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- Valley fans line up early to get first view of 'Eclipse'
Valley fans line up early to get first view of 'Eclipse'
Members of Team Jacob and Team Edward didn't let a little thing like hot weather keep them from lining up early Tuesday to be the first to see "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse."
There wasn't a ticket left for the 29 midnight screenings in Fresno, Visalia and Hanford. Even the midnight screening at the IMAX in River Park was sold out. The only tickets left late Tuesday were for the eight 3 a.m. screenings this morning.
Fans started camping out in front of local theaters early to get the best seats for the latest movie in the series. The first moviegoers arrived at the Edwards Fresno Stadium 22 at 2 a.m. Tuesday, 22 hours before the midnight showings.
- Valley fans swept off their feet by latest 'Twilight' film
Valley fans swept off their feet by latest 'Twilight' film
"The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" -- the third film based on the "Twilight" series from author Stephenie Meyer, opened Wednesday in theaters. Bee critic Rick Bentley called it the "best film so far in the series" in his review earlier this week. Here are some of the reviews posted by fans on The Bee's entertainment blog, fresnobee hive.com.
– Courtney Payton: "My thoughts on the 'Eclipse' premiere were, that I really liked it. There were a few things that I liked the most, [such as] how they really played up the "pack" and the kiss between Jacob and Bella, both times! Everything about the movie pretty much stuck to the book. That was by far the best part! All in all, the best one yet!"
– Hilda Tateosian: " 'Eclipse' took me back to the feelings and love I had for 'Twilight.' Certain scenes I was looking forward to (the virtue scene, the fight) were done wonderfully. I didn't hate 'New Moon,' but it left me slightly cold to the series. But Eclipse completely redeemed itself! ..."
- 'Twilight' parody 'Vampires Suck' tends to wander
'Twilight' parody 'Vampires Suck' tends to wander
Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer have perfected the craft of film parodies through their "Scary Movie," "Date Movie," "Epic Movie" and "Disaster Movie." That's why their latest work, "Vampires Suck," is such a dead-on send-up of the "Twilight" films.
The writers/directors have condensed "Twilight," "New Moon" and "Eclipse" into a nonstop assault on teen angst, sexy bodies and gloomy settings. Their love triangle of human Becca Crane (Jenn Proske), vampire Edward Sullen (Matt Lanter) and werewolf Jacob White (Chris Riggi) is as complicated as Stephenie Meyer's books.
The parody works because the pair have created an almost exact replica of the films from setting to actors. Characters are constantly removing their shirts, and the sheriff cluelessly searches for the truth in this romanticized vampire world.
- Summer box office looks bigger in 3-D
Summer box office looks bigger in 3-D
Fewer paying customers showed up for this summer's movies than in any summer since 1997, but Hollywood still raked in record receipts of $4.35 billion. The answer to this seeming contradiction: 3-D.
Thanks largely to higher admission prices for 3-D presentations, revenue rose a projected 2 percent from summer 2009, even while the estimated number of tickets sold dropped 3 percent from last year to 552 million, according to Hollywood.com, which tracks box-office numbers. The figures are closely monitored in the film industry, which typically draws about 40 percent of its annual theatrical revenue from the first weekend of May through Labor Day.
The summer's top-grossing film, "Toy Story 3" from Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Studios, drew more than half its receipts from 3-D showings, and four of the top 10 box-office earners were in 3-D.
- Minor league baseball promotions draw fans
Minor league baseball promotions draw fans
Buster Posey left the Fresno Grizzlies for the big leagues two months ago, yet tonight the San Francisco Giants catcher will draw thousands of fans to Chukchansi Park.
The buzz over the Buster Posey Bobblehead giveaway to the first 2,500 through the gates is building to a crescendo.
"We'll probably have the longest lines at gate opening since the Tim Lincecum bobblehead in '08," said Andrew Stuebner, the club's executive vice president and general manager. "Posey's will be all given out in the first 10 to 15 minutes."
With nearly every ticket for the 25 scheduled Thursday midnight showings of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" in Fresno and Clovis selling out long before the doors opened, local theater managers scrambled to add last-minute screenings to meet the demand.
It wasn't enough to have a ticket for the latest chapter in the love story of Bella (Kristen Stewart) and her vampire beau, Edward (Robert Pattinson), based on the four-book series by Stephenie Meyer. Ticketholders began forming lines as early as 8 a.m. Thursday to get choice seats. Many fans purchased tickets when they went on sale in September.
Melissa Soriano was first in line at Regal Manchester 16, arriving at 8:30 a.m. to stake out a spot for herself and 17 friends. The 23-year-old Fresno woman, dressed in a black T-shirt adorned with Edward's face, asked for two days off work so she could be one of the first to see the movie.
"I didn't become a fan of the books until I saw the movie 'Twilight' last year," Soriano said as she re-read "New Moon' to pass the time.
Soriano's group wasn't the only one making an event of the "New Moon" opening. A survey by the online movie-ticket Web site Fandango showed 72% of ticket buyers planned to see the movie with a group of three friends or more.
The huge local turnout isn't a complete surprise. Last year, the Edwards Stadium 22 had the highest box-office totals in the country for midnight showings of the first movie in the series, "Twilight."
The area in front of the Edwards theaters looked like a camp-out Thursday evening as moviegoers brought chairs, blankets, books and food to pass the time. Delaney Wiitala, a 16-year-old Sunnyside resident, was the first to arrive at 10 a.m.
The "Twilight" mania was repeated across the country. Fandango reported "New Moon" as the No. 1 movie for pre-sale tickets, passing such big film franchises as "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith," "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," and "The Dark Knight."
"For many fans, it's clearly the year's most-anticipated film event," said Fandango Chief Operating Officer Rick Butler.
More than 90% of ticket sales on MovieTickets.com were for "New Moon." The Web site reported hundreds of sold-out screenings nationwide.
"By landing the Number 1 spot on our advance-ticket sellers list, 'New Moon' has broken a record that has stood unchallenged for almost five years," said Joel Cohen, executive vice president and general manager for MovieTickets.com.
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