Boy, you miss a few weeks work to move 2,000 miles, and you fall behind on all kinds of things going on in the world of Twilight. All you Twilighters have, no doubt, been keeping up to speed with everything that's been going on out there -- you're making plans to attend Breaking Dawn parties, planning what you're going to wear, entering giveaway contests, and getting your Twilight-inspired costumes put together (who knew there were so many varieties of vampire fangs out there?).

I know, you have it much more together than I do on all the Twilight madness, but hey, I've been on the road with four kids, a dog and a cat all crammed into a 1998 Ford Windstar, moving back to Seattle, so I'm just now getting around to catching up. So here's a rundown of all-things Twilight for you -- in case you, like me, have been having a busy summer.

In less than 24 hours, myself, Scott Weinberg and Elisabeth Rappe will be in San Diego, overdosing on all things geek for the next five days. That's because the 2008 San Diego Comic Con is upon us, and there are literally hundreds of different things to do. We'll be sitting on panels (catch yours truly on the Masters of the Web panel), attending panels, interviewing stars, hanging with Storm Troopers, playing with cool toys, going to screenings (Fanboys, Tropic Thunder, Mutant Chronicles, etc ...) and, well, getting our dance on at some of the coolest parties this side of the galaxy. It's intense. We're excited. And if you're not able to attend, then you best be checking out Cinematical all day long later this week as we'll be shoveling out tons and tons of content.

And speaking of content, here's a taste of what you can expect from your pals at Cinematical:

Panel Coverage:

Masters of the Web
When: Thursday, July 24th -- 10am.
Who: Robert Sanchez (IESB.net), Garth Franklin (Darkhorizons.com), Mike Sampson (Joblo.com), Erik Davis (Cinematical.com), John Campea (TheMovieBlog.com), Brad Miska (Bloody-Disgusting.com), Eric "Quint" Vespe (Aintitcool.com), Devin Faraci (CHUD.com), Paul Christensen (Movieweb.com), and Kellvin Chavez (Latinoreview.com). Moderated by directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank 2, The Game). Room 32AB

Watchmen
When: Friday, July 25th -- 11:55am
Who: Zack Snyder, Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson



Much, much more after the jump ...

What are going to be the biggest surprises at this year's ComicCon? Can McG and Christian Bale make us care about Terminator: Salvation? Will the movie adaptation of Twilight please fans, or alienate them? What's behind the venom being directed at Batman's detractors on-line? And does Meryl Streep's Mamma Mia! have a chance against The Dark Knight this weekend? Joining James this week to talk all things ComicCon is Cinematical's Editor-In-Chief Erik Davis. ... Cinematical's podcast is now available through iTunes; you can subscribe at this link. Also, you can listen directly here at Cinematical by clicking below:



As ever, you can download the entire podcast right here -- and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.

It's absolute trailer madness today! Not long after the very awesome Watchmen trailer premiered, Yahoo Movies! has thrown up a brand new Twilight trailer for you folks to feast on. Twilight, of course, is based on the super popular series of books that have teenagers everywhere reaching levels of mass hysteria. Me? I'm just stoked that vampires are cool again. In the film, which is directed by Catherine Hardwicke, Kristen Stewart stars as a teenage girl who moves to a small town, meets a boy and -- whoops -- discovers he's a vampire. I haven't read the book, but I imagine things then take a hairy (or is it toothy?) turn for the worse. Check out the trailer above and let us know what you think.

How well do you think Twilight will do when it arrives in theaters on December 12?

While we're still over a month away from what is perhaps the Super Bowl of geekdom, early info on what to expect from this year's San Diego Comic Con has started to leak out. First off, I've been receiving tons of emails over the past couple days as other websites begin to mention this Masters of the Web panel, which, in case you haven't seen, includes Cinematical. Yes, I'm very happy to announce that yours truly will join the dudes from IESB, JoBlo, Dark Horizons, Ain't It Cool News, CHUD, Latino Review, Movie Web, The Movie Blog and Bloody-Disgusting for an in-depth discussion on how to make your own pizza at home! Not quite, but when you get all these folks in the same room, you'll definitely want to watch what happens next.

Wait, there's more! The panel itself will be moderated by directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank, Pathology), and those in attendance will get to see the first footage from Crank 2 and that Gerard Butler flick, Game. There's also a ridiculous invite-only party being thrown featuring all kinds of celebs, "dancers" and hot internet movie writers, and if you show up to the panel, you'll have a chance to win a ticket to said party as well. Long story short: If you're going to Comic Con, you'll most definitely want to clear your schedule on Thursday, July 24th at 10am for the Masters of the Web panel. Yeah, it's early -- but we're not going to Comic Con to sleep in, we're going to get our geek on. Start early, party late -- that's always our motto.

