I was in Boston this past weekend (and got snowed in and had to stay an extra night at the plush and expensive Plaza Hotel) for an annual Science Fiction convention I attend every year. My wife and I are honored guests, where we are on panels and such -- she for her artwork and me for my background as an animation historian and founder of a live action gaming group. The convention is called Arisia ( http://arisia.org ) in case you are interested.

Anyway, among the big guests this year was Harry Knowles, and he and I spend some time talking about movies. He's a very nice guy, and I was impressed that he knew of my magazine (Animato!, now extinct, killed by the internet like so many other magazines). We sat around in the "green room" and talked, and then met later on a panel and talked some more.

I forgot my camera but a friend took a picture of us and I'll post it as soon as he sends it to me.

He talked about how terrible the new Fantastic Four movie is going to be, based on the screenplay (Dr. Doom as Donald Trump!), and how great King Kong looks (Jackson is not being completely accurate with his dinosaurs because it's not as cool looking that way). He described himself as Uber-Geek and seemed actually amazed that he has been able to go so far to actually be asked to produce a film himself, which is every geek's dream. His film is "John Carter of Mars" based on the pulp books of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and he's hired Kerry Conran, director of Sky Captain, to helm it. As expected, Harry spoke mostly about his excitement of making a film based on the books he loved so much as a kid.

Anyway, there was more, but it was just more film stuff -- I don't have any scoops for you, except to say that he would be announcing some major people involved in the John Carter film within a few weeks, and they would be names you would recognize, including one writer who previously had only worked in animation but whose talents were great...

Yay!

I got to ask Kevin Smith a question a couple of years ago at the Phladelphia Comic Con, but that's about it as far as my inner geek has ever been satisfied.

After the next movie night in New York, I'll be telling people about a guy I know who met Harry Knowles.

Haha! Never been happier for two feet of snow huh? That's excellent Mike. Seriously, I remember you saying how many people you knew who used to contribute to the magazine. You really have done everything. $10 says Harry is on some other site right now gushing at the thought of having met Mike Ventrella!

Krem, you and Mike have to meet (bABA and I already are planning the perfect event). He wanted to meet you last time already.

Who is the big winner? I am. Because after next movie night I get to be the lucky lady that has met all of you guys and live vicariously through your encounters with Harry Knowles and Kevin Smith. All you get from me is a back-stage bump in and autograph with Mirella Freni....so you can see who, need I repeat the first part of this paragraph, who's getting the bum deal.

:wink:

I met Paul Walker. He told me about 2 Fast 2 Furious.

Yes, i never meet the good ones : (

Maybe we should restart the "Famous People You Have Met" thread.

no.

I also met AJ from backstreet boys and the villain from the mummy.

Tis sad ...

I once acted like a tit to Steve Coogan on the set of 24 Hour Party People...

You should've asked Harry about how Amusements was coming along. Or whatever happened to Joe Hallenbeck.

I met Steven Spielberg four years ago or so when I was with my dad because we got stuck in an elevator with him in DC when he was down here for that Y2K celebration at...wherever it was \:D/

I met Jimmy Smits at a bowling ally. I got his autograph.

By the way this was when I was about 8 and had no clue who he was.

I've met Danny Glover and Bruce Campbell before, both in P-Town too.

I'm inclined to agree with him on his assessment of the FF4 movie.. Will see, but THING needs to be much larger like the Ultimate FF4 which the movies based off of.. Also, he's pretty much PJ's bitch so it isn't like he's gonna say anything remotely negative about KING KONG.. Not happening..

Oh oh oh. I just remembered I was really b****y to Casey Affleck once and only found out it was him afterwards.

Hey Mike? When are the pics going to come up? I want to see Harry swooning with joy at the thought of your mere presence in his vicinity.

bill clinton met me a few years ago.

he was quite excited..

Harry Knowles....is scary.

Oh yeah - well not only have I met Bruce Campbell, but I know him on a personal basis! Beat that, sucka duck! :razz:

Actually, that's a lie. Bruce lives in a town called Jacksonville which is about five minutes from where I live, and I used to see him at the store and stuff like that. One day I got the nerve up to actually talk to him, and he was a really nice guy. So, everytime I run into him around town we chat for a couple minutes. Great guy.

Other than that, I lived in Southern California for about half my life (and still go there a couple times a year), so i've met a lot of celebs. The ones I remember off the top of my head...

Kevin Costner (not as big of a dick as you've all heard, but not super nice)
Garth Brooks (this was really weird. i hate his music, but my mom loves him, and he was just walking down the street one day so we had to say hi.)
The *NSYNC boys and Britney Spears (this was through my brother, who has worked with them a lot. cool guys.)
Boyz II Men (again, through my brother)
Tara Reid (who hasn't met this girl? she's out on the town every day it seems. super nice, though. not shy about talking with "regular" people.)
Cameron Diaz (same night i met Tara Reid. this happened because one of my good friends used to be a personal trainer at the gold's gym in Hollywood and he would get invited to a lot of parties and what not.)
Michael Jai White (same situation as Cameron Diaz and Tara Reid.)

That's all I can remember off the top of my head. I've never met anyone i'd actually like to meet, though.

Dammit!

My friend sent the picture, but it's out of focus!

does he walk or waddle?

*cool pic nonetheless. Hope you had an awesome time at your convention*

mike, you remind me of Tom Savini. (and that's a huge compliment in my book, as he is an icon to me )

holy shit they look alike!

haha i think so too. it's cool that you met harry mike.

I've only met one person - Omar Vizquel.

Baseball player. Cleveland indians (or, he was). GREAT short-stop.

I spoke to him in Spanish for a couple minutes when I was seven or so. 'Twas nice

i've met omar 3 times at local autograph signings, he's a cool guy.

Um, he's in a wheelchair... :???:

Didin't Harry have that gastric bypass surgery? I thought I read something about that. Either way, he looks thinner.

And Mike does look a lot like Tom Savini. That's awesome.

Haha! Its still a great pic! Look at Harry crossing his arms and smiling like that. You leaning in makes it appear as though this isn't the first time you've met though. Have you spoken at other conferences? And I'm going to stand by the fact that somehow every picture I've seen of you has no sense of scale. Either you're sitting, or the camera angle, or no objects in the enrivonment to contrast you too, that coupled with everything you've done...I still think you look like you're over six feet tall...even in this picture. :razz: