in this twilight
Dec. 12th, 2012 08:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessI went to see The Twilight Saga: Breaking records part 400 the other night. (I don’t know if it was because it’s been out so long, but there were subtitles.)
But before I discuss that, there were trailers. I don’t know if I can express how much I am looking forward to Pitch Perfect. It looks like Bring it On meets Glee. That might send others off running, but not me. I’ve wanted to see Anna Kendrick in a musical since I realised after her break out that she’d been in Camp (and, moreover, the character she played.
I also FINALLY saw a theatrical trailer for The Hobbit. I must be the last person to do so even though I go to the cinema pretty regularly (regularly enough to be delighted they’ve dropped the Top Cat audio description and subtitles advert for a Puss in Boots one). I was worried about fancying dwarves going in, but after the trailer, two things strike me Armitage’s Thorin sounds a lot like Sean Bean’s Boromir. Will I get over that? Also, if we must have Galadriel (this and all the other stretching out measures and introductions make me a notch less excited than I would have been if this was a two parter or even just the one film), WHERE’S CELEBRON, HMM? Also, Martin Freeman's FACE.
Anyway, Breaking Dawn part 2. The usual disclaimers, I’ve never read the books, have gone into the last three movies spoiled – this one not so much. This was not quite as intense and cracktastic as the first film (but what could be?), but neither was it as dull as some of the other instalments. It was still quite cracktastic, with its covens/families and their mating habits and the fake-out battle – a case of having your cake and eating it. I was more annoyed with Jacob than Edward (the final take on his relationship with Renesmee undid all the unconvincing ‘it’s not like THAT!’ claiming about imprinting). This series did not deserve Michael Sheen. I want to see him doing Shakespeare now.
But, but, for all the disturbing aspects of the Twilight phenomenon, I found myself quite touched at the for-the-fans stuff at the ending. I remember when I first came across people talking about Bella and Edward off Twilight online and being really confused – was it from a TV show I hadn’t heard of? And here we are, having had a bona fide stretched out franchise that will lead to the infamous filed off fanfic spin-off, that other Meyer book made into a movie. Here we are with the mainstream news and the entertainment industry having to admit fangirls exist or that girls (and women) can be fans. Would we have had Katniss Evergreen or a Snow White going into battle on our big screens without it? Having said that, I kept being amused/horrified as every new film came out and it was claimed that it would have more action (they neglected to mention the bad wolf CGI), when that wasn’t why it was doing such amazing business. It didn’t need to draw in the boys. It resonated because, well, Stephenie Meyer’s id spoke to something in young and older women’s ids too.
Now, having said that, I personally would trade the whole series (even delightful Alice, even Dakota Fanning’s eyebrows...even the Cullens’ house) for one film following Lee Pace playing a dissolute vampire with exactly the dishevelment he had going on in this film. (I choose to believe that he even made a Pie-maker reference in his performance at one point). But although I’ve rolled my eyes and snarked and gasped and hung my head at what’s going on on screen, after seeing the final film, I find I can’t bag on it too much.
But before I discuss that, there were trailers. I don’t know if I can express how much I am looking forward to Pitch Perfect. It looks like Bring it On meets Glee. That might send others off running, but not me. I’ve wanted to see Anna Kendrick in a musical since I realised after her break out that she’d been in Camp (and, moreover, the character she played.
I also FINALLY saw a theatrical trailer for The Hobbit. I must be the last person to do so even though I go to the cinema pretty regularly (regularly enough to be delighted they’ve dropped the Top Cat audio description and subtitles advert for a Puss in Boots one). I was worried about fancying dwarves going in, but after the trailer, two things strike me Armitage’s Thorin sounds a lot like Sean Bean’s Boromir. Will I get over that? Also, if we must have Galadriel (this and all the other stretching out measures and introductions make me a notch less excited than I would have been if this was a two parter or even just the one film), WHERE’S CELEBRON, HMM? Also, Martin Freeman's FACE.
Anyway, Breaking Dawn part 2. The usual disclaimers, I’ve never read the books, have gone into the last three movies spoiled – this one not so much. This was not quite as intense and cracktastic as the first film (but what could be?), but neither was it as dull as some of the other instalments. It was still quite cracktastic, with its covens/families and their mating habits and the fake-out battle – a case of having your cake and eating it. I was more annoyed with Jacob than Edward (the final take on his relationship with Renesmee undid all the unconvincing ‘it’s not like THAT!’ claiming about imprinting). This series did not deserve Michael Sheen. I want to see him doing Shakespeare now.
But, but, for all the disturbing aspects of the Twilight phenomenon, I found myself quite touched at the for-the-fans stuff at the ending. I remember when I first came across people talking about Bella and Edward off Twilight online and being really confused – was it from a TV show I hadn’t heard of? And here we are, having had a bona fide stretched out franchise that will lead to the infamous filed off fanfic spin-off, that other Meyer book made into a movie. Here we are with the mainstream news and the entertainment industry having to admit fangirls exist or that girls (and women) can be fans. Would we have had Katniss Evergreen or a Snow White going into battle on our big screens without it? Having said that, I kept being amused/horrified as every new film came out and it was claimed that it would have more action (they neglected to mention the bad wolf CGI), when that wasn’t why it was doing such amazing business. It didn’t need to draw in the boys. It resonated because, well, Stephenie Meyer’s id spoke to something in young and older women’s ids too.
Now, having said that, I personally would trade the whole series (even delightful Alice, even Dakota Fanning’s eyebrows...even the Cullens’ house) for one film following Lee Pace playing a dissolute vampire with exactly the dishevelment he had going on in this film. (I choose to believe that he even made a Pie-maker reference in his performance at one point). But although I’ve rolled my eyes and snarked and gasped and hung my head at what’s going on on screen, after seeing the final film, I find I can’t bag on it too much.
