Tag: Kristen Stewart

Weekend Shopping Guide 9/15/12: Outland Rock

The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the FRED Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support FRED by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)

While there seem to be some out there that feel it’s on the decline and it’s upcoming last season should be it’s last, I actually loved the now-penultimate 30 Rock: Season Six (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP). Yes, the characters and situations are getting more and more surreal, but the show was built to accommodate the absurdity – And any season that gives us a pair of new live episodes is ace in my book. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, deleted scenes, and featurettes.

There’s a part of my house where the wifi from my router just doesn’t seem to want to reach with any strength. Sure, it’s there – but ghostly and intermittent. Sadly, this also happens to be my den, which makes doing anything with my games systems or a laptop a nightmare. Until I put the Bounce WiFi Enhancer ($24.99) on top of one of my router’s antenna, and pointed it towards my den… And saw all of my signal troubles go away. Ridiculously simple solution, but it worked a charm.

Fans of Bloom County had been teased when that strip ended that Berkley Breathed’s humor and beloved penguin, Opus, would live on in a new strip. That tease became a reality a few months later with the introduction of the Sundays-only Outland (IDW, $39.99 SRP), which has gotten its own much-deserved release in its entirety as the next hardcover collection from the fine folks at IDW. Now we just have to get the upcoming Opus collection and we’re all done.

Hey hey! Another month, another pair of new classic Doctor Who releases to delight all of the completionist fans. First up we get William Hartnell’s 1st Doctor in Doctor Who: Planet Of Giants (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), in which an accident while landing shrinks the Doctor and his companions. Second, we get a special edition of Colin Baker’s 6th Doctor adventure Doctor Who: Vengeance On Varos (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$ SRP), which adds in a whole bunch of new bonus material. As usual, both releases are packed with commentaries, featurettes, ephemera, and more.

It’s really an awful film in so many ways, but because it’s about an event I was fascinated about as a child and the actual production execution is so grand even though the story is ridiculous, I have a special place in my heart for James Cameron’s Titanic (Paramount, Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$54.99 SRP), which gets a serviceable if not fantastic conversion to 3D in time for its high definition release. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and more.

And speaking of James Cameron and the Titanic, Cameron’s lovely documentary about the actual wreck with simply stunning footage, Ghosts Of The Abyss (Walt Disney, Rated G, 3D Blu-Ray-$44.98 SRP), is now available in 3D, and makes a perfect viewing companion with his messy fictional flick. Bonus materials include an extended version of the feature, plus a behind-the-scenes featurette.

It’s always a cause for concern when a brilliant show produces new episodes years after their last outing. Would the brilliance still be there? Will it ruin your warm feelings to see an inferior product? Thankfully, the Absolutely Fabulous: 20th Anniversary Specials (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP) are every bit as wonderful. It’s just sad that there are only 3 of them, plus a bonus Sport Relief special.

I did want to love a sitcom featuring Christina Applegate, Will Arnett, and Maya Rudolph, but Up All Night (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), but this “adjusting to a newborn” comedy just never seemed to find its footing. I have hopes the second season will find a voice, but I’m not counting on it. Bonus materials include deleted/extended scenes and a music video.

We’re still in good territory with Roseanne: Season 5 & Roseanne: Season 6 (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP each), which have been re-released at a dirt cheap impulse buy price. Snap them both up and relive some of the final years before it all went pear-shaped. And speaking of budget releases from Mill Creek, you can also pick up the complete series – that’s all 91 episodes plus commentaries, featurettes, interviews, and bloopers – of Grounded For Life (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$44.98 SRP).

When you’ve got Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth playing the titular Snow White & The Huntsman (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), which reimagined the whole thing as a action-packed teaming of the two against he evil queen (Charlize Theron), you’ve got to expect little more from the film that a decent watch with an occasional groan. And that’s just what you get. Bonus materials include an audio commentary and featurettes.

For those of you who still watch the pandering emptiness of Big Bang Theory (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$54.97 SRP), the fifth season is more of the same, including a decided increase in guest stars and wacky t-shirts. Bonus materials include a trio of featurettes and a gag reel.

