On Thursday evening hundreds of screaming Twilight fans flocked to the Mall of Georgia to meet actors Edi Gathegi and Jamie Campbell Bower from the upcoming film The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Over 500 fans – known as “Twilighters” waited in line at Hot Topic inside the mall for a chance to get New Moon mini posters signed by movie vampires Laurent (Gathegi) and Caius (Bower).

After the autograph session, Gathegi and Bower met an ever growing crowd in the mall’s Village courtyard for a hour-long Q & A session. Most questions were collected earlier from waiting fans but later in the session a microphone was passed for the attendees to ask the actors directly.

It was clear what was on the mind of the screaming Twi-hard adolescent girls who made up the majority of the crowd. Most of the questions mulled within the range of “Would You Marry Me” to “What was it like to work with Robert Pattinson.”  Of course you can’t have a Twilight conversation without asking the most important question for any true Twilight fan: “Team Edward or Team Jacob.” Both Gathegi and Bower declared an affinity towards Team Edward … OME!

The Twilight Saga: New Moon opens Fri., Nov. 20 in area theaters.

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On Wednesday Dave & Buster’s opened their third fun center in Atlanta. Located at Discover Mills, the new Sugarloaf location is the city’s largest family entertainment arcade. D&B Sugarloaf is a 63,000 square foot facility designed as the ultimate play and sports viewing destination featuring over  200 games, a 16 lane bowling alley and 30 monitors to view eight events simultaneously.

To celebrate the occasion, members from the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and Atlanta Falcons’ Defensive Tackle Jonathan Babineaux cut the ceremonial ribbon to officially open the center.

Babineaux who consequently had a phenomenal game against the Washington Redskins last weekend with 11 tackles and 2.5 sacks participated in a live radio remote with 680 The Fan’s Buck and Kincade and signed autographs for excited fans.

Dave & Buster’s – Sugarloaf. Discover Mills Mall (former Jillian’s location), 5900 Sugarloaf Parkway, Suite 441, Lawrenceville, GA. 678-847-5400. Sunday-Thursday: 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., Friday-Saturday:  11 a.m. – Midnight.

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ALL DOLLED UP: Anderson's "Dress Up" is one of many featured in his concept show "Only Dick, No Jane" currently on display at the W Midtown Hotel

This year’s Pride celebration began not with a bang but a statement Wednesday night with a conceptual art exhibit at the W Atlanta -Midtown Hotel. The show entitled Only Dick, No Jane is a series of works by artist Larry Anderson that explores the labels and stigmas projected on gay men through light and somewhat humorous concepts.

As host of the event, W Midtown provided attendees with Asian inspired hor devours, progressive music via the house DJ and Pride-tini’s, a cosmopolitan-based martini drink made with Skyy Passion Fruit vodka, X-Rated liqueur and cranberry juice.

Anderson, who teaches art classes at SCAD in Atlanta compiled this series to inspire candid dialog about prejudices which he eludes to in his show introductory statement as “redefining the argument.”

“To redefine the argument is to take sex out of the equation and just have us be people,” explains Anderson. “The whole religious right thing is over the sex issue and that’s such a small part of our lives. When we’re young its not any part of our lives, its about desire.”

In his works, Anderson positions Dick, a primary character in the Fun with Dick and Jane reading development books of the ’30s in several translations of well known homophobic slurs.

Only Dick, No Jane is on display in the W Atlanta-Midtown Hotel mezzanine throughout Pride weekend, Fri. October 30 through Sun. November 1.

(photos by Edward Adams and Lisa Baxter)

In recognition of his tireless efforts on behalf of Atlanta’s children, filmmaker Libby Spears has dedicated her latest documentary Playground to the memory of the late Fulton County Judge, Sanford “Sunny” Jones. The film premieres as part of a memorial benefit hosted by the Juvenile Justice Fund honoring Jones on Tuesday, October 20th at the Woodruff Arts Center. The event benefits the Center to End Adolescent Sexual Exploitation (CEASE) and Angela’s House, an organization that provides home care services to households with medically fragile children. Jones, who served as Fulton County Juvenile Court judge was killed in small plane crash in Alabama earlier this year.

Playground sheds light on child sex trafficking taking place in the United States. The film profiles former victims and provides a candid look at the legal and social systems that fails to adequately respond to the crisis. Playground was produced by actor/director George Clooney, writer/actor Grant Heslov and director Steven Soderbergh, the team behind the Oscar-nominated film Good Night and Good Luck.

Judge Jones helped to create the Juvenile Justice Fund in Atlanta in 2001. The fund provides constructive alternatives to youth detention and programs to reduce the number of children returning to unsafe, abusive and destructive homes.

