Going to Monster Mania-Con in August

It's official, Fort Fandom is heading to Monster Mania-Con August 15-17 at Cherry Hill New Jersey. This will be my first time going to this convention as Danai Gurira (Michonne from The Walking Dead), who I met at Awesome Con, told me about it. I only live a few minutes away from Cherry Hill, so the drive is a piece of cake.

The guests who will be coming to this convention are Adam West( TV Show Batman as Batman), Burt Ward (TV show Batman as Robin), Lawrence Gillard Jr. (The Walking Dead) Verne Troyer (Austin Powers as Mini Me), James Remar (Dexter) and many more.

I already have a cosplay in mind for this convention which will be either a  random survivor from The Walking Dead or maybe a character from The Last of Us game (highly recommend anybody to play this game on PS3). Can't wait to go to this convention and I hope to see some of you guys there as well.

For more information on Monster Mania-Con:
Website
Facebook
Twitter

Matt Smith Coming to Philadelphia Comic Con 2014

I told my friend to have a little faith and Wizard World delivered. Matt Smith will be coming to Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con June 19-22, 2014 which is only a couple of weeks away. Matt Smith who played the 11th Doctor on Doctor Who, will be teaming up with his lovely companion Karen Gillan who played Amy Pond, for panels, photoops and autographs. 

Smith will be appearing Friday night and Saturday while Gillan will only appear on Saturday. If any of you guys purchased a ticket for Karen Gillan VIP package alone and want to upgrade, do not worry. Wizard World will be sending out an email shortly with instruction on how you can add Matt/Karen duo VIP tickets before the convention begins. The process have been done before such as in New Orleans Comic con, so pay attention to your email. 

However, if you want to speak or email somebody in charge about Matt/Karen VIP tickets, follow the info below:

Ariana Neufeld

Event Coordinator 

(310) 648-8410

If you want any more information on Matt Smith and Karen Gillan VIP tickets Click Here.

I hope to see some of you guys at Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con in June.

June 19-22, 2014

Just a Few Days Away- BookCon 2014

Hello my fellow book readers. The awesome BookCon convention is only a couple days away Saturday May 31, 2014 at Javits convention center in NYC. There are going to be many talented authors ranging from different genre of books, as majority of them will be autographing throughout the day. I'll advise you if you are attending panels and doing autograph signings of your favorite authors, you might have to sacrifice one for the other. Many of these autographs lines will be extremely long. Some authors will have first come first serve bases, so please check the BookCon website to see if your favorite author falls into that category. 

If you have not bought your tickets, what are you waiting for! Procrastinating to buy tickets when you arrive at the convention doors, is never the best option. Save yourself the frustration, buy the tickets online right now. BookCon Tickets

I will be at panels mostly throughout the day instead of getting autograph. If you want to hang with me at BookCon, here is the list of panels I will be attending.  

11:00am-12pm

Veronica Roth (Divergent Series) in conversation with Alex London (The Proxy Series) 

Location: Special Events Hall 

1:00pm-2:00pm 

Epic Storytelling with Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles), Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments Series) and Maggie Stiefvater (Shiver Series)

Location: Room 1E07

3:30pm - 4:00pm

The Fault In Our Stars 

Location: Special Events hall

4:15pm- 5:15pm

Dystopian Future: Are they Science-Fact-or-Fiction?

Location: Room 1E07

Just a reminder, BookCon staff will be clearing the Special Event Hall after each panel. No other panel will be cleared. The lines will not start until one hour before each panel begins. Anyone who shows up prior to one hour before each panel will be turned away. 

I have been told this before, arrived at a panel the time they specify, and the lines already have 50+ people in line. From con experience, I always come an hour or more before any panel starts. It all depends how popular the event or person is.

For more information on BookCon, follow the links below.

BookCon website

Twitter

Facebook 

Cassandra Clare Coming to Philadelphia May 30th

Celebrating the exciting release of City of Heavenly Fire, the last installment in The Mortal Instrument Series, Cassandra Clare will be coming to Stetson Middle School in Philadelphia. Hosted by Jenny Han, Cassandra will do a Q&A and autograph up to three books. This event is ticketed. One copy of City of  Heavenly Fire or at the event counts as one ticket.

I would recommend buying your tickets online to guaranteed a book signing from Cassandra herself. You do not want to turned away at the door.

For more information, follow the links below:
Tickets
Facebook Event

Awesome Con April 18-20, 2014 Coverage at Walter E. Washington Convention Center 

Awesome Con 2014 was a amazingly fun this year. For being a second year convention, I honestly have not heard of Awesome Con in the beginning of the year. I was more surprised that the convention was in Washington D.C. which is less then a three hour drive from my hometown Philadelphia.