ABC Studios drops a trio of new seasons this week – the fourth season of Castle (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$45.99, the fifth season of Private Practice (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99, and the eighth season of Grey’s Anatomy (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$45.99. All 3 contain featurettes, deleted scenes, outtakes, and more.

It’s an average show, but the reason you watch the generational cop drama Blue Bloods (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$55.98 SRP) is for Tom Selleck. Yes, you do. The second season set contains all 22 episodes plus commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.

So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…

-Ken Plume

##

September 15, 2012
Trailer Park: Daniel Cudmore & Charlie Bewley of TWILIGHT: NEW MOON

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

I was able to sit down for a couple of years and pump out a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.

Check out my new column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on TWITTER under the name: Stipp

Daniel Cudmore and Charlie Bewley of Twilight: New Moon – Interview

I realize this is the backhanded way of going about introducing these two actors in what is one the most hyped releases of 2009 but their appearance in the last third of the film’s running time is the best part of the movie.

Really, by the time Edward is thrashed by a very thick and mean Daniel Cudmore who plays part of the vampire royalty in Stephenie Meyer’s series of books about vampires who sparkle in the sun you are just aching for something to happen. The promise of vampiric strength is never really examined at all until we see Daniel provide what is the most delightful moments of the movie. The Volturi, led by the rapturous Michael Sheen who just shines in a role that could have been camped up in keeping with the books themselves, are not only mysterious but actually deliver on the promise of being that community’s judge, jury and executioner. While it would have been delicious to have seen more of this clan it was nonetheless a fantastic experience to sit down with Cudmore and newcomer Charlie Bewley and talk about their roles in this new film.

From the attention, adoration, and scrutiny of teen fans, to knowing how to act when you’re being filmed in slow-motion, to not getting a comp of your own action figure this interview was, at the very least, rewarding to participate in when you consider how casual the two of them treated this experience.

(Special thanks to The Massie Twins of GoneWithTheTwins.com who provided the transcription below)

The Massie Twins: How are you enjoying Arizona? You came here for the one day out of the year when it’s cold.

Daniel Cudmore: I know. It’s supposed to be summer all year here, and it’s a little chilly. It’s better than Vancouver now, which is all rain. I can’t complain.

MT: How was the mall tour yesterday?

DC: The mall tour was wild. They’ve been very, very cool. You see these people who are so passionate about these great books and they haven’t even seen what we’ve done with the characters that we play. They’ve got this blind faith and it’s flattering but also nerve-wracking. You hope you’ve done all your homework.

MT: How many have you gone through so far?

Charlie Bewley: We’ve been to Philly, Seattle and this is the final leg of the tour. They’ve got their actors in the field right now.

Christopher Stipp: Usually as an actor you say “it’s just a job, this is what I do,” but this has its own little sphere of”¦

CB: Yeah, this is an amazing thing to be involved in. As my first real project, it’s great because there is so much extracurricular obligation. I’ve just signed a contract for next year to do a bunch of appearances. For such a small but great role there are so many things you can do away from the film to keep yourself busy.

MT: Were you guys familiar with the novels before you got involved?

DC: I’d heard some rumblings on the internet when they were casting the first one that I should go out and audition. I didn’t know the world that well. I knew of it, but as soon as I was in the process of auditioning, I sort of delved into it and educated myself on it. I can’t say enough about Stephenie Meyer’s writing.

MT: Had you seen the first movie?

CB: I watched the first movie on the day of my audition. The 27th of January I believe. In an acting sense I had prepared for the role, but I find it’s always useful to watch the films. I had to download the thing because I couldn’t get to the cinema that early in the morning. There’s a very definite style to the way she interprets this world. It’s ethereal yet it’s real.

That probably has a lot to do with the way it was shot ““ very dingy, very overcast. The first film is a cult film and when it was finished I had an idea of what I needed to do ““ take that forward and be this Demetri guy. New Moon is very much a Hollywood blockbuster movie and an action film. It should bring a whole new demographic to the Twilight world. I don’t think anyone really understands how big this is going to be. After a week you’re going to get some spare seats in theaters and they’re going to get filled up with guys looking for a good action movie.

