Harry Potter Theme Park Now Open!

It’s been eight years in the making but the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (at Universal Orlando) is now officially open! This twenty-acre expansion to the Universal Theme park has been a tightly guarded secret for much time now with it’s NBC co-owner dolling out snippets of park details on exclusive segments of the Today Show and The Apprentice. Two weeks ago they devoted thirty minutes of their primetime lineup to a behind-the-scenes exclusive and managed to reveal little more than what you could see in a sixty second commercial spot.  Still fans rallied to get a first glimpse at all the park had to offer and despite the minor chaos, first reviews report that it was worth the wait.

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The Gates: Slutty Vampires Take Up Roots

If you thought the sparkly vampire craze was over think again. ABC is jumping on the vampire gravy train (a good three plus years too late) with their newest TV drama “The Gates“.  While some folks who have yet to pick up a paranormal book in the last five years might be impressed with the story telling, the rest of us are a little weary of what ABC has to offer. With shows like “True Blood”, “Vampire Diaries” and “Being Human” cornering the market is there really room for another “Melrose Place” meets “Twilight”?  Let’s not forget the horridly failed attempt that CBS made with their trip to the dark-side. “Moonlight” was cancelled after its first season. “Blood Ties”, a Lifetime Network show picked up a few years ago actually survived for two seasons, but even with a small but loyal audience couldn’t hold on to it’s primetime slot.

Still, the show may surprise us. In her review for the L.A. Times Mary Mcnamara noted, “Of course there are a plenty of overworked “True Blood” meets “Twilight” motifs, but it seems just possible that “The Gates” will return to the roots of supernatural fiction, in which the monsters are just extreme versions of humanity.”

Then there are other reviews like this, my personal favorite, “In deciding what to call the show, the producers, one suspects, landed on and then rejected something like “The Real and Desperate Vampire Housewives of Somewhere that Looks an Awful Lot Like ‘The Truman Show.’ ” (Ginia Belffante, New York Times).  Ah yes, another mysterious unnamed city of perfection that is too good to be true and has now been invaded by vampires, werewolves, and witches. Are these the same housewives that protested Harry Potter in school libraries? It seems a little glitter and some bagged blood makes everything a-okay.

The Gates airs Sunday on ABC at 10/9c. For those of you not fortunate enough to have access to the show (i.e. our international readers), here is a sneak peak of what’s been airing on the U.S. networks over the last three weeks.

So what do you think? Is it worth watching? How does “The Gates” stake up to the other paranormal heavy hitters?

True Blood: It’s Getting Hot-n-Here

If you caught the season 3 premiere on Sunday June 13th than you know that Alexander Skarsgard (aka Eric Northman) means it when he says, “I’m happy to throw my clothes off…”

We’re happy your happy, Mr. Skarsgard.

Check out this interview by Access Hollywood to get the full scoop on lines Alexander will and won’t cross this season for his True Blood role.

‘True Blood’s’ Alexander Skarsgard: ‘I’m Happy To Throw My Clothes Off!’ | Access Hollywood – Celebrity News, Photos & Videos.

Meanwhile Anna Paquin (aka Sookie) says that sex scenes with Stephen Moyer (aka Bill) are pretty real. Well I guess if I was engaged to my co-star, and he looked like Stephen looks, I might have that problem as well. Check out the full scoop here: http://apexnewsnetwork.com/22801/true-blood-season-3-premiere-anna-paquin-says-sex-scenes-with-stephen-moyer-are-real/

And if you’re looking for a True Blood Season 3 episode recap–try this, a great overview from the Wall Street Journal Speakeasy blog: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/06/13/true-blood-season-3-episode-1-bad-blood-tv-recap/

And of course, if you still need to get caught up on season2, here’s your chance.

Eclipse Official Soundtrack

A few lucky Twilight fans had the opportunity to listen to the The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Soundtrack and there have been pretty good reviews. There are two versions available. The standard album has 15 tracks but the deluxe version has a whopping 19 songs. I have to admit, I was not a fan of the New Moon Soundtrack. I purchased a few individual tracks, but wasn’t impressed enough to buy the entire CD. Ah, the beauty of the digital music revolution. I do own the Twilight soundtrack and I absolutely love it.  And I am psyched about what I am hearing for the Soundtrack for the latest movie.

Here is a sneak peak, the Muse, Love is Forever video.

If you liked that you can check out more samples online soon. The albums release date is June 8th.  Check it out.

Eclipse Official Trailer

It’s that time again. Another film in the Twilight Saga is slated for release on June 30th. In case you haven’t seen it, here is the official trailer. This is my favorite book, but not sure how excited I am about the movie. Though I must say, I enjoyed New Moon more than Twilight (because the kid who plays Jacob is a stronger actor than Rob or Kristen). Anyway, that’s my two cents.

Game On. The Vampires Are Back

It’s the start of June and that means them southern lovin vampires are stirring up trouble and breaking the hearts of fang bangers everywhere. There’s a huge media frenzy around the start of season 3 which kicks off on Sunday June 13th. If you don’t have HBO and have to wait for the DVDs, relax. Season two came out last week! Go get it and catch up.

Here’s a little teaser to keep you happy.

Day 5: Wanna Do Bad Things….

It’s True Blood Day!!! HBO has been running an encore presentation of True Blood Season 2 in preparation for the big season 3 premier this June. For fun, I am posting two of the minisodes that have been airing after each weekly episode. They are not part of season 2 or 3, they are just fun extras that the cast and crew put together for fans, so enjoy! I am posting the teaser for the minisodes along with my favorite so far with Eric and Pam. I can’t help it, I’m an Eric fan all the way.

Day 5: Bad Things Rule

It’s another commenting challenge.

1. Post a comment below about True Blood. What did you think of the minisodes? Do you like the books or the show better? What are you most looking forward to in season 3?

2. You get one entry for your commenting.

3. You get an additional entry every time you promote the contest and link back to this post.

5. The contest is open from now and will close at 12PM Eastern on Monday May 17!

The PRIZE:

Each daily winner will have the option of choosing an autographed copy of the following books:

• C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp–Touch of Darkness
• L.A. Banks –The Forbidden
• Mary Janice Davidson–Undead and Unwed
• Mary Janice Davidson–Undead and Uneasy
• S.J Day–Eve of Darkness
• Devon Monk–Magic to the Bone
• Devon Monk–Magic in the Blood
• Kat Richardson–Greywalker

or an un-autorgraphed copy of one of the following books:

• Rachel Caine–Kiss of Death
• Jocelynn Drake–Nightwalker
• Angie Fox–The Dangerous Book of Demon Slayers
• Richelle Mead–Succubus Blues
• Linda Wisdom–Hex in High Heels

Each book is also paired up with a swag bag, which contains buttons, postcards, bookmarks, and posters (some signed, some not).  Each bag varies and winners will not have the option of pre-selecting the swag-bags.

Winners of the daily contest will automatically be entered into the grand prize drawings (winners to be announced May 31st).  This includes the RT 2010 Tote Bag, Strange Brew Anthology (signed by Jim Butcher), signed posters, books, swag and your choice of a $25 gift e-gift cart to borders.com, bn.com or amazon.com. (Second place winner will receive similar package with signed poster, tote bag, and $10 gift card).

True Blood: Waiting Sucks

It’s that time again!! The count down to season 3 of True Blood has officially begun. HBO is airing new sneak peaks at the upcoming season (and when I say sneak, I do mean sneak). They are about 15 seconds on average and don’t give away anything because they are completely taken out of context, but that won’t stop hardcore fans from speculating!

I have to admit, when I saw the clip of Sam my heart melted a little bit. Boy have I missed that southern accent! I can’t wait for the new season and I know that they are going to deliver as promised.

Here are two clips that I have seen circulating the web thus far.

True Blood: Eric–Waiting Sucks