Going into The Host I didn’t know what to expect. The trailer looked promising and I had heard that Twilight author Stephenie Meyer’s adult book was better than her vampire romance novels. I cannot judge the book, having never read it, but The Host movie was unspectacular and downright weird.

The plot goes like this: Aliens called “Souls” have invaded Earth and taken over nearly every human being (think Invasion of the Body Snatchers). Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) is captured and a Soul called Wanderer is implanted into her body. Instead of fading away, Melanie’s consciousness holds on and the two fight for control of Melanie’s body.

Eventually Wanderer (now Wanda) helps get Melanie to her loved ones but things get (more) complicated when Wanda starts to have feelings for new guy Ian (Jake Abel) but Melanie is still in love with her boyfriend Jared (Max Irons). In the mean time, main antagonist, the Seeker (an awesomely stone faced/borderline psychotic Diane Kruger) is hunting for the last humans and using Melanie/Wanda to find them.

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In today’s big budget movies, almost anything you see could be a visual effect. From buildings to cars to giant flying robots and more, the men and women who create today’s modern visual effects are masters of their craft and are able to take an ordinary scene of two people staring into the void and turn it into a piece of movie magic.

We’ve seen the “after” of all this work in hundreds blockbuster movies, but what about the “before”? Well, a new website wants to highlight just that. Over at Before VFX, they’ve collected a ton of photos from various blockbuster movies that show what the site calls “The Canvas” of the visual effects shot.

In other words, they show what the scene was actually like before any visual effects were added and before an audience ever saw one frame. It’s a fascinating look into just how much goes into the making of a modern movie blockbuster and how much we owe the VFX artists who do this work every day.

Plus, as Dustin Rowles at Pajiba put it, it shows us “how little credit we give A-list actors for their ability to interact and engage with green screens.” How little credit indeed. It can’t be that easy.

Check out several pics after the break and head over to Before VFX for a ton more.

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Even if you’re not a fan of Twilight or author Stephanie Meyer, you can’t argue her work seems to appeal to a lot of people. Plus, with the Twilight books, movies and merchandise, her works also bring in a ton of money.

So, it should come as no surprise the powers that be are going to try to cash in on as much of her work as possible. This shocking revelation brings us to The Host.

Meyer has written one book in this saga and it’s been made into a movie. A new trailer for said movie has dropped today.

In case you’re not familier with The Host, it tells the story of “one of the last humans on Earth trying to resist an alien invasion. When an alien parasite is injected into her, it becomes obsessed with her memories and free will.”

We can guess it also discovers the meaning of life, love and what it means to be human. Or something like that.

Anyway, look for The Host, which was directed by Andrew Niccol and stars Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, Diane Kruger and Jake Abel, to arrive in theaters on March 29, 2013. Check out the trailer after the break.

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It’s not just because he did a pretty great job with the Stark Trak reboot, we just like J.J. Abrams’ work. In fact, we’re interested when he pretty much does anything.

Add that to our love of anything post-apocalyptic and that brings us to the upcoming show Revolution. Sure, it does have a couple things against it, not the least of which is the fact that Bella’s dad from Twilight in one of the leads (although he does a pretty good job) or that the show seems like a bit of a rip off of The Hunger Games (it mostly isn’t).

Still, we’ve watched a couple episodes already and it’s actually pretty good. You might like it too. Plus, it’s got Giancarlo Esposito in it and was directed by that guy who did Iron Man (you know him as Jon Favreau), so that goes a long way for us.

We’ve got previews for the show, which premieres tonight on NBC. Take a look at them after the break. Let us know what you think of the show.

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If you’re a tween girl you probably already know today is Edward Cullen’s pretend 111th birthday. In honor of that Summit has released a new teaser trailer for the upcoming The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2. That’s a mouthful. Can’t wait until we don’t have to write that anymore.

Anyway, in it we see more of the story that features the final battle between our ragtag band of vampires and werewolves and the Volturi as well as Jacob getting interested in Edward and Bella’s daughter. Which, to be honest, is kinda weird. Well, we think so at least. But then again, we’re not thirteen anymore.

Even with all that the actual movie doesn’t (dare we say it?) look all that bad. Check out the teaser after the break and judge for yourself. Look for the final (for now) cinematic installment of the Twilight Saga to hit theaters on November 16.

