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Hello again, Steve here!

Today my first stop was the Sony Pictures panel presentation of Open Season. They opened the presentation with the trailer, which I have to admit, was pretty damn funny! I mean wild animals going buck wild (pun intended) on hillbilly hunters equals immediate hysterical laughter, (Especially if you’re a fan of the old Bugs Bunny cartoons, where he messes heavily with Elmer Fudd). You have to admit, there’s just something entertaining about watching animals kick the crap out of humans. Even if it’s real footage! Obviously if someone gets hurt, it’s not entertaining anymore….It’s hilarious! And this film seems ripe with splendid “animal-hurts-human” scenes!

On hand for the presentation was Steve Moore, the creator of the comic strip “In the Bleachers” which was the basis for the concept of the film. Also presenting was Jill Culton, the producer of the film, and Doug Ikeler, who was the visual effects supervisor. Everyone was really excited because Open Season will mark Sony Pictures first romp into the world of animation. Sony Pictures! I salute thee!

They then showed us a clip of the film. At first, I have to admit I was ready to rule it out as a typical buddy animated movie, with “wacky hi jinks!” and cheesy one liners. And as the clip went on, I realized that I was actually enjoying it! The clip had the two main characters breaking into a convenience store (which involved a shopping cart, and a glass door), and eating everything in sight. I mean, imagine a giant hungry bear and, a deer rampaging through a 7-11! It was truly entertaining and funny. From what I saw, I can tell you that the main character, Boog, is a domesticated brown bear, (voiced by Martin Lawrence) who lives in what looks like the garage of a mountain dwelling hillbilly.
His friend is a one antlered deer named Elliot (voiced by Ashton Kutcher), who attempts to get Boog to leave his domestic home, and travel into the wild. I’ll definitely check this one out when it hits theaters, cause who doesn’t want to watch two computer animated animals beat the crap out of gun toting hunters! Count me in!

Next up was the presentation of Surf’s Up, introduced by the producer Chris Jenkins. Oh man, this movie looks sooo damn good! It’s shot “documentary style” which I love so much when it’s comedic! I was reminded of Christopher Guest’s style of comedy, and improv when watching the second clip, which was the entire opening of the film. The first clip was a short teaser trailer that showcased the amazing animation of a penguin surfing in the ocean, with absolutely impressive water effects! I can’t miss this movie when it comes out, looks like the perfect film to take your friends to, and just pig out on nachos and popcorn, and then spitting it all out when laughing!
Which is something I’ve never done, honestly... This is Steve signing off!

-Steve