This weekend, the Syfy series Haven took a bold step by tying its storyline to social media. Specifically, Twitter.

The network sent out a press release last Wednesday and began flooding Twitter with recommendations to follow two characters from the series, @DaveHaven and @VinceHaven, as well as a mysterious @ColdInHaven. In addition, the series made plans to use the hashtag #HavenNews for the show’s Twitter feed.

According to the press release, this would launch a special seven-episode arc, beginning on August 12.

While @DaveHaven and @VinceHaven tweeted back and forth a few hours before the show, the micro-blogging story stopped there.

As the August 12^th episode of Haven, “Roots,” began, fans expected live interaction from the show on Twittter.

Instead, viewers were merely introduced to the concept with a couple of amusing Twitter references in the show, as Dave and Vince both posted flyers in the sheriff’s office to entice viewers to follow them on their respective Twitter accounts.

As Twitter-savvy fans of the show turned up on the #HavenNews feed, they made amusing, sometimes snarky comments about the characters and storyline. But none of the characters tweeted during the episode.

One Twitter follower, @OmegaGreenbean summed up fans’ concerns, “They should have tweeted something at the beginning of the show, just to show it’s working. #HavenNews”

In the end, the Haven Twitter event started with a whimper, not a bang.

Viewers can follow the story on Twitter with the hashtag #HavenNews as well as on www.syfy.com/haven.

Warner Bros. has released a first look image from Zack Snyder’s upcoming Superman film Man of Steel. The photo (see the larger version after the jump) shows Henry Cavill as Superman in the new costume.

Of course, it’s impossible to judge based on one image, but so far we like what we see. The image is desaturated of color. This may be the style of the film, or just this particular image. Designer Anthony Tackett (www.tackettdesign.com) bumped up the color on the official image to the appropriate level for the flesh tones. I think the comparison below shows the difference in color. The image on the right shows the primary colors we’re used to seeing in a Superman costume.

The original, desaturated image (left) compared to the full-color image.

The press release and full image from Warner Bros.:

[Keep reading...]

A couple of weeks ago, you had your first look at the teaser trailer for Sony Pictures’ The Amazing Spider-Man. Now Marvel has released six awesome new photos featuring Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy.

You’ll have to wait until summer 2012 to see the new film (in 3D, no less). But until then, keep checking FilmGuru.Net for the latest news and information.

And as long as you’re enjoying your Spider-Man pictures, go over to Movie Smackdown and vote in their poll about which Spider-Man costume gets your senses tingling.

Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) uses his ring to summon a shield of willpower in Green Lantern (Warner Bros., 2011).

Imagine willpower given form by technology from beyond our world. Or willpower shaping technology made in the U.S.A. We’re starting a battle of wills between two fighters: one a hotshot test pilot turned intergalactic cop, the other a hotshot playboy industrialist turned superhero.

In the DC Comics universe, Green Lantern is one of the heavy hitters. He’s a man without fear, who uses an alien ring that transforms thought into reality by sheer force of will. So it only seems fitting that we pit him against Iron Man, the Marvel Comics version of Steve Jobs combined with Donald Trump. Iron Man is one man’s technology and ingenuity given form in the ultimate expression of man as machine.

This is a test of wills. And only one man will be victorious.

Read the entire review over at MovieSmackdown.com »

In a prequel to the X-Men, Erik "Magneto" Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) and Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) work together to stop a mutant group from starting WWIII in X-Men: First Class (20th Century Fox, 2011).

The last time we saw mutants on the big screen, it was the disappointing third installment in the X-Men trilogy, appropriately titled X-Men: The Last Stand. What had begun as a promising franchise under the steady hand of director Bryan Singer turned to crap under the watch of replacement director Brett Ratner. As Joel Schumacher had done with the Batman franchise, so too had Ratner done with the X-Men.

Now, after five years, the mutants are back. Instead of trying to resurrect the franchise by fixing the problems of the previous film (which included killing off two of the main characters), the new franchise is starting over at the beginning with a prequel. Now we have a chance to look at two different beginnings for the X-Men franchise and see which one works better.

Read the entire review over at MovieSmackdown.com »