So how did I stumble upon Awesome Con? My friend on Facebook sent me a message that Billie Piper was coming to Awesome Con. I am a big Doctor Who fan and I've been waiting to meet Billie Piper or any actor from the Doctor Who show n quite sometime. Before I started to throw money at the computer screen, I decided to do a little research on the convention. Awesome Con was in it's second year, being a rather smaller convention last year. From the guest line in 2014 Billie Piper, Sean Astin, Dani Gurira, Jewel Staite, Melissa McBride and a few more known guest, this was gutsy move of a fairly new convention. Normally it takes years for a small convention to grow up in status before they handle all these guests on their plate, including the massive crowd that will follow. I have seen conventions go big the first or second year and it doesn't end will, as the convention is either under staff or just mass confusion all together. I had my doubts about this conventions but I decided to pay the money for my ticket.

Friday 

April 18th rolled around and it was time for Awesome Con. Driving into Washington D.C. wasn't bad. Stayed at the Renaissance Hotel right across the street from the convention. The hotel was a very nice place to stay, they allowed me to check in early, and the price was not too expensive for my budget. After I dropped myself stuff off in my hotel I was headed to Awesome Con. I walked into the convention and picked up my badge without any issues. It was a light crowd inside the convention since the main guest arrived Saturday and Sunday. Although, there was a few guests willing to sign autographs on Friday for the fans without any hassle. I checked out many vendors and brought beautifully designed artwork in the Artist Alley. Once I was satisfied, went to my hotel, and meet my friends who would company me at Awesome Con, and prepared for the crazy Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday
I knew it was coming and it didn't fail me, the crowd. The huge crowd was massive on Saturday compared to Friday. 15,000 people showed up for Saturday alone. The Awesome Con staff didn't panic too much about the increase in crowd. Although, it was way beyond what they expected, they controlled the crowd the best in their abilities. Yes, there was some hiccups like the extremely long line for badge pickup for Saturday (big reason why I I got my badge on Friday). However, the staff corrected their mistakes going into Sunday. I have seen some convention staff ignore the issues and allow the problem to continue throughout the convention. Awesome Con staff tackled the issue quickly and had the lines running much smoother on Sunday. I had to give them major kudos on their part.

The autograph and photoops section on Saturday was controlled very well. The only crazy line I saw was for Billie Piper. People waited 45 to over an hour to get her autograph. I already knew that was to be expected because of her popularity on Doctor Who. When I was speaking to many new congoers, they were shocked how long the lines was for her panel and autograph. I told them this was nothing. Go to New York Comic Con and your jaw will drop from the long lines.

The major panels I attended on Saturday was Dani Gurira (Michonne from the Walking Dead) and Jewel Staite (Kaylee from Firefly). Both panels was fantastic and the two ladies loved answering our questions. The only panel I recorded the entire convention was Dani Gurira. Just click on the link to see her panel. Danai Gurira Awesome Con 2014 Panel

Sunday
From the beginning, I made Sunday Billie Piper day. I knew this was going to be a good day. My friends and I ran into Billie Piper at Starbucks at our Hotel early in the morning. I didn't notice her at first as she almost ran into me, trying to avoid us with her head down and said excuse me as she went pass me. My friends and I Doctor Who get up we was wearing, forced her to get out of dodge quickly. I understood why she did it but I didn't want her to leave her coffee on the table behind as a result of it. We wouldn't have bothered her anyway because if actors are eating, leave them alone and let them eat.

First thing on the agenda was to rush over to Billie Piper panel. It was amazing as Piper talked about her past TV career and on new upcoming projects, funny moments on Doctor Who set, and answered the fans hilarious questions. I was extremely glad the Awesome Con staff added the extra panel on Sunday or I would have never made it inside Billie Piper panel on Saturday.

After her panel, I rushed over to the photoop line to get my picture taken with her and her autograph. It was some much fun meeting Piper properly this time face to face. I actually brought up the Starbucks incident but she was not keen on the details. She said if she looked dog tired in the morning, it was probably her. I was screaming like a fangirl inside throughout the entire day.

For my first time going to Awesome Con, I would say it was a complete success. I meet many congers, the artist in the Artist Alley was very pleasant to speak with, and meeting the con guests was literally awesome. The Awesome Con staff deserves an A for putting on an excellent con and maintaining the crowd which is very critical for any convention.

Will I come to Awesome Con 2015? Yes, without a doubt. Since Awesome Con was a great success this year, the crowd next year will be even bigger. I am already saving up money for VIP tickets next year when they are available.

