The Screening Room

Vampire fans, take heed: Filming is underway for the big screen adaptation of Stephanie Meyer's popular teen novel, Twilight. As of now, it's slated to open Dec. 12.

Vampires aren't supposed to see the light of day. But the sun keeps shining on the set of Twilight, an adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's popular teen vampire-mortal love story.

It may be classified as teen, as any horror reader knows, good vampire fiction is hard to come by. I'll admit I haven't read it yet, but it's about #6 on my Big Stack of Books to Read.

Oh, Apple.com/trailers, what would we do without you?

Apple has an exclusive clip from the delighfully geektastic Iron Man, which opens May 2.

Watch "Run Before You Can Walk."

Awards season is done. Let's get on to summer movie season with its adventure and ear-shattering explosions.

Paramount

According to Bloody-Disgusting.com, director Uwe Boll has announced that he will release his newest film Postal, on the same weekend as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to "go out and destroy Indiana Jones in the Box Office."

Riiiiiiight. Good luck with that, Uwe.

Mr. Boll has brought us many box office blockbusters, such as Alone in the Dark ($8 mil worldwide), BloodRayne ($2 mil worldwide) and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (about $5 mil). Of course, those three films combined cost an estimated $105 million to make.

So what do you think: Is Indy really in any danger on May 23? Are you going to skip the crowds at Crystal Skull for Postal? And how DOES Uwe Boll keep getting funding for new films?

According to Variety (by way of /film), we just may see more of the mysterious Cloverfield on screen:

Matt Reeves is in early talks with Paramount to direct a "Cloverfield" sequel, and he has also made a deal with GreeneStreet Films to direct "The Invisible Woman." (Read more)

I'm torn. As much as I enjoyed the original (and plan to see it again and perhaps again), can they really sustain the momentum of the original? Most of the draw for seeing Cloverfield was the "OMG what was that?" factor, which is gone. And do we face another instance of 28 Days Later vs. 28 Weeks Later? Does the new version lose what made the original so cool?

So, early days yet, but what do you think? Would you fork out to see the sequel? Would you prefer a prequel? What would it take to get you back in the seats for Cloverfield 2?

28 Weeks Later's virus + Mad Max's apocalyptic society x Underworld's heroine in black leather + xXx's car and gadgetry =

The Doomsday trailer

Well, God and everyone saw Cloverfield at the sneak preview last night. Or so the IMDb.com boards would have me believe. And yes, I was one of the lucky few. And what would the Internets be without one more fangirl chiming in.

(I'm a big believer in not spoiling a movie, so if you want the Big Reveal, look elsewhere. Really. It's not hard to find anymore.)

1. Take your $8 and head to the theaters Thursday night. Seriously. Just ... go.
1a. Take your Dramamine first. The whole thing looks like some dude shot it on a handheld while running for his life (hence that whole "plot" thing). I'm not prone to motion sickness, and I had a headache in the first 5 minutes. In fact, it was worst for me before all the action started. The girl next to me actually got up and left.
2b. Yes, Blair Witch did it first, but J.J. did it right.

2. Lesson learned: Sneakers and jeans are smart attire. If you're running for your life, you don't want to do it in 4-inch Manolos and a mini-dress. I'm just sayin'.

3. I had built this movie up a lot in my head, and I wasn't disappointed. There were plenty of "[gasp] [jump] OMG!" moments - possibly enough to annoy my neighbor.

4. That is one heck of a camera to survive everything its put through *and* film for 90 minutes.
4a. 90 minutes? The movie takes place over more than seven hours (according to a character near the end), and dude only shot 90 minutes? Riiiiight.

5. Pay attention to the upper corners of the screen at the very last scene. Or so I've been told.

6. Stay through the credits, as any good fangirl knows.

7. The cast of unknowns works. You're not sitting there thinking, 'oh, Nathan Fillion will get out of this!' You really feel like you're watching a random group of strangers.

No new films opened up Friday, so no Monday Morning Movie Critic to speak of. So let's talk about something else.

In roughly 12-1/2 hours, it will be 2008. Just two years away from "the year we make contact" and just eight years away from replicants and blade runners. Hollywood - and the sci fi writers it adapts from - loves to postulate about our future. The 1999 of Strange Days bore little resemblance to any place I knew, and no scary monoliths popped up anywhere seven years ago. But hey, I'm still hoping for a future like the Jetsons. My perpetually tardy self could benefit from a bevy of machines to do everything for us.

So tell us: What's your favorite or hated cinematic look at The Future?

Gener8Xion Entertainment

And hey, if you do go see it, come back here and tell me what you thought.

Paramount Pictures

It wins with me because I never once got bored or lost or felt compelled to roll my eyes. My one complaint:

Life after Gigli? Apparently so. (Courtesy)

Yeah, yeah, I know: IMDb.com. I'm saying off the top of your head. Cheating is only for the SATs.

