Waiting for Birdman ... and finding Supermen

I had a great fortnight with my sister recently. We got to see Fleetwood Mac reunited and as strong as ever. We spent time with treasured family. Watched movies and battled in '80s trivia games. And we hit the big city for New York Comic Con and the New York Film Festival and to ransack The Strand. A pretty great way to spend time with your best friend.

The comic con was set at the end of the two-week period, and we noticed that "Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance") would be closing the film festival. We already knew that stars Michael Keaton (a big favorite of both of ours -- but particularly my sister) and Edward Norton would be doing a panel at Comic Con, and we went to Lincoln Center to get overly priced tickets for the big preview, but they were already sold out. Then we found out other screenings would be going on in other theaters around the complex and decided to go to that.

But that was even after the convention. In the meantime, we found we could score tickets to the 30th anniversary screening of "This Is Spinal Tap," and yet another brilliant entertainer, Christopher Guest, would be on hand for the film. So off we went to that.

Guest possesses a razor-sharp wit as well as the ability to disappear into whatever role he's playing. I've always been astonished by how completely the actor vanishes and the character appears, something that would seem to be made even more difficult by the fact that he's often directing the movie which he is always starring in. He told us he hadn't seen the film that did "for rock and roll what 'The Sound of Music' did for hills" in about 12 years.

So we laughed our butts off with the audience at the film festival watching the so-called first mockumentary -- although let me state right here that Guest told us he really doesn't like that moniker.

And then Guest and the moderator sat down to answer questions from the audience. Like I said, Guest doesn't suffer fools likely, so those with inane questions got deftly swatted without being held up for ridicule. That makes one a little wary of asking their own question, but it is supposed to be what I do for a living, right?

So up my hand went up. The moderator called on me. I stood up, and someone not even in my general vicinity proceeded to ask his own question. He was swatted. I tried again. I asked Guest whether he wished he'd kept anything from the film. He still had the Gibson Les Paul which he used in the movie. And the other thing he kept was a napkin with different variations of the band's name, Spinal Tap. Whew, no swatting.

Stupid question of the Q&A ... and there's always at least one ... was about how many fingers he had on his right hand. Wrong film!

But many of the questions did lead to interesting responses. Guest told us about how many musicians -- including Jeff Beck -- had come up to him over the years insisting that Spinal Tap was an incredible simulation of their own band. Guest maintained no group, in particular, inspired the plot, but that didn't keep from the audience from continually hazarding guesses.

A couple days later, it was time for New York Comic Con. We were wearing our new "Supernatch" shirts. Mine proclaims Team Crowley on front and Team Castiel on the back and Lorrie's is the reverse. They were VERY popular. In fact, of all the conventions I've been to, this shirt has gotten the most feedback of anything I've ever worn -- even if many seemed puzzled over being able to play for both teams at once.

We went to the panel for "Librarians," basically because John Larroquette will be starring in the TNT series -- although he was not on hand for the Q&A. They showed us clips from the series, and even with Rebecca Romijn as the female lead, it looks interesting enough to warrant a watch. The project is the baby of Noah Wyle, who was in the three "Librarian" films as well as an occasional appearance on the series and serves as executive producer, and writer John P. Rogers, who had me at the numerous references he made to his show being like "The X-Files." Also in the cast is Christian Kane ("Angel"), who admitted it's nice getting to play a character he actually likes for a change.

From there I went to a panel I liked a lot less. It was "Elementary," the modern take on Sherlock Holmes with Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu. They showed the entire season opener first, and then proceeded to deliver what sis and I call "a Smallville panel." That's a Q&A so boring that you realize your time could be better spent elsewhere. Luckily, I had something great lined up next -- a photo op with Gillian Anderson.

Although I met Anderson the previous year, she IS Gillian Anderson. She starred in one of my all-time favorite shows and her work continues to astonish and entertain me. During my five seconds with her (those things go really quickly and I think I actually got more time than the photographer would have liked me to), I congratulated her on doing the "Streetcar Named Desire" prequel she had just signed on to direct. She thanked me, but added it's only a short film and not a major deal. Then I lied to her. I said I'd see her at the panel for "A Vision of Fire." But I didn't. Because I couldn't get in. One hundred thirty capacity for a Gillian Anderson panel? She wasn't even the only one in the discussion. Same thing happened with the "Librarians" cast signing. Limit of 130. I think 130 was the magic number.

