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View Full Version : Twilight - A DjfunkmasterG Review



DjfunkmasterG
15-Apr-2009, 12:43 PM
Ok, I know some of you may be looking at this thread shaking your head saying, what is Dj, the round mound of unbound sound, doing watching a chick flick like Twilight? Well, to answer that question is easy. I dig Vampire flicks.

Twilight is the romance horror drama set in the town of Forks Washington, USA. A Pacific Northwestern town with a population of around 3,000 people. The story begins with Bella, a high school student who resides in Phoenix, AZ with her mom and Stepfather. When her step dad is invited to try out for Minor league baseball, the parents want to pack up and roadtrip, whereas Bella opts to live with her dad who she hasn't seen since she was 9 years old.

After she arrives in Forks, the meeting with her dad is very awkward, and she realizes this small town with no sunshine, might be great place for her to just be a loner, although the kids at the local high school see things differently. One of the nice things about Twilight is that Bella, an outsider is actually welcomed by students, the film actually shys away from the typical yet cliched lets pick on the new kid banter and opts to go with a more welcoming and civilized approach.

As Bella makes her way through school and meets a group of different students, she learns about the Cullen family, a group of kids adopted by a local doctor who works in the hospital, this family of course is a bit strange, and stick very close together, until she meets Edwards who she is immediately smitten with, and this is where the story falls into a bit of the cliche realm in that Bella is automatically attracted to the dark quiet type.

When Bella and Edward first meet, it isn't exactly the formula for a long lasting relationship because as we know from the hype, Bella is human, Edward is a Vampire, but this is where the story became somewhat original, or at least didn't follow the normal pathos of Vampirism. The Cullens are a breed of Vampire I have yet to come across in cinema, they can survive during the day, but in direct sunligh instead of turning into a pile of ash, their skin turns into a complexion of diamonds, and When Bella start to learn of Edwards secret, she isn't scared or afraid, yet he is because he has to feel what it is like to be the true monster he could be.

Now as the story progresses, Edward feels drawn to Bella as she is to him, and another great moral in this story is that, sometimes different things aren't so scary, but yet beautiful when looked at and learned from, something we as humans fail to do as most of us are uncomfortable with what we don't understand.

Since Bella and Edward develop a connection, he is always at her aide, whenever she is in trouble. You can see why swoons of tween and teenage girls flocked to this movie, Edward is the man every woman wants, not because he is attractive or ominous, but because Robert Patterson who plays Edwards actually did a great job of conveying an emotion most of us aren't in touch with... Love. Plus, show me one woman who wouldn't want a man who listens to her, wants to know what she is thinking and generally intersted in something other than what is between her legs. This is plain and simply why Twilight will be the Titanic of Vampire films.

Now, the Cullens aren't the only Vampire clan roaming the countryside so to speak, their is another group, very savage, unrelenting, and pretty much put the bite in Vampire. One of the clan, James, a tracker stumbles upon the Cullens, spending time with Bella, which is another irony in that the film actually has the vampire clan accepting Bella as one of the family, and not just another snack. However, James, is in it for the thrill of the hunt, and when Edward gets wind of this, he is in a constant race to keep Bella safe... (See why Women love this movie)

Now James is what I consider the badass Vampire of this film, this cat is pretty much the scariest thing in the movie, and the actor who plays him, just sells the evil inside James to a perfect level. You couldn't ask for more.

Now, the technical side, Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, known for Lords of Dogtown, 13 and some other flicks does a decent job of keeping the story in check, but her overuse of moving the camera becomes distracting. I can't think of single point in the entire movie where the camera sits still for ever 10 seconds. She films twilight like some dark gothic music video, which works until you hit the one hour mark and you get tired of the constant dollies, pans, swoops and helicopter shots. This to me was so distracting it almost killed the films enjoyment.

I think Catherine has never done a romance drama before and kind of just ran with whatever movie she watched last, which seems to me would be Transformers, as the camera moves nearly mimic that film, but Twilight doesn't have that Michael Bay pizazz. Catherine, stop moving the camera, find a spot, stick to it and yell action.

All in all, the acting is decent, although some dialog sounded a bit forced. The script.... was ok, no academy award material here folks, but the story is interesting enough for anyone to check out at least once.... evn if it is to just check the evilness of James.

The gals are gonna love it, it has everything women want in a romance, while guys into horror will be disappointed as their is no gore, no sex, and its PG-13.

I for one am holding out that there is unrated directors cut in their somehwere, because there are some kill scenes in the film but aren't flushed out do to the PG-13 rating.

I recommend at least renting it and checking it out once.

7 out of 10.:evil:

MinionZombie
15-Apr-2009, 01:04 PM
the round mound of unbound sound

:lol:

Sorry, but that made me choke on my lunch. :D

...

Now that that Kristen Stewart or whatever her name is, is of legal age, she is well fit. :p

Although I've got no intention of seeing Twilight ... plus, no gore, no sex and it's PG-13? Not my cup-o-tea methinks, hehe.

