(featured here are Noah Wyle, Doug Jones, and Valerie Perez)

by Mary Anne Butler, Reporter/Photographer

This year seems to be having fun pushing me out of my comfort zones.  Things like flying by myself for the first time in several years (because really, Bill is the best travel buddy I could ever ask for), the joys of multiple delays due to SFO runways repairs and I guess something else on the LA side of things to cause my flight’s time to change about six times since my alarm went off at 8am.  Frustration also arising out of not knowing if I’d make it to my destination before the cutoff time for press check-in.

And this volleyball player.  No SERIOUSLY, she’s probably 16, give or take a year.  And has decided out of the entirely empty row of chairs behind me, to pick the one directly at my back, so that everytime she flips her hair while speaking on her cellphone at FULL VOLUME, her blond pony tail with the pink ribbon smacks me in the face.  She does this about five times, and I get this look from the lady across the room from me, a “why are you putting up with this?” one.   I gather her best friend is a twin, because whomever she is squaking at has brought up “sharing a womb” and “I think you guys share a mom, right, that means you’re sort of related.”  It was at this point I stood up and looked at her, just to see if I was mistaken in my assumption of her age.  No, no, I was pretty much right on. Everything she had on or was toting was all Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci…..even her frakking gym bag.  Seriously.  Now, I wouldn’t have a had a problem with ay of this had my day not already been a trial of my almost non existent patience.  But I sat back down again, amid her laughing about “older girls being bitches who need to mind their own business”, and I about lost my shit then and there.  Instead, I stood up, collected my things, and moved seats in the waiting area.  Because really, at this point, there was nothing I could do but wait.

But lets get back to what I’m supposed to be talking about here, THE 39th ANNUAL SATURN AWARDS!!  If you’re saying to yourself, “Gee, Mab, what’s that?” don’t worry, you’re not alone.  But, as an informative narrative, here is the break down:

“The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films was founded in 1972.  The non-profit organization was spear-headed by noted film historian Donald A. Reed. The Saturn Award is the official honor presented by The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror films.  The films may change, but the quality and ideas presented in these works remain to be the most successful at the box-office.  In the many years we have been presenting these awards, our purpose has always been to acknowledge quality work. In its simplest form, awards are a ‘thank you’ to filmmakers who entertain and enrich our lives a little bit with thoughts, ideas, and visual wonder.”

This year, I’ma skip forward a bit and give you guys the break down of the winners FIRST.

FILM AWARDS:

Best Science Fiction Film: Marvel’s The Avengers
Best Fantasy Film: Life of Pi
Best Horror/Thriller Film: The Cabin in the Woods
Best Action/Adventure Film: Skyfall
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey (Killer Joe)
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games)
Best Supporting Actor: Clark Gregg (Marvel’s The Avengers)
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises)
Best Performance by a Younger Actor: Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi)
Best Director: Joss Whedon (Marvel’s The Avengers)
Best Writing: Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)
Best Production Design: Dan Hennah (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)
Best Editing: Alexander Berner (Cloud Atlas)
Best Music: Danny Elfman (Frankenweenie)
Best Costume: Paco Delgado (Les Miserables)
Best Make-Up: Heike Merker, Daniel Parker, Jeremy Woodhead (Cloud Atlas)
Best Special Effects: Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick (Marvel’s The Avengers)
Best Independent Film Release: Killer Joe
Best International Film: Headhunters
Best Animated Film: Frankenweenie

TELEVISION AWARDS:

Best Network Television Series: Revolution
Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series: The Walking Dead
Best Presentation on Television: Breaking Bad
Best Youth-Oriented Series on Television: Teen Wolf
Best Actor on Television: Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Kevin Bacon (The Following) – tie
Best Actress on Television: Anna Torv (Fringe)
Best Supporting Actor on Television: Jonathan Banks(Breaking Bad)
Best Supporting Actress on Television: Laurie Holden (The Walking Dead)
Best Guest Star on Television: Yvonne Strahovski (Dexter)

HOME ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS:

Best DVD/BD Release: Touchback
Best DVD/BD Special Edition Release: Little Shop of Horrors: The Director’s Cut
Best DVD/BD Collection Release: Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection
Best DVD/BD Television Series Release: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 1 & 2

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS FROM THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE FICTION,
FANTASY & HORROR FILMS:

The Lifetime Achievement Award: William Friedkin
The Dan Curtis Legacy Award: Vince Gilligan
The Visionary Award: Richard Matheson
The Life Career Award: Jonathan Frakes

And now we can talk about the red carpet.  This was my first experience with such things, and I’m really hoping it’s not always that…..unpleasant.  I was prepared for thing to be cutthroat, and was pretty sure I could handle myself accordingly.  And I DID have an awesome support person in Grace.  (I’ll have her pictures up shortly)  I WILL say the event location was beautiful, although very hot and humid, and the staff for the event it’s self were all wonderful and helpful.  There seemed to be a little miscommunication on the part of the liaisons, however, with the sheer amount of press folks who wanted to stay for the ‘dinner’ and pressroom after the red carpet finished.  There was ZERO room left for the few of us who stayed to try and finish up with Joss Whedon and Clark Greg before they were ushered inside.  Hence, why I didn’t get to stay for that part of the night.  BUT!  We did get some great photos and got to chat with Noah Wyle about his role on Falling Skies a bit.  (He was asked last minute by Jonathan Frakes to accept the lifetime achievement award on his behalf, because there was a death in the family and Jonathan was unable to attend the event.) 

More photos are up on our facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151515518116325.1073741850.11866171324&type=1&l=6a2344a319 and I’ll be adding EVEN MORE throughout the week.

Polish your statuettes and stay tuned to ComicsOnline for all things geek pop culture.