Next year date for Awesome Con will be May 29-31, 2015.
Follow Awesome Con:
Website
Facebook
Twitter

Doctor Who New Season Teaser Trailer or is it?

BBC seriously, that's all we get. The producers of Doctor Who really wants us not to enjoy our summer. However, can't wait for August to come. Peter Capaladi as the 12th Doctor is going to be Kidneys!!

Purchase NYCC Tickets At Special Edition:NYC EVENT!!

If I wasn't trying to buy New York Comic Con VIP tickets, I would do this in a heartbeat. I might have to think about this opportunity over the weekend. For more information on scoring early NYCC tickets click NYCC Early Tickets and SE:NYC for the main convention website.

New York Comic Con Tickets YES!!

Can you say TAKE MY MONEY!! 

New York Comic Con (NYCC), one of the biggest comic conventions on the east coast, announced today on Wednesday, June 18 at 12:00pm EDT 4-Day, VIP and Kids Tickets will go on sale. Pricing and details will be coming soon as Fort Fandom will have that information when it is available.

I went last year to NYCC and learned a lesson, BUY the tickets when they are First Available. I spent too much money on individual passes, and had to do some negotiation on facebook when Saturday and Sunday tickets weren't available on the main website. The entire ordeal last year was very frustrating and I promised myself this year, I will would buy the tickets as soon as they dropped.

I am really hoping NYCC will bring in some Game of Thrones cast members this year, since they shown this picture to the right of the paragraph saying NYCC is coming. Last year, NYCC had the Walking Dead cast as there front runner for the convention. If they bring in Game of Thrones cast for this year, con goers would go bananas.

For more information on NYCC tickets, click on the link as New York Comic Con comes October 9-12, 2014. NYCC Tickets Info

Harald Zwart Not Directing ‘The Mortal Instruments: City Of Ashes' 

Rumors to now confirmed, Harald Zwart who directed The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, is no longer attached to the sequel City of Ash the second installment in The Mortal Instruments series. Since the suspended production of COA late last year, because of COB movie not fairing well at the box office only making 90 million which took 60 million to make the movie, the writing was on the wall for many fans of the beloved series.

COA is now a high possibility of never being made into a movie at this point. It would take a miracle for a director to preach a case that they can turn this franchise around. With Hollywood only seeing dollar signs, it has to be a powerful case backed up by the fanbase. 

Lets hope the last installment in TMI book series City of Heavenly Fire which release May 27, 2014 and Cassandra Clare ongoing other shadowhunter series, will keep a potential future director interest in the franchise.

Teen Wolf Season 4 Teaser Trailer 

Excuse me while I scream around my apartment like a mad woman as my favorite TV show is coming back on Mondays. If anybody knows the name of the song in the teaser trailer, please put it in the comment section below. It matched the trailer perfectly and I'm glad Lydia is going to kick butt this season. Can't wait to explore more of her Banshee abilities and how she became one. I think there is more to her mother that meets the eye connecting Lydia as a Banshee. That is just my theory.

However, did anybody recognize the crossbow dropping on the ground? Could it be Kate or tribute to Allison's death last season. I hope season 4 comes out swinging since it was shortened back to 13 episodes again. I'm one of the few that actually likes it this way. It give the writers of the show more time to hammer out the season. Season 3 as a whole was proof of that. It felt at times Jeff Davis was struggling with the demand of a full season as certain scenes was rushed or just blah.

Near the beginning of this year, Davis stated he was going to go back to 13 episodes for season 4. Of course the excuse was for the actors to do other projects and come back to the show refreshed for a new season. I can live with that since our beloved Dylan O'Brien (Stiles) is coming out with a new movie soon this September called The Maze Runner. I would recommend people read the book and get ready for a wild ride when that movie comes to a theater near you.

Click on the video below and watch Teen Wolf teaser trailer like a hundred times until Monday June 23rd.

If you want to know about The Maze Runner movie just watch the trailer below.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Official Second Trailer

The Guardians of the Galaxy second trailer was released and the visual effects of space look really amazing. Also, the small part of the battle scene as well. Rocket is going to be such a hoot in this movie along with his tree-like humanoid friend Groot.

Guardians of the Galaxy movie theater release August 1, 2014.

