He’s had a career most directors would kill for and has been nominated and/or won pretty much every award and accolade show business has to offer. So, after all that, what does he do? Go to Comic-Con in San Diego, that’s what.

That’s right, the man who brought us such films as The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The Conversation and Dracula is heading to Comic-Con in a few weeks to promote his latest horror project Twixt. The director, who hasn’t been to the Con since 1992, will present portions of the experimental film he calls “one part Gothic romance, one part personal film, and one part the kind of horror film that began my career” on Saturday, July 23 in Hall H.

The film, which stars Val Kilmer, Elle Fanning and Ben Chaplin, reportedly incorporates live music by performance artist Dan Deacon, who will be at the panel. Other than that, details on the film are still scarce. I’m sure that will change soon . . . probably sometime around July 23rd.

This just might be the one thing that gets me to go to Hall H. It sure as hell won’t be Twilight.

With E3 over, the next big summer event in the geek world is Comic-Con in San Diego. Every year, more than a hundred thousand people descend upon San Diego, taking over the city and enveloping it in geekdom.

There isn’t a corner you can turn without seeing a Green Lantern T-shirt or a bar you can walk into that doesn’t have a revised comic book inspired martini list. It is nerd paradise.

But, Comic-Con isn’t all Batmobiles and conversations with Jim Lee. There is a darker side to the Con that becomes increasingly apparent (and annoying) once you get there.

As much as we love the Con, there are a few things we wouldn’t mind living without for our week in San Diego.

Twilight

The past few years, Comic-Con has been invaded by screaming teenage girls and even louder overeager cougars in search of their first glimpse of the latest trailers of the Twilight saga. Twilight is not comics. It’s not even geek.

Ask any person on the street to tell you what they imagine a vampire looks like before Twilight came out and not a single one would mention “sparkles.” The vampires that most people love revolve around sex and violence, not good Christian values and celibacy. Real vampires don’t shimmer, they kill people.

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With Comic-Con in San Diego coming next month it stands to reason we will start to get a better idea of what film, TV and comic book creators and studios are going to be bringing to the show. Today the news comes from Fox, who will be brining 13 shows down to San Diego and in particular will be showing off their brand new Steven Spielberg pre-historic time travel drama Terra Nova.

Other shows making an appearance at the Con include the animated Napoleopn Dynamite, Awake, Bones, Bob’s Burgers, The Finder, Allen Gregory, Glee, Bones, Family Guy, The Simpsons, American Dad, The Cleveland Show, and Futurama. So basically, it’s pretty much the Seth McFarland show with a bit of Spielberg thrown in for good measure. Plus, it will be nice to see Stephen Lang get to play a good guy finally.

Oh yeah, those kids from Glee will be there too. Plus, and this isn’t related to Fox, Twilight will also be in attendance and taking over Hall H this year as well. Good times.

Click through for Fox’s schedule. Comic-Con in San Diego goes from July 21 – 24. Of course, as we were last year, we’ll be there this year to bring you all the fun.

So, check back early and often right here for all your Comic-Con 2011 news, reviews, interviews and more.

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With 2011 in full effect, so has begun Con season. While so far it has been mainly industry and media events like Toy Fair or this week’s Game Developers Conference, the big boys like C2E2, San Diego Comic-Con and the New York Comic Con are all just around the corner. And while most of The Flickcast have earned our geek merit badges (as well as Foursquare badges) by surviving numerous conventions, we realize not everyone has had the chance to experience the Con world like we have.

The world of conventions can even be a little intimidating. While shows like Wizard World can be good day trips where someone can just go in and out, others like San Diego are week long vacations that take some actual time and planning. To help prepare Con goers, we have put together this post loaded with advice for both new and veteran geek adventurers.

Know Your Con

As mentioned before, some cons are large epic events while others can be treated as just quick day trips. When picking your Con, make sure you know which of these two categories it falls into. Don’t expect to see San Diego Comic-Con all in one day.

It will be damn near impossible to spend any decent amount of time at every booth that catches your interest if you are only there for one day. Plus, you won’t have any time for autograph signings, panels or other con events as you will just be rushing through to see a little of everything but not having enough time to really enjoy any of it.