Still though, Lords of Dogtown was fun (although Dogtown & Z-Boys, the documentary the film was based on, is far superior) ... anyway, oh yeah, this video made me chuckle (Bam Margera haters might want to look away, or not "get" the joke):

S4rCW1TXQbs

DjfunkmasterG
15-Apr-2009, 01:42 PM
:lol:

Sorry, but that made me choke on my lunch. :D

...

Now that that Kristen Stewart or whatever her name is, is of legal age, she is well fit. :p

Although I've got no intention of seeing Twilight ... plus, no gore, no sex and it's PG-13? Not my cup-o-tea methinks, hehe.

Still though, Lords of Dogtown was fun (although Dogtown & Z-Boys, the documentary the film was based on, is far superior) ... anyway, oh yeah, this video made me chuckle (Bam Margera haters might want to look away, or not "get" the joke):

S4rCW1TXQbs


I figured someone would get a chuckle out of that. Although I won't ever tell the story of the origins.

However, as a filmmaker MZ, you should check out Twilight. Just because of the lovey dovey-ness the movie exudes shouldn't stop you as a filmmaker from looking at it and learning from it.

I do that quite a bit, I look at movies and see what works and doesn't work so that I can make sure I don't make those mistakes myself.

Plus, like I said, even if you just check it out to witness the evil Vampire clan, tis worth it. James is one bad mutherfucker.

AcesandEights
15-Apr-2009, 02:35 PM
This reminds me of that time I almost posted a review of Mama Mia :shifty: But doing so would have been admitting that I had: A) gone to see the film and B) liked it...oh, wait...:moon:

Funish review, DJ. Thanks for the heads up.

"Round mound of unbound sound"...I like it!

DjfunkmasterG
15-Apr-2009, 06:06 PM
This reminds me of that time I almost posted a review of Mama Mia :shifty: But doing so would have been admitting that I had: A) gone to see the film and B) liked it...oh, wait...:moon:

Funish review, DJ. Thanks for the heads up.

"Round mound of unbound sound"...I like it!

You're welcome for the review, in addition to digging Vampires, I also dig some Romantic flicks, plus at some point in my career I want to do a Romantic Comedy, so it doesn't hurt to check out these kind of flicks. One of my faves is Love Actually.

When the girls at work found out I watched it, I suddenly became their hero, and now they consider me some kind of closet romantic, which I quickly countered with by saying "hey, even a romantic likes to watch chicks get blasted in the ass every once in a while, long live porn." So of course that soft guy image went right out the window, and I rightly regained my full on PERV status.

mista_mo
15-Apr-2009, 06:17 PM
Eww Twilight?

AcesandEights
15-Apr-2009, 06:30 PM
One of my faves is Love Actually.

Aww, a shared girl moment...Love Actually is one of my favs too. :eek:

No, I'm not joking. I own that sucker and watch it a few times a year. :dead:

bassman
15-Apr-2009, 06:55 PM
The lady keeps asking me to pick it up when I go to the store. But oops....wouldn't you know it. It always seems to slip my mind.:)

MinionZombie
15-Apr-2009, 06:57 PM
However, as a filmmaker MZ, you should check out Twilight. Just because of the lovey dovey-ness the movie exudes shouldn't stop you as a filmmaker from looking at it and learning from it.

True enough - mind you, I've seen many a type of film ... ... I watched "Over Her Dead" body the other week when it was on ... mostly because I couldn't be bothered to get out of the seat ... but then I saw Paul Rudd was in it ... and then that red-haired chick cropped up and was well fit, so...


"hey, even a romantic like to watch chicks get blasted in the ass every once in a while, long live porn."

Another classic. :D

Also - I've seen "Love Actually" as well. Back when I was at uni I went over to "the girl's house" (the girls who we lads shared a campus residence with in the first year uni) because one of them was home alone and not doing anything, and I was bored ... I was promised cake, but there was no cake ... ... so we watched Finding Nemo and then Love Actually.

...

Oh man, just noticed you changed your sig Deej, noiiice one. :)

Anyway, I got into a lot of varied flicks during my uni years - even did a whole course on musicals (it was a good course too).

But sometimes you've just gotta say "fuck that", you know? :p:D

AcesandEights
15-Apr-2009, 07:01 PM
I was promised cake, but there was no cake ...

That's a breaking-folding-chair-over-someone's-back moment, right there. She must have been sweet on you, then, MZ.

MinionZombie
15-Apr-2009, 07:13 PM
That's a breaking-folding-chair-over-someone's-back moment, right there. She must have been sweet on you, then, MZ.
Definitely not. I can say that for sure. :lol:

But on that subject, my radar is completely unfunctioning anyway ... I'm blissfully unaware, or it takes me about three years to figure anything out. :lol::lol::lol:

...

There was another time all us lads went over the girls' house, and were again promised cake ... ... then half-way there we get a phone call saying "go and buy some cake from Budgens" - cheeky mares, haha ... ... did we go and buy cake?

The fuck we did. :lol: We weren't spending our cash so they could chew our ears off all night whining about how they'd "eaten too much cake", bugger that for a game of soldiers. :lol:

...

