Twilight Saga

'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse' MPAA rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and some sensuality Running time: 2 hours, 4 minutes Playing: In general release

When "Hunger Games" premieres Monday, the Nokia Theatre at L.A. Live will be more than just a screaming mass of fans watching stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth enter the building. For just one night, the L.A. Live plaza will be a version of "The Hob. " Named for the fictional black market where Lawrence's character Katniss Everdeen sells the fruits of her hunting in her native District 12 (the Hunger Games-era Appalachia), the Hob will take over L.A. Live plaza as a sort of small village where fans can interact, to some degree, with their new favorite movie.

It breaks my heart to tell you that "Breaking Dawn" is broken. The movie that's carved out of the first half of the last book of Stephenie Meyer's vampires-in-love series, starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, is weighted down by more than its title, to say nothing of the expectations. For the record, it's called "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1," as if 5 billion insanely attentive Twihards wouldn't be able to find it. Maybe the studio suits have begun to believe the franchise, like the classy Cullen clan, is immortal, that almost nothing can kill it. They'd better hope that last bit is true, because "Breaking Dawn" kinda sucks, in the metaphoric rather than the vampiric sense.

Embrace A Novel Jessica Shirvington Sourcebooks Fire: 400 pp., $16.99, ages 12 and up If angels are the new vampires, then "Embrace" is a worthy follow-up to "The Twilight Saga. " The kickoff to a new young adult series from debut author Jessica Shirvington has many of the same strengths - and flaws - as the Stephenie Meyer blockbuster with a heroine who doesn't understand her own strengths and becomes entangled in a complicated, steamy, love triangle. "Embrace" opens on the eve of Violet's 17th birthday - a bittersweet occasion that overlaps with the anniversary of her mother's death.

Anyone worried about the fate of Bella, Edward, Jacob and the rest of the "Twilight" gang after the moody blues of movie No. 2 can breathe a sigh of relief. "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" is back with all of the lethal and loving bite it was meant to have: The kiss of the vampire is cooler, the werewolf is hotter, the battles are bigger and the choices are, as everyone with a pulse knows by now, life-changing. It's really all because the kids are growing up. Not just Bella, Edward and Jacob, though they're doing their share of hitting major milestones what with their love triangle more fraught than ever, but Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner who finally, finally have figured out how to breathe life into the characters first created by publishing phenom Stephenie Meyer.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part I Summit, $30.99; Blu-ray, $33.99 The "Twilight" saga's supernatural soap opera reaches a ludicrously high pitch in the first half of concluding volume "Breaking Dawn," which includes a wedding, an accelerated pregnancy and a major transformation for a major character. All that would be fine if the franchise's creative team had any sense of fun about what they're making (a la "True Blood"). Instead, new "Twilight" director Bill Condon continues what his predecessors started, making a movie that's dreary and self-serious.

The Princess and the Frog Walt Disney, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99/$44.99 Walt Disney Animation Studios returns to traditional hand-drawn animation with "The Princess and the Frog," an update of the fairy tale classic that has the royalty turning amphibian instead of vice versa. The story lurches to a start, but once "princess" Tiana (who's actually a waitress in 1920s New Orleans) undergoes her transformation and joins her "prince" in the bayou, the movie livens up considerably, aided by jaunty Randy Newman songs and a vivid color palette.

A surprise awaited the faithful in Tween Nation on Monday when the nominees for the 2010 Kids Choice Awards were announced. Actress/pop star Miley Cyrus pulled ahead of the "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" for most nods in this year's crop; the 17-year-old was nominated for favorite TV actress, female singer and movie actress, with her song "Party in the USA" giving her the edge over the juggernaut that is "Twilight." The Gothic-lite romance received three nominations for its second installment, "New Moon," including Taylor Lautner as favorite male actor and for favorite movie.

They flew in from Winnipeg, Canada, on Sunday, stashed their stuff at a downtown hotel and headed for Nokia Plaza to meet other friends. There was a little confusion about where to stand but in the end there was a lot of luck: Puneet Chawla and Jennifer Romanoff were among the first people to be admitted into the plaza to camp out for a coveted spot along the red carpet to watch the arrivals for the invitation-only premiere of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse."...

