By Divina

A couple of weeks ago, while Eddy was on a business trip, I got a chance to celebrate Dolby’s big 4-0 in their New York City Laboratories.

Here is Buzz, Woody and I hanging out before the festivities started.

Dolby Laboratories is one of the most influential sound companies in the history of film.  They have led the way in terms of the way we hear movies with such hits like Star Wars, and Batman Returns. Founded in 1965 they are global leaders in high-quality audio, surround sound and technology. In 2010, Dolby has teamed up with Disney and Pixar for Toy Story 3 to launch their newest innovation: Dolby Surround 7.1.

I am not a techie, but I know how important music and sound make for any movie experience. When you pay your $10 plus per ticket you want to be transported into the world that the director, writers, actors and other movie magic people have created for you. (more…)

By Eddy

Not to get too mushy so early in the post, but Divina likes to say that we are soul mates.  Of course, I agree with her (in no small part due to self preservation), but there was an instant during our visit to the Toy Fair that made me hesitant momentarily, it was at the moment that I walked into the ThinkGeek both and display.  Not to freak those guys out too much (I don’t need another restraining order) but I ThinkGeek and I were made for each other or at least it was made for people like me.

(more…)

My Thoughts On Comic Con

by Eddy

As a Newbie to Comic Con I was really excited to experience The Con first hand.  Now that I am back to my Fortress of Solitude it dawned on me that I am just glad I survived it (To think that it wasn’t even the busiest day…that would be Saturday). 

So here are a couple of my thoughts on The Con.

*No Children allowed- not to say that children can’t go to Comic Con, I am just saying that it extremely difficult.  There are so many people, and it goes without saying that many of these people are fanatical.  Luckily Divina is an expert baby wrangler because it could have been much worse.  Right before opening, there was a huge pushing crowded chomping at the bit to get at the exhibits (and the free stuff) and it wasn’t like it was pizza faced teens dressed up as the Green Lantern or their World of Warcraft characters.  It was the grandma aged women who represented the greatest danger. They were pushing, pulling and yelling at security guards who were only trying to prevent anyone from being trampled.  It was definitely a tough environment to be in, so I felt bad for those parents who were pushing large baby carriages or those attendees in wheelchairs or crutches.

*The Costumed Attendants- Comic Con is known for the costumes worn by the attendees and this year was no different.  The day I went was Friday, Star Wars day, there were several different kinds of Princess Leias, Jedii, Han Solos and Storm troopers.  Like I mentioned before there were Green Lanterns, Deadpools, and various vampires, monsters and other heroes. While one costume didn’t stand out to me, I did happen to notice that there were a number of decent looking girls dressed to the nines for the event.  For most outsiders, I am sure they expect that most of the females there would fall in the butter face and butter body categories, but it looked like some of the hotties took this opportunity to open themselves to a little more alternative and very daring outfits.

*The Film studio exhibits-All the major studios were present with their latest offerings. Lucasarts Films was in full force with their Star Wars exhibits; though it was appropriate considering that it was Star Wars Day.  Paramount, Fox, Sony, Lion’s Gate, Disney and Warner Bros were also present and each had an impressive display of their latest movies and shows.  Heavily represented was AMC with the new show The Prisoner , Jesus Christ ie. James Caviezel was in attendance, I am really looking forward to checking the show out. In addition there were many other surprise appearances from stars which caused a number of rushes to various locations.  D and I were able to catch Ludacris roaming around the exhibits, though I wasn’t sure if he was there for something specific or if he just wanted to check everything out.  The craziest scene was at the Twilight area, where there was a huge line wrapped around the halls for the free memorabilia.  From what I heard from other attendants people were camping outside a couple of days before the comic con just to get in to see a preview of New Moon .  There were also a number of premiers such as a showing of Ninja Assassin that was screened in full.  I totally wish I could have been there to watch it.

*The Video Game exhibits- much like the studios the Video game companies were well represented.  Namco Bandai and Bandai America had a great set up with various flat screens with a number of game previews ready to be played by the masses,(see our posts on the Namco Bandai blogger party a couple of weeks back).  Especially exciting were the bags being given out by Bandai with various figures and coupons.  These were a hot commodity especially for the Dragon Ball Z fans.  Sega, Playstation, Sony Online Entertainment, EA and others were there.  I had a blast playing all the great games that they had to offer.  I could have stayed playing video games all day.