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Even though we might not be huge fans of Robert Patinson’s major works (hey, he was great in Harry Potter though) that doen’t mean we aren’t going to mention when he does something interesting. That’s especially true when he works with one of our favorite directors: David Cronenberg.

That somewhat unusual pairing has resulted in the new film Cosmopolis, which will make its debut at the Cannes Film Festival next month. In the film Pattinson plays Eric Packer, a 28-year old billionaire who likes to mix it up in his personal and profesional life. In short, he’s mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore. Plus, he’s about to have a very interesting day – with a little pharmaceutical help of course.

In the clip we get a glimpse of Pattinson as he trades pointed barbs with his wife at a restaurant just before a protest breaks out featuring lots of dead rats. What does it all mean? We’re not entirely sure as we haven’t read the novel by Don DeLillo on which the film is based.

However, we always find Cronenberg interesting and weird is one of the things he does pretty well so we’re going to give this one the benefit of the doubt. Of course, what we’re really waiting for is a sequel to Eastern Promises.

Until then, this will have to do. Check out the clip after the break.

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For the record, I am not a ‘tween girl. In fact, I’m no kind of girl at all. Perhaps that’s why I just don’t get the whole Twilight phenomenon.

The books are not very well written, the story is cliche’ and the characters are drawn from the worst sort of tepid, melodramatic sources. Still, it is hugely successful as a book a movie series. Maybe ‘tween girls know more than I do? Who knows.

Whatever the reasons, Twilight is huge and the final filmic installment of the franchise is almost upon us. That means, of course, promotional material.

This time around said promotional material takes the form of a new teaser trailer for Breaking Dawn Part 2. This particular one shows us the trio and how things have changed for them, but in other ways, have stayed pretty much the same. Oh, and Bella needs a snack.

Check out the new teaser after the break. See what all the fuss is about when The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 hits theaters on November 19.

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For those of you who were “too cool” to attend any of the films in the multi-billion dollar franchise which is The Twilight Saga, you aren’t missing much. But, with that in mind, it makes complete sense that creator Stephanie Meyer would be ready and willing to capitalize on another franchise, now that her vampire/werewolf/emo chick love triangle is coming to an end.

Enter The Host, which hit bookshelves back in 2008. Toted as being “Science fiction for people who don’t like science fiction”, the book is said to be a bit of a departure from Meyer’s Twilight universe. Here’s the synopsis.

The Host is a riveting story about the survival of love and the human spirit in a time of war. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact. Most of humanity has succumbed.

Set to hit theaters on March 29th of next year, the film has plans to take star Saoirse Ronan (Hanna) and possibly construct her into the next Kristen Stewart with this upcoming adaptation. Take a look at the first trailer after the jump, and be prepared to be dazzled by a series of photoshopped images of creepy eyes.

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Though it’s not the full trailer, the official “teaser” for the trailer has made its way onto the internet for the final piece in Summit & Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Part 2.

That’s right. It all comes down to this. From what we’re hearing, this is possibly the most action-filled story in the entire franchise itself. Here’s a quick rundown.

After the birth of Renesmee Cullen, Bella, now a vampire, finds herself enjoying her new life and abilities. However, the vampire Irina misidentifies Renesmee as an “immortal child”, a child who has been turned into a vampire, and because immortal children are uncontrollable, creating them has been outlawed by the Volturi. After Irina presents her allegation to the Volturi, they plan to destroy Renesmee and the Cullens. In an attempt to survive, the Cullens gather other vampire clans from around the world to stand as witnesses and prove to the Volturi that Renesmee is not an immortal child.

Take a look at the teaser after the jump, and catch the film in theaters on November 16th.

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It seems the popularity of vampires would be winding down with the over-saturation of the market, but Hollywood is moving away from your modern vampire, as seen in Twilight, True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries, and seems to be looking toward the past to keep the craze going. There has been a sudden explosion of projects based on the classic vampire, Dracula. Names ranging from Adam Sandler to Park Chan-Wook are involved in some kind of story about the classical bloodsucker.

According to Deadline, Sony has purchased a pitch from writer Jason Keller that will tell Dracula’s origin story, with Joe Roth and Palak Patel set to produce. Sony would only admit that they intend to start a period franchise, and with Keller credited for the upcoming Snow White re-imagining Mirror Mirror, that might put two franchises on his plate.