Chrystal Johnson didn't think there was anything unhealthy about her all-consuming fixation with "The Twilight Saga" — until she discovered it was sucking the life out of her marriage. "I found poems my husband had written in his journal about how I had fallen for a 'golden-eyed vampire,' " says Johnson, a 31-year-old accountant from Mesa, Ariz., who became so enthralled by the blockbuster series of young adult novels and movies that she found herself staying up all night, re-reading juicy chapters and chatting about casting news and the are-they-or-aren't-they romance between the stars of the films, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part I Summit, $30.99; Blu-ray, $33.99 The "Twilight" saga's supernatural soap opera reaches a ludicrously high pitch in the first half of concluding volume "Breaking Dawn," which includes a wedding, an accelerated pregnancy and a major transformation for a major character. All that would be fine if the franchise's creative team had any sense of fun about what they're making (a la "True Blood"). Instead, new "Twilight" director Bill Condon continues what his predecessors started, making a movie that's dreary and self-serious.

Lions Gate Highest-grossing movies (worldwide ticket sales) 1. "The Expendables" -- $274. 5 million 2. "Fahrenheit 9/11" -- $222.4 million 3. "Saw III" -- $164.8 million 4. " Saw II" -- $147.7 million 5. "Saw IV"-- $139.3 million TV shows include: "Mad Men" "Weeds" "Nurse Jackie" "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" Management: CEO Jon Feltheimer and Vice Chairman Michael Burns ...

The weekend following the long Thanksgiving holiday is traditionally sluggish for the film business — and this year was no exception. With no new movies opening nationwide, audiences shied away from the multiplex after heading there in droves over turkey day. As a result, it was the second-slowest moviegoing weekend of the year, with ticket receipts totaling only $82 million, according to data compiled by Hollywood.com. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1" claimed the No. 1 spot at the box office for the third consecutive weekend, again besting "The Muppets.

A Westside compound that "Twilight" stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart had been leasing for the last several months has come on the market at $5.995 million. Built in the 1990s, the west-facing property encompasses almost half an acre and overlooks Stone Canyon Reservoir and Bel-Air. The main house features an open-plan living and dining room, a den, four bedrooms and 31/2 bathrooms. The recently renovated guesthouse contains an additional bedroom and 11/2 bathrooms.

After a glut of family films opened over the Thanksgiving holiday, no new movies are slated to hit theaters nationwide this weekend — leaving a clan of felt "Muppets" to rule the box office. The post-Turkey Day weekend has traditionally been one of the slowest moviegoing periods of the year, as Americans emerge from their tryptophan-induced hazes and begin their holiday shopping. In 2010, it was the second-lowest-grossing weekend of the year, according to Box Office Mojo. This weekend, Walt Disney Studios' modern spin on "The Muppets" is expected to ring up about $20 million in ticket sales, according to those who have seen pre-release audience surveys.

The good news for studios was that, overall, people liked what they saw in theaters over the long Thanksgiving holiday. The bad news was that there were a lot fewer of them than in years past. In fact, despite some highly regarded new movies, it was the slowest Thanksgiving moviegoing weekend in the last four years. Ticket sales were down roughly 11% compared with the same period last year. So far this year, attendance is off about 5%, and box office receipts are down about 4%. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" was easily the No. 1 film, taking in $62.3 million Wednesday to Sunday, according to an estimate from distributor Summit Entertainment.

Muppets and vampires are enjoying a bountiful Thanksgiving weekend, while Christmas elves and little boys in train stations are feeding on a more meager meal. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1" is easily topping the holiday weekend box office in the U.S. and Canada, followed closely by "The Muppets," the strongest-performing new film to open Wednesday. The animated "Arthur Christmas" and Martin Scorsese's 3-D "Hugo" are lagging far behind. "Breaking Dawn," the fourth of Summit Entertainment's planned five movies based on author Stephenie Meyer's bestselling books, sold $20.3 million worth of tickets Wednesday and Thursday and is on track to collect roughly $56 million by Sunday.