Godzilla (2014) Review Spoiler Free

I'm not going to spoil anything for you guys that is major in the movie. It would just discourage you if I start pinpointing how long Godzilla was in the movie as some reviews have already done this. If you ask me, I think they added Godzilla in the movie at the perfect times as majority of the movie focused on the world military forces taking down the MUTOs (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism). The MUTOs are ancient creatures born from a much earlier time, probably around dinosaur era (maybe even earlier then that), that feeds off radiation and radioactivity material. When the earth radiation subsided, the MUTOs went underground into a crptobiotic state until minors in the Philippines disturbed there hibernation. One of the MUTOs awaken from their slumber and started the waiting process for the right moment to do what creatures love to do best. Preserve the species.

I will say this up front, I'm not a hardcore Godzilla fan. However, I have seen some of the classic Godzilla movies when I was a child. I still remembered the basic origin of Godzilla and a few monsters he battled. Sometimes when you remember the classic, you still want to see a resemblance of it in a remake. One of the reasons why I did not like the Roland Emmerich 1998 Godzilla as Godzilla looked like a T-Rex. It was just horrible. Now Godzilla 2014 directed by Gareth Edwards, was a tremendous upgrade then 1998 movie. Edwards went back to the original look of Godzilla (Thank Goodness) and now the King of Monsters is back and glorious as ever.

The plot of the movie was easy to follow. With my science level, I understood majority of what the scientist was explaining when discussing about the MUTOs and Godzilla origins (glad I paid attention in school now). With a movie like this, you don't want to make the plot too complex or the suspense of the movie will just fall flat. The CGI, one word, awesome. It was dark, gritty and looked liked an asteroid hit the earth and created a dusk cloud of no hope wherever these monsters walked or battled. It just worked. It did lack character development for the humans in the movie. But in honesty I could careless. The humans did there part in the movie which was to mess everything up worse then it already was. The picture on the right would describe Godzilla frustration with humanity throughout the movie. Humans just love destroying things that are bigger and more powerful then them. Poor Godzilla is just a misunderstood creature.

I have read mix reviews of the movie. Not everybody is going to like movies such as this. In my opinion, I always tell people watch the movie for yourself. One person may think it's dumb but you may think it was pretty good. My finale score of the movie, I give Godzilla an 8/10.

Also, since the movie did so well in its opening weekend racking up $196 worldwide, a sequel has already been confirmed. As more information unfolds, it is unclear if Gareth Edwards will be directing the sequel or somebody else. Whatever they do, I hope the sequel doesn't come out until 2017. For a franchise like this, that basically focus on huge monsters as the core of the story, I think it will need that amount of time to produce a promising sequel.

Tell me what your thoughts about the movie and the future sequel in the comment sections below. Gozilla is in theaters right now.

Cassandra's Clara City of Heavenly Fire - Official trailer

Here it is people, City of Heavenly Fire trailer. Jace is always getting stabbed. Don't worry folks, I have a funny feeling he won't die in the book. I mean he already died once and came back to life. That makes him safe right? RIGHT?

The cast from Teen Wolf  reveals what there gravestone would read based upon their character in the show. Mine would definitely be since I say this a lot, I'm not judging you but I am judging you.

What would your gravestone say based upon your personality or from literature/TV show/Movie? Write in the comment section below.


Click here to view Cast Members answers:
http://www.mtv.com/shows/teen_wolf/gravestone/1044140/video/#id=1727476

Guardians of the Galaxy new poster just came out and it looks amazing. One of the few movies I want to see in the theaters this year. I'm one of those weird people that would want to know more about Groot and Rocket. Those type of characters are more intriguing then the others that look more somewhat human in the movie. 

Guardians of the Galaxy comes out  in movie theaters August 1, 2014. 

The Flash Fall TV Series 2014

Sparked my curiosity, YES. Normally I am one of those people thinking, is this going to work out based off the superhero they are portraying in a show, such as The Flash. In TV, you have to factor in the cost of making a show with special effects. CW shows doesn't have the millions of dollar production money like the big prime time TV networks NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX. The extended trailer of The Flash, looks really promising for a CW show to handle it all. However, I really hope the writers can spread out the special effects throughout the season depending on if it gets picked up for 22 episodes or just simply 13 episodes.

Grant Gustin who plays Barry Allen/ Flash, will have some pretty tall shoes to fill, as a lot of comic and non-comic book readers love the flashy speedster.

Fort Fandom will be bringing you guys more info on The Flash TV series coming this fall on the CW channel Tuesday at 8pm before Supernatural.

Fort Fandom blog brings you info on the latest news on Books/TV Show/Conventions. The most fun we like to do is go to conventions, meet actors and hope we don't hyperventilate in front of them. If you are like us or just plain curious how this all turns out, like our page to keep up-to-date. I hope to meet some of you guys at these events so we can go crazy together, like normal people do. 

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