What would happen if real life relationships were as dramatic and emotional as Bella's?

Thanks to Twilight, men are feeling a huge amount of pressure to be more romantic, more brooding, more in sensitive, overall they're supposed to be more lame. Nothing against Twilight, but to expect real life love to even remotely reflect these relationships is terrifying. The over protective nature of Edward and Jacob's persistence looks entirely dreamy on screen and on the pages of a book, but in real life? That's a recipe for a double restraining order.

Reasons why a Twilight relationship would never work:

1. No one should commit that fast. Doesn't it seem like they've only known each other for a few months by the time Bella and Edward are confessing eternal love? How many couples did you see in high school that swore it was forever only to break up right before the next school dance? That relationship would be so suffocating even a vampire would be gasping for air.

2. It would get really embarrassing if your boyfriend was shirtless as often as Jacob is. "Yeah, my boyfriend has a great body. Yes, he also happens to be a tool." Also, how annoying would it be if your boyfriend sparkled in the sunlight? No girls should be expected to tote around a guy who looks like a left over scrap of fabric from Lady GaGa's tour outfits.

3. No man is worth the amount of near death experiences that Bella gets involved in. How many times does she almost die? When does it get to be too much? I think after the third attack any reasonable woman would be out of there.

4. Stripped of all fantasy elements, the love story of Bella and Edward is no better than the relationship between Nicolas Cage and Deborah Foreman in Valley Girl.  It's sort of like the cliche that every girl falls for a bad boy at one point in her life. In this alternate universe the cliche is more like, every girl has a soft spot for a supernatural being or two. Without the excuse of being a 100 something year old vamp, Edward is just that moody kid no one talks to. Bella really is just a bored teenage girl and nothing is more exciting than a vampire who has a lot of enemies.

5. These guys don't act like actual men! Edward is a bit of a... pansy and Jacob's aggression is similar to that of his animal counterpart than a teenage guy. In real life dealing with these overly emotional and forward guys would be exhausting and lose it's novelty in about a month. Yet in the magical world of Twlight they manage to span it across 4 books.

These are just a few reasons why no one should wish for a Twilight level relationship. So girls, for the sake of your relationship and overall happiness, stop putting the pressure on your guys to be like these fictional characters who have no place in reality.

io9 asks: Who'd win a battle between a Kilingon battlecruiser and the Death Star

Find out here!

Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk

So earlier this month, Edward Norton gracefully admitted that he would not be reprising his role as Bruce Banner, or better known as, "The Hulk," in the upcoming movie, The Avengers. Over the weekend it was announced that Mark Ruffalo, star of Eternal Sunshine and The Spotless Mind, 13 Going on 30, Shutter Island, and most recently The Kids are All Right, was going to take over. A similar situation happened for Jon Favreau (the producer of The Avengers) when he had to replace Terrance Howard with Don Cheadle in Iron Man 2. Director Joss Wheadon, sounded off about the casting choice of Mark Ruffalo,

"I'm stunned that we landed that, just stunned. He has what I remember loving about the show, that quality of, you just look at him and you go through it with him, he invites you in in a way that [no] other performer has since Bill Bixby. He is a guy who's been beaten up by life, but not defined by that. That’s what I want from Bruce Banner, is a guy who’s still getting it done, even though he has his problem."
(http://www.firstshowing.net/2010/07/28/joss-whedon-explains-casting-rennerruffalo-in-the-avengers/#ixzz0v0ymB3Mn)

While there is no way to argue with the fact that Ruffalo is a fantastic actor, The Incredible Hulk is not exactly similar to the rest of his resume. I don't exactly have doubts, but I am anticipant to see what he does with the part.

Crazy Costumes at Comic Con

http://movies.yahoo.com/photos/collections/gallery/2766/2010-comiccon--costumes

Kudos to people who go all out!

Another article about 3D and a couple of more Comic Con links

http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/3d-progress-lost-dark-19392

The article discusses how 3D movies are screened with much lower lights than normal 2D films. Apparently this is becoming a distracting issue for audience members, but I wonder how big of an effect it will have on the success of future 3D films. Restating what I said earlier, the technology behind 3D movies is going to have to keep growing in order to keep the fascination of the audience.