Memorial Benefit for Judge Sanford Jones. Tuesday, October 20, 2009 – 6:00pm. Woodruff Arts Center Symphony Hall. 1280 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30309. General admission $25, premiere and VIP pre-reception $125. Tickets can be purchased online at www.woodruffcentertickets.org or by phone, 404-733-5000.

Disney brought a little taste of Christmas to Atlanta this morning as Disney’s A Christmas Carol Train Tour rolled into town. The seven car train features a museum, gallery and interactive, multimedia experiences.

Passengers on the tour saw personal belongings from Charles Dickens on loan from the Dicken’s Museum in London, original props and models used in the film, featurettes explaining the technology behind the CGI feature film and an interactive photo booth where passengers’ images were morphed into characters from the movie. Outside the train, Disney set up a 25-foot 3D movie theater including snow to watch 10 minutes of scenes from the film.

The Christmas Carol train has been traveling across the country since Memorial Day weekend. The tour started in Los Angeles, CA and will end in a few weeks in New York City, NY. You can find out more about the train tour and its upcoming scheduled stops on the tour’s website.

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Disney’s A Christmas Carol, Rated-PG. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Stars Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Robin Wright Penn. Opens nationwide Friday, Nov. 6.

In an effort to inform and educate the public on issues surrounding gay marriage, Virginia Highland Church is running a six-part lecture series titled “Marriage Equality: A Free Conversational Series” starting this Sunday.

The Marriage Equality series offers views on the controversial subject of gay marriage through open discussions from church leaders and religious writers who advocate for the legality of same sex marriage. The series is scheduled to run each week at 9:30 a.m. week beginning Sunday, September 20, through October 25. The lectures in this series are free and open to the public.

Series Schedule:

September 20: “Straight Talk: Allies Declare Their Advocacy.” Presented by Rev. Dr. Rich & Marilyn Wall, Rev. Dr. Bill & Kathy Stayton.

September 25: Film screening, So The Bible Tells Me So. Documentary discussing homosexuality and the church.

September 27: “Deconstructing & Reconstructing Marriage.” Hosted by Rev. Chris Glaser Author, As My Own Soul: The Blessing of Same-Gender Marriage.

September 28: Book signing, Rev. Chris Glaser. 7:30 p.m. Outwrite Books, 10th & Piedmont

October 4: “A Catholic View of Sacrament & Grace.” A discussion led by Dr. Daniel Helminiak, Author What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality

October 11: “Coretta Scott King’s LGBT Advocacy.” Presented by Mr. Winston Johnson his lecture is a first-person tell-all on how Johnson led Coretta Scott King to become LGBT ally.

October 18: “A Transgender View.” An introspective discussion lead by Rev. Dr. Erin Swenson,  Therapist, activist, Presbyterian minister.

October 25: “An African-American View.” Presented by Rev. Dr. Kathi Martin,  UCC minister, The Victory Church.

On Friday, September 25, as a bonus to the series, Virginia Highland Church will show the documentary For the Bible Tells Me So, a film by Daniel Karslake exploring the conflicts between homosexuality and religion. For the Bible Tells Me So was an official Sundance selection in 2007 and won the Documentary Audience Award at the Seattle International Film Festival.

Virginia Highland Church is located at 743 Virginia Avenue. For more information about the series, visit their website at www.vhchurch.org.

Geeks and jocks may argue about what’s the coolest event going on labor day weekend, but most ATL insiders know this weekend is all about Drive Invasion at the Starlight Drive-In.  Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of the throwback-styled festival – an eclectic mix of indie music, b-movies and hot rods.

This year Drive Invasion features live performances from 11 bands  including Wanda Jackson, Los Straitjackets, Detroit Cobras, Deadbolt and local bands, The Woggles, Gargantua and Psycho Devilles.

If these bands don’t sound familiar, worry not, I got you covered. Here’s a couple of videos from some of the bands featured to whet your appetite for this weekend’s music line up.

Los StraitJackets performing “Casbah”

Wanda Jackson performing “Funnel of Love”

Detroit Cobras bang out “Cha Cha Twist”

Deadbolt, the self-proclaimed “scariest band in the world” perform “You Don’t Scare Me”

The Woggles, “Its Not About What I Want”

Psycho Devilles, “Psycho Cadillac”

After you’ve finished your own modern version of the “mosh pit peppermint twist”, cop a squat and check out the gourmet cheese fest of b-movies scheduled to screen at sundown including The Blues Brothers, Zardoz, Frogs, Shanty Tramp and a surprise “secret selection.”