MT: Can you guys give us a quick intro into your characters and the Volturi?

CB: Volturi are brought into this because of what happens to Edward. He, very selfishly (the more I think about it, the more angry I get), goes out and tries to dispose of himself. He goes to the Volturi and wants them to kill him. Volturi are the only people who can kill him. He thinks Bella has committed suicide, and”¦ you know the story. But they want his powers and want to take him on board. He says he’ll go out into the world and screw up the whole vampire nation by exposing himself ““ so he puts his whole family at risk, and everyone else in the vampire kingdom. Aro sends us out to bring him back. We make and enforce the laws.

MT: What are the special powers that each of you have?

CB: I’m a tracker, very much like James’ character in the first one, but my tracking abilities are unlimited which makes me a much more formidable threat, which you’ll see in Breaking Dawn. Demetri gets the standard skill set of being immensely strong, fast, aesthetically pleasing and highly dangerous. I am very much the “good cop” where as Felix is”¦

DC: Each character gets an extra power, whether it be a tracking ability or mind power, but my character isn’t given a specific power except that he’s just brutally vicious and strong. There isn’t a vampire at his same level and he knows this, so he can have fun with tearing apart other vampires. He knows what he can do and enjoys the heightened strength.

CB: I think that goes for the whole of the Volturi. We’re a very arrogant bunch.

CS: Is it ever difficult to play a superhero type character? Do you ever start laughing after you’ve read a script before you sit down and think, “okay, I’ve got to play this straight. I’m a vampire, I’ve got these superpowers.” Is there every a moment, at least initially, where it’s funny?

DC: For me, sometimes you do get a character who on the surface, you’re like “how am I going to do this?” But you break it down and find the emotion, to the most minimal base. How do I connect. What can I bring to make this real for me. I start with a basic foundation and build it up from there. Everything else is just extra. You make it real to you and everything else goes with it. It doesn’t feel campy. You’ve identified with the emotion. You’re there and everything else builds up the character.

CB: I think if it weren’t for the fact that this is such a huge, phenomenal success and everyone wants to be a vampire right now, then there might be cause for going, “okay, I’m a vampire. This is weird.” But I never got to that stage. I’m a badass vampire! I call my friends at home and say, “Guess what! I’m a vampire!” When I go out onto the street I don’t act like an actor ““ I think it’s the same for vampires. They are badass vampires, so they don’t have to go out and act like it. These are real people with superhuman abilities and idiosyncrasies that come with being a vampire. Yes I eat human flesh, yes this, yes that. We don’t carry it around like some sort of a tag. Especially the Cullens, they’re real people ““ that’s why so many people can get into it. When the primal urges come out, you have to act vicious and aggressive. That’s when you can show the vampire side. I’m looking forward to that because it’s a massive contrast to the charming Demetri that I’ve played in this one.

MT: What’s the tone like on the set? Is anyone a prankster? Is Kristin Stewart incredibly eccentric?

CB: Not really. (laughs) There’s not that much to talk about behind-the-scenes. It’s an incredibly professional set. It’s a very high-stakes film with some huge industry talent. There’s not that much room for a prankster running around putting whoopee cushions on Aro’s chair. Case in point, on the set, Chris Weitz, who is normally very calm ““ we were doing a take and some extras were talking behind the set. Chris lost it. When the nicest guy in the room loses it, you know he’s angry. Off set, there’s some great characters. It was really nice meeting all the Cullens and putting personalities to faces. There’s some nice people, but I wouldn’t say there’s a guy running around pulling people’s pants down.

MT: What’s the craziest or coolest thing a fan has done so far?

DC: Wow. Last night this little girl was crying. It was the most terrible moment of her life mixed with the most emotionally charged, happy moment. It was such a strange feeling. I looked up and”¦

CB: Yeah, she could have gone any way (laughs)

DC: She like almost fainted, but I touched her hand and she wobbled away. It was the strangest thing, but it was really, really cool.

