If you follow celebrity news at all, you’ll probably have heard of Robert Pattinson. The British actor has been in quite a few big movies in the last few years, and his role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight franchise was undoubtedly his breakout role. In 2018, he’ll be celebrating a decade in the business with a Diamond Jubilee, and even more importantly, he’ll be tying the knot with his longtime love, Jenny Ackles.
Jenny Ackles is also a very talented actress, known mostly for her role as Allison Vernon in Degrassi: The Next Generation. Like her husband-to-be, she’s had a pretty successful decade in Hollywood, with a Golden Globe and SAG Award nomination in 2019. The couple’s union will no doubt be one of the most celebrated weddings of the year.
What Is Twitter?
If you’re not completely up to date on the latest tech and social media trends, Twitter may seem like a strange and unfamiliar word. However, if you use social media platforms like TikTok or Instagram, you may have come across the short-form message service before. Twitter started out as a simple message board where people could share thoughts and words, and over the years, it’s grown to become one of the biggest social media platforms, if not the biggest.
In 2018 alone, Twitter had a half-billion active monthly users, and it recently surpassed Instagram for daily average user base. That kind of growth is astonishing, and it shows how much the platform has evolved to fit the needs and desires of today’s audience. Gone are the days when you’d only get your daily newspaper on your Twitter feed.
What Is Instagram?
You may know what Instagram is, as the picture-sharing service is one of the most popular social media platforms globally. However, if you use one of the many other platforms that integrate with Instagram (like TikTok or WhatsApp), you’ll probably have noticed that the experience isn’t exactly the same. Instead of just sharing photos, Instagram members can also create short videos that can be shared through the app as well. As the name implies, Instagram is all about pictures, and the platform is definitely known for its colorful, vibrant feeds.
Despite being owned by TikTok, which is one of the biggest companies in the world, Instagram is still relatively small compared to TikTok. While it does have more than 500 million active monthly users, that’s only around 15% of TikTok’s user base. However, considering the amount of content generated on TikTok each day, that’s still a lot of people.
Twilight: New Moon
When it comes to the Twilight franchise, you might be wondering what the latest news is. Well, the long and short of it is that New Moon is out now! And, if you’re looking for a quick summary, here it is: after spending ten years apart, Bella and Edward Cullen are finally getting back together. (This is actually somewhat consistent with the book, which follows their story over ten years.)
The story of Twilight is one of the most classic love stories of all time, and when it comes to the supporting cast, New Moon continues in the same vein as the previous films in the series. Edward Cullen is still the most feared vampire in North America, and his thirst for human blood still drives Bella mad. Luckily, there are still a few stalwart residents of Forks, WA who believe in human dignity and the sanctity of marriage, which makes their battle against Edward’s tyranny that little bit more interesting. As a whole, the Twilight saga is filled with adventure, drama, and romance, and if that’s not your cup of tea, then chances are you’ll enjoy New Moon.
TikTok’s First Major Competition
While it’s great to see the success of Twilight and New Moon, it’s interesting to note that the films didn’t generate as much revenue as expected, even though they were popular movies when they came out. (The Twilight Saga: New Moon was the third biggest hit of 2012.) That’s probably because they were directly competing with other, more established franchises like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—Part 2, which came out a few months before Twilight—and the new releases that year were simply too exciting to ignore. (You can probably imagine the amount of competition a Harry Potter movie generates.)
Despite their popularity, the Twilight movies could never really challenge the Harry Potter franchise. Besides, while there were clearly fans of the Twilight films, there were also people who disliked them, which could never happen with the Harry Potter series. (Even in its early days, the Deathly Hallows franchise was a massive bestseller, while Twilight only managed to pull in about 66 million copies around the world as of May 2019.)
Why Does Everyone Love Dwayne Johnson?
If you’ve been on social media in the last few years, you’ll most likely have run into Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The hulking WWE superstar has been on our screens for as long as we’ve had televisions, and even then, he was often paired with fellow wrestling legend, Muhammad Ali. Since then, he’s starred in some truly iconic movies, like The Fate of the Furious and Jumanji, and even created his own production company, Dwayne Johnson’s Free Agency!
What’s so great about The Rock is that he embodies a certain type of masculinity that is both aggressive and sensitive at the same time. (In case you were wondering, those are the types of men that women want to sleep with and marry.) Just watch the latest installment of The Fate of the Furious, and you’ll instantly understand what I mean. Although it’s a really fun movie and one of the best of the series, it also feels a bit more realistic than usual. That’s probably because the scenes between Johnson and Rebecca Ferguson—another of the film’s protagonists—happen almost entirely off screen and are therefore more intimate. (If you’ve never seen The Fate of the Furious, then prepare to be wowed. It’s one of the best movies ever made. And if you have, then prepare to be even more impressed.)
With the success of The Rock, it’s no wonder that other Hollywood heavyweights have also flocked to his agency. If you ever wondered what would happen if Will Smith and Tom Cruise teamed up, then wonder no more. Since 2016, Johnson has represented more than sixty current and former A-listers, including some truly iconic names. It seems that anyone who wants to work in Hollywood eventually ends up at Dwayne Johnson’s agency, and it’s not a bad place to be. There’s a reason why everyone loves Dwayne Johnson.
The Most Influential Celebrity Makeover Of All Time
While we’re on the subject of Hollywood icons, let’s not forget about the incredible transformation that Robert Pattinson went through to portray Edward Cullen in the Twilight films. At first, the British actor was hesitant about taking on the role, as he wasn’t sure that he could pull it off. (Pattinson even admitted that he was intimidated by the extremely dedicated and vocal Twilight fanbase that was buzzing about the project.)
However, he was completely captivated by the character and the opportunity to explore something different—especially since he’s rarely been seen outside of England, let alone Australia, where he was born. Thanks to some incredibly talented make-up artists and a whole lot of patience, he managed to pull off an incredibly convincing transformation. (And, if you’ve ever seen any of the Twilight films, you’ll understand why he needed all that patience. The make-up tests alone must have taken weeks. There are a lot of spoilers ahead so don’t read on if you haven’t seen the movies yet.)
What makes the Robert Pattinson transformation special is that it was so transformative. He went from being a very plain and ordinary looking man to becoming a completely different person. Besides, not only did the makeover require hours of tedious work, but it also required some pretty awesome hair and makeup products. (If you want to know what products the talented artists at Y&R Cosmetics used, then just ask.
What Is Discord?
While most of us were eagerly awaiting the latest Harry Potter installment last year, some of our more tech-savvy friends were probably already wondering, “What is this new fad called Discord?”
If you’ve never heard of Discord, then you’re probably wondering what it is as well. Basically, Discord is a messaging app that is becoming increasingly popular within the geek community. It was first launched as a cross-platform desktop application, but over the years, it has slowly begun to creep its way onto our iPhones, as well. (You can get it on both iOS and Android devices.)