Total Eclipse of the heart

A total eclipse of . . . .. . .the heart.
You know, it frustrates me because I’m pretty sure that’s the only decent headline I’m going to come up with in relation to the Eclipse movie and I’ve used it up already. Oh well. And so the drama continues in relation to the movies based around the Twilight books with scriptwriter Melissa Rosenberg denying Vanessa `the undresser’ Hudgens has been cast as Leah Clearwater in New Moon because she hasn’t even written the furry, female character in to the second film. In fact, she suggests they probably won’t introduce her until the third or fourth film. The next dilemma is who will direct Eclipse? You may remember a few days ago I reported that they intended to film New Moon and Eclipse back to back this year. Well, Twilight and New Moon producers Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger have come out saying they intend to have a different director for each film meaning in just a few months time . . . Chis Weitz will be on his way out. Given the strength and success of the first film under the direction of Catherine Hardwicke, there’s no shortage of filmmakers lining up for a shot at making Eclipse. The two front runners are Spanish lad Juan Antonio, director of The Orphanage and 3:10 to Yuma director James Mangold.

Best. Choices. Ever.

Both The Orphanage and 3:10 to Yuma were two of my favourite films of the year and I think the respective directors are superb! I feel super sorry for the dudes who have to decide between these two brilliant filmmakers as both would do an excellent job. Stay tuned to find who is jumping aboard the Eclipse choo-choo train. All aboard.

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Twolight

I went and saw Twilight again today and despite what you may say, it’s not because I’m a crazy, obsessive fan. Okay, I am a crazy, obsessive fan but basically I missed so much of the movie last night due to the screaming kiddies I wanted to watch it again. For me it boded better the second time. I still stand by my previous statement-it was great but had its flaws. My rating is 3 1/2 stars out of 5 for the reasons I outlined in my previous post. I forget to mention how much I dug Emmet and Jasper! Particularly Jasper, I don’t really cared about the actor who played him just the on screen character. I loved the whole baseball match where he swings the bat and stuff mmmm. Also, for those people bagging out the dodgy special effects in the film . . . I agree. They do look like something straight out of a tv movie but what every one must remember is Twilight was made on a budget of only $30 million. Technically that’s the same amount of money indie flicks are made with. I’m amazed at how far they got with such a shit amount of money considering you have to pay actors, directors, producers, special effects peeps, equipment hire and try and scrape enough change together to run a decent promotional campaign in the lead up to release. When you think films like Will Smith’s I Am Legend had a budget of $180 million (which is still quite small for a Hollywood blockbuster) it really puts things in to perspective. It’s all good though because in the US alone Twilight grossed over $22 million in its opening weekend and once you tally in a global theater run profits will probably be in the $300 million mark. It looks good for the sequels, the next which is called New Moon and according to entertainment media around the world is to be directed by Chris Weitz (pictured below). Yes, unfortunately Summit Entertainment confirmed Catherine Hardwicke is moving on to other projects and is being replaced for the next film. But who is Chris Weitz you ask? He's behind such films as The Golden Compass, About A Boy and the American Pie franchise. He was also nominated for an Oscar for best adapted screenplay for his work on the About A Boy script. He has written screenplays for other flicks such as Antz and the Nutty Professor II. Apparently the lad is in final negotiations with Summit to jump on the New Moon bandbagon. Personally I’m a bit worried about this choice. I don’t like any of his films and in my eyes his only saving grace is the fact he was one of the producers on Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, American Dreamz and In Good Company. I think he’ll be able to handle a big budget and the pressures of a film with a massive fanbase better than Hardwicke. For arguments sake lets say I’m undecided about the worth of Weitz in relation to New Moon . . .only time will tell.

Did anyone else notice author Stephenie Meyer’s (above) delicious cameo in the film? She’s sitting at the Carver bar with her laptop and gets delivered the veggie plate by the waitress who calls her Stephenie. I’m 99% sure its her. The camera then pans to Bella who has just walked in to the café to have lunch with her dad.

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Please note: have run out of Twilight headlines