CB: It’s really hard to understand. We must be like the gods were to the Greek peasants back in the day (laughs).

DC: (laughs) I don’t see myself like that!

CB: (laughs) I’m trying to fathom it in my head, the power status there is between fans and movie stars that could justify the extreme female behavior. Something I can’t get my head around.

DC: And then you go back home and your buddies tear you apart. (laughs) They instantly put you back in your place. It’s hugely flattering, especially when they haven’t seen what you’ve done. It’s also great to have your friends and family knock the pegs right out from underneath you.

CS: Last year Taylor [Lautner] was sitting where you are now. Before that, no one knew who he was. Now he’s on the cover of US Weekly. What’s it like to go from 0 ““ 100 mph in six months? Are you prepared to be in the same situation with the attention?

CB: I don’t know the answer to that.

DC: I very briefly got to meet and chat with him, but the kid is smart and he’s got a good head on his shoulders. It’s just part of the business and I think he’s done a great job with it. Are you ever ready for this kind of thing? I don’t think so, but if you know who you are, then you’re fine. You’re the product and you promote it like anything else.

MT: Who would win in a fight: Felix or Colossus?

DC: (laughs) Oh man. I think it would”¦ I don’t want to upset anybody. I think it would go on for a very long time and it would be a very cool fight scene. And it would cost a lot of money if they wanted to do that in a movie.

MT: Are you getting your own Twilight action figures, and if so, will you own them?

CB: Damn right! That’s immortalization! This is stage one on my way to my statue! (laughs) We did a publicity day, which we missed for New Moon ““ which is why you’re not seeing us on all the paraphernalia going around ““ but we got to go to Italy. We went up on this mini stage and there was some technological setup that took our front, side, profile. And someone was like, “this is for your action figure.” And at that point I was like”¦ Wicked! Sweet! (laughs)

DC: I got one for Colossus, but I didn’t get one. Those guys didn’t send me one, and I’m upset. I want you guys to get this out here and have whoever made those things to send me one.

CB: Just go buy one!

DC: I’m not going to buy one. It’s bull!

CB: I’m going to go to a store and pick one up off the shelf and walk to the cashier and say, “that’s me! That is me.”

DC: Why couldn’t they have just sent me one so I could have it!

MT: Have you guys seen the final cut of the movie?

DC: No. Monday’s the premiere. I’m really excited. It’s going to be huge. Sometimes I don’t want to see it before the premiere.

CB: I’m on the other side ““ I wish I’d seen it. I’ve got like three agents coming with me and they’re going to be watching me. That’s pressure. I know I’ve made some pretty weird choices in the film. I don’t know if they’re caught on camera or not. Here’s actor naÃ¯vetÃ© for you:Â It’s when we rip apart the vampire and Aro’s got the head and we had to film the bit where we have an arm each. We’ve just ripped his arm off and I played the scene in my head and I said “This is one of those slow motion scenes, massively dramatic.” So I thought, “I’ve got to play it in slow motion.” (Charlie acts out ripping apart a vampire in super slow-mo). And I forgot you do everything in real time and they slow it down afterwards. (laughs) So I’m in the car at night with Dan and I’m like, “Shit. I did that scene in slow motion! Was I supposed to? NO!”

DC: I was looking over thinking, “Is he in slow motion? What did he have for lunch?” (laughs)

MT: Well hopefully they can speed it up to put it back into real time.

CB: I can picture someone up at 2:00 in the morning correcting my screw-up. (laughs)

November 20, 2009
Weekend Shopping Guide 8/28/09: Our House

The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Quick Stop Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support Quick Stop by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)

In its 5th season, House (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP) has settled comfortably into its routine – crotchety doc, beleaguered staff, ridiculously exotic maladies, miraculous last-minute saves by crotchety doc. And so it is with the 24 episodes featured in this box set, which also sports audio commentaries and a clutch of featurettes (including one on the 100th episode).

I have been waiting years for someone to deliver something the ridiculously straightforward USB to SATA/IDE Combo Kit ($24.99) – a handy cable that attaches to any hard drive and interacts via USB. No fuss. No muss. Where has this been all my nerd life? Seriously.

