From Horror Realm:

Horror Realm Celebrates Women in Horror Month with Events to Benefit PAAR

Film screening and roundtable discussion to commemorate WIHM

Horror Realm, Pittsburgh's modern horror convention, celebrates the third annual Women in Horror Month with two events in February. Women in Horror Month (WiHM) is a service offered through Viscera, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. WiHM expands opportunities for filmmakers, artists, and fans by raising awareness about the changing roles for women through filmmaking, writing, events, and networking.

A portion of the proceeds of Horror Realm's WIHM events will benefit Pittsburgh Action Against Rape.

In partnership with The Oaks Theater in Oakmont, Horror Realm presents a 35 mm film screening of "Near Dark" on Feb. 24 at 10 p.m., with admission of $8 at the door. "Near Dark" is a 1987 vampire film written and directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Bigelow went on to become the first woman to win an Academy Award for best director for "The Hurt Locker," which also won the Oscar for best picture.

All paid admissions will be entered into a drawing for a pair of tickets to Horror Realm's Spring Break Massacre & Zombie Gras on March 10 at the Crowne Plaza Pittsburgh South.

On Feb. 25 at 1 p.m., Horror Realm and Eljay's Books in Dormont are teaming up to present a panel discussion about gender in the genre. This interactive event will touch on topics such as the evolution of women's roles in the horror genre (literature, film and art), strong female characters, the rise of female horror fans, etc.

Panelists include:

Author Kimberly Bennett
Actress/director Amy Lynn Best
Editor/reviewer Kriscinda Meadows
Actress/artist Kyra Schon
Author Christine Soltis

Participation is not limited to horror fans - Eljay's has very generously offered to donate 20 percent of all (not just horror) used book sales and 10 percent of new book sales from noon to 4 p.m. that day to PAAR. The event is free and open to the public, but donations will be accepted for PAAR. Light refreshments will be served including a complimentary glass of wine for patrons 21 and older.

In case you're planning an Oscar party and wondering, the 84th Academy Awards will start at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26 with Billy Crystal (in AMPAS photo above) but ABC plans coverage almost all day long. Here are details from the network:

"GOOD MORNING AMERICA" kicks off Oscar Sunday with live reports from ABC News correspondent Chris Connelly on the red carpet outside the Kodak Theatre. Check local listings.

"ON THE RED CARPET," hosted by Rachel Smith and Chris Balish, takes you behind the scenes of the biggest night in Hollywood and features a special report from KABC Entertainment reporter George Pennacchio from Chicago, where the Oscar statuettes are created. Syndicated in select markets. Check local listings.

"ON THE RED CARPET AT THE OSCARS" features Rachel Smith and George Pennacchio live on the red carpet welcoming this year's Academy Award nominees to the Kodak Theatre. Cameron Mathison asks the stars your Facebook and Twitter questions, and reporters Tina Malave and Lawrence Zarian use the power of Trendrr to track what is red hot, right now. Fashion expert Roshumba Williams joins Michelle Tuzee on the fashion skyway above the red carpet to critique the red carpet couture. Syndicated in select markets. 1:30 p.m., PT/4:30 p.m., ET.

"OSCARS RED CARPET LIVE" -- Watch unparalleled coverage of Hollywood's most glamorous and prestigious red carpet and enjoy unrivaled backstage access on "Oscar's Red Carpet Live," presented at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center and televised live by the ABC Television Network. Brian Grazer, Don Mischer, Charlie Haykel and Juliane Hare are executive producers. 4:00 p.m., PT/7:00 p.m., ET.

"THE 84th ACADEMY AWARDS" - Billy Crystal returns for his ninth time as host of "The 84th Academy Awards," celebrating the outstanding film achievements of 2011, televised live on ABC and in more than 225 countries worldwide. Tom Hanks, Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry, Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz, Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz and the cast of "Bridesmaids" are among the presenters. The 84th Academy Awards telecast producers are Brian Grazer and Don Mischer. 5:30 p.m., PT/8:30 p.m., ET.

After all the awards are handed out, "ON THE RED CARPET AT THE OSCARS" returns with the "On the Red Carpet" Party Patrol, featuring coverage from all the night's hottest events, including the Governor's Ball. Fashion expert Roshumba Williams is joined by "Project Runway" all-star Mondo Guerra to pick the biggest red carpet hits and misses. Syndicated in select markets. 8:30 p.m., PT/11:30 p.m., ET.

"JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE: AFTER THE ACADEMY AWARDS" -- For the seventh consecutive year, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Academy Awards" will be televised LIVE from the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on ABC immediately following "The 84th Academy Awards" hosted by Billy Crystal and late local news.

Oscar night has proven to be Kimmel's destination for debuting the show's signature comedy pieces. This year Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Martin Scorsese, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Don Cheadle and many more will participate in Kimmel's next installment.

Eight-time Academy Awards host Billy Crystal will join Kimmel to kick off his post-Oscar show, and Grammy-winning Coldplay will end the night with a Hollywood block party performance on "JKL's" outdoor stage before thousands who will be in attendance to honor movies' biggest night. In years past, Kimmel has hosted such esteemed guests as Matt Damon, Tom Cruise, Ben Affleck and Robert Downey Jr., as well as previous Academy Awards hosts Jon Stewart and Ellen DeGeneres.

GO BACKSTAGE AND PLAY ALONG WITH OSCAR.COM AND THE OSCARS APP: On Oscar Sunday, the Oscar Digital Experience kicks into full gear with an unmatched level of interactivity at Oscar.com, http://oscar.go.com/, and on the Oscars App (available for iPad, iPod touch and iPhone).

The celebration continues the following morning with "Good Morning America" live from the El Capitan Theatre and "LIVE! with Kelly's After Oscar Show" broadcasting live from the home of the Academy Awards, the Kodak Theatre.