10th Annual Drive Invasion, Sunday, September 6, 2009, Starlight Six Drive-In Theatre, 2000 Memorial Avenue, 11am until, $28 Adults, Children (9 and under) $5. tickets online at ticket alternative.

BLUE MAN DUPED: Sully (Sam Worthington) gets schooled on nightlife on Pandora by Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) in Jame Cameron's Avatar.

On Friday, August 21, over 400 Atlantans made their way to AMC Theaters to view 15 minutes of the James Cameron’s upcoming epic, Avatar. As part of “Avatar Day,” viewers were given an exclusive look at scenes from the film in IMAX 3D.

Long lines in the hundreds formed at both AMC Southlake Pavilion and AMC Barrett Commons as eager fans waited to see the screening of the Avatar preview. Attendees reserved their seats by registering online at www.avatarmovie.com.

Cameron introduced the preview welcoming the curious crowds to a sneak peek of the out of this world film. In the preview, we’re introduced to Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a crippled war veteran given a second chance by being downloaded into the body of a Nav’l, a native humanoid species on the hostile planet Pandora. Once linked to his avatar, Sully embarks on a journey of adventure and self discovery.

Across the blogosphere, the preview received mixed reviews. Around the web, people have begun calling the film Dances with wolves in space. After the screening, twitterers couldn’t wait to share their opinions of the preview.

Rubber_Rabbit: After meeting James Cameron at E3 and watching the #Avatar teaser I’m adding it to the must watch list. #movies http://ow.ly/l5Xv

Geekanerd: A: I agree with Degan. The #Avatar trailer looks wretched. Advanced Haterism begins now.

Aminojaku: Watched the #Avatar teaser trailer last night on iTunes. Holy crap. OMFG my head exploded does not even begin to describe it.

johnnycocaine: is afraid #avatar is going to basically be Return of the Ewoks.

kclynL: just went to see the screening of #AVATAR… now i’m getting excited for december…wooohooo!!! beyond our imagination movie…

Kneon: Is it just me, or does #Avatar look like a video game? For all the hype I thought the CGI looked fakey.

osulop: #Avatar CGI looked way more convincing in the preview on the big screen in 3D. Only thing I’m not too taken with is the shakycam.

andyroyal: saw the James Cameron #Avatar teaser on Friday, all I can say is O M G!!! I cannot wait for this film to come out or the game from @ubisoft

Cameron’s Avatar is a 3D spectacle but looks and feels at times like a bad acid trip. The blue skinned Nav’l mannerisms do remind you of images of Pre-Colonial Native Americans and even in the 15 minute preview, you get the sense that Cameron is trying to ram a message about humanity down your throat. Cameron proved he’s a genius at sci-fi story telling, but can he pull off a story about blue people on another planet?  I’m hopeful but not sure if he’ll sell this flick to the masses firmly planted here on planet Earth.

Avatar (not yet rated) stars Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Zoe Saldana. Film opens nationwide December 18, 2009

June 5, 2009 was officially proclaimed “Daughter’s Day in Atlanta with a huge celebration held at Atlantic Station to mark the event.

The proclamation was made by 11 Alive’s Senior Sports Anchor, Fred Kalil and his daughter Alex. Families who attended the event were treated to food and fun and even an advanced screening up the upcoming film Imagine That starring Eddie Murphy. Imagine That arrives in theaters, Friday June 12, 2009.

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Atlantans love a good party and last week people came out to groove for a good cause.

On Thursday, April 30, people headed to Johns Creek, Ga for a special benefit screening of Screen Media’s upcoming film, Love N’ Dancing. Afterwards party-goers enjoyed a night a great food and dancing as part of the star-filled event at the Daza Dance Ballroom Academy. Portions of the proceeds will benefit The Creative Coalition, a non-profit arts advocacy organization.

According to the studio release, Love N’ Dancing adds a new twist to traditional dance-to-romance movies:

LOVE N’ DANCING is the story of a bored-with-life English teacher who meets a West Coast Swing champion dancer, who have an instant connection. Both feel that the other can fulfill what was missing in their lives. But Jessica’s got a workaholic fiancée who’s not a bad guy when he’s not on his Blackberry, and Jake’s got his former partner Corinne, who just won’t let Jake away from the dangling carrot of a rekindled relationship. Jake and Jessica must try to elude all obstacles, romantic or otherwise, to stay focused on the goal – winning the World Title and winning each other. Will they give in to the pressure or come out like champs?