Want a pair of classic TV shows cheap and in one fell swoop? Well, now you can get the complete 3 season run of Steve McQueen in Wanted: Dead Or Alive (Mill Creek Entertainment, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP) and all 4 seasons of The Adventures Of Robin Hood (Mill Creek Entertainment, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP). Isn’t that quick and painless?

The History Channel continues down the path of its bizarre “Must make movie reenactments” form of documentary filmmaking with Art Of War (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$14.95 SRP), which weaves together the history Sun Tzu and tactics of his now – legendary book.

For a last look at what an amazing talent she was, and what we lost with her unexpected death, look no further than The Mama Cass Television Special (Infinity, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), a 1969 network ABC network special that gave Cass Elliott the spotlight, along with a clutch of special guests.

If Juno was just a bit too cutesy for you but you love that quirky vibe, then check out Adventureland (Miramax, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$44.99 SRP), starring Jesse Eisenberg as a 20-something who has to cancel his big summer vacation plans in order to earn money for grad school. His solution? Take a thankless job at a regional theme park, where he finds Em (Kristen Stewart), and has one of those movie summers you only wish you had. Bonus features include an audio commentary, featurettes, and deleted scenes.

Warner Bros. is still rolling out new additions to their on-demand “Archive Edition”, making available some catalogue titles that otherwise would sit in the vaults. Newly added to the available list is the made-for-TV 70’s horror films Bad Ronald and Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$14.95 each). Of real interest, though, is that they’ve made available all of the latter-day MGM Our Gang comedies in the 5-disc Our Gang Collection (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$34.95), whose 52 shorts are an essential companion to last year’s multi-disc Little Rascals collection of the early Hal Roach shorts.

While it was a step up from the bewilderingly awful seventh season, the eighth season of Scrubs (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP) didn’t go far enough in recapturing the charm and grounding that marked its brilliant early seasons – which is a shame, as this was the swan song for the cast as it had stood from the show’s inception. Ah well, at least we have those early DVDs. The 3-disc set features all 19 episodes, plus alternate lines, webisodes, a featurette, deleted scenes, and bloopers.

Though seen as groundbreaking at the time, thirtysomething: The Complete First Season (Shout! Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$59.99 SRP) can often be a hard go, as we focus on the lives of couples that fall into the titular age category. It would be interesting to pick up with them now as fiftysomethings. The 6-disc box set features all 21 episodes, plus audio commentaries, interviews, featurettes, and more.

Sad that the nicely pleasant Chrstina Applegate series Samantha Who? (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP) had to face the axe at the end of its second season, as Applegate has matured into a wonderful comedic actress. The 3-disc set contains featurettes, deleted scenes, and bloopers.

Need a RomCom fix? Or simply need to recommend a RomCom to a significant other, to keep them occupied? Then here’s this week’s recommendation – How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days (Paramount, Rated PG-13, DVD-$14.98 SRP), which stars Matthew McCounaughey and Kate Hudson as a pair of people that eventually wind up together. You know the deal. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, and a music video. A Blu-Ray edition ($29.98 SRP) is also available, with identical bonus materials.

Take The Sopranos, set it in a biker gang led by Ron Perlman, and you’ve essentially got Sons Of Anarchy (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$59.99 SRP), a new series featuring the titular gangs increasing descent into lawlessness. The 3-disc set features audio commentaries, featurettes, and deleted scenes.

David Duchovney returns as writer Hank Moody – single-father, ex-boyfriend, and a man keen on sex, liquor, and drugs – in the second season of Californication (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$42.99 SRP). The 2-disc set features all 12 episodes, plus audio commentaries, interviews, and a featurette.

Seeing as how it’s from the same producers, I can understand why Sunshine Cleaning (Anchor Bay, Rated R, DVD-$29.98 SRP) has a Little Miss Sunshine vibe about it – and by that, I mean it’s got the offbeat, quirky dramedy thing going for it. It stars Amy Adams as a single mother eager to get her son into a better school – which requires money she doesn’t have. To earn it, she drags her slacker sister (Emily Blunt) in and launches a crime scene clean-up business, along with their father (Alan Arkin). Bonus features include an audio commentary and a making-of featurette.