Let's hear it. I'll get you started with my seven:

Gigli
El Cantante
Out of Sight
The Wedding Planner
Selena
Maid in Manhattan
Anaconda

Have you ever gotten sucked into a movie you catch on cable?

I got caught up in American Me, starring Edward James Olmos. It's a good movie the same way Sleepers is a good movie. It gives you a look at life so far removed from what many might consider normal but that you happens every day. Somewhere. It's chilling and fascinating.

Yeah, fine, go spend a day drowning in the torture porn that is the Saw franchise.
We've talked a lot around here about scary movies. And its the Halloween season, so that's understandable. But we're forgetting a very important genre: horror humor. Okay, fine maybe it's not a *real* genre, but there are some great "scary" movies out there that deserve a little love.

So talk to me: What "horror" movie gets your funny bone? I'll start:

Young Frankenstein (1974):
   Inga: Werewolf!
   Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Werewolf?
   Igor: There.
   Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: What?
   Igor: There, wolf. There, castle.
   Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Why are you talking that way.
   Igor: I thought you wanted to.
   Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: No, I don't want to.
   Igor: Suit yourself. I'm easy.

Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975):
   Frank: Do you think I made a mistake splitting his brain between the two of them?

Shaun of the Dead (2004):
   Ed: Who died and made you king of the zombies?

So I finally saw Michael Clayton -- which I really enjoyed. And I was struck by the icy baddie played by Tilda Swinton whom I had last seen as the White Witch in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Which made me think a coupla things -- that if the White Witch were transposed into our world, yes, I could see her as the heartless head of an amoral company AND if Tilda doesn't get something warmer to play soon, audiences are just going to assume she bleeds icicles.

Despite all the Black Dahlia hate being spread on this blog, I went into it with open mind. I'm a James Ellroy fan, and his book was great.

The movie, alas, was not. Eeverything was so disconnected. I spent a lot of time going, "Wait. What?" Not even Josh Hartnet's hard-boiled voiceovers helped. Instead of making the movie make sense, all it did was make me think, "Shut up, you so did not know that either, Bucky."

My other problem: Hilary Swank as a sex symbol.

Women in Film.Dallas will host the 6th Annual Chick Flicks Film Festival on Thursday night at the Dallas Angelika. The highlight of this year’s fest is Room 10, Jennifer Aniston’s directorial debut starring Robin Wright Penn. The event starts at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour at Spike in Mockingbird Station and the first screening begins at 7. Tickets are $8 for WIF.Dallas members, $10 for non-members. Go to www.wifdallas.org for more details.

Courtesy

With the absence of late fees and the convenience of home delivery, renting DVDs is easier - and harder - than ever. I've got some 60 discs in my queue right now, including a half-dozen seasons of TV shows I need to catch up on. Some get mainlined pretty quickly and sent right back (The Fountain, Match Point), some linger around for multiple viewings (Miracle, Primer) and some languish in unwatched ignominy.

Now I'm faced with two choices: send the films back, unwatched, after wasting nearly a month of new films. Or, hold on to them a little longer because I am omgtotally going to watch them now, for reals. Right.

So what's your queue drama? Is it ambitiously overflowing or pathetically empty? Are you constantly sending discs back to find out just how many "unlimited" is in a single month? Or does that copy of The Bourne Identity have a two-inch layer of dust on it? Vent - it's good for the soul.

This weekend's new releases didn't promise anything too new or exciting for me. So fellow blogger Bridgette and I found ourselves debating between Stardust (only me), Becoming Jane (doesn't really need the big screen) and Bourne Ultimatum (score!). Bourne won.

And really, Bourne won.

I don't claim to be any kind of movie expert. I can't tell you how Ingmar Bergman influenced Woody Allen.* But I can say that I was definitely entertained for two hours. I was gasping, jumping in my seat and basically being an engaged (if perhaps a bit annoying) moviegoer. This? Is totally worth the price of admission.

Although seriously? Since when is 4:35 pm NOT a matinee??

Matt Damon earned my undying love with the Bourne trilogy. Even in an action/thriller film, he still proves to me that he's much more interested in being an actor than a movie star (yes, Ben Affleck, I'm looking at you and your sad, sad career).

About the camera shaking: I'm not the least bit prone to motion sickness, and I'll admit the first 15 minutes made my head hurt. After that I must have just grown accustomed. It wasn't enough to make me want to leave, but I suspect those who are really sensitive to motion sickness might want to wait for the DVD.

*I have a great deal of respect for those who can truly critique a movie. I'm pretty much an "Ooh! Shiny! Yay!" or "Dude. Whatev"kind of girl.

