Leonard Nimoy, Chris Nolan, Ridley Scott Headline Geek Event

Leonard Nimoy, Christopher Nolan and Ridley Scott Headline Los Angeles Times’ First-Ever Hero Complex Film Festival

June 11-13th Weekend to be Presented by Anime Expo

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Times Hero Complex, the go-to guide for all things geek, superheroic and sci-fi, enters a new dimension with the first annual Hero Complex Film Festival hosted by pop culture writer Geoff Boucher. The three-day event brings four iconic fan favorites to the big screen with the rare chance to experience live Q&A sessions with their legendary creators.

Leonard Nimoy, Christopher Nolan and Ridley Scott will talk about the making of “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home;” “The Dark Knight;” and “Blade Runner” & “Alien.” Nimoy has just announced his retirement from acting and Nolan’s “Insomnia” will screen as a bonus-- adding even greater luster to this very special June 11-13 event. Nolan will also discuss the $1 billion box-office success of "The Dark Knight" and give a preview to his film "Inception," one of the most anticipated releases of 2010. Scott will delve into the influence of "Blade Runner," considered by many to be the greatest sci-fi film ever, and discuss his plans to return to the deep-space horror of "Alien" with a prequel.

"The initial idea behind Hero Complex was to write about the pop culture I love: sci-fi, fantasy, superheroes, graphic novels and horror and to cover these fanboy entertainments with sophistication and journalistic standards,” said Boucher. “Now, the festival allows The Times to bring even deeper insight into these vivid sectors of art and entertainment and no three names speak to the cerebral possibilities and creative greatness in these genres more than Ridley Scott, Leonard Nimoy and Christopher Nolan."

The first site by a major mainstream news outlet dedicated to genre-based film, TV and publishing projects, Hero Complex debuted in July 2008 and quickly became a wildly popular must-read. The Online Journalism Awards have named it 2009’s best “Online Blogging/Commentary, Large Site” and the blog has evolved as an emerging franchise for The Times including hosted screenings of upcoming releases, a comics/graphic novel area at the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, an influential presence at the San Diego Comic-Con, featured content in the flagship Calendar section and a weekly page in Brand X.

The Hero Complex Film Festival is being undertaken in association with presenting sponsor Anime Expo.

“The last decade has seen the genre-film explode and we’ve designed the Hero Complex Film Festival to share The Times’ unique access to Hollywood’s top creators and their creations with devoted followers,” said EVP of Advertising and Marketing, John O’Loughlin. “We are continuing to build new experiential arenas around our unique coverage by which our advertising partners can more deeply engage an enthusiastic audience.”

Beginning today, tickets can be purchased for individual days or in a limited number of 3-day packages and the event schedule can be found at http://www.latimes.com/herocomplexfilmfest. Purchasers of the 3-day pass will also receive a limited edition print of the exclusive “Hero Complex Film Festival” poster designed by award-winning graphic novel creator Darwyn Cooke.

About the Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country, with a daily readership of 2 million and 3 million on Sunday, and a combined print and interactive local weekly audience of 4.5 million. The fast-growing latimes.com draws over 10 million unique visitors monthly.

The Los Angeles Times Media Group businesses and affiliates also include The Envelope, Times Community Newspapers, LA, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Brand X, Hoy, and California Community News and - combined with the flagship Los Angeles Times - reach approximately 5.9 million or 44% of all adults in the Southern California marketplace. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Times has been covering Southern California for over 128 years and is part of Tribune Company, one of the country's leading media companies with businesses in publishing, the Internet and broadcasting. Additional information is available at http://latimes.com/aboutus.

The Graveyard Book Film is Dead... for Now

I found this feature on Neil Gaiman at the Los Angeles Times blog, Hero Complex.  Gaiman talks about how the film adaptation of his children's book, Newberry Medal and Hugo Award winner, The Graveyard Book, fell apart.  Apparently, this happened because Miramax shut down.  Gaiman talks about how the death of his father, David Gaiman, affected him for several months afterwards.  Gaiman also talks about his other Hollywood experiences.

I reviewed The Graveyard Book for the Comic Book Bin, and while I liked it, I consider it vastly overrated in the context of the fanfare the book has received since its release.  It is merely a rehash of The Jungle Book, an imaginative rehash, but a rehash, still.