Ryan McNeil
I went through today feeling like it had been forever since I’d updated. It could be because I’d only posted three times in the last week, and one of those posts was a trailer. It could also be in part because we got a new scanner here at Casa del Hatter, and I’ve been obsessively digitizing old negatives.
(Seriously…how did I waste so much time jumping on to Flickr?)
But I digress. Here’s looking towards a new week of lots and lots of writing. I thought I might use today to field a request. Frannyglass, a new friend I met at The Toronto International Film festival, asked me my thoughts on the whole Twilight phenomenon.
I should begin by saying that any craze that gets young people reading is a good thing – perhaps the best thing. Be they Harry Potter, Goosebumps, or Sweet Valley High, as someone who loves to write I put high value on kindling an interest in reading, and the heaviest readers usually started young. With that in mind, this is a movie blog, not a book blog.
The film that is coming out this week seems destined to be a blockbuster. Take heed my friends, if you’re headed to the multiplex this weekend to see SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, or ROCKNROLLA it will be filled wall to wall with tweens and teens. With a script that will read like a junior year Anne Rice, and actors that seem like CW Network graduates, the movie seems destined to tap into every ninth grade girl’s sense of dark romanticism.
That’s a pretty good target to aim for, as it can often translate to big bucks. However, what all of this careful marketing might side-step is turning all of this young vampire teenage lust into a truly good movie. Let’s use Harry Potter as an example. the first two films took great strides to please as many fans as possible, and include every word of their beloved source material. However, when different creative input was brought in for the latter three they were able to produce more focused, more layered, and quite simply better movies.
TWILIGHT has the potential to be a good movie, but with no bankable actors to count on (sorry Miss Stewart – it takes more than looking sullen for two hours), it will come down to the writer and the director, and their ability to pull the most important details from Stephanie Meyers’ 544 pages.
Can Catherine Hardwicke and Melissa Rosenberg pull it off? Check back this weekend for my reaction to the film.
One last thing, having read the book, I must ask – why did the marketing suits feel it necessary to reveal so much in the film’s trailers? Will producers ever learn not to show so much of their hand?
Opening night… you’ll be there (with me!!). Don’t pretend you’re too cool to be excited!!!!!
Appreciate your perspective. Apparently the need for 9th grade romanticism has not eluded every woman in my office. Someone has designed a t-shirt, and we’re going to the movie en masse, next Thursday, as Team Edward. It’s embarrasing, yet oddly reassuring, to be part of the phenom.
I totally agree with you about the trailer – they show *way* too much. I saw it after I read the book and was floored how much of the content was in there. I find it crazy how everyone who hasn’t read the book/isn’t interested assumes it will be bad. Crazy.
It’s amazing how many people (including myself until very recently) keep referring to the book/film as a teen girl phenomenan. But then I realized – every woman I know has read the book. Every single one. My Mom is already hassling me for the 2nd book. And,… I don’t even *know* any teens. It will be interesting to see what opening night is like at a downtown theatre.
I’ll be very curious as to your thoughts on the film!
The movie has been getting alot of hype lately, but were going to have to see. Hype can always turn into a bad thing like how Snakes on a Plane did.
Franny… Glad to hear your group outings aren’t confined to learning 80’s coreography!
Shannon… You and Franny both reminded me, that it isn’t *entirely* a teen thing, however there’s only one other guy I know besides myself that has read any of the books. Perhaps the stories appeal to a broader audience than I gave them credit for. I’ll be sure to post about the experience of a downtown theatre on Friday morning.
Farzan… Snakes on a Plane!!?? Them’s fightin’ words! While I’m getting the suspicion that the phenomenon may be overhyped, I don’t know if it could possibly be *that* much of a letdown. But we shall see…