"No! I want to do a poo at Paul's!" - a genuine quote from an advert for air freshner just on the telly here. :eek:

DjfunkmasterG
15-Apr-2009, 08:42 PM
The lady keeps asking me to pick it up when I go to the store. But oops....wouldn't you know it. It always seems to slip my mind.:)

Dude, get it for her, and I guarantee you she will do things to you that aren't even done in porn movies.

:D

It is one of those type of flicks, but then again it could make her start demanding you be more like Edward Cullen. So it could go either way.

gallowisgod
16-Apr-2009, 01:06 AM
I was really anti everything Twilight because of the hype. I refused to see it until my sister finally forced me along.

The thing I liked about it were the many (uh, atleast a few?) supermegacloseups. Romantic movies aren't the same without closeup shots! Especially when you have good actors who actually can show emotion with a simple twitch/eye movement etc. WOOH, I love it.

And time to get bashed, but I've read all the books aswell. The story actually gets quite interesting after the first one; including werewolves, what happens when a vampire baby is born/made through blood, a bit of origins of vampires, etc etc. I'm a fan of vampire and werewolves in movies/books, so if you cut out all that romantic and unrealistic bullcrap about how much you love someone... I thought her take on it was different, but in a good way.

And they do get it on in the 4th book ;D But it's not that detailed as they were made for a young audience.

capncnut
16-Apr-2009, 01:29 AM
I will probably see this because I dig Hardwicke's films (especially Lords Of Dogtown, which is my fave Heath Ledger performance). I also dig vampire flicks too so I'll be sure to have a butcher's. :cool:

DjfunkmasterG
16-Apr-2009, 12:05 PM
Its worth at least one watch.

capncnut
25-Apr-2009, 08:00 AM
Actually, I watched Lords Of Dogtown tonight (for the umpteenth time) and I have come to the conclusion that it is Heath Ledger's best performace by miles. F**k all this 'Hollywood' Joker dogshit, has anyone here seen Skip Engblom for real? Heath is BANG ON man. It's really is quite incredible.

BTns8Xq2_YE
Name one moment in the vastly overrated The Dark Knight that compares to Heath's 'Maggie May' rendition in Lords. Nothing touches it, end of.

MinionZombie
25-Apr-2009, 11:52 AM
Actually, I watched Lords Of Dogtown tonight (for the umpteenth time) and I have come to the conclusion that it is Heath Ledger's best performace by miles. F**k all this 'Hollywood' Joker dogshit, has anyone here seen Skip Engblom for real? Heath is BANG ON man. It's really is quite incredible.

BTns8Xq2_YE
Name one moment in the vastly overrated The Dark Knight that compares to Heath's 'Maggie May' rendition in Lords. Nothing touches it, end of.
When I first saw Lords of Dogtown (having already seen Dogtown & Z-Boys), I was mighty impressed by Ledger's performance, which is indeed spot on.

At the time I was like "wait ... that's the dude from that 10 Things movie!" and was thoroughly shocked.

His Joker still kicks a million arses though, for me.

DjfunkmasterG
25-Apr-2009, 02:18 PM
When I first saw Lords of Dogtown (having already seen Dogtown & Z-Boys), I was mighty impressed by Ledger's performance, which is indeed spot on.

At the time I was like "wait ... that's the dude from that 10 Things movie!" and was thoroughly shocked.

His Joker still kicks a million arses though, for me.

I like Heath's portrayal in TDK, but without Heath TDK would have been a flop. His performance in Lords of Dogtown was short, he didn't get anough screentime for me to really make any assessment.

capncnut
25-Apr-2009, 06:39 PM
I like Heath's portrayal in TDK, but without Heath TDK would have been a flop. His performance in Lords of Dogtown was short, he didn't get anough screentime for me to really make any assessment.
Huh? He's one of the lead players. He's practically in every scene. :confused:

DjfunkmasterG
25-Apr-2009, 07:40 PM
Huh? He's one of the lead players. He's practically in every scene. :confused:

No way, they didn't focus on him nearly enough, he wasn't even top billed.

ShadowPeople
30-Apr-2009, 10:46 PM
i read all of the books and saw the movies, i thought the books were pretty good and the movie was good as well. But i still cant believe how crazy twilight it is right now. i mean i see it everywhere i go.

MoonSylver
30-Apr-2009, 11:27 PM
But i still cant believe how crazy twilight it is right now. i mean i see it everywhere i go.

Never underestimate the spending power of teenage girls. Exhibit A: "Titanic". Or the spending power of anything accessible to all age ranges in general. Exhibit B: "Harry Potter".

bassman
07-May-2009, 12:59 PM
Gave it a watch last night. Not too bad, but not great. As DJ said....it's worth at least one viewing.

There are a few cool aspects of it, but then it get's bogged down a bit with the love story. Sometimes it felt forced.

Oh yeah....they changed up the vampire rules. No longer does the sun kill them, it makes them look:

http://www.hollow-hill.com/sabina/images/fabulous-dude.jpg

:rockbrow:

The ending was also a bit rushed, I felt. I know that there's a sequel coming, but a certain character is pretty much dumped about 3/4 of the way through the film and then pops back up before the credits...

DjfunkmasterG
08-May-2009, 08:30 PM
So you finally caved, eh bassman?

only took 3 weeks. :lol: