by Fred Topel

One of the most impressive aspects of San Diego Comic-Con is the annual masquerade, where cosplayers show off their creative designs. Everyday people create the images of comic book, movie and video game characters with costumes rivaling big Hollywood productions. For his documentary on Comic-Con, Morgan Spurlock chose one cosplay artist to follow for a portion of the film.

Holly Conrad designed an entire ensemble of Mass Effect costumes for the 2010 masquerade. Comic-Con: Episode IV – A Fan’s Hope follows Conrad from designing the costumes in her garage through assembling them on stage, as one of four stories surrounding the convention. Spurlock also follows a group of artists seeking mentorship, a comic book shop owner and a couple of geeks in love.

Conrad is one of the film’s breakout stars. Simply from the ingenuity of her Mass Effect costumes, producers of the Mass Effect movie offered her a job as a consultant on the film. Everywhere she goes in her Shepard costume, she stands out and gets compliments from impressed onlookers. That includes driving to the film’s Los Angeles press junket. Conrad planned to give all her interviews in costume, so she was suited up as she drove to Beverly Hills one Thursday morning. We spoke with her by phone, her very first interview of the day, to celebrate the glory of cosplay. She also wore her costume to the film’s Hollywood premiere.

Read our exclusive interview with Holly Conrad on SuicideGirls.com.

by A.J. Focht

A month out from release and AMC has already sold out advanced tickets for The Ultimate Marvel Marathon which promises to show all of the movies leading up to The Avengers before the midnight release. But if you didn’t get your tickets to the nine hour movie marathon there is no need to worry as AMC will be adding more locations. Cinemark theatres have also joined the party hosting the marathons at half the price. While AMC is charging $40 a seat for the marathon, Cinemark is charging $20. Although, it is unclear if the midnight showing of The Avengers is part of the Cinemark package.

The Iron Man 3 release date is scheduled for May 3, 2013, just a year after The Avengers. Now it looks like Ben Kingsley is in talks to play the villain for the third movie. Insiders at Marvel have debunked the rumor that he will play Mandarin, without giving any hints as to what his role might be.

DC Comics is launching a new round of comic titles this July. The titles in the mix so far are National Comics and Masters of the Universe. National Comics will feature obscure and offbeat heroes, starting with Jeff Lemire’s Kid Eternity. Masters of the Universe will follow the adventures of He-Man against the evil Skeletor. Don’t be expecting the classic He-Man story as it looks like his origins have changed, and as the series starts, Skeletor has already won.

Do you want to bring a little piece of The Hunger Games home with you? Well now you can since Katniss Everdeen has been transformed into a Barbie. I don’t know when Barbie started idolizing child warfare, but this Katniss Everdeen doll is equipped with a bow and arrows nonetheless. If that isn’t good enough for you, you could always buy District 12. Henry River Mill Village, the location for District 12 in the film, is now on sale and can be yours for only $1.4 million.

The Hugo Awards, one of the most prestigious awards in science-fiction, has listed this year’s nominees. Among the top contenders are all the big players: Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Captain America, and…Community? That’s right. In what can only be described as the best nomination ever, the Community episode ‘Remedial Chaos Theory’ has been nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. While it is up against some excellent Doctor Who episodes, this episode stands a good chance of winning thanks to its excellent use of alternate and parallel universes.

The Doctor is getting wrapped up in some legal issues of his own. David Tennant starred in a new Virgin Media commercial that has upset the BBC. The commercial played off time travel, and for BBC anything time travel with David Tennant is their jurisdiction. They sent a takedown request to Virgin Media saying they do not want to be perceived as endorsing any organization.

Facebook has paid $1 billion for the purchase of Instagram. While the purchase has had many Instagram fans nervous, Mark Zuckerberg announced they plan to let Instagram grow free from the Facebook brand. Is that enough though for Instagram fans or do you still worry that Facebook ownership will taint it?

by Daniel Robert Epstein

Jared Leto is a super fine hottie, plus he makes damn cool movies. He’’s chill and he knows about SuicideGirls too. He thinks he’’s seen some of you sweet ladies at some of his 30 Seconds to Mars shows. His latest flick is Lord of War, in which he plays the junkie brother to Nicolas Cage’s’ Uri Orlov, a major international gun runner.

