers worldwide, was told the hood flouted store rules. But the grocery empire struck back, claiming that ...