by A.J. Focht

The Avengers is just over a week away, and the last batch of promotional material has hit. A new scene from the movie was released, as well as a behind the scenes video. Director Joss Whedon gave more insight to the movie and why you should see it during an interview with some collegiate newspapers this past week.

During an MTV interview with Samuel L. Jackson, the actor described his vision of a S.H.I.E.L.D movie. His casting leaves out Agent Coulson which has again given rise to the rumor that he will die in The Avengers, and even possibly be recreated as Vision. Whedon previously went as far to say they would change his background so he was created by Tony Stark. Could Coulson become Vision? Could Vision be Marvel’s secret unnamed movie for 2013? Guess we have to wait till May 4 to know for sure.

The Dark Knight Rises has been all but forgotten in the wake of excitement for The Avengers. Now, they plan to capitalize on that by releasing their trailer before The Avengers. Christopher Nolan is really pushing the IMAX release with over an hour of IMAX footage. A ‘reliable source’ at Cosmic Booknews who saw the first showing says it is better than The Dark Knight. In a similar vein, Tom Hardy recently compared Bane to the Joker to show why he was worthy to come after the Clown Prince.

While the superhero movies are fighting it out for the summer box office crown, Peter Jackson is using The Hobbit to advance film production everywhere. Jackson has shot the first half of The Hobbit: An Enexpected Journey at 48 fps (frames per second). Current industry standard is 24 fps. Because Hobbit is looking to be such a major movie event, many theaters will be forced to upgrade their equipment to show the film. This paves the way for other filmmakers, who will be able to shoot movies at 48 fps without fear of the theatres not having the equipment to show them.

Before Watchmen will hit comic stands everywhere in June. You don’t have to wait till then to get an idea of what’s in store however. Twenty-one illustrations and concept art pieces were leaked this past week. The leaked images include costume designs for most of the characters, including some you wouldn’t expect like Hooded Justice. There are also a few full page sketches.

Premiering on April 27th on EPIX is With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story. Just before its release, a sneak peek was let out to show fans what’s in store. The documentary covers the life of comic book legend, Generalissimo Stan Lee.

New photos have landed on the Ender’s Game production blog. The pics now include: Ender’s room, the neck implants, and a simulator. The Ender’s Game movie is scheduled for release in November 2013.

Would you like a new Star Trek series? Well whether you get one is apparently up to J.J. Abrams. The creator of Pushing Daisies, Brain Fuller, was really gung-ho about pitching the idea. Now Fuller says that if a Star Trek series were to happen, it would be after the next movie and Abrams would be in command. J.J. Abrams has apparently become ‘the guardian of Trek’ and nothing will happen without his input.

by Alex Dueben

Caitlin R. Kiernan made a splash in 1998 when her novel Silk was released. Since then, Kiernan, who was trained as a vertebrate paleontologist, has written a number of novels including Murder of Angels and The Red Tree in addition to becoming a prolific short writer with more than half a dozen collections. Besides the dozens of magazines and anthologies she contributed to, Kiernan also releases Sirenia Digest, a monthly collection of “weird erotica.” She also was the regular writer for The Dreaming, the comic series which spun off of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman.

Kiernan just released The Drowning Girl: A Memoir, a novel that is arguably her best to date. The book centers around a schizophrenic woman, the new woman in her life, a nineteenth century painting, myth, family history, memory and truth, leaving one pondering what is real and what is not.

This month Dark Horse Comics released the first of five issues of a new comic series, Alabaster, which stars Dancy Flammarion, a character that Kiernan fans know from the novel Threshold and short story collection entitled Alabaster. For the uninitiated, Dancy is a young albino woman who has been sent by an angel to hunt monsters in haunted corners of the deep South. We reached Kiernan at her home in Rhode Island.

Read our exclusive interview with Caitlin R. Kiernan on SuicideGirls.com.

AnnaLee Suicide in Parhelion

• INTO: Living a good life.
• NOT INTO: Cars, television, cigarettes, meat, drinking culture, negativity, superficiality and people with no imaginations or desires.
• MAKES ME HAPPY: Reading and collecting books, drinking tea, solitude, ornithology and natural history, listening to the radio, baking cakes, my cat, pockets, mindpower, sleeping, the sea, old-fashioned museums, etymology, entomology, marzipan, walking and cycling, equality, understanding, compassion, passion, good manners, hermit crabs, olives, peace and quiet, the sky and meteorological phenomena, drawing, painting, churches, foxes, nature taking over man-made things, wall paintings, bees, stoicism, cats and dogs, cinema, hot baths, cooking and food (eating is the best!), gardens and wild places, lochs, rivers and anything wet, plants and trees, perfume, cardigans, grey, being a stranger in new cities, unusual encounters with other creatures, marmalade, moths, butterflies, fresh air, bioluminescence, collecting things, adding to the tattooed aviary, being productive, cold climates, wallpaper, mosses, lichens, positivity, sewing, film soundtracks, the changing seasons, red hair, pickles, whiskers and paws and cats purring, cephalopods (especially cuttlefish!). Ah, life is great.
• MAKES ME SAD: When my family are unhappy. How little we care about non-human animals, our planet and each other. People not living life as well as they could do. The fact that work, productivity and consumerism overtake life – I hate the way our society is structured. Wasting time, negativity, physical and mental illness, intolerance, cages, ownership.
• 5 THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: A book, a quiet place, fresh air, hot tea, and of course music.
• VICES: Book buying, but that’s probably not too unhealthy. I am also addicted to expensive chocolate – that is ever so slightly unhealthy.
• I SPEND MOST OF MY FREE TIME: In a book.

