3D Movies

Avengers fans, rest assured, you have every reason to be excited for the film's release on Friday. The visual effects in The Avengers are absolutely stunning, and the 3D rendering draws you straight into the action.

With six superheroes to follow, the action scenes are diverse and gripping, with just the right amount of near-death drama to keep you on the edge of your seat. Explosions galore, flying contraptions, rad weaponry, and battles by air and by sea, there are plenty of jaw-dropping moments thanks to the mastery of Industrial Light & Magic's visual effects. Without giving away any pertinent plot details, here are 10 scenes that 3D and effects fans can look forward to.

1. The massive security center that secures the tesseract cube implodes during a car chase. As tons of concrete rubble is sucked into the earth, its force nearly drags the cars down too.
2. The whopping 1,500-foot fleet carrier S.H.I.E.L.D. base transforms into a flying space ship. Just when you think it can't get any cooler, its reflective panels engage, making it disappear.
3. Thor and Iron Man (arguably the best-looking men on the team) duke it out in the woods, destroying a lot of trees in the meantime. I don't know what's more awesome: seeing Thor's thunderous strength match up against Iron Man's tech-savvy smarts, or the hilarious banter between the two.
4. It's the moment everyone is anticipating: when will Hulk emerge from Dr. Banner? When Dr. Banner's anger hits a climax, it only takes a few heavy, unnerving breaths before the Hulk roars his way into his monstrous size.
5. Trapped in a glass capsule, Thor clatters around violently as he plunges 30,000 feet into the Earth. The impact decimates the wilderness around him, yet Thor's quick recovery is glorious.

Click here to read about five more awesome scenes.

Everyone needs a little pick-me-up during the workday; mine are Lady Gaga videos and movie trailers for comic book and sci-fi flicks. On heavy rotation these days is the trailer for the highly anticipated sci-fi film, Tron Legacy. Being totally OK in my world of geekdom, I'll admit to you that just thinking about the movie gets me excited, really excited. While I was too young to watch the original film in the theaters, it became one of my favorites growing up. But as much as I love it, it's starting to look a little dated. Luckily, the clips for Tron Legacy portray a digital world like nothing I've ever seen before. In a word: awesome.

The marketing for the film has been super fun to experience, and often viral. Fans at last year's Comic-Con were treated to a blacklight scavenger hunt that led them to "Flynn's Arcade" and a real lightcycle, news articles from the faux Tron world are being released, and the Disney monorails were transformed into lightcycles. Besides all the fun viral video game hunting you can do, an animated movie poster for Tron Legacy was revealed in Germany recently. All I have to say is that this slick ad campaign is working. Hey Disney, continue to throw these little nuggets of Tron my way until the December release and I'm yours! Check out the sleek animated poster after the break.

It was a big morning for Samsung — not only did it announce that its first HD 3D TVs will hit shelves this month, but it will also be rolling out 3D-ready Blu-Ray players, will be launching an app store for your home theater, and is partnering with DreamWorks to bring you some extra movie-watching goodies.

First up are the TVs. Samsung's lineup of HD 3D LED TVs will go on sale this month, starting with a few 46 inch and 55 inch screens, while the remaining LED and plasmas will roll out over the next several months alongside its Blu-Ray players. All of Samsung's new 3D TVs will come stocked with Real240Hz refresh rates for the clearest picture without blur and drag. Additionally, if you purchase a new 3D TV and Blu-Ray player, you'll get a starter kit that includes two pairs of Samsung 3D glasses (sold separately for $150) and a copy of Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D to kick-start your home theater experience.

To see what the Samsung Apps store is all about, just read more

If you caught Avatar over the weekend (and really, who didn't?), then you've probably just seen the future of the movie-watching experience. However, I'm not just talking about the experience at the theater, where you pay upwards of $10 a ticket. The Blu-ray Disc Association has just approved format specifications to bring high-def 3D technology to your Blu-rays at home, which means you'll soon be watching all those 3D movies you've come to love on your own couch . . . and save a few bucks by popping your own popcorn to boot.

Of course, in order to get a great picture, you're going to need to invest in a set of quality 3D viewing glasses, high def TV set, and not to mention a Blu-ray player if you don't already have one. The BDA should be releasing its specification to manufacturers soon, so they can start producing Blu-ray players, discs, and TVs that optimize the home 3D movie experience.