Comic Con is going strong and the more I read about it, the more I wish I could be there!

http://io9.com/5593037/we-unmask-comic-cons-biggest-celebrities-who-walk-the-floor-incognito

A cool article about celebs that walk around Comic Con wearing masks and what to look for. I remember watching an interview with Megan Fox last year and she said she just walked around. Gutsy. If you're there, keep your eyes open!

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/07/24/comic-con-video-true-blood-spoilers/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNrqZ1XMMgI

Interviews with some of the True Blood cast about this season and what the reception has been like at comic con. This show is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine so I thought it was cool to see.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2010/07/comic-con-green-lantern-power-ring.html

According to Geoff Baucher a lucky fan already has a replica of the ring in the new Green Lantern movie. Lucky guy.

http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/07/24/comic-con-2010-cast-and-crew-talk-tron-legacy/

A transcript of the Tron Legacy panel.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1644374/20100724/story.jhtml

One of the most exciting pieces of news form Comic Con thus far - Guillermo del Toro will be writing, producing, and maybe directing a remake of "The Haunted Mansion." Hopefully this will be a little better than the Eddie Murphy film. 

Ryan Reynolds as The Green Lantern

Here's the first peak of Ryan Reynolds in the upcoming Green Lantern movie.


http://justjared.buzznet.com/2010/07/15/ryan-reynolds-green-lantern-2/

What do you think? It sounds like he's working hard on and off set in order to maintain the physique to fill out the suit. But will loveable Ryan Reynolds be convincing as a badass super hero? I suppose time will tell.

Comic-Con Link Round-Up

Everything you need to know in advance of this weekend's Comic-Con in San Diego.

Comic-Con 2010 Preview: July 21-July 25

5 Reasons Comic-Con Is Hollywood's Cannes For Blockbusters

Top 10 Things You Must See at Comic-Con
Comic-Con Opens with a Bang, a Pow, and a Tron




Comic-Con 2010 News at Comingsoon.net

What's New Under the Comic-Con Sun?

Marvel/Paramount Releases Thor Pics

Comic-Con 2010: Big Films, superpower, Kryptonite

Comic-Con 2010 Predictions from io9
Entertainment Weekly Comic-Con Preview

Film execs scoff at notion of "3D Fatigue"

Here's a link to an article the Hollywood Reporter... 3D films still going strong.

List of Upcoming 3D Movies

Upcoming 3-D films

• The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn (2011)
• This Ain't Avatar XXX 3D (2011)
• Alpha and Omega (2010)
• Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked (2011)
• Amphibious 3D (2010)
• The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
• Cars 2 (2011)
• Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010)
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)
• Contagion (2011)
• Derrière les murs (2011)
• Drive Angry (2011)
• The Familiars (2013)
• Frankenweenie (2011)
• Gnomeo and Juliet (2011)
• Green Lantern (2011)
• The Green Hornet (2011)
• Gulliver's Travels (2010)
• Happy Feet 2 (2011)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2010/2011)
• Hugo Cabret (2011)
• Jackass 3D (2010)
• Judge Dredd (2012)
• Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom (2011)
• Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010)
• Mad Max: Fury Road (2012)
• Mars Needs Moms! (2011)
• MegaMind (2010)
• Men in Black III (2012)
• My Soul to Take (2010)
• One Way Trip (2011)
• Piranha 3-D (2010)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
• The Power of the Dark Crystal (2011)
• Priest (2011)
• Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
• The Ring 3D (2012)
• Rio (2011)
• Sanctum (2010)
• Saw 3D (2010)
• Shark Night 3D (2011)
• Spy Kids 4: Armageddon (2011)
• Step Up 3-D (2010)
• The Smurfs (2011)
• Tangled (2010)
• Titanic 3D Re-Release (2012)
• Transformers 3 (2011)
• Tron: Legacy (2010)
• Yellow Submarine (2012)
• Yogi Bear (2010)

What are you most excited for? 

