Dim Twilight

So as you can read here Twilight the movie is a historic first for female directors.

Director Catherine Hardwicke helped the teen fang film pull in over 70 million dollars last weekend. Yay for women right?

Not quite. As i mentioned on air. There are good things to Twilight. Kristen Stewart the actress who plays Bella with a simmering intensity is probably the best. But lets pull back for a moment and look at the role she plays.

Bella falls hard for Edward, the dreamy vampire with the messy hair. In the course of their courtship Edward tells Bella's he's been visiting her room while she's sleeping. Watching her in her room, for THREE MONTHS. Awww how sweet, your very own stalker.

Then (SPOILER) near the end, Bella basically throws her life away for her man. She leaves her father, lies to his face and heads out cross country. After the climatic battle Ed and her go to the prom and she again pledges herself to Edward, body and soul.

On the one level it's romantic. What young girl wouldn't like to dream of being so totally, completed enthralled with an all-consuming obsession with such a striking fellow. But given Bella comes across as a smart girl, I did find it disturbing how completely she gave herself to Edwards. That kinds of obsessive love, it that the message we want to see?

Some others have talked about Twilight being anti-female. I wouldn't go that far. But i'm not sure it's the type of role model I want young ladies aspiring to. The movie starts with Bella talking about sacrificing herself in the name of love. But should true love really come at that price? I'll stick with Hermione thanks.

Tweaking Twilight

I'll be reviewing the teen vampire movie Twilight today.

(Tune in to your favourite CBC morning or afternoon show on Cornerbrook. St.John's, Thunder Bay, Regina, Ontario Morning, Whitehorse, Victoria, Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal, Sudbury, Quebec City, Winnipeg or Windsor.)

In short, great concept, weak execution.

And one of the weak parts is the character Edward Cullen as played by Robert Pattinson. (Second from the right there.)

You might remember him as Cedric, the jock who gets killed in the Harry Potter films. I didn't get to mention it in my radio review, but Robert is one of the weak links that weighs down this film. It doesn't help that Kristen Stewart who plays Bella is great. While Robert is just, well sulky and lame.

I managed to take a gander at the first Twilight book. What stuck me is how the in the novel the Edward character has a sharper edge. He's not a nice guy. He's dangerous. Angry. A bit of a jerk. In the film Robert shrinks Edward's emotional range down to spooky and whiny. I can't help but think with a stronger actor, a younger Jude Law type... it could have been a better film.

Regardless like any big series Twilight book fans will flock to see how the novel translates to the big screen. Like many fantasy series (hello Narnia) this one stumbles coming out of the gate. But I guarantee there's more to come.

UPDATE: Hey Twilighters!

Check out this bit of blasphemy from Robert himself.