Even though they’re inferior to the multigenerational writing of iCarly, preteens will probably hound the parents for the first volumes of Suite Life spin-off The Suite Life On Deck and the new Sonny With A Chance (Walt Disney, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP each). Both discs contain bonus episodes.

Turns out Life (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP) had a relatively short one on NBC, as the second season turned out to be its last, as the network decided not to renew the series about a wrongfully imprisoned detective who returns to the police force with a second chance at the life he lost. The 5-disc box set contains all 21 episodes, plus audio commentaries, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.

Turn the people reading skills of and creepy skilled charm of Derren Brown into a deception expert played by Tim Roth, and you’ve got the series Lie To Me (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP), which finds Dr. Cal Lightman (Roth) solving crimes. The 4-disc set features all 13 episodes, plus a featurette and deleted scenes. A Blu-Ray edition ($59.99 SRP) is also available, with identical bonus features.

Nick Cannon stars as 19-year-old Mike Holland in American Son (Miramax, Rated R, DVD-$29.99 SRP) – a young man who has just 96 hours to say goodbye to friends & family before being shipped off to Iraq. Perhaps he’ll even change his life. It’s an interesting, if uneven, look at the rollercoaster of emotions the troops go through before a deployment. Bonus features include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a featurette.

Schlocky and not a terribly good adaptation of Stephen King’s original short story, but a cult following has grown up around Children Of The Corn (Anchor Bay, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.97 SRP), who are sure to pick up the high definition 25th anniversary edition, featuring an audio commentary, featurettes, interviews, galleries, and more.

Smithsonian Networks has a trio of new documentaries on tap – first up being War Stories (Smithsonian, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), which takes a look at the tales of modern service men and women. Next up is America’s Wild & Wacky (Smithsonian, Not Rated, DVD-$9.98 SRP), which takes viewers on a ride to America’s largest bike rally. Finally, there’s The Da Vinci Detective (Smithsonian, Not Rated, DVD-$9.98 SRP), which examines the mysteries of two great works of art.

Want to see a show that’s lost the plot and really doesn’t know what to do with itself anymore? Look no further than the 8th season of Smallville (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP), where the still-not-Superman Clark Kent sort of meanders around a pointless supporting cast doing vaguely-Supermany things and killing time. The 6-disc set features all 22 episodes, plus audio commentaries, deleted scenes, and a pair of featurettes.

Would you be surprised to find out that a movie with the title Fighting (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP) is about fighting? Well, it does – starring Channing Tatum as a guy who turns to the world of underground bare-knuckle street fighting to make a better life for himself. Seriously. The disc includes deleted scenes. A Blu-Ray edition ($39.98 SRP) is also available, with identical bonus materials.

So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…

-Ken Plume

##

August 28, 2009
Win ADVENTURELAND on DVD

In conjunction with Miramax Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of ADVENTURELAND on DVD, which streets on August 25th.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, August 26th.

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

No member of Quick Stop Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.

No Purchase necessary to win.

Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

One entry per day, per person.

All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on August, 26th.

The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.

August 12, 2009
Trailer Park: TWILIGHT Review

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

I’m awesome. I wrote a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.

I thought of all the different ways to review this movie and none of them seemed to be the right way to do it.

You see, the overriding emphasis on what I want to get across about TWILIGHT is that this film was for sure, absolutely, positively not made for me. I am a 33 year old male who hasn’t read any of the books written by Arizona native Stephenie Meyer and have no inclination to read the series based on a vampire and his human ward/lady friend. But that’s alright, I would come to feel by the end of this movie, because of one fact alone: this is show business and this film is in the business of appealing to young ladies. It does it so well, in fact, that I dare say this should be the one movie on prepubescents’ lips come Monday morning as the one film that has defined their year.