In addition to the panel, IESB has listed an early and somewhat tentative rundown of what each studio has planned for The Con. I'm seeing names like Watchmen, Terminator: Salvation, The Spirit, Twilight, Underworld 3, Kevin Smith ... and much, much more. God, I feel like I'm seven and going to Disney World. So excited. Stay tuned ...

Cinematical is stoked to have received this exclusive Twilight e-card widget for all you Twilighters out there. I know that you, like me, are anxiously awaiting both the August 2 release date of Breaking Dawn, the fourth book in the series, and the December 12 release of the hotly anticipated Twilight movie. This will give you a little something to do to kill the time while you're waiting.

Edward looks much more ... vampirish than in the earlier cast shots we saw, and you'll note that his eyes are most assuredly topaz here. What do you think of the pic? Check it out, send it to all your Twlight-mania friends, and enjoy! For more on Twilight, feel free to visit the film's official website.

One of my colleagues just IM'd me with the following: "Did you see there's a 1-minute clip of 'Twilight' online???? OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG." While I suspect he was being just a teensy bit sarcastic with the "OMGs," there is indeed a nice little one-minute clip up over on MTV of part of the scene at the ballet studio with James going after Bella, and Edward coming to the rescue. It's a short clip, but it definitely gives you a feel for how director Catherine Hardwicke is handling the action of the vampire fights, and it's pretty intense.

It's just enough to whet your appetite a bit for the full scene up on a big screen ... and of course, by that point in the storyline, there will be plenty of dramatic tension from what's taken place before that to up the intensity level even more.

Whew. Now that I'm back from Cannes, it's time to dive back into checking out what's going on in the world outside the glamor and glitz of the world's sexiest film industry trade show. Of course, one of the first things I wanted to catch up on was what's been going on in the world of Twilight fandom. Before leaving for Cannes, I snagged a copy of Stephenie Meyer's' newest book, The Host, and I devoured it every night while on the trip.

Quick thoughts on The Host: Compelling and dramatic story, great characters, and it pretty much has "adapt me into a movie, please!" written all over it. For those not in the know, the book is a tale about an alien invasion by a race of intelligent parasitic beings who take over the body of a host and obliterate the "soul" of the person who previously resided there.

Okay, I'm going to try to write this post without pissing off a gazillion people. See, our resident Twilight expert, Kim, is flying to France right now, and so I'm the lucky guy left to write about Twilight. And speaking of the biggest teen vampire film to hit the states since The Lost Boys, a brand new poster for Twilight has been released by Summit Entertainment. (You can check it out to the right and click to enlarge.) Additionally, we've decided that now is the time to introduce our official Twilight gallery (see below). Fans of the film should definitely save that gallery link and check back daily as we'll be adding more photos real soon.

And there's more! CulturePulp's Mike Russell tipped us off to this super funky comic strip he created, which was inspired by a recent trip of his to the set of Twilight. The comic strip is supposed to compliment an article he wrote for The Los Angeles Times. The comic is a damn funny read, as Mike takes you through a scene where they're playing vampire baseball and running at 30mph. Don't know, but it sounds good.

Confession time! I've never read Twilight, and I have absolutely nothing against the book or its fans. However, the only thing that worries me about this film is Kristen Stewart. Hate me forever, but she always plays the disturbed, "I have several emotional issues that stem from my childhood" kinda gal. Not a bad thing, mind you, but I've never seen her give us an ounce of power, of energy, of anything, really.

So here's a question for you fans: Do you think Kristen Stewart is the right actress to play your beloved Isabella Swan? Have you seen her other films? (Or maybe Isabella is a really boring person, because then Stewart would be excellent in the role.

Kidding? Yes, that's right, as in kids, young 'uns, rug rats. This week on Trailer Park, we're scoping out previews of movies that are for or about the kiddies.

The Rocker
Kid is a relative term, but the teens populating this comedy are kids from where I'm sitting. Probably best known for playing Dwight on NBC's The Office, Rainn Wilson stars as a washed up 80s rocker who was booted out of a succesful band right before they hit it big. Kind of like Pete Best but with spandex and big hair. His teenage nephew's band is playing at the prom and they need him to fill in. The gig goes well and Wilson's character ends up touring with the band. There's a definite hint of School of Rock, but Wilson is so appealing in the role that I've chosen to overlook that and the groin injury joke (a hokey device that is often a deal breaker for me). Here's what Erik thought of the trailer.