Yesterday Was a Lie

I went back to WonderCon on Sunday for just one reason: to see the cast of Yesterday Was a Lie.

On the panel were writer/director James Kerwin, composer Kristopher Carter, and actors Kipleigh Brown, John Newton, and Peter Mayhew.

If you're a Star Wars fan, you'll quickly recognize that last name. Yes, Chewbacca was in this film. As a dead guy. "No lines," Peter said proudly in his clipped British accent. "Not a word." He said he enjoyed the fact that it was his face being shown, not a character. And Chase Masterson had made the call to him.

But Chase wasn't there. She finally appeared in the last minutes of the panel to explain how she became the producer of the project. The producer had dropped out and they needed another. And since she had produced a few other projects, she volunteered. Lead actress Kipleigh Brown said Chase was wearing seven different hats at once, it seemed.

The film seems quite interesting. Shot entirely digitally in black and white (which presents its own challenges), it seems to tie quantum physics to film noir. Or at least that's what writer/director Kerwin would have us believe.

I think it's going to be tough to see the film, as it's obviously low budget and not appearing at my local cinema. But, with three years in preparation, the project was obviously well thought-out, and the trailer shows it's well-shot. But I might have to journey to an independent film festival to see Yesterday Was a Lie.

I told Chase at her booth before the panel that someone stuck a little ad for the panel and the film in our WonderCon bags. I thought it was very clever and effective advertising.

The other panels at WonderCon were interesting. I truly enjoyed seeing Hilary Swank appear to promote her new film. I really have to hand it to stars, big and not-so-big, who appear in front of the geekiest geeks of them all. You never know what kinds of questions you're going to get. One actress (Ali Larter from Heroes) from Resident Evil (the 3rd edition, Extinction) was greeted by one guy with: "Well, I guess you're a semi-okay actress." And Hilary was asked out to lunch by another guy. She was quite sweet about it, saying that she had a date with the press. Her movie, The Reaping, however good the special effects are, seems to be headed for B-movie-ville. At least I won't be seeing it.

One I will probably be seeing, however, is 300, Frank Miller's graphic novel brought to life by director Zack Snyder. The trailer was magnificent! And Gerard Butler was really the funniest thing out there on Saturday. He was hilarious once you got used to his normal Scottish accent. But what else can you be with the gb.net fans everywhere?

One project I knew nothing about but now I have the greatest interest in is the new Pixar film, Ratatouille. (I had to look at the booklet to figure out how to spell the thing.) It's all about a rat who can cook, a garbage boy who can't, and how they team up. Brad Bird and actor Patton Oswalt (the voice of the rat, Remy) were terribly entertaining. I had never heard of Oswalt before, but now I'll look for his name; the guy could've written his own stuff! But Brad is right: story is everything. They don't make a move without the story in place. A few Hollywood producers could well take note.

The highly touted presentation of Spider-Man 3 was a big ho-hum except for one thing: Sam Raimi and Avi Arad sent the trailer. No people, no director, no actors. But they did send an expanded trailer, just for us, that shows us the face of Venom. Ick.

Wonder-Con wasn't quite as wonder-con-wonderful as in the past, but it did have some severely bright moments. You just had to be patient and wait for them.