Comic-Disadvantage Episode IV: A Fan's Hope

A Thomas Tull and Warrior Poets presentation. (Worldwide sales: CAA, La.) Produced by Jeremy Chilnick, Matthew Galkin, Harry Knowles, Thomas Tull. Executive producers, Gil Champion, Harry Knowles, Stan Lee, Jack Selby, Benjamin Statler, Joss Whedon. Directed by Morgan Spurlock. Put together by Spurlock, Jeremy Chilnick.With: Carol Conrad, James Darling, Guillermo del Toro, Seth Eco-friendly, Se Youthful Kang, Harry Knowles, Stan Lee, Frank Burns, Eli Roth, Chuck Rozanski, Joss Whedon.Somewhere in Iowa, there lives a lonely geek deeply embarrassed about the love for comicbooks, figures and/or "Star Trek" re-runs. Morgan Spurlock's "Comic-Disadvantage Episode IV: A Fan's Hope" is built to convince that poor misfit he is not alone -- that for four days every This summer time, there's available an area where he goes. Keeping themselves off-camera while putting professional producers Joss Whedon, Stan Lee and Harry Knowles front-and-center alongside six extreme fans, Spurlock brings his usual good-humored approach to the subject, nicely balancing absurdity with genuine human interest. VOD and direct-sales appear the surest method to offer the Disadvantage-verted. Before Spurlock, many have attempted and not successful to produce a film that definitively captures the Hajj-to-Mecca-like reference to the 125,000-plus pop-culture aficionados who crowd its northern border Park Convention Center each year for Comic-Disadvantage. Some showed up at meet their idols, others aspire found, however, many simply thrive inside an atmosphere where they could celebrate a typical imaginary figures. Remember, "fan" is short "fanatic" these bankruptcies are not low-key personas. The logistical challenges alone make telling their collective story an undertaking a lot more complex than shooting a 3 dimensional Miley Cyrus concert movie, then one that needed around 26 cameras moving anytime. To simplify things, Spurlock solicited potential subjects on the web and chose six whose personal tales represented all the different feel the event provides: a collector passionate about buying a small-edition toy, two ambitious illustrators, a newcomer costume designer, a skilled comicbook dealer together with a young guy who met his soul-mate at Comic-Disadvantage twelve several weeks earlier (their co-dependent relationship gives new meaning for the word "cling-on"). Using what could finish up being the "Canterbury Tales" within our generation, had Chaucer enlisted the cathedral's most evangelical priests to underwrite a Catholic recruitment video, "Comic-Disadvantage" offers knowledge of the dreams and desperations of individuals six pilgrims. Will Chuck Rozanski, who is the owner of Mile High Comics, search for a buyer for your Ultimate Goal of Marvel comics, a near-mint copy of Red-colored-colored Raven No. 1? Can Carol Conrad and her team of Mass Effect fans overcome wardrobe malfunctions to win the masquerade ball? The amount of Storm Military is it possible to opt for one photo op? Every one of these questions plus much more will probably be clarified using what feels as if a lengthy sizzle reel for your event (which bears little resemblance for the nerdy swap meet that began in 1970). With the finish of Day Two, with another half-hour to go to, the excitement was already beginning to use thin. Coping with editors Tim K. Cruz and Tova Goodman for virtually yearly, Spurlock can't quite choose how you can arrange everything footage, forecasted inside a low enough resolution she must have intended the job for home viewing , where it is easy enough to bundle the film with several hours of bonus material. Furthermore to making this doc, Spurlock also launched a coffee-table book featuring photos (entirely costumed regalia) of "cosplay" groupies in addition to their idols clicked on against an regular white-colored backdrop. Video interviews readily available same periods make their distance towards the film, which strains between cramming in as much famous faces as you can and finding anything significant to convey. Spurlock is just too busy hyping the film/TV/comicbook/vidgame industries' single finest hype platform to acquire philosophical, though scientists may have a area day using these figures (like Eric, whose parents met inside a Star Trek convention). For your casual film or TV admirer, the finish result features a vaguely unsettling believe calls inside your ideas the "Gooble gobble! In our midst!Inch scene in Tod Browning's "Freaks." This isn't a vicarious tour of Comic-Disadvantage a great deal becoming an indoctrination.Camera (color, HDCAM), Daniel Marracino editors, Tim K. Cruz, Tova Goodman music, Jingle Punks appear, Michael Legum supervisory appear editor/re-recording mixer, Lewis Goldstein connect producers, Shannon Gibson, Alba Tull casting, Michael Sutton. Examined at Toronto Film Festival (Real to Reel), Sept. 11, 2011. Running time: 86 MIN. Contact Peter Debruge at peter.debruge@variety.com