Read our exclusive interview with Jared Leto on SuicideGirls.com.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

SuicideGirls got a chance to talk Ralph Fiennes about his lead role in The Constant Gardener, his vocal histrionics in Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and his upcoming villainous turn as Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Read our exclusive interview with Ralph Fiennes on SuicideGirls.com.

by Blogbot

Earlier this year, SG radio presenters Nicole Powers (SG’s Managing Ed), Lacey Conner (all round rockstar and recovering VH1 reality TV star), and Darrah de jour (SG’s Red, White & Femme post-feminist sex and sensuality columnist) were joined in studio by actress turned lifestyle guru Mariel Hemingway and her partner, stuntman and fitness expert Bobby Williams. Together they have developed a holistic regimen, which they call The Willing Way.

The pair spent a full two hours in the SG Radio studio explaining their all-encompassing mind, body, and soul philosophy. Going from yin to yang, we discussed the importance of getting enough sunlight in your life (Mariel and Bobby like to watch the sun rise and set each day, though they avoid the burning midday rays), and how to keep darkness at bay. With her life having been touched by several suicides, Mariel spoke about how she battled her own depressive tendencies, and how she has empowered herself to find a sense of wellbeing.

This being SG Radio, there was also plenty of laughter, and lots of conversation on our favorite subject – sex. Thus, the first hour of our show was devoted to talk of orgasms – and the importance of having a healthy diet of them, in order to achieve a truly balanced life.

Whatch the video above to see edited highlights from this very special SG Radio show!

For more information follow Mariel and Bobby / The Willing Way on Twitter.

by Fred Topel

I go back a long way with the writer/directors of the fourth American Pie movie. I saw their first film Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle months before it was out and interviewed them for a screenwriting magazine that is long defunct. In fact, we met at the Newsroom Café outside of New Line Cinema, which is also now defunct, absorbed by Warner Brothers.

Fresh out of college, the writing duo was ambitious and enthusiastic about entering the comedy landscape. Back in 2004, the R-rated comedy was just making a comeback with Old School, and Wedding Crashers and The Hangover were years away. As ‘80s children and comedy junkies, they wanted to give this generation the comedies that would play every night in dorm rooms across the nation.

We got to catch up every time they wrote a new Harold and Kumar movie, one of which they directed. Now they’ve been handed the reigns of American Reunion. They decided to bring back every single actor from the first American Pie, including those who were not included in American Wedding. They also ignored the four straight to video movies under the American Pie brand.

In Reunion, Jim (Jason Biggs) go back to their high school reunion and see what’s become of their classmates, and clash with the current high school seniors. A virginal 18-year-old is throwing herself at the happily married Jim, and he still ends up caught naked in the kitchen, and later practicing dominatrix role play with Michelle (Alyson Hannigan). These days, the guys have grown up themselves, with marriages and children of their own. They still like to tell dirty jokes though about penises and MILFs.

Read our exclusive interview with Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg on SuicideGirls.com.

by Fred Topel

At the movies, Tarsem Singh is best known for edgy, darkly visual thrillers like The Cell and Immortals. For fans of those movies, the family friendly fairy tale Mirror Mirror seems like a left turn. For Signh it is not.

The director won acclaim for his music videos and industry clout for his commercial work. Notable videos include R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion.” In his commercials, you wouldn’t know Singh was there because it’s all about the client’s product. Mirror Mirror is a new version of the Snow White fairy tale, the first of two with Snow White and the Huntsman coming this summer. Singh’s version is a traditional costume fantasy, albeit with his own unique visuals and a feminist twist. This Snow White (Lily Collins) saves Prince Charming (Armie Hammer) with HER kiss instead of vice versa. She also becomes a kick ass heroine with the seven dwarves. Snow sings a Bollywood style musical number over the end titles. Julia Roberts plays the evil queen, who actually enters the mirror into an alternate realm where her reflection cautions her against evil magic.

On the press circuit with his stars, Singh has been revealing he did not intend to make four visual movies, and that he had some ideas about stepmothers he could not fit into the movie. So when we had a chance to speak with him privately over the phone, we were able to ask him to elaborate personally on the ideas in his latest film.

Read our exclusive interview with Tarsem Singh on SuicideGirls.com.