After being shut out of those things, I was a little concerned about being on the line for the "Birdman" panel, since it was what we wanted to see most for the whole thing at the sold-out convention. Just think about how many tickets it would take to sell out the Jacob Javits Center. So I got on the line very early. Lorrie joined me soon after and we sat through most of some kind of Batman comics panel as well as "Once Upon a Time" -- another full screening and "Smallville" panel. But each time one ended, we were able to move up, until we had pretty good seats for the main event.

Before Keaton and Norton graced us with their presence, though, the emcee asked for volunteers to do Keaton impressions. I volunteered Lorrie's "Johnny Dangerously" impersonation. "Why are you saying that she'll do it?" he asked me. "Because she can't," Lorrie offered. When he kept haranguing me on that, I added, "I'm her agent." That shut him up and sis got to show off the prison grapevine bit she started doing when we were kids.

The emcee teased her about the length of her bit, but he probably would have thought twice if he knew about the crappy "Jack Frost" impression that was coming next. And the one after that that seemed like "Beetlejuice" crossed with "Batman," instead of one or the other. Lorrie beat them by a longshot ... not just saying that as her agent.

Anyhoo, finally, what we had been waiting for -- Keaton and Norton. They brought some clips. As I knew we'd be seeing the movie the next day, I watched their reactions. Michael seemed to be very amused by the clips, and he later told us about how internally he was thinking about Norton's reactions while acting with him.

Even in the little clips, you could tell what an amazing film it is. The two actors told great stories about working in the film, although they were intentionally vague about the more technical aspects of the trademark long shots. The moviemakers apparently have been able to get way past the days of Alfred Hitchock's "Rope."

"It's not like anything you've seen before," Keaton told us. It's true, it almost defies description. It might exist just to defy description.

So back for more the next day, after a soggy, in-vain wait for the NYCC shuttle near Penn Station. My big plan of getting William Shatner to sign my "Airplane II" lobby card was kiboshed by his exorbitant autographing fee, but Brent Spiner was much more reasonable. I'm not a Trekkie, but even I laughed when Jonathan Frakes came by and kissed him on the top of the head. When I got up to Spiner, I found he fist-bumps rather than shakes hands and keeps a bottle of hand sanitizer close by. I told him I enjoy his work whenever I see him and my personal favorite is Bob Wheeler from "Night Court." To that end, I brought him Neccos, a reference to a storyline from his penultimate episode. "Very inventive," he proclaimed.

Then I waited on Anderson's autograph line to get my "X-Files" lobby card signed. I noticed she had both a can and a bottle of Coke on her table and pointed out that we're fellow Cokeheads. Got a chuckle at that. And then I told her she looked gorgeous and to stop that because she's ruining it for the rest of us. That induced a big smile and a nice laugh.

We got done relatively early on the second day, and so Lorrie found us a nice panel to sit down in. On the 10th anniversary of Christopher Reeve's passing, OUR Superman's foundation was continuing to carry on his work. This became my favorite thing at the convention. It started with the video atop this blog. And then we met these four men in the panel -- Dustin, Drew, Rob, Kent. The four real-life Supermen. And Matthew Reeve, Christopher's son, who is helping champion the epidural stimulation procedure that has enabled these men to walk again.

All of them were so engaging, whether they were talking about how this "big idea" -- and the website is called ReeveBigIdea.org -- rejuvenated their own lives or how these four and more are looking to bring 36 more people in for the next treatments. #36for36 they call it. They laughed about being at their first Comic Con and wanting to race their chairs down escalators.

Matthew talked some about his dad, what he was like as a father and how close the cause was to his heart. It was almost no-pressure sales, they told us what they'd been through and did tell us how to donate, but didn't force-feed any of it. And the power of their words affected me greatly. I've donated since, I post their information as much as I see it, and I hope the 36 get their 36.

After the panel ended, we shook hands with these men. Some of them had said in that video that they couldn't do that before the procedure. And they did so with us, without thinking twice. So inspiring. I even got to tell Matthew very quickly how much his dad had meant to me over the years. It marked the perfect ending to the convention, you can't really think about how crowded the thing is or what panels you got shut out of when that is right before your eyes.

And the vacay wrapped up with the landing of "Birdman," which is beautiful, artistic, and even touching beyond possible description. So much more than the long-take calling card that will be its initial draw in the media and maybe to the public. It's supremely clever as a script and amazingly clever technically. I'm expecting great things from it this awards season, and I'll be disappointed if that doesn't come to pass. As for us, it was an award-winning fortnight to be sure. Pass that through the prison grapevine, will ya?