Movies

iTunes tops the charts in online video sales, according to market research firm The NPD Group.

Apple claimed 66 percent of all TV shows sold and 65 percent of all movies sold online last year. In second place, Amazon took home 14 percent of all TV shows sold in cyberspace. Amazon and Xbox Video each grabbed a 10 percent chunk of all feature-length films sold over the Internet in 2012.

iTunes also scored the lead in the video-on-demand market, biting off a 45 percent share of all online movie rentals. Amazon Instant Video accounted for 18 percent, leaving Vudu with … Read more

If you happen to meet a BlabDroid in public, the smiling cardboard-headed robot may roll up to you and ask a question like, "Who do you love most in the world?" or "What's the worst thing you've ever done to someone?" These bots are making a documentary about human-robot relationships, but you may be able get a BlabDroid of your very own.

BlabDroid is the creation of artist and roboticist Alexander Reben. Filmmaker Brent Hoff is using them for a documentary about how humans interact with robots. Versions of the little bots with a camera and speaker onboard are traveling around to international film festivals, where they ask preset questions and film the results. That footage will be edited into a movie. A new Kickstarter project is offering them to the world. The robot can connect to your phone via Bluetooth, so it will be able to work with apps and features like Siri.… Read more

Hang onto your fur -- there's going to be a new "Star Wars" film in cinemas every summer. "Episode VII" will arrive in 2015, with "VIII" and "IX" following in two-year intervals.

The years in between (2016, 2018, and maybe 2020) will see spin-off movies, Disney boss Alan Horn told cinema owners at CinemaCon. These could focus on key characters such as Han Solo, Boba Fett, and Yoda.

Having paid $4 billion for its new set of action figures, Disney is desperate to start playing with them. This new release strategy … Read more

You take a seat. The lights go dark. Tony Stark struts across the screen. What's that smell? It's Eau de Iron Man! That's what I imagine the experience will be like when "Iron Man 3" debuts in 4DX in Japan this year. The 4DX format aims for a more interactive experience than just sitting in your seat, passively absorbing a movie through your eyes and ears.

The 4DX format adds odd gadgets to the theater setting, such us tilting seats, bubble makers on the ceiling, fog, wind, strobe lighting, and odor effects (Smell-O-Vision!). It's like some mad scientist got ahold of a Regal cinema and went nuts customizing it. Naturally, 4DX theaters have to be specially equipped to handle all the extras.… Read more

Have you ever dreamed of being Tony Stark, with the ability to turn your body into a machine? Well, you now might just have the chance to be part robot, or at least the ability to create your own repulsor.

Advancer Technologies uses electromyography to help fans of the "Iron Man" movies have their very own hand armor. This type of science is typically used to test the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. The glove is controlled by the wearer simply flexing and relaxing their forearm muscles. … Read more

These days, computer-generated imagery rules the movie scene, but 20 years ago, it was still a relatively fresh idea that was difficult to integrate into film without looking fake.

When production of "Jurassic Park" commenced, director Steven Spielberg enlisted iconic special-effects guru Stan Winston and his studio team to design and create realistic-looking animatronic dinosaurs. The groundbreaking work, which included an incredible amount of engineering and artistry, forever changed the way people think about dinosaurs. … Read more

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.--There are a lot of reasons film scouts for sci-fi movies visit the abandoned Santa Fe Railway locomotive repair shops here and go crazy over the crumbling industrial cathedral. The buildings are massive and lined with tiles of white and green windows. Old machinery rusts overhead and in corners. The shops just scream "movie set."

I'm visiting this ode to railroading history with a tour guide from The New Mexico Steam Locomotive and Railroad Historical Society. These are the same people who are rebuilding an entire steam engine on the other end of town. The guide lets our tour group through the locked gate and we step back in time about 80 years.… Read more

Disney has shut down LucasArts, the video game arm of the Lucas entertainment empire, laying off its staff and ceasing its development of two forthcoming "Star Wars" games.

"After evaluating our position in the games market, we've decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company's risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games," LucasFilm said in a statement. "As a result of this change, we've had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have … Read more

Will it be Han Solo? Jabba the Hutt? Yoda? Chewbacca? Or possibly Luke Skywalker or Princess Leia?

Or will Darth Vader run away with the competition?

Today, Lucasfilm announced "This is Madness," its first-ever "Star Wars" NCAA basketball-style tournament, an effort to determine who is the world's favorite "Star Wars" character. Mashable was first to report the story.

There are four regions, two from the Light Side, and two from the Dark Side. StarWars.com plans on announcing the winner on April 9. There will be four rounds of voting before the winner … Read more