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Saoirse Ronan is not only starring in Twilight author Stephanie Meyer’s The Host, but is now attached to headline yet another Snow White centric flick called The Order of the Seven. The film will have a completely new spin on the old story.

It will follow a centuries old and once revered Order of Warriors from around the world, who are now a jaded group of outlaws, as they reclaim their destiny after the reemergence of an ancient evil empress. Ronan will play Olivia Sinclair, a British ex-pat of 19th Century Hong Kong who guides the warriors back to their noble roots. The film will be lined with stars from China, Russia and Japan.

Ronan has been making a name for herself over the past few years as she has taken on larger and larger roles, which have included Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones, the Oscar-winning Atonement and not to mention the action packed Hanna. This will be her first leading role.

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Books are coming back in a huge way lately. I can remember being in school when Hollywood was having an outreach for kids to “read more.” now it seems like Hollywood can’t get kids to stop reading and loving books, to the point where just about every big book franchise is getting adapted into a movie.

Twilight, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and now Orson Scott Card’s epic series, Ender’s Game is getting the Hollywood treatment.

Movement on the project is picking up quickly, as critically acclaimed actor Ben Kinglsey is joining an already stellar cast. From THR:

Hugo actor Asa Butterfield and Hailee Steinfeld are starring in the pic, set in a future where the Earth is under attack by an insect-like race and mankind has created a battle school to train fighting forces.

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It turns out even decades of laughter through the form of hundreds of felt puppets can’t beat the Kristen Stewart pregnancy movie. After having one of the most intense marketing campaigns that Disney has ever executed for The Muppets, Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 still managed to beat the film in the box office by over $10 million during the holiday weekend.

The vampy melodrama got the #1 spot for the second weekend in a row with $42 million this weekend, while Muppets (which made $42 in total since it opened on Wednesday) was only able to pull in an estimated $29 million. It looks like vampires really are more popular than singing frogs and pigs. Shame.

Also hitting theaters this weekend, Sony’s Arthur Christmas fell flat with an estimated $12.7 opening weekend. Speaking of falling flat, Scorsese’s Hugo had an even weaker opening, as it came in 5th place with just over $11 million.

These films could very well do better as we draw closer to the holidays, but don’t expect to see much in the form of sequels for these family classics. Those films may not have performed as well as they could have, but what did was the Weinstein’s My Week with Marilyn which pulled off just over $2 million for its first weekend.

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As if it were a surprise. The penultimate film in the Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn: Part 1, opening in just over 4,000 screens across the nation, managed to pick up just under $140 Million in the domestic box office. It also got just over $280 Million worldwide.

With a production budget of $110 Million, and making $15 Million more than the opening weekend of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1, Summit is sitting pretty high and mighty at this point. Also opening this weekend, Warner’s Happy Feet Two, which came in at #2 with $22 Million.

As expected, the rest of the box office took a bit of a hit due to all the vampire-on-werewolf action. Last weekend’s #1 hit Immortals took more than a 60% drop and only grossed an estimated $12 Million. Adam Sandler’s unfortunate new flick Jack and Jill came in right behind with just under $12 Million.

We expect Breaking Dawn to continue its success throughout the week, and possibly next weekend. Disney’s Muppets opens wide on Thanksgiving Day, so don’t expect to see the Twilight kids walk away completely unscathed after Kermit has his way with them.

This week’s Film Score Friday is going to stretch the concept a bit. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn actually has an original soundtrack, not a full score release as of yet, but I did want to branch out a little bit. Plus there is a single track of original score on the album, hooray for loop holes!

The album is a collection of pop songs that either appeared in the film or were inspired by it. Soundtracks like this are a very interesting proposition, it is very possible to arrange a fantastic set of songs that both evoke the film and make for a great listening experience. In fact my first introduction to the world of film scores was through soundtracks like this one.

Now I am far from Twilight’s target audience, but I have seen all the films so I know what to expect going into this album. These are going to be a collection of songs that are harmless, sappy and most of them will probably sound the same, right?

Well, a funny thing happened on the way to me writing this, I actually started to really like some of these songs. Mayhaps I have grown soft in my young age, but some of these songs are actually damn catchy. Also, and much more importantly, the songs actually work really well in the context of the film.

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