New Moon

I just realized I never got around to posting my thoughts on New Moon that I wrote last week. Here they are.

I’m not one to hate on Twilight. While I’ve never really been a fan, I’m forgiving of most of the elements that might annoy a hater - 80% of conversations inexplicably happening in forests, 90% of Taylor Lautner’s screen time featuring him shirtless and in shorts regardless of the weather - but it kinda manages to keep a sort of logic. Yes, the shirtlessness is pretty much because the ladies love it, but the constant transformation into a wolf would admittedly ruin a lot of shirts. Forest conversations are presumably more private than ones in at a diner.

I kinda had to see New Moon, regardless of how I saw the series overall. Director Chris Weitz had no idea he’d be directing this when Twilight One was hitting theatres, meaning he barely had 11-12 months to make what he knew was millions of people’s most anticipated the film of the year. The mere idea of that means I have to give the film some slack and the director some major props. A soundtrack like that doesn’t just create itself.

So my verdict? “Pretty good” was my initial reaction, but it’s quickly moving towards “pretty epic” as the boring bits fade away and some of Alexandre Desplat’s more moving queues settle into my mind. With a comfortable home theatre and Blu-Ray of the film at my disposal, I would re-watch the film as soon as I could, if only because of my odd inability to fully absorb films the first time around. The ideas and possibilities of where the story could go are exciting to me even when, as is most often the case, they aren’t fully explored.

The ideas presented in New Moon, when thought of in the context that millions of tween girls are eating it all up, are pretty scary. But when you remove them from reality as I do with almost every film I see, a lot if it is actually pretty cool. I mean, it would be horrendous if heartbroken 14 year olds started risking their lives in an emo attempt at evoking any sort of ‘feeling again’, but in the context of a mentally unstable protagonist attempting to conjure echos of a lost immortal lover? It’s kind of intense, creepy, and definitely gets a certain emotional response from the audience. And I think some credit has to be given to the audience - how many millions of men have always insisted that violent movies are totally harmless? This is really no different, none of my female friends have yet attempted jumping off a cliff for fun.

So if you’re on the fence, open your mind and jump in. And don’t leave in the first 20 minutes, where pretty much everyone seems to have lost the ability to speak at a normal pace for no reason other than they’re just so emotional. If you can get past stuff like that, just go and enjoy a couple hours at the movies. Or DVD at least. Let’s not get too crazy here.

PS. For a totally great and multiple-perspective review of New Moon, check out the latest episode of The /Filmcast, #77 with Jen Yamato.

mkpmedia:

Less than 24hrs after I told Ben Wright (star of such classics as our short films Open Doors and Like a Soapbox) my idea for a podcast for us to do last night, we are now starting what we hope will become a regular podcast - taking various popular DVDs and recording our own comedic insights and thoughts in the form of a commentary track. Today we recorded our first episode, and it’s a fun one.

I hereby present to you Episode One - Twilight, the film adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s classic novel.

Neither of us had seen the film before, but we hope to provide both comfort and company for all those forced into watching the film, as well as a fun re-watching for fans with a sense of humor. It works as a standalone podcast, but is really a lot better when you have the movie to go with it.

Download the mp3 here (right-click and save as), and enjoy!!!

The musical accompaniment at the start and end of the track are from Childish Gambino’s “Get Like Me”. It’s a free download, so have fun with that.

P.S. if the tagline in the above image was more prominently in the film’s marketing, I would have been a lot more interested in seeing it earlier. The film didn’t follow through on the promise of that question, but it still seems like a really powerful theme to explore.

UPDATE: Episode Two is out and you can subscribe to us on iTunes!

This is What a Money Printing Liscense Looks Like.

Summit Entertainment Announces TWILIGHT Sequel - NEW MOON

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 22 — Summit Entertainment announced today that the studio is officially moving forward with the production of NEW MOON, the second installment of its filmed franchise TWILIGHT, the action-packed, modern day vampire love story. The movie will be based on the second novel in author Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series titled, “New Moon.” The first movie in the TWILIGHT franchise, the self-titled TWILIGHT, arrived in theaters this weekend to sold-out showings.

Stephenie Meyer stated, “I don’t think any other author has had a more positive experience with the makers of her movie adaptation than I have had with Summit Entertainment. I’m thrilled to have the chance to work with them again on NEW MOON.”

Starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, TWILIGHT tells the story of 17-year-old Bella Swan who moves to the small town of Forks, Washington to live with her father, and becomes drawn to Edward Cullen, a pale, mysterious classmate who seems determined to push her away. But neither can deny the attraction that pulls them together … even when Edward confides that he and his family are vampires. Their unorthodox romance puts her in physical danger when Edward’s nemesis comes to town and sets his sights on Bella.

About Summit Entertainment, LLC

Summit Entertainment, LLC is a worldwide theatrical motion picture development, financing, production and distribution studio. The studio handles all aspects of marketing and distribution for both its own internally developed motion pictures as well as acquired pictures. Summit Entertainment, LLC also represents international sales for both its own slate and third party product. Summit Entertainment, LLC plans to release 10 to 12 films annually.