Tag Archives: PopArtsPlace

Dave Bautista

One of the panels at Fan Expo Canada that I was particularly interested to attend was that of Dave Bautista. I was entirely unsure what to expect. I did not know if there would be a lot of wrestling questions, or a lot of Guardians of the Galaxy questions… I had no idea how the wrestler/actor would come across — but on all scores I was curious.

Dave Bautista

I was late to the panel, because I was coming from one in the South Building, and his panel was in the North one. While I was there, the questions were predominantly about Guardians of the Galaxy, with a few about wrestling in general, and his time as a wrestler.

Dave Bautista came across as an incredibly thoughtful and entertaining person. He clearly considered his answers, enjoyed talking with those who came to hear him, and as you can see from the photo, instead of sitting up on stage in the chairs, and being elevated up above the crowd, he came down to our level and was at more of an eye to eye level with his fans.

When a kid asked him whether he would be a good guy or a bad guy if he returned to the wrestling ring he gave a well thought out answer about how it is more fun to be the bad guy, and more options are open to him, but at the end, he also told the kid not to feel bad about booing him and calling out against him. That you can still like him, and boo him when he is the bad guy in the ring.

Killjoys Panel – Fan Expo Canada

Luke Macfarlane

Aaron Ashmore

The panel for the Space/SyFy show Killjoys was great fun… and very informative, the later part being particularly fortunate given the show has only filmed 3 episodes and will not air until 2015. The cast was great about teasing the show, and telling fans about it without spoiling it — letting us know it is about Bounty Hunters in space who operate within a set of rules and procedures, and a structure they are not always happy to be a part of. Towards the end, when each was asked to give one reason why we should tune in, they offered spaceships, guns and the strength of the characters (inside and out).

Hannah John-Kamen & Luke Macfarlane

Outlander – The Gathering

Outlander’s Dougal

The Third episode of STARZ Outlander is aptly titled The Gathering, and what a gathering it is! Not only do Colum’s clansmen gather to give him their oath, but they participate in a boar hunt as well.

This episode takes those reading the book through the end of the tenth chapter, and Part II of the book (page 200), though the book blatantly states what the show only implies, that not only will Claire (Caitriona Balfe) be going on the road with Dougal (Graham McTavish), but so will Jamie (Sam Heughan).

While this was a brief forty pages in the book, and the first two episodes covered 80 pages, this episode felt like it stayed close to the book in a great many respects. Again scenes were added, fleshing out parts of the story that were there all along, but they flowed seamlessly with the book and I suspect many of those who have not read the book in over a decade thought them original material.

Author Diana Gabaldon in Outlander the TV Show on STARZ, based on her novel Outlander

The Gathering was a fantastic episode for several of the relationships, with action and drama, and moments that quickly remind the audience that the 1700s contained very different realities and perils than the 1940s.

As an added bonus, and insider gift for keen-eyed fans of the book, the author Diana Gabaldon was in the Castle this week interacting ever so briefly with the characters she gave life to.

The first season of Outlander will be 16 episodes, and with the announcement that Outlander has been picked up for a second season based on the second book in the series, Dragonfly in Amber, (and is expected to be 13 episodes?) we feel confident all 850 pages, and all 41 chapters of Outlander will be deftly handled during this first season which is, thus far, unfolding quite nicely.

Orphan Black Locations – Toronto

One of the added bonuses of a trip to Fan Expo Canada in Toronto is the opportunity to do a little sightseeing in Toronto — like seeing a few of the locations used in the filming of the BBC America / Space show Orphan Black.

Within easy walking distance of the convention center we found both Beth’s Condo and Felix’s loft.

Beth’s Condo

At first glance Beth’s condo looks exactly as a fan of the show expects. A very modern building, with plenty of street in front of it for Art to pull up and talk to her, and the little dead end area for other’s to sit and wait and watch (that’s where we were standing as we took our photos.)

CN Tower over Beth’s Condo – Orphan Black

The show Orphan Black is discreet about where it is set, not blatantly being in Canada, or even “the here and now” as some fans have put it. Some of the fans have paused on the scenes where we see birth certificates and other personal documents trying to get clues as to when and where the show takes place, but viewers can rest assured that if the powers that be wanted it to be clearly set in Toronto they would have needed to just shift the camera angle on Beth’s Condo by a hundred feet or more and voila… the CN Tower would have been clearly visible in the background and they mystery would have been solved.

This was a quick and easy walk from Fan Expo, taking us past Rogers Centre / the Skydome and a Blue Jays game. If you are an Orphan Black fan, and ever at a convention in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre… you just might want to consider swinging by Beth’s Condo yourself.

Further afield, and a bit of a walk was Felix’s Loft, which has a different paint job than we were expecting, and a gate over the stairs, but we persevered and found it.

Felix’s Loft