On the same token, smaller shows like ComiCONN, a local level show with only a hundred or so booths, don’t have nearly as many special events going on, or fellow con goers to wade through. Planning a full weekend around the con alone might leave someone looking for more to do.

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After several missteps with their online registration process, San Diego Comic-Con organizers have finally announced an official registration date for 2011 attendees. For fans of the country’s largest comic convention, you may be familiar with some of the event’s online registration melt-downs that have plagued the con’s organizers over the last few months. Attendees trying to score passes to the July 2011 event were met with server errors, frozen screens and an overall frustrating time with the online registration system.

Con organizers faulted an online registration system run by a third-party company called  EPIC, which managed to fail twice in spectacular fashion: first on November 1st, the original on-sale date for Comic-Con 2011, and yet again on November 22nd. Potential attendees took to Facebook and Twitter in droves to complain about the technical glitches.

It remains to be seen whether convention organizers have switched registration providers, or whether they’ve perhaps worked out their problems for good this time around. Either way, we hope the third time is the charm.

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A few months ago, we first brought you the trailer for Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s newest comedy, this time taking place in the US, titled Paul. Fanboys (especially those who attended Comic-Con this year) had heard nothing but great things about this upcoming film, and when the first trailer hit, we got anything but tickled with humor. The trailer showed us all of our favorite actors and actresses that could make a good flick, but was cut in a way that was lacking in any comedic payoff whatsoever. It looks like things have changed with a brand new trailer, however.

This new International trailer finally gives us the goods. For those who don’t know, the film follows Pegg and Frost’s characters across country to their first ever San Diego Comic-Con. On the way, they decide to pass through the famed Area 51 and come across Paul, an escaped alien, voiced by Seth Rogen. After choosing to befriend the little guy, they are forced to keep him safe from a shadowy government figure (Sigourney Weaver) who sends her best men after him (Bill Hader & Jason Bateman).

The flick has plenty more cameos, nods to other geeky franchises, and yes, alien nudity. Check out the full trailer after the jump and catch Paul in theaters on March 18th.

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Has the thrill of San Diego Comic-Con waned (gasp!) in the last few years? Is the scheduling for the San Diego, Chicago or New York Cons not ideal for you? Or, would your love of comics, games and movies inspire you to travel internationally (this writer is definitely in that camp)? If you fit into any or all of these categories, then today’s your lucky day! Mark Millar is about to become your new hero (if he isn’t already)!

Millar (Kick-Ass, Wanted, Civil War) has announced that he is launching a Comic Con-themed event for the UK market next April. The Kapow Comic Con will take over London’s Business Design Centre on April 9 and 10, 2011 and be dedicated to the world of comics, movies, TV, games and more.

Stars from Hollywood and TV-land have yet to be announced, but Dave Gibbons, John Romita Jr, Frank Quitely, Bryan Hitch and Andy Diggle have all been confirmed for attendance.

Kapow will also introduce the Stan Lee Awards, which will pay tribute to the comic book legend by giving recipients gong statues for Best Comic, Best Superhero or Sci-Fi Movie and Best Comic Book Hero among others.

For more information, check out the official Kapow Comic Con site. See you in London!

Nerds everywhere have been hearing more and more about the next big Simon Pegg & Nick Frost (stars of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) film called Paul. All we really knew was that it starred our favorite English duo plus Bill Hader, Jason Bateman, Sigourney Weaver, Kristin Wiig, and Seth Rogen. That is until a little show called San Diego Comic-Con happened, and now all we want is more from the film.

The premise of the film has Pegg and Frost as two Brits traveling across the country on their way to Comic-Con. Along the way they come across a rogue alien escaping from Area 51. Rogen lends his voice as the titular Paul, the alien, with Bateman and Hader as the Men in Black-style FBI agents who are sent to retrieve him.

From what we hear, the footage they showed during the Comic-Con panel did the film more justice, but this will appeal to the mass audience. Expect to see plenty of fan service throughout the film, as just about everyone involved in it has some bit of geek cred to their name.

Check out the first trailer for the film after the jump. Catch Pegg and Frost in Paul on March 18th of next year.