Oscar.com introduces "Celebrate the Journey" on Monday. These videos highlight the paths of ten nominees from nominations to the Governors Ball.

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Saturday afternoon at the Carmike 10 at South Hills Village, you might have thought it was all about the 3-D release of "Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace."

A little boy wearing an "Empire Strikes Back" T-shirt was in the line that curled into a double row in the tiny lobby and a man escorted a  girl in a Princess Leia costume (including a wig that kept slipping off) and a boy in what might have been a clone trooper or Boba Fett get-up.

I was heading into "Chronicle" but it looked as if the "Star Wars" was packing them in.

It turns out "The Vow" trumped both of those movies with its No. 1 spot and Screen Gems' biggest debut, beating even "Dear John."

Both the gross and attendance are up substantially from a year ago. Here are the numbers from hollywood.com and, as always, they will be finalized on Monday:

1. "The Vow" — $41,700,000.
2. "Safe House" — $39,330,590.
3. "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" — $27,550,000.
4. "Phantom Menace" — $23,000,000.
5. "Chronicle" — $12,300,000.
6. "The Woman in Black" — $10,300,000.
7. "The Grey" — $5,080,000.
8. "Big Miracle" — $3,860,730.
9. "The Descendants" — $3,500,000.
10. "Underworld: Awakening" — $2,500,000.

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Tinsel Korey was the first one in the makeup chair and the last one to leave at the end of the day.

That's because she plays Emily, Sam Uley's fiancee and soulmate in the "Twilight" movies. Asked how long she spent in makeup, she told me, "The longest it took was eight hours, and the shortest amount of time it took was two hours."

A mold was made of her head to start the process but the scar has changed through the years. "As the movies have gone on, it started off really intense, but Emily's scar would have faded over time so with each movie, you can see it slowly fading."

In the books and movies, Emily's face was scarred by Sam although her cover story is she was mauled by a bear.

"For the first one, there was something pulling down my eye, to make it more intense. The second time, it was a different prosthetic piece and for 'Breaking Dawn,' they had a new type of latex so it actually didn't take them that long to do."

She worked with three different makeup teams and when they told her the last time, "We only need you for two hours before shooting," she asked, "Are you sure?"

Korey and co-star Chaske Spencer, who plays Sam, were in Philadelphia today to promote the DVD release of "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1." Fans can buy it at midnight Friday (think 12:01 a.m. Saturday) and select stores are staying open late to accommodate them.

In a 20-minute phone call, they talked about makeup, staying in shape, Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson, what the franchise has meant for their careers (percolating before Stephenie Meyer imagined a world of humans, vampires and werewolves) and other topics.

Here are some highlights:

Weirdest fan request: To howl. And no, they don't, often suggesting a younger cast member will, though.

The franchise's appeal: "We have fans all the way from 6 to 66 and what I think it is, is it brings you back to that first time of falling in love. Those emotions are extremely heightened, and I think that holds a really dear memory for a lot of people and I think that's why it's resonated with such a wide audience," the actress said.

His co-star, however, quipped, "I think it also has a lot to do with Taylor's abs and Rob's hair."

The final film: Neither has seen it. "I think they're still in post-production at the moment. I don't think they even have a soundtrack," Korey said.

Staying in shape: As Sam, Spencer has to appear shirtless in many scenes, alongside Taylor Lautner, no less.

"It meant a lot of hard work, it actually kind of sucked. It meant hitting the gym hard, watching what I ate, a pretty good strict diet," and mustering the discipline to do it and maintain it.

"It's very hard to do. Some people are born with it, some people use other substances to enhance, but when you have to do it naturally, it sucks." And when shooting was over, he treated himself to Johnny Rocket milk shakes — "all of them, chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, Oreo."

When they knew "Twilight" was a sensation: It came for Korey in a bookstore when she turned around and saw the face of Bronson Pelletier who plays Jared, a member of the wolf pack."I looked and it was all this wolf pack merchandise, and it was so surreal because I know them and I know we're in a movie but seeing that merchandise for it, this is just a completely different level than I thought."

Spencer, on the other hand, recalls, "During 'New Moon,' they were shuttling us to the gym, and I think we were on our way back from the gym and there were these girls camped out in our hotel lobby, they wanted to meet us. And they stayed there for a week straight. The hotel staff had to kick them out."

What would surprise Taylor Lautner's fans: "He's a really big goofball, I think that would be the main thing," says Korey, while Spencer said the actor who plays Jacob Black takes his work seriously.

Killing time between takes: "We'd just sit around the sit, throw the football around and basically hang out in the warming tents," Spencer said. His co-star, on the other hand, said, "I just try to find a zen place because I'm surrounded by so much testosterone all the time, just try to sort of meditate and zone out and then there are occasional times when I like to play pranks. When I get bored I get a little bit mischievous."

Portrayals of Native Americans: It depends on the project and how culturally accurate it tries to be, sometimes with the help of advisers."It would be nice to see more contemporary work that you see in films like 'Twilight.' That's something that probably Chaske and I struggle with, making people's minds open up to casting us as lawyers or everyday people in everyday shows," Korey said.

"What 'Twilight' has done, it's exposed Native Americans in a different light to a whole new different generation," uncorrupted by mainstream media and Hollywood with stereotypes," added Spencer.

What "Twilight" has meant for their careers: "It's definitely opened a lot of doors for both of us. We also have other projects that have come out of 'Twilight' but we both were working before 'Twilight,' ." Spencer said. Korey says it allowed previous projects to share the "Twilight" limelight (which is considerable, to say the least).

Netflix or other picks of their work: Korey singles out "The Lookout" (excellent choice!) with Joseph Gordon-Levitt along with the TV miniseries "Into the West" while Spencer suggests the feature "Skins."