What's the Longevity of 3D Movies?

In the 1950s and later in the 80s a craze swept the movie industry. Now in 2010, the 3D movie phenomenon has firmly taken hold of our cinemas and is showing no signs of letting go. From children's movies to the latest sci-fi flicks; the theaters are having to order bigger and bigger shipments of those uncomfortable 3D glasses to keep up with the demand. Even classics such as Toy Story 1 & 2 and Beauty and The Beast (which will come to theaters next year) are being re-released with the 3D treatment. Now with the rising interest in at-home 3D systems and its introduction to genres other than fantasy and sci-fi, it seems that the supposed "fad" might be here to stay.



In the last three or four years there has been a steady increase in the use of 3D. The style was mostly attached to children's films such as Monster House, Meet The Robinsons, and Coraline. But in late 2009 the fascination of the reintroduction of 3D movie culminated in one massive enterprise of a film. Avatar completely revolutionized 3D movies and what they were capable of doing. Rather than just limit itself to having objects jump out of the screen, Avatar managed to use 3D in order to immerse its audience into the mind bending fictional world of Pandora.

Since the release of Avatar, we have seen several more successful 3D films like How To Train Your Dragon, Toy Story 3, Despicable Me, and most notably, Alice in Wonderland. It would seem that if one wants to have a ridiculously profitable film, 3D is the way to go.

But how much does 3D really add to a film? At the end of the day, most film critics would say that the profoundness and resonance of the story should take priority over the visual effects. Is 3D taking away from that? While no one could dispute the revolutionary imagery of Avatar, there were more than a few skeptics in regards to the originality of the story. Even so, Avatar went on to be the biggest hit of the year, and of all time. Though few films manage to utilize the power of 3D that Avatar did. Alice did a very impressive job of making the viewer feel surrounded by Tim Burton's version of Wonderland and How to Train Your Dragon did make one feel like they were on the back of a mythical creature, but how many other films are really benefiting? It would seem that many 3D films come off a bit gimmicky and instead of generating a new world, they are limited to the old tricks of throwing objects at the audience. But when done well, 3D can transform the movie viewing experience.

The 3D revolution is undoubtedly helping the film industry financially. Not only do theaters get to charge a few extra bucks for admission, but it is impossible to pirate the 3D experience. With the ease of downloading films on the Internet the moment they hit theaters, the industry is taking a massive hit in ticket sales. With 3D movies those that would normally get their movie fix by taking the illegal route have an extra incentive to cough up the thirteen or fourteen dollars it takes to get in. With the successes of the last several movies that came out in both regular and 3D format, it's easy to imagine that studio heads are eager to keep this trend going.

As of right now, the majority of movies coming out in 3D are either animated features or sci fi. Later this month, the Step Up franchise is releasing its third installment series in 3D. Is this the start of 3Ds transcendence into other genres? In two years are we going to be watching Meryl Streep offer another Oscar-nominated performance in "eye-popping 3D?" As of right now, it's difficult to say but certainly most film buffs would hope not. 3D works perfectly with the fantasy of children's films and science fiction. If 3D was to bleed into more dramatic genres, it would be on the edge of overexposed. But it's actually surprising that The Twilight Saga hasn't jumped on the 3D bandwagon.




How much more excited would tween girls be if Taylor Lautner's abs were popping out of the screen or if Robert Pattinson's messy hair appeared almost touchable?

So is it here to stay? It's hard to tell. There has been some form of 3D movies since 1922 and the medium is still growing. It has had several technological make overs and it continues to be more impressive. Now we're even seeing it come into homes with new state-of-the-art TVs that can handle the intensity of 3D graphics. It's a hard fact to ignore that the last several 3D movies have taken in huge amounts of sums at the box office. But part of the mass appeal of 3D movies is how new it still feels. The technology will have to keep advancing and getting better in order to keep the audience members fascinated enough to pay the few extra dollars for a ticket.