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With the last season of Smallville swiftly moving along, The Flickcast decided to talk to one of the most convoluted characters to reside in the sleepy town, Tess Mercer. She’s been a good girl, bad girl, and somewhere in between- so in essence a real woman.

Popping on the scene as the mysterious heir and CEO to LuthorCorp in Season 8, she’s since been through many tenuous trials. She’s fought to save humanity, albeit killing a few in her way.

She’s survived multiple deaths, multiple kryptonite-fueled personalities of Clark Kent, and multiple conspiracies. The best is yet to come.

The Flickcast: You were first cast in Season 8 of Smallville, did you think the show would continue for many more seasons?

Cassidy Freeman: I thought this was a one year job. I mean they signed me on for three, so they had me if they wanted me for three. But I was told maybe a year and every year we get renewed. It’s almost like a roller coaster ride of a path. I feel like the end of this series has had such strength to it.

I mean, I’ve watched it all in wanting to get familiar with the show and I’m not saying that just because I’m in it, but I think that they’ve taken some chances and we’re more grown-up and I really, really enjoy being in it and watching it.

TF: Tess Mercer’s walked as much on the side of light as that of dark. What are your thoughts on playing this complex character?

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If you haven’t been keeping up, we’ve been having a very Sunny week as we bring you interviews with the cast of FX’s raunchiest comedy as the show enters its sixth season. Now, we have a bit of a good news/bad news situation.

The bad news is that today is our last interview for the show. The good news is that it’s with comedic legend of film and TV Danny DeVito. Danny joined the project a few seasons back, and ever since, he’s been on an on-screen downward spiral of humanity, and it couldn’t been funnier.

While this brings his career full-circle from working on Taxi decades ago, we also had to ask him of his thoughts on ever playing The Penguin again.

Take a look at what he had to say after the jump, and catch It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia every Thursday night on FX.

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With the new season of Smallville fast approaching this Friday on the CW, The Flickcast took the opportunity to sit down with Justin Hartley, aka the Green Arrow. He was laid-back, insightful, and of course easy on the eyes.

DC Comic’s Green Arrow has made headlines recently for taking care of bad guys anti-hero style. Smallville‘s Oliver Queen is no different, albeit he had a certain explosive panache when he nixed Lex Luthor. The perceptive and pensive Justin Hartley had much to say about his character’s path towards enlightenment this season.

The Flickcast: What excites you the most about getting the green light another, final season?

Justin Hartley: The final season, we’re excited. I think I speak for everyone when I say that. The cool thing about this year, and I’m sure you’ve heard this before, is that there’s all these…little tidbits that haven’t quite been sewn up yet.

It’s interesting because usually they go, “Well we’re going to tie it up next year or at the end of it,” and they plan on tying it up whenever. But it’s like go-time so they kind of have to tie it up now. So hopefully we’ll get, maybe even one of those (questions answered) every episode. They’re doing it the right way.

It’s really cool, especially for all those people who have been watching the show for a long time, that we did find out that we had a final season and then we’re going to shoot it. Instead of at the end of nine finding out that there is no final season. So we have the opportunity to do that- which is pretty awesome.

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As summer dies down with explosive fire power and spiritual journeys to other lands, I recall the glorious action fest that was The Expendables. In turns out Julia Roberts has nothing on protein packed men with a mission on their minds. My female counterparts have voiced their love of meaty men in droves and unexpectedly taken away business from Julia’s love fest. Nearly 40 percent of The Expendables‘ audience was women. X-Men Origins: Wolverine‘s audience raked them in as nearly 50 percent of the audience was female. It seems women have tired of the boys akin to Michael Cera and instead jones for something with a little more muscle. Stallone should have learned the key to Hugh Jackman’s success to driving women in throngs- taking off his shirt.

I hear Hugh gave up his lead in Avon Man to start his insane work-out to become the ferocious mutant once again. If you take months upon months to beef up like these 80‘s action legends did, you’d think they’d want to show it off. Plus, wasn’t it super hot in Louisiana and Brazil where The Expendables shot? It was like 100 degrees with 100 percent humidity. Stallone couldn’t have been the only one who was feeling the heat.  Take off those shirts and up your female movie-going audience to 51 percent.

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