I can’t believe it. After months of writing about it, now I’ve finally seen Twilight . . . and I was not disappointed! Since falling in love with the book series earlier this year, I’ve been obsessed with every scrap of news surrounding the movie, exhibit A is the sheer volume of Twilight posts on this blog. However, when the film was released in America on November 21 there was a pretty even split of negative and positive reviews. To be honest though, it wouldn’t have mattered if the reviews were similar to Gigli, I would still have gone and seen Twilight anyway and I think this is the general consensus among fans of the novel. On Tuesday, Australian Empire Magazine gave Twilight 4 out of 5 stars (which is up there with the best reviews of Catherine Hardwicke’s filmography) and that small portion of my excitement which had been taken away was again restored. It was every bit as good as I had dared hope despite a few minor flaws. One of those flaws was the fact I could barely concentrate on the movie due to a full theatre of screaming idiots who squealed when:
-a trailer started which they thought was the beginning of the movie (idiots)
-the Summit Entertainment logo appeared on screen
-the Twilight logo appeared on screen
-Bella’s narration started
-Robert Pattison/Edward Cullen appeared on screen (EVERY TIME!)
-Taylor Lautner/Jacob Black appeared on screen
-the Cullens appeared on screen
-Bella and Edward kiss
-the movie ended
-the credits started
You get the general idea. But it wasn’t the movie’s fault I just happened to catch a screening with 400 of the most annoying people on the Gold Coast. If you were one of those people at the 6.30pm screening at Pacific Fair, I hate you. I had to use ALL of my Edward Cullen-like restraint to prevent going all James your arse. The fact I had to pre-book my tickets and still line up for half an hour just to get a seat didn’t help my mood. So it’s even more impressive how impressed I was with the film given the above scenario. Most of the credit should go to Hardwicke who has shortened scenes from the book where they needed to be and added ones in for those who are unfamiliar with the subject material.

Keeping in true Hardwicke fashion she has assembled a multicultural cast incorporating every racial minority. Robert Pattison is superb as Edward and you truly believe every line, facial expression and gesture he performs. He steals the film. Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black is also great as is Billy Burke as Charlie Swan and all of the Cullen family are exceptional. The weakness here is Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan. There were moments when I though “wow, she’s a good actress, I really believed that”. Majority of the time though I was frustrated by her constant blinking which was almost as annoying as the people sitting behind me. Throw in a few over-acted scenes on her behalf and I was cringing. Who knows, Stewart might be like Daniel Radcliffe and it may take her a few films to get in to her character a bit more. She definitely had the Bella mannerisms and clumsiness down pat. The camera work is slick and it truly feels as if Hardwicke has pooled all her creativeness in to making this film. Personally, I think it has paid off. Kudos must go to Melissa Rosenberg for making the script funnier and as powerful as the original book. I loved the Victoria tie in at the end too. I’m glad I waited to see the film in a cinema, the way it was intended, and not hurriedly watched a pirated version of the film on the internet a few weeks earlier courtesy of US pirates. However, unlike the Somali kind these dudes don’t demand ransoms. The integral kissing scene is pretty steamy so I’d like to imagine what it was like before Stephanie Meyer cut it down. Pattison and most of the cast from the film have signed on for another three movies although whether a third installment, Eclipse, will be made depends on the success of New Moon. According to Entertainment Weekly New Moon shouldn’t be too far away thanks to Summit Entertainment already announcing a 2009 release date. It’s good to see they’re not making Twilight fans wait as long as Harry Potter-heads between each movie. For the best and wittiest review I’ve read so far check out: http://www.empireonline.com/

Note: I’m especially fond of the tight Grey shirts Edward frequently wears.

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10 days and counting . . . .

Tomorrow is November 11 and for some that means a day to commemorate those soldiers who fought for Australia post World War I. For others it means exactly one month until the Twilight film opens in Australia.
And not only do those lucky buggers in the US get a black president, they also get to see Twilight in a mere 10 days time (November 21). Needless to say, with the opening just around the corner pressure is beginning to mount. Apparently the filmmakers behind Twilight are sick of hearing their movie is the next Harry Potter just because it contains elements of the supernatural and occupies the boy-wizards previous release date. Director Catherine Hardwicke said these comparisons are producing unrealistic expectations for the film as the seven-book Potter series sold 400 million copies and generated $4.5 billion in worldwide box office figures while Twilight is going off a global fan base that has purchased only 17 million books. Only! That's a lot of forrest right there! Hardwicke went on to tell Entertainment Weekly that Twilight is more of a sophisticated Romeo and Juliette story, which is what I have been preaching for months now. There are three alternative Twilight covers being released by EW tomorrow in the lead up to the film one featuring Edward Cullen aka Robert Pattison solo, one featuring Bella Swan aka Kristen Stewart solo and one (below) featuring the together.Summit Entertainment are the studio behind the Twilight film and no doubt the execs are hoping for a massive hit given the company's shaky success rate. In it's 18-month history Summit has only released five movies with nothing grossing over $25 million and efforts such as Sex Drive being flat out failures. If Twilight is going to be a hit it's going to need to lure fans other than hardcore followers of the series. To break even and make a substantial profit for the company Twilight needs to have at least a $20 million opening weekend in the US. As reported on this blog last week, the sequel New Moon is apparently not set in stone according to Hardwicke. Although Stephine Meyer and Melissa Rosenberg have started working on the script, Hardwicke says the film must gross $150 million for the studio to approve a follow-up, which will require extensive special effects and location shooting. Oh gawd, now I'm getting nervous with all this money talk. I really hope this is a hit. But even if it's not, as long as it's a good film that's faithful to the subject matter then I'll be a happy vampire. Blogger, I meant blogger.

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