Ah, Thursday. Around here, that's the busiest day of the week, as we frantically try to put together our movie coverage for our fine readers. Not to mention, we're facing a three-day holiday weekend, and you know what that means? More frantic work to get everything done today so you can sneak out early tomorrow.

SO! In an effort to entertain without actually doing anything, let's have a quote-off. Share your favorite movie quote below.

Keep it clean, though. Remember: I possess the mighty power of delete. So to kick it off, I offer just one of my many many favorite Mel Brooks' quotes, from History of the World, Part I:

Don't get saucy with me, Bernaise.

Go.

Turns out Bridgette was right: Boy Culture really is the best movie evar.

I was already sold on the eye candy prospect. (You don't even want to know how many times I watched Queen of the Damned for a leather-pants-clad Stuart Townsend.) One of the glories of my job is spending quite a bit of time tracking down photos and trailers, so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect:

Shiny pretty yay.

It delivered the yay. But the story was more than worthy too. Maybe you can't identify with a gay hustler who is secretly pining for his male roommate. But really its about the risks we take to find love, and what we're willing to give up for it. And that's really pretty universal.

... Boy Culture .
Now don't freak out about the subject matter. It's not nearly as graphic as it could be. And, honestly, Derek Magyar and Darryl Stephens make delightful eye candy no matter what they're doing.
What surprised me was how good the movie actually is. It's a pretty cool love story as well. I was all drawn in with the ups and downs of X, the main character, and his room mates.
Hey, did I menition the eye candy thing? Good flick, snappy dialogue, believable characters, but did I mention the eye candy?

Courtesy

I first saw Flash Gordon on cable (back when a cable box had a slide dial to pick the channels) when I was at the delicate impressionable age of four. And my 4-year-old self was in love. In love with its blond Adonis of a star, Sam Jones; in love with the rock opera stylings of Queen; and in love with the new magical world of science fiction. In fact, I loved this movie long before Hans Solo came snarking his way into my life and heart.

The impact? Twenty-five years later, I still love Queen, am one heck of sci-fi geek, and have special place in my heart for large blond Scandanavian-looking men (this could be why I like hockey).

We've already talked about what movies scarred your childhood. Now I want to know which movies influenced you or just stuck with you after all these years. Star Wars? Goonies? The Breakfast Club? Howard the Duck? Let's hear 'em.

I stayed up way too late last night to watch Little Miss Sunshine, and I'm still not sure if it's one of those movies you like? You know? It's cute, funny, and kind of thinky in a way. But the thing that kept me from going to bed was the idea that good gracious that could so be my family. Not sure if that's a good thing ...

Am I only one that has movies like that -- ones that I don't really like, but that I can't help but watch? Like, Sleepers or anything with Renee Zelwegger or Hilary Duff? Hmm. Maybe it's just me.

Ok, so I bought 300 on DVD yesterday for $19.96, and it came with a "final super-swank director's cut" of Alexander.

Alexander was on the Big List of DVDs I Want. But "I Want" tends to translate to "only if I come across them in a big bi somewhere for about $5." So you see, attaching it 300 made me spend about $5 on Alexander than I normally would have. Smart marketing based on the convenience factor and the Ancient Story Told with Pretty Boys with Swords factor. But annoying nonetheless.

Beowulf (voiced by Ray Winstone) and King Hrothgar (voiced by Anthony Hopkins) in Paramount Pictures' Beowulf

All hail the rise of the sci-fi/fantasy geek. Seriously.

Robert Zemeckis' screened two trailers and the entire secon reel of his latest masterpiece, Beowulf, last week at San Diego's own sci-fi/fantasy geek Holy land: Comic Con. And its penned by writer Neil Gaiman (The Sandman, MirrorMask, Stardust) and Rogar Avary (Pulp Fiction)? Oh, I am ALL in.

It's filmed using the same 3D technology as Zemeckis' The Polar Express, and there's more than one face you'll recognize: Ray Winstone. Anthony Hopkins. Angelina Jolie. John Malkovich. Cripsin Glover. Robin Wright Penn.

You can catch the first trailer for it here.

Can't get enough of Once stars Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová? Yeah, me, neither. And luckily for us, an avid Screening Room reader pointed out that they'll be performing tonight on CBS' The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, which oddly enough starts at 12:37 a.m.

Not 12:36 or 12:38. But 12:37.

So set your TiVo. Or your alarm clock. And if you're not lucky enough to have seen Once yet, you can still catch it tonight, and be home in time for the live performance.

NetFlix is the best thing ever. I have decided. Of course, it might be just the act of getting DVDs in the mail. But I have managed to broaden my movie horizons. Chris Vognar will be proud of me. I have added The Seventh Seal to my queue. It's like the 80th flick in line, but still. It was an important gesture.

Besides, 300 came out on DVD yesterday, and Leonidas get my attention first