Hello World, Marc Here:
While I would like to state that this post will provide extensive coverage of the 5th Annual Texas Frightmare Weekend, alas that would be a lie. We at Go, See,Talk have far too little time and money to devote to a festival/convention, no matter how awesome it may be. That said, I write to you as a humble festival goer who (along with the mass of people and some pretty cool fans I met in lines) felt like he was going to film church:)
TFM ran from Friday April 30th until Sunday May 2nd and for all 3 days it was like Halloween come early I can tell you that much. When you have none other than master filmmaker John Carpenter (yes, that John Carpenter) headlining and sharing top billing with Zombie genre legend George A. Romero (yes, that George A. Romero) you have the makings for one of the finest horror fest the world has ever seen.
The main reason Carpenter was present was a one, tow punch of crowd pleasing entertainment. John and the cast of Christine (Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, even William Ostrander) were asked to discuss their experience with the film. Also John was set to receive the Texas Frightmare Weekend Lifetime Achievement Award…sadly I did not attend that ceremony. But for those of you interested, check out this great interview between John and Rusty from Gordon and the Whale.
But beforehand, John, George and many others were on hand to meet, greet and sign any and all movie memorabilia much to fans’ delight (including my own). As I only went Saturday I still got my fair share of smiles and grins as I got to meet with, get autographs and take pictures with my heroes. Actually I’m still smiling as I look at these pictures and autographs! As famous as they are it’s even more overwhelming to find out how humble these icons really are. Have a look at my photos with Romero and Carpenter and the awesome autographs I got.
I also met Sid Haig (from The Devils Rejects) and John Stockwell (from Christine) but I’m pretty bummed as my camera decided it was jealous of me and took blurry pictures…either that or it was the person taking them. As far as meeting John, I was a fan of his because of a film he wrote and directed called Cheaters. As I asked him to sign it, his face lit up because you don’t expect to see a DVD like that show up at a so-called Horror Convention. But even though the shot came out crappy (see below) I still had a good time meeting him. Funny enough he directed Blue Crush because he lives in California and is an avid surfer now. I found that funny.
So in the end, I met John Carpenter the man who created Big Trouble in Little China, and you fans of Go,See,Talk should know it’s one of my favorite movies. I got to meet the man who inspired me to write the infamous post about the Flawed Zombie Genre when actually none of my gripes have to do with the work he’s done, and I found out the Cougar from Top Gun prefers a surfboard to a F-14 TomCat.
All I can say is that, like traveling to different countries, I’m hooked and am now on this “I want to meet more celebrities” kick. Combined with volunteering for the Dallas International Film Festival, and the chance encounter to meet Pete Docter, Lou Diamond Phillips and Frank Darabont, as a film fan the past 30 days have been incredibly exciting.
11 Comments
Ross McG
wow, meeting the Carpenter.. doesnt get much bigger than that
nice shirt Marc
Marc
He was a lot less intimidating than I thought he’d be but I was still nervous as hell meeting him. I wish I could have been more composed and gotten to tell him the things I really wanted to ask a few questions too. Alas I froze. Maybe next time right?
Shirt is from the GAP fyi:P
mcarteratthemovies
I mean this with kindness, but I hate you so much right now!
“Halloween” is one of my favorite movies, and George Romero made me love zombies. Ugh! I’m so jealous!
Marc
Check your email for something that may just appease you…if not then I’ll try to come up with something else:)
Gringo
You met my hero! I met Joe Dante once, but this? Woah!
Also, I’m hosting the My Best Post blog-a-thon.
It goes from May 21st-23rd. Want to be a part of it?
It’s pretty easy. You’ve already written your entry.
Just send me a link to your best/favorite/underrated blog post! Thanks!
http://he-shot-cyrus.blogspot.com/2010/04/big-announcement-revealed.html
Marc
It was quite an honor I can tell you that much. But I would love to meet him again actually and ask what I originally wanted to.
Cool, thanks for the offer! Let me look at the old posts to decide which one is our best and I’ll let you know what I want to use.
rtm
Wow, you’re on a roll Marc! Darrabont, Carpenter, Romero … VERY impressive. Great pics, too, thanks for sharing. Looks like they’re really nice, down-to-earth folks, always nice to hear!
Marc
Thanks Ruth! Gotta say it was humbling meeting them but they themselves are quite humble people. So it was a very special experience. A pic and an autograph I can cherish forever…now that’s what it means to be a fan:)
rtm
Yeah, and it’s good that you didn’t go all ga-ga like I did when I met my favorite actor. I’d love to meet him again just so I could undo that embarrassing verklempt reaction from my memory! 🙂
Aiden R
Insanely jealous of that pic with you and JC. That dude is the fuckin’ man. Awesome.
Marc
I wish he would have put up his hand like I did…now that would have been a great picture! Glad you like it though:) It was definitely an honor!