Get to know AnnaLee better over at SuicideGirls.com!

by Blogbot / Photography: Zach Roberts

On the second Tuesday of each month, the ladies and gentlemen of Geek Girl Burlesque take over the Bowery Poetry Club in NYC for a night of naughty ‘n’ nerdy fun. April’s Geek Girl performance was dubbed “Pasties and Popcorn,” and paid tribute to some of the troupe’s favorite movies. The evening, which did indeed feature both pasties and bags bursting with popcorn, included performances inspired by classics such as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Sweeney Todd, Nightmare on Elm Street, Hocus Pocus and Saw.

The show was compered by Whit Leyenberger and Jilli Puff, who were in character as the under-age couple at the heart of Diablo Cody’s Academy Award-winning tale of teenage pregnancy, Juno. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the evening came at the end, when, after a quick costume change Jilli Puff returned to the stage as Penny Johnson from Dirty Dancing and revealed her bump was no stage prop while doing a turn appropriately enough to the tune of “Be My Baby.” Another highlight was watching Little Miss Rollerhoops, as Wednesday Addams, having a little too much fun with the disembodied hand from The Addams Family. Who knew The Thing could be so, errr, handy?

The next Geek Girl performance is on May 8th and will be steampunk themed in anticipation of the Steampunk World’s Faire, held May 18-20 at the Radisson in Piscataway, New Jersey, where the ensemble will also be making an appearance.

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by SG’s Team Agony feat. Lexie

Let us answer life’s questions – because great advice is even better when it comes from SuicideGirls.

Q: I have a question for you geek goddesses and suicidal scarlets. I am pretty good at introducing myself, making friendly, and getting a girl’s number, but I am not good at what happens next. Sometimes I feel like I don’t wait long enough and other times I feel like it’s way too late for me now. But even worse, what do you do? Call? Text? What to say or write? How do you even get to asking her out on a date? How do I use a girl’s number to my advantage?

Much love and respect.

A: You’ve done the hardest part, gotten the girl’s number. Bravo to you on that. A lot of the time sucking it up and making the first move is the hardest part. Everything that comes after should be natural. It sounds like you’re putting too much pressure on yourself to have the “go to” next step as far as dating is concerned. Every person is different, and they handle dating differently. Some people like to move with the speed of a jack rabbit while others are slow and steady like a tortoise.

From this gal’s point of view, after you get a girl’s number, two to three days seems like a good amount of time to wait before reaching out and making contact. This day and age I don’t know of very many people that actually talk on the phone, so texting may be your best bet. Let’s be real, even if you called you may have to leave her a voicemail, now that could get awkward.

So, give it two to three days, shoot her over a text to show a little interest and take it from there. If she seems receptive, ask her out to a movie, dinner, drinks, hell whatever you want. If she doesn’t seem receptive, lay off for a while. She’ll either come around, or it’s a lost cause.

Either way, happy texting!

Lexie

Got Problems? Let SuicideGirls’ team of Agony Aunts provide solutions. Email questions to: gotproblems@suicidegirls.com

by Daniel Robert Epstein

When one talks about the greats in movie music composing the name Danny Elfman invariably comes up. His collaborations with Sam Raimi, Gus Van Sant and the creation of The Simpsons’ unmistakable theme song have made his name synonymous with great works.

However, it’’s his collaborations with visionary director Tim Burton that has brought him his most acclaim. From his starring role in The Nightmare Before Christmas to his Oscar nominated score for Big Fish, their names have been eternally linked.

Now they have collaborated again on the score and original songs for Tim Burton’’s Corpse Bride. Not only did Elfman create a wonderful and romantic score but he wrote and sang one of the best songs in the film, “Remains of the Day,” as the skeleton man Bonejangles.

Read our exclusive interview with Danny Elfmann on SuicideGirls.com.

Buffy Suicide in NBHNC

• INTO: Music, sports, summer time, sunshine, laughter, nature, camping, taking walks, food.
• NOT INTO: Lying, cheating, stealing, shopping, loud annoying people, country music.
• MAKES ME HAPPY: Being naked, getting tattooed, summer time, beards, seeing people I love being happy, my mom’s cooking, Red Bull, cigarettes, and good music.
• VICES: Cigarettes.
• I SPEND MOST OF MY FREE TIME: Doing whatever the fuck I want to do!!!! It’s usually a pretty good time :).

Get to know Buffy better over at SuicideGirls.com!