Prices for the hottest hardcover releases at Walmart, Amazon.com and Target have fallen to $9 as the retailers battle for customers. Now prices on pre-orders of hot upcoming DVDs - including Star Trek, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Angels & Demons - have fallen to around $10. The Wall Street Journal says Wal-Mart extended the price war from books into DVDs and Amazon.com and Target quickly followed suit.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. extended its holiday price war into new territory Thursday by slashing online prices on 10 hotly anticipated DVDs, including the new Star Trek and Harry Potter releases, to $10.
Within hours, Amazon.com Inc. and Target Corp. matched some of Wal-Mart's online prices on pre-orders of the DVDs, and Wal-Mart lowered its price by a penny to $9.99, reprising the scuffle that broke out last month when Wal-Mart launched an aggressive $10 book promotion.
For example, the new Star Trek film on DVD can be pre-ordered for $10 at Amazon.com, Target.com and Walmart.com. Hardcovers and DVDs make great Christmas presents. We suspect lots of people will be giving these heavily discounted books and DVDs as gifts this year.
Charlize Theron and Viggo Mortensen hit the red carpet for the Hollywood premiere of their new thriller, a post-apocalyptic survival story, The Road. The film is an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which explores the struggle to survive of a man and his son who are traveling south to find food and shelter, while avoiding gangs of roving cannibals. Both Viggo and Charlize talked about the film: Charlize was determined to find a note of hopefulness in the movie. Take a look:
Jim Carrey, Bob Hoskins and Colin Firth all had important jobs for the London premiere of A Christmas Carol. Each star was responsible for turning on the Christmas lights at a huge lighting ceremony in central London. Free shows at Saint Paul's Cathedral, Regent Street and Oxford Circus, helped build up the atmosphere before the big moment of the lights' illumination at each site.
Producers called it the biggest co-ordinated Christmas lights switch-on and celebration London has ever seen, and are hoping to get into the Guinness World Record book for the largest simultaneous 3D Film premieres. There were 13 premieres taking place at the same time. This film has a huge marketing budget, that's for sure. Take a look:
Here's another cool sneak peek behind the scenes of New Moon. This clip focuses on the Volturi vampire clan. We meet each member and get an idea of their special powers and abilities. The budget is much bigger for this film than it was for Twilight, so director Chris Weitz got better sets and fight scenes. The fight choreographer created a new fighting style so that the look of vampires fighting would be different than the way humans fight. It's quite interesting and -- as Rob says -- it looks really cool. Take a look:
Toys R Us is joining Nordstrom, Hot Topic and other retailers in launching special New Moon sections. The Toys R Us New Moon store can be found both online and in the toy retailers bricks-and-mortar locations. It carries action figures, lunch boxes, chip clips, backpacks, wallets and dolls. It also carries throw pillows and games like those pictures above. Toys R Us does not appear to carry the large Edward and Jacob cutouts so they won't have to worry about middle-aged women running off with them, which is what happened at Nordstrom's.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science has announced that Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will serve as co-hosts of the 82nd Academy Awards.
"We think the team of Steve and Alec are the perfect pair of hosts for the Oscars," said Oscar telecast producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman. "Steve will bring the experience of having hosted the show in the past and Alec will be a completely fresh personality for this event."
"I am happy to co-host the Oscars with my enemy Alec Baldwin," said Martin.
"I don't play the banjo but I'm thrilled to be hosting the Oscars – it's the opportunity of a lifetime," said Baldwin.
There have been multiple hosts for the Oscars before as you can see on this chart. Hugh Jackman was last year's host and he did a terrific job.
Jim Carrey and Colin Firth talked about their upcoming Disney movie A Christmas Carol. Jim talked about the challenge of making the story new for those who have heard it so many times before. Jim said it wouldn't be any scarier for children than Pirates of the Caribbean, which had some creepy ghosts. Colin said it's ok to just tell the kids that it has a happy ending if that helps allay fears. Jim is sporting a full beard and about thirty extra pounds these days. The rumor is that he's going to play Curly in The Three Stooges remake. But Curly didn't have a beard, so it's a bit puzzling. Take a look:
The trailer for Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is out. Jake Gyllenhaal and his feisty sidekick are on a mission to stop the end of the world. There are battles, adventures, romance and lots of sand. Jake is doing a creditable British accent and it looks like good action fun. Jerry Bruckheimer is in charge, so you know the actions scenes will be great. Take a look:
The stars of director Lee Daniels' critically acclaimed drama Precious walk the red carpet in Los Angeles. Actors Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe, Mo'Nique and Mariah Carey talked about why they did the film, which has amazing reviews. Producers Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry also attended, as did director Lee Daniels, who Mariah Carey described as a genius. Take a look:
In this new snipped from New Moon we get to see Bella's birthday party. Edward (Robert Pattinson) doesn't say much in this particular scene. Bella gets presents....and a paper cut. That is not a good thing when you are in a room full of hungry vampires. Take a look:
The Peninsula Daily Newsreports that there are plans for a Twilight themed restaurant in Forks, Washington. The restaurant will be called Volterra. Plans are for the restaurant to open this coming spring.
"We have a lot of renovations and permitting and licenses we need to get, so it probably will be spring before we open," she said.
The restaurant will be a "steak and seafood restaurant" that will serve three meals a day, she said, adding that it will be family-friendly while selling alcohol.
The restaurant will be named Volterra after an Italian city that appears several times in the four-novel Twilight saga set in Forks.
A post here on the Discover Forks Washington blog says Forks and the rest of the Olympic Peninsula have seen a boost in vampire tourism starting last year. The Discover Forks website already has some destinations marked for Twilight tourists. A Twilight themed restaurant will give these tourists a dining destination.
A new trailer for Avatar has been released. It looks better than the first trailer that leaked. The film has some Oscar buzz already but that's thanks to the Best Picture category being extended to ten films. There are strong arguments that District 9 or Star Trek should be considered ahead of Avatar. Take a look:
The stars turned out for the Los Angeles premiere of the Michael Jackson concert documentary This Is It, which was directed by Kenny Ortega (High School Musical). The documentary is getting rave reviews from top critics, such as Roger Ebert who said it was one of the best and most revealing musical documentaries that he had ever seen. Most critics agree that Jackson was fully able to perform and that the concert -- had it happened -- would have been amazing. Take a look:
Lionel Richie represented his long time friend Michael Jackson at the Tokyo premiere of the film This is It. Lionel talked about being close to Michael and that he considered him a part of his family. This Is It opened around the world in theaters and will play for two weeks. Take a look:
Ted Casablanca reports that Nordstrom is complaining about middle-aged women coming into the store and stealing their life-size cutouts of Edward and Jacob.
"We can't keep them in the store. People keep coming in and stealing Rob and Taylor! And it's usually middle-aged women."
A Nordstrom employee regarding the life-size New Moon cardboard cutouts of Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, promoting a New Moon fashion line.
It seems like it would be pretty obvious if someone was trying to steal one of these. The cutouts retail for $33 each according to Nordstrom's website. Nordstrom is trying to lure Twilight fans into its stores with its wide array of New Moon merchandise. They are carrying jewelry, apparel, charm bracelets, lip balms, earrings and more, see here.
The Peninsula Daily News 