My final impression is that I had a great time and would definitely go again.  If I had more time I would have given in depth descriptions of all the games and movies that I played and saw and what I thought, but the post would be way too big.  In the end, I would definitely return, sans baby of course.  You can definitely count me in for the Comic Con 2010 in NYC. 

So you could not make it to Comic Con 2009, don’t worry, D and I put together two awesome Comic Con giveaways so two lucky DancingHotdogs Readers can be a part of it all.

Valued at $50 each bag includes Comic Con, LA Blogger Prom and AC Milan game (Blog posts to follow) stuff. 

See picture below.

Bandai bag, buttons, G4 show visor, AC Milan hat, AC Milan key chain, AC flag, Hungry Card Deck LA 2009, Computer Skin are just a few of the things in the bag.

There are several ways to enter and win!

• 1. Leave a comment telling us about your Comic Con experience.
• 2. Post a question about Comic Con.
• 3. Follow us on Twitter: @Dancinghotdogs and post a comment saying so.
• 4. Join our fan club on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dancing-Hot-Dogs/56791664427?ref=nf and post a comment saying so.

We will pick a winner on August 1, so start commenting and following us!

By Eddy

Taking place before the whole original cast and crew got together.  We are treated to yet another Hollywood Origin story, following in no particular order:  Batman Begins , Wolverine Origins , Hannibal Rising soon to be followed by an X-men origins film call X-Men: The First Class .

Fortunately for all of us, J.J. Abrams (who came as a non Star Trek Fan), provides us an entertaining and ultimately well crafted movie.  The movie even had me, more of a Star Wars fan than Star Trek , thinking about watching some of the older movies so I could get more history on the characters (A true feat considering the movies were horrible even back when they first came out).

Star Trek introduces us to an infant James T. Kirk when he is saved by his father from destruction at the last minute by sacrificing himself, a moment that brought a momentary mist to my eye when thinking about my own boy.

Fast forward years later, Kirk is now a young "Rebel Without a Cause" and gets challenged to enlist in Starfleet and follow in his father’s footsteps.  This starts the beginning of the entire adventure as he meets his future shipmates and ignites the beginning of the bromance that is Spock and Kirk (obviously they start off hating each other).  We are also given a glimpse into the life of Spock and his development in a way similar to Kirk as a rebel.

What I enjoyed immensely was that each of the new cast got to show off different aspect of their personality and ultimately their badass-ness, which was not necessarily apparent in the other movies and TV shows.  Zulu (John Cho…White Castle!!) is a warrior and sword fighter, Uhura (Zoe Saldana) is a stone cold fox, Chekov (Anton Yelchin) is a teenage genius and Scotty (Simon Pegg) is well…Scotty.  Each actor does a good enough job with their character that I wouldn’t want them to recast the characters.  Zarachary Quinto as Spock and Chris Pine as Kirk stand out in their performance with Quinto as my favorite.  One more thing as well, old Spock (Leonard Nimoy) makes an appearance adding extra gravity to the film and a link to it’s storied past.

There is one thing Star Trek fans should remember though, this is an "alternate reality" changed by time traveling (you have to watch the movie to find out, I ain’t no snitch) and therefore some of the things that happen will not fall in line with what you know about the original show or the many movies that happened in the 80’s and 90’s. 

In the end, there were a couple of things I would have changed such as more story on their training at Star Fleet and more development of the story between Spock and his father but I am really splitting hairs.  Also, there was a scene in the movie that was eerily reminiscent of the Star Wars world of Hoth, the ice planet in the second movie (yeah I know I am a Geek). 

Strangely, this movie did remind me a lot of the first Star War (I know what you are saying "That does blaspheme!!") But the tone of the story telling and the playful nature that was interspersed with the solemnity of the story and drama was very reminiscent of the George Lucas classic.  There was genuineness in the filmmaking that just drew me in. And while it will not have the same impact as Star Wars , Star Trek did bring freshness to the series and a feeling similar to A New Hope: anticipation of great things to come.