The Screening Room

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is only one week away. It's like the beginning of the end of the boy wizard film phenomenon. And we're celebrating the next week by giving you the Potter goods right here on The Screening Room. Look for:

Later today: Browse our picks for the best Potter fandom websites.

Saturday: Watch the film trailer and read tweets from the members of the film's casts.

Sunday: Staff writer Nancy Churnin offers advice and fun facts for conquering the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, Florida. Experience it through our videos and slideshow.

Monday: Did you know about Thursday night's midnight showings? What about these other events? Also, we share important life lessons we've learned from watching the films.

Tuesday: GuideLive.com editor Samantha Urban takes you through the music of the Harry Potter franchise. Also, read her in-depth review of the Deathly Hallows soundtrack, released today.

Wednesday: Transform your look with Ashleigh Heaton's and Samantha Urban's guides on how to get your Potter costume down. Plus tips for making and buying your own wands.

Thursday: Re-live the previous six movies with our interactive recap of the story so far.

Friday: Let's talk about those midnight showings! What was the scene like? How did you celebrate?

Saturday, Nov. 20: Not having read the books, movie critic Chris Vognar analyzes what the Harry Potter films mean to him.

Sunday, Nov. 21: Wondering if Deathly Hallows is "too dark" for your kids? GuideLive senior editor Bridgette Williams gives you info on how to make that decision.

Monday, Nov. 22: How did Harry do in the weekend box office?

Spider-Man fans, pull out your best guesses! Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios just sent out a news alert that Rhys Ifans will join the cast of the reboot of the web head's franchise, scheduled to be released July 3, 2012. Previously announced cast members include Andrew Garfield as the mouthy one in tights and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy.

The secrecy abounds, though. Marvel and Columbia aren't saying which villain Ifans will play. (They made the announcement right after New York Comic-Con, natch, in the home of the titular hero). With a reboot, it almost certainly has to be one that even the most casual Spider-Man fan would be familiar with and not some made-up movie nemesis. You show me your guess -- I've got a theory or two -- and I'll show you mine.

(AP file photo)

At least the folks at Warner Bros. are fan-minded when it comes to the boy wizard, Harry Potter. News that they will release the first part of the last two films in plain old 2-D has this movies lover a little happier than I probably should be. (It's the little things.)

It turns out that the studio's just not able to complete the 3-D in time for the Nov. 19 release date. This gives us a chance to get rid of the obligatory line in all reviews of 3-D films lately. You know, the one that says that the 3-D looked odd and added on and didn't further the story or was just plain bad. That kind of talk reminds me of CG in its infancy.

The studio will, however, be finished with the 3-D for the second part, scheduled to open wide on July 15, 2011.

(Photo by Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros.Pictures)

Warner Brothers has released an intense and, in some cases, chilling new set of posters for the upcoming epic, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Looking at the posters, I can't believe how old these characters have gotten. (Harry and Ron both have stubble in their posters! Compare that to the baby-faced images from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.) I'm part of the generation that feels like we grew up along with these characters and I can't wait to see this final book on the big screen.

Click on the images for bigger versions of the posters.

Six more character posters (including Ron, Hermione, Snape, Bellatrix, Fenrir Greyback and Voldemort) after the jump.

This week's "Chris Vognar in The Screening Room" video review highlights Julia Roberts' growing performance, and new acting wrinkles, in the adapted Eat Pray Love.

For more on Eat Pray Love, read the full review here

Or leave your own review on GuideLive.com and get showtimes

I loved this movie. Loved it. My brother, however, was not as pleased.

So where are we split? It's the element of The Last Airbender that will have the majority of fans torn, as well: what was and wasn't included from the TV show in the movie.

It was no doubt a challenge for writer, director and producer M. Night Shyamalan, who was a fan of the show (via his daughter) before proposing a feature film, to create the adaptation. How to you capture the essence of an entire 20-episode season?

By Joy Tipping
Published 6-25-2010 in The Dallas Morning News' Guide

As you no doubt are aware -- provided you haven't been on an extended trip to, say, Siberia -- the third Twilight saga movie, Eclipse, opens Wednesday. Leading up to the opening, lots of folks are providing opportunities for you to jump into the game, if you've somehow escaped the madness thus far, or to simply refresh your fond memories of lovelorn teen Bella (Kristen Stewart) and her two supernatural crushes, Edward (Robert Pattinson) the sparkly vampire ("Ooooh, he glitters!") and Jacob (Taylor Lautner) the hunky werewolf ("Real men don't sparkle."). The Twilight films are based on the book series by Stephenie Meyer.

Continue reading for some of the events planned around town, then click here for more.

Photo: Jodelle Ferland (Bree, a newborn vampire and the subject of Stephenie Meyer's novella The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner) and Tyson Houseman (Quil, a member of the Wolf Pack) will be the cast members attending Twilight Night this Saturday at the AT&T Plaza at American Airlines Center.

Here's all the juicy details from the press release. Tell us, which Borders location will you be at Friday night?

Twilight Saga fans are invited to Borders stores in Texas Friday, March 19 to celebrate the release of the highly anticipated The Twilight Saga: New Moon DVD. Borders is offering a collector's edition gift set of "the DVD with more than 90 minutes of exclusive content including never-before-seen extended scenes. After enjoying a host of activities, fans can purchase the special edition DVD when it goes on sale at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20.

The festivities kick off at 10 p.m. when fans will gather to celebrate their passion for Edward, Bella, Jacob. Party attendees will be welcomed with a specially-recorded video message from actors Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner and others. Activities include:charades, a movie debate sponsored by fan site TwilightSeriesTheories.com, and a quote contest.

Borders is once again hosting the "Borders Movie Awards," where fans in each Borders store will have the opportunity to cast their votes in award categories such as "Best Shirtless Moment," "Best Fight," "Best Scene," "Best Song" and "Most Reckless Bella Moment." To cast ballots, fans simply download a ballot, complete it and bring it with them to the party (ballots will also be available at the parties). Award category winners will be announced at the end of the evening.

Released this morning, the full trailer for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which hits theaters June 30. Does it look super awesome like you've been imagining?

Let the craziness ensue.

Listen up, Twihards. The first trailer for Summit Entertainment's The Twilight Saga: Eclipse will be available tomorrow at 8 am. The 90 second trailer's contents are being kept under tight wraps until its debut. (You can also see it in theaters before this week's release of Remember Me, starring Robert Pattinson.) But here's a 10-second teaser of that trailer released today.

It might be a bit of a stretch posting this on the movies blog, but I just gotta share this trailer for a 25-minute short that was six years in the making (by Alex Kobbs of Kobberz Studios) and is due out early next year.
Legos + Halo + stop motion = Awesomeness.

Our panel of bloggers discussed more than just Team Edward vs. Team Jacob (although it appears Jacob is the hot new crush). We talked about how Bella's actions affect young girls, what guys are thinking of the tween craze, what worked and what didn't in the film and book, and more. Just click Play to revisit the conversation.

New Moon actor Charlie Bewley was at a Dallas screening last night, and we got video!

Also, in case you haven't read it yet, read the movie review.

Full disclosure: I've read every Twilight book. And though the general story is annoyingly familiar but vaguely interesting, the writing is terrible. Having given up on the franchise after the abominable fourth book, Breaking Dawn, I succumbed and watched the first Twilight film a few weeks ago. It was pretty bad but not unwatchable. New Moon is slightly better, so I've seized the opportunity to see how the movie stacks up against the book.