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Twightlight

Movies and novels are awesome because they allows us to experience vicariously a life we may otherwise never live, visit places we may never see in our lifetime, and or perhaps become superheroes or villains right in the comfort of our own homes... I have always wanted to be Ebby Calvin "Nuke" Laloosh (a.k.a. Crash) from the movie Bull Durham because he was so carefree yet so cool, or like the very testy and poignant Detective Harry Bosch from the Michael Connelly novels and some days I wish I were Jay Gatsby himself. We all fall in love with such characters and their enduring stories and perhaps even with their inequities and frailty in a way. They are the reasons why we keep watching movies and reading novels, that and the simple promise that we may find another Jerry Maguire character that we'll cherish forever or perhaps find more entertainingly inspirational books like "Men are from Mars and women are from venus" or dare I say "He's just not that into you" (yes I have read both...) and maybe something like the brilliant and deceptively simple "The good Earth" or another super entertaining techno thriller like "Da Vinci Code"...

Some of us love the premise of the supernatural movies or Alien. Why? Because it gives us insights to what might be and what could be or perhaps what we want to believe. And they're just so cool aren't they? We are somewhat intrigued and maybe even infatuated with the idea and or concept of the apocalypse, though some movie versions have not been very compelling at all. And despite the numerous movies filmed about vampires and werewolves in the past we are still intrigued with the basic principles and the fundamental idea of immortality, and so we remain patrons... The latest iteration of this genre is "Twilight" (apparently a series of books as well). It is Directed by Catherine Hardwicke whose Directorial and Production Design work comprises a very impressive list: Lords of Dogtown, Tombstone, Three Kings, 2 days in the Valley, Vanilla Sky, Laurel Canyon etc etc... So it would seem to be at least well made right? Or is it?

The basic premise is probably not something we might consider appealing (at least not the mid 20's and beyond). But if you can get over the tweeniness of it all the movie just might surprise you... And I could see now why many have said that it would appeal more to the teenage girls than any other demographic. That conjecture becomes pretty self evident five minutes into the movie... Or the "Unloved" as my friend and self-acclaimed movie critic Mark so crassly put it. I tend to think though that it should appeal to me because of the simple fact that it is somewhat unique. We see enough adult-like movies that a change is almost necessary in some days. Yes a teeny bopper of a movie but the guy in the movie is a vampire and much like when they decide to make yet another Naval movie I just have to watch the Vampire movie. Besides we haven't seen a lot of teenage vampire movies, have we?

Okay so conceptually I love the movie but how did it pan out? Well I can tell you that Adrian was right about not spending the $29.00 on the Bluray Disc and my homegirl Melissa might have been a little overzealous on the Roeper and Evert movie review. If my memory serves me right I think she said "Beautifully Epic" or something to that effect. Perhaps epic in the sense that the girl would have to become the undead to perpetuate their love but definitely not in the poetic or classic sense of the word. And I think Mark's crude remarks isn't necessarily precise either. He said seeing the movie was a regret... I'd say it is a great date flick though not necessarily so for the engaged to be married.

And now that I have seen it I can appreciate more the appeal of the movie. It is a fresh and somewhat domesticated idea in the sense that the vampires in the movie found a way not only to co-exist with the humans but go to school and work amongst them as well. And to be able to do this successfully the vampires had to find the will and a way not to feed on us (and not to mention moving away before anyone notices they hadn't aged...). I think probably the most interesting aspect of the film for me was not necessarily so much why a vampire would fall for a human, but why Edward Cullen (the main vampire) could read everyone's thoughts but Bella Swans (played by the lovely Kristen Stewart). It is interesting to me because Edward was curiously pained as to why he could not, which also seemed to be the source of his curiosity with Bella, but yet the script never quite addressed it (bad writing?).

It is a bad movie in the technical sense especially in the Ultra-Speediness of the Vampires. It was quite unreal and almost distractingly so. The whole business of "blurring" while in motion I completely loathed. When running it was animated-like in the sense that though moving in superspeed motion they almost seemed sluggish because their legs were moving way too fast (Imagine someone on an 18-speed bicycle riding on its biggest gear pedaling 300 rpm's and going only 3 mph. Yeah that was the effect...). But as cheesy as the premise and as awkward as some of the dialogues and as horrible as the screenplay and as badly choreographed the fight scenes might be, the two lead actors had an amazing romantic chemistry on screen. You might even agree if I say the two were destined to play their respective roles. Robert Pattinson who was previously known for his role in the Harry Potter series was quite likable and at times charming while Kristen Stewart played the awkward teenager as well as it could have been despite her inability to change her facial expressions in some scenes (but not overly annoying). And that is the allure and strong point of the movie. I think it is quite rare that someone like myself can sit through a movie with such a bad script and not for a minute think about turning it off...

Nevertheless, the movie with all of its flaws was quite watchable. And like I said I love the concept of the Vampire falling for a Human despite the fact they're in High School still (...and the Dawson's Creek feel to it). I do like High School movies simply because I didn't go to High School here and I possibly tend to be a little less critical when talking about them. Anyway I wish the movie was made better not just for the sake of the fans of the Book Series but for the genre itself and its patrons faithful or not....

Posted by: Marc Gabay
Thursday, April 16, 2009