Love N’ Dancing stars Amy Smart, Tom Malloy, Billy Zane, Caroline Rhea and Rachel Dratch. The film opens in theaters Friday, May 8, 2009.  (All photos by Jeremy Adamo).

Amy Smart and Tom Malloy, co-stars of LOVE N’ DANCING, arriving on red carpet at Daza Dance Ballroom Academy

Amy Smart, Robert Royson (choreographer), Liz Chester (co-owner of Daza Dance Academy), Tom Malloy, and Antonio Daza (co-owner Daza Dance Academy) on red carpet.

Liz Chester (4th from left) and guests enjoying dance demonstrations at red carpet after party at Daza Dance Ballroom Academy

West Coast Swing Champions Jordan Frisbee and Tatiana Mollman performing at red carpet after party at Daza Dance Ballroom Academy.

Visual Artist Michelle Brotherton paints during outdoor concert Tuesday.

As people sat eating their lunch and enjoying the warm spring day at Centennial Park in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon, Paramount studios offered a free concert experience in celebration of The Soloist release this Friday.

The Instruments, a local experimental music group performed an hour-long show while local artist Michelle Brotherton created a custom art piece inspired by the organic sounds from the band.

From what looks like a hodge-podge group of musicians, The Instruments spun intricate sounds into haunting, memorable songs. Their music has no classification, its a fusion of styles from folk to classical and everything in-between.

While listening to the band, onlookers were mesmerized as Brotherton quickly created a mixed media artwork which she later named “House of Music.” The painting which symbolized the spiritual sound waves emanating outwards features a traditional japanese feudal palace with bright, neon ghostly streams flowing from its windows. After completing the painting, Brotherton will donate the artwork to a local youth charity.

The Soloist, starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. opens in wide release Friday, April 24, 2009.

The Instruments’ latest album, Dark Småland is available on Amazon. Find more information about the band on their MySpace Music page.

Michelle Brotherton is participating in the “SK8 or Die IV” exhibit at Young Blood Gallery & Boutique May 2 – 31, 2009.

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DECI-BELLAS: Twilighters cut loose as they await the release of their faved film on DVD Friday.

Okay, I have to admit – I know nothing about this Twilight phenom. Before Friday, All I knew about the books and movie was that it is a tweener romance series about some angst ridden girl and a hot vamp. Their romance redefines chastity and there’s some butt whoop and smooching peppered throughout. But at the pre-release party held at Blockbuster Video in Brookhaven, devoted fans gave me a brief education about the series.

Here’s what I’ve learned from them:

1. The cutie vamp is named Edward (Robert Pattinson), all that matters is he’s hot.
2. Bella (Kristen Stewart) has a cool truck and she’s awesome.
3. Vampires don’t combust in sunlight – they twinkle. It adds to the cuteness factor as well.
4. Not everyone is in Ed’s camp, some are fans of a Native American shape-shifter named Jacob who’s also vying for Bella’s affections.
5. Jacob (Taylor Lautner) is hot, too.
6. Twilight fans are called Twilighters, their mothers are called Twilight Moms, they tend to be fans of the books as well.
7. Twilight is the greatest movie…ever!

That was enough to wet my appetite until I had a chance to check it out for myself. Their insights gave me several key points of reference when I finally sit down and review the DVD and extras. Since I’m not a pubescent girl swooning over the lead characters, I’m sure my perspective will skew in a different direction.

The two-hour long party was hosted by Star 94’s Street Team. Twilighters and their parents played games and won some cool gear including a poster signed by the cast and crew of the movie.

While fans screamed and swooned in the anticipation of picking up their movie, outside of the store Twilighters were encouraged to give blood and received a pint of Edy’s ice cream for their efforts.

QUEEN BEAGLE: Angel a.k.a. Chloe and handler Mark Anderson greet young fans.

On Friday, Atlantans and their primped pooches paraded downtown at Centennial Park as part of the Disney Dog Tour. Over 40 dogs were in attendance including Angel who recently starred as Chloe in Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

The Disney Dog Tour was in town to celebrate the releases of Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Space Buddies and their most recent release, Bolt. As part of the festivities, Disney held a casting call for dogs big and small for a walk-on role in an upcoming “Buddies” film.

Buckhead finally has a taste of Wunderlust as the W Hotel’s latest location W Atlanta – Buckhead sparked the ATL’s nightlife with their opening party. Several celebrities were invited to hang out with Atlanta’s elite on Thursday, January 22, 2009.

W Hotel – Midtown tickles the senses once again with their latest groove, “The Sounds of Wonderlust” – a new music compilation CD produced for W Hotels. Check out the images from the launch party, November 20, 2008.

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