Mr. Sandman
July 22, 2006 at 6:44 PM
Comments (2)Hello, Steve here, barely coherent, dazed, and shaking furiously! My heart is beating a million miles per hour. My palms are sweaty, my legs are shaking. My vision is blurred, my voice is choked. I can feel my heartbeat in every part of my upper body. No, this is not a "insert washed out celebrity's name here" confession of alcohol and drug abuse, this is the most accurate description that I can muster, (or type for that matter) of how I feel right this moment. Ladies and Gentlemen, I, Steve Zaragoza, have met…Sam Raimi. But it doesn't stop there, I've also just met Bryce Howard, (which is probably, the closest I'll get to Ron Howard, she's his daughter), Topher Grace, Thomas Haden Church, Kirsten Dunst, and Tobey Maguire!!! That's right friends, the entire starring cast of Spider-Man 3!! I want to say so much about how I feel, but screw that! This aint no Psychiatry session! What I saw is what matters! And friends, what I and over six thousand people saw, was unfiltered, raw, 100% authentic, NERD GOLD!! In it's absolute purist form! First, Sam Raimi, and Laura Ziskin (producer) came out and announced that, they unfortunately, had no footage from Spider-Man 3 to show for guests at the panel. To which the crowd groaned, and shouted in horror! But, it turned out it was a joke, cause he then shouted to the video guys to roll the footage exclusively put together for Comic Con! He first stated though, that most of the effects were not finished, but he showed it anyway! So off they went! Oh man, what followed was too amazing to describe…I mean, Ok, I'll try….here goes: Spiderman in black, jumping flipping, doing what spidey does. Sandman in action, shoving cops and pedestrians with his giant sand hands! AND the kicker, the REAL GOOD STUFF!! One word: VENOM! HOLY HEAVEN! VENOM! In all his snarling, drooling glory!! But for only seconds…And it seemed like I was back at home, staring at my glowing computer screen in the dark, and going into slow motion on the video player, trying to catch the best glimpse of something, to take into photoshop, edit, and post on some wildly popular movie website…Man It was just incredible… And then it was over…But not without ending on one last good shot of Venom screaming into the night!!! SOOO AMAZING. They crowd went WILD. I've never heard an audience howl with such excitement, and joy in my life. It truly was an experience, and one of a kind. After that, Sam introduced the entire starring cast, starting with Bryce Howard, then Kirsten, and Thomas Hayden Church, then Topher, and lastly Tobey Maguire. They started right into Q&A, with some great questions asked all around, by the eager fans who had been waiting hours and hours for this moment. It was just too much, and truly amazing. I scooted out just before the end to interview some fans exiting the panel, and then was quickly whisked away to a secret location. I stood in the elevator with Sara, trusty nerd sidekick, and some Sony people, wondering where the hell I was headed. And just before I stepped out of the elevator, It hit me like a bag of quarters…I was going to meet Sam Raimi. And before I could muster it, I was shoved into a room of very few people, staring straight in the direction of a long table, with the entire starring cast, and director of Spider-Man 3. Of course, I almost lost it. I wasn't sure why I was there, and I felt as if I didn't belong there…I mean, who am I? I'm this fat guy with a beard and glasses who got lucky with an amazing contest, and I'm standing here, shaking and confused, waiting to be ushered to the table with the cast of casts. I mean, put yourself in my position, how would you feel? I obviously did my best to keep my cool, and look as if I belonged there! And it worked, for the most part…
But at this point, I must add, before the Con even started, before the week of excitement. I was handed a curious unmarked poster tube, by my good friend Blake. He proceeded to tell me that in the tube was his most prized possession. He reached in and unfurled the poster, and what I saw was years of dedication, of pain, and suffering, years and years of blood sweat, and more sweat. It was an original, one-sheet of Sam Raimi's first film, Evil Dead. But it wasn't just a poster, it was a collection of time and money, it was a collective comrade ere of sprawled signatures, it was the ink of many sharpies, scribbled to make out the entire cast of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead. I was speechless. He said, "Steve my friend, this here is my life. This is the last piece of a seemingly never ending collection. This before you, is an almost complete collection of every major actor, in Evil Dead. There's only one thing missing…The signature of Sam Raimi." I stood up, without hesitation and shouted, "I'll do it!" He handed me the protective poster tube, with his prize possession inside, and I could see a tear in his eye. He knew I could do this, and I was the only one who could. And of course, him being the best man at my wedding, I couldn't refuse. So cut to this new moment, standing in line, not ready for what's to come, dazed and frightened, I stepped closer to nerd heaven. Then, at that moment, just before I could enter the line to nerd heaven, I realized, I was missing something. Yes, something felt lighter…I mean, besides the laptop…It was….THE POSTER!
Part Two...Tomorrow! Stay tuned…
-Steve