For the rest of us, however, this movie isn’t completely awful. Lord knows that the dialog is pretty bad, the characterization of our human love interest is beyond hackneyed and has been done before in countless other angst-y teenagers who hate life and whose parents just “don’t understand them” to say nothing of Bella Swan’s (Kristen Stewart) weirdly distant father who only adds to the movie’s forced narrative that this is, at its heart, a movie about teenage alienation. Like I said, it’s been done before in countless ways before in a lot better films. However, what I can say, like Edward tells Bella at the film’s prom scene that this all a rite of passage she deserves and needs to be a part of, is that this film is for the ladies.

This movie is going to be the gateway drug (and, really, everyone out there who will find themselves sitting in the theater as Edward (Robert Pattinson) tells Bella that she’s his brand of heroin try not to completely fall out of your seat as your belly ripples with the giggles that are sure to ensue) for many disenfranchised teenage girls who don’t have a voice in the current cinema climate.

The story of a young Bella who leaves the sunny and sandy shores of Scottsdale for the wet confines of Washington state, adjusting to life in a new high school and finding the boy of her dreams, only to find out he’s a member of the undead, is a relatively innocuous one. What we have here is a fairly basic flicks that has a shroud of vampirism tossed over it. And you know what? It’s a hoot. It’s a genuinely interesting film as we progress deeper into Meyer’s mythos, finding out what this brand of vampire is capable of doing, how they live, what makes them special, what threatens their existence, etc… It’s the exploration of these smaller bits that elevates this film from just being a shoddily produced cash-in.

However, there are elements in the movie that would tell you otherwise.

The wire work, effects and anything else that required even the slightest bit of modern 21st century technology to enhance was abhorrent. There are moments, for example in the penultimate fight sequence (and a sequence that answers the question of What would James Dean look like if he were in a roughshod martial arts film?)Â between Edward and bad-boy James (Cam Gigandet) was nothing if but a comedic romp into bad action blocking. As well, Taylor Lautner’s performance as Jacob Black gets my Anthony Hopkins Award for racial blurring as that poor kid must have been given the C. Thomas Howell SOUL MAN treatment with enough self-tanner to make his olive skin turn a deep rusty hue in order to be the Native American representative of the werewolves. The aforementioned dialogue gets really, really bad at times and there’s even the sense that the players in this movie weren’t really given the ability to take Meyers’ work any higher than teenage melodrama. It’s more like a pilot for the CW at certain points in this film. And I cannot stress enough the grating attitude that Bella seems to carry with her throughout the film. My main issue with this is if you create a protagonist who is so easily pained with her own life that she projects it whenever possible how could anyone else, besides teenagers whose sole sphere of experience spans life in only two insular stages: inside of school and outside of school, identify with this woman? The answer, if you’re following close enough, is that you’re not. This book, this film, this series, speaks to some elusive trigger mechanism in young teenage ladies and it’s clear to anyone looking at the screen that unless you shop at Hollister or Hot Topic there’s not much you’re going to get out of this.

There areÂ other members of the film, though, who actually do contribute to this film and elevate it just a little bit more than just a campy excuse to be doused in white flower. Peter Facinelli is one such actor and, to be quite honest, surprised me. His delivery isn’t stiff. He doesn’t lower his head and look forward to talk like some members of his vampy family. He speaks normally and acts, literally, as if he’s a vampire but just happens to live in a human’s world. Dare I say it I would have rather followed his story more than I wanted to follow everyone else’s. Rachelle Lefevre, one of the other “bad” vampires of this film, is a delight. She’s actually quite alluring and plays her role in a way that makes you feel a) like she could treat your neck like a piece of skirt steak and you would let her willingly and b) she is able to project a hint of evil without being obnoxious.

In all, TWILIGHT is going to make millions off the backs of young girls who have been in need of a DARK KNIGHT for themselves. Honestly, I couldn’t be happier for them. This film does not try to be all things to all people, it does not want me to like it nor does it try too hard to, it hits the right emotional notes of those in its targeted sights and there is no way you could walk out of that film thinking that there is no way an audience could love that film because when you consider that in the land of show business this is one property that knows its market.

November 21, 2008