Twilight: Lowlights and a Farewell to Jacob

by Kari Tervo

I finally finished watching the Twilight saga. In honor of the great experience I had with the movies, I'm going to post some feedback about stuff I didn't like, and then bring you back up to a soaring farewell with triumphant music, a montage, and some fuzzy focus romance.

I'm referring to this criticism as "lowlights," which I think is a great time to declare that I'm glad that stupid ombre hair trend is over. Girl, you're gonna regret that in 15 years like Jennifer Aniston regrets the Rachel. I do admit, I did have some Rachel-y color banding in the late '90s, but I thought it was cool. My head looked like a sunset, or cinnamon toast.

What? What am I talking about? Twilight. Okay.

I shared a collection of fun thoughts about the first 4 movies, here. And I started talking about how I think some feminists have it all wrong about Twilight, here. All in all, I've been pretty happy with the series--it has made me laugh, cry, cringe, feel suspense, wonder, and do all those things movies are supposed to do! In short, I've been wonderfully entertained by this series.

Yet, I didn't enjoy Breaking Dawn, Part II as much as I did the first four films in the series. Here's why:

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Highlights and Horrors of Watching Twilight

by Kari Tervo

I just finished watching part four of the Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn, Part I.

In my earlier post on Twilight (here), I was in the middle of Eclipse, the third one. I wrote, "I’m just hoping the birthing scene involves sunlight and sparkles. And I hope none of you who have seen it are laughing at that."

Ummm. . .ha ha ha! The birthing scene alone was so intense and tragic, I had to watch from that point to the end in three separate sittings. Oh, how I long for the blissful ignorance of my youth (last Monday).

So, about this baby vampire (or whatever it is; I guess I have to watch Breaking Dawn, Part II to figure that out): Renesmee? Really? C'mon, Stephenie Meyer. Bella is the anti-lame. I don't think she would really get so sentimental or obvious as to make some horrid hybrid of her mother's name (Renee) and Edward's mother's name (Esme). Probably her high school friend Jessica would do that. I don't know, maybe motherhood changes you. They say there's something about baby brain. But I really think Stephenie Meyer was like, screw it! Who cares about its name when there's a grand possibility Jacob is going to eat it? At least Alice spoke for all of us when she strongly advised against Renesmee. She could see it coming that we wouldn't like it. Would that we all had such informative visions.

 CLICK AND RAWR FOR MORE TWILIGHT HIGHLIGHTS (TWI. . .LIGHTS!) AFTER THE JUMP!

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Twilight vs. Team Feminist. Part One: Hermione's Shadow

By Kari Tervo

I just started watching the Twilight saga, five years after the first movie came out. I had known the basics of the plot forever, because the franchise is larger than life. I think Twilight has had more covers of Entertainment Weekly than the Entertainment Weekly logo. I decided to give it a sit-down and see what I’d been missing. 

I’m on the third movie now, Eclipse, and I’m enjoying the series. It’s a timeless story with modern (and monster) flourishes. The special effects are cool, and the cinematography is magical (that’s the kind of stuff we say out here in Hollywood). I admit I’m having a little trouble even looking at creepy, pasty-faced Edward (I do not see what that girl sees in him). That’s the primary reason I’m leaning Team Jacob, but I’m hoping that kid can learn to control his aggro a little. Maybe put him on a light dose of anti-psychotic. But another thing keeps creeping into my mind, like Edward stalking Bella in her room while she’s sleeping: All the feminist critiques I’ve seen floating around about Twilight.


A lot of feminists hate Twilight. If you Google “Twilight” and “anti-feminist,” you get around 30,000 results. I started watching the series fully expecting to cringe frequently from a feminist perspective. Instead, I’m left scratching my head. I just don’t see how Twilight is so anti-feminist. I’m here to defend Twilight from a feminist perspective. Over a few posts, I’ll cover just a few areas of criticism and explain why I think they have it wrong. Here’s the first one:

CLICK AND RAWR FOR MORE BELLA AND HERMIONE AFTER THE JUMP!

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Pop Culture and Popcorn. With Special Guest Star Kirk Cameron!

POP AT ME ON TWITTER! @PopCultureKari

Hello Pop Culture Beasties! It’s your old pal Kari. I’m here to feed you the pop culture you crave. Let’s feed your hungry belly first! With pop culture’s favorite snack, popcorn!

I make the best popcorn. That is not opinion; that is a fact (I will accept challenges). I pop it in this really old pot from 1971 that my parents got for a wedding gift. It outlasted my parents’ marriage. I still use it for popcorn, because it’s The Best Popcorn Pot That Ever Was (which, incidentally, was also a Movie of the Week in 1986). Here it is with a really prime pop--your basic grocery store variety!

It was harvest gold once, just like everything in the ‘70s. 

Nothing gold can stay, Ponyboy. 

CLICK AND RAWR TO POP PAST THE JUMP!

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TWILIGHT FOREVER: THE COMPLETE SAGA on Blu-ray and DVD 11/5

Lionsgate/Summit have announced a complete collection for their monster success Twilight Saga.  The set features all five films, tons of features and a nice looking set to keep it all in.  This should give Lionsgate permission to print money for a little while longer.  Click the RAWR to check out the full details!


AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY DISC AND DVD NOVEMBER 5, 2013

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Blu-ray Review: Adventureland

Adventureland
Written & Directed by: Greg Motolla
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Martin Starr, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Margarita Levieva, and Ryan Reynolds

Bonus Features: Frigo's Taps - A satiric "How To" on inflicting unexpected pain (BD Exclusive), Lisa P's Guide To Style (BD Exclusive), Welcome to Adventureland - Adventureland Commercials. Orientation Training Video, Drug Policy (BD Exclusive), Deleted Scenes, Just My Life: The Making of Adventureland, Feature Commentary with Greg Motolla and Jesse Eisenberg, Picture Music Selection, Digital Copy.

From the Box:

From the director of Superbad comes Adventureland, "a smart, witty comedy" (Kyle Smith, New York Post) we can all relate to. And the sights and sounds are even more awesome on Blu-ray.

When James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) has to cancel his dream summer vacation and make some money for grad school, the only job he can get is at Adventureland, a tacky amusement park where the games are rigged and the ride make you hurl. But it's where he meets Em (Kristen Stewart, Twilight), and his rollercoaster ride to nowhere turns into the best summer ever. Filled with a carnival of colorful characters and set to a killer soundtrack, Adventureland is "the kind of adventure we could all use more of" (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times) - especially in Blu-ray High Definition.

Adventureland is a film that caught a lot of people by surprise. I don't think anyone was really quite prepared for what Adventureland turned out to be. People were expecting a comedy more in line with Motolla's previous film, the fantastic Superbad. That isn't what Adventureland is at all. In reality, it's a touching coming of age story with a lot of laughs thrown in for good measure.

That surprise aside, Adventureland is indeed one great film.

Click the Rawr! for the full review.


I must admit, I was one of those who automatically assumed this would be a gross out sex comedy akin to Superbad. I'd guess some marketing folks at Miramax are to blame for that.

Thankfully, before I saw the film I was told what I would be in for and I think that allowed me to be able to judge the film more fairly then if it turned out to be something I wasn't expecting.

As a comedy, Adventureland doesn't offer much. It is very funny at parts, most of which come from the dynamic duo of Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. There are some embarrassing moments with Jesse Eisenberg that are funny as well but the real strength of this movie is in the characters and the way the film doesn't exactly point out to you how something turns out.

The characters are charming and realistic and all played perfectly by the cast. This film is full of relative unknowns with the exception of Hader, Wiig, and Ryan Reynolds. This film was post Twilight so Kristen Stewart is probably known better now but to be honest, she slips into this role so well that I didn't even think about Twilight. For me, it's Stewart and Eisenberg who are the highlights of this film. Their story is emotional and has you rooting for things to work out for them. Kristen Stewart's performance here is sublime and elevates her so far beyond the drivel I have heard from Twilight that I'm almost convinced to actually watch those films.

The entire cast is great here. Ryan Reynolds does another admirable job here playing a surprisingly low key character. Sure he's a bit smarmy but Reynolds gives us a subtle and restrained performance.

As for the Blu-ray, the film's picture could stand to be a little clearer. It seemed a bit fuzzy at times. The sound was crisp though and the soundtrack is stellar. The disc is loaded with some hilarious special features, especially the Adventureland commercials.

Adventureland is an entertaining story about things not working out the way you'd hope, about falling in love, and about making tough decisions and going after what you realize you truly want. Its story revolves around characters who look and feel like they are real people and not Hollywood glamorization.

Adventureland is a definite must see and another plus in the career of Greg Motolla who's got a great talent to deliver both a touching drama with some extremely funny moments and a laugh riot comedy with some heart. He is the one to watch right now as Adventureland is certain to make it on many Top Ten lists.

Adventureland is available on DVD and Blu-ray now.

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Movie Poster: The Twilight Saga - New Moon

The posters are pretty cool so far. I haven't seen nor read the books (yet) so I really can't say if they are good or not. Although, everything I have heard leads me to believe they're terrible.

New Moon shines on November 20.

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Movie Trailer: The Twilight Saga - New Moon

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer in HD

Just a little teaser trailer for the next chapter of The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

Enjoy it.

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New Moon Posters!

Say what you will about Twilight, I haven't seen it yet but am leaning towards the less than positive side of it (which is probably bad to do), but these posters are pretty nice. Great atmosphere and imagery.

Click the Rawr! for Bella's poster.

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A Note on Twilight

With the juggernaut success of the Stephanie Meyer series, I have found myself pondering why the vampire continues to hold such universal allure for the teenage girl. Since I once was one myself (a teenage girl, not a vampire) it seems like this wouldn't be such an impossible case to solve. What was it that drew me to those much dog-eared copies in my Anne Rice collection? Was it the theme of impossible longing that resonated in my underdeveloped teenage brain? The promise of eternal love? Or was it just that vampires got to stay out late and didn't have to follow the rules of society, much less their long dead parents?

This afternoon, in a teenage girl packed screening of Twilight, I think I finally figured it out. It isn't because they're undead. That makes them icky and automatically qualifies them for the purview of the teenage *male* interest. It's because they're BAD. Now, this may seem like a somewhat facile observation. But the fact of the matter is, be it conscious or unconscious, the ultimate goal of the average teenage girl (and, again, I'm speaking from all-too-tragic experience) is to date the most hideously inappropriate person possible. And who better meets those qualifications than a pale faced, undead suitor whose primal desire is to drain her of all her blood? Yup--the ultimate bad boy.



The case of Edward and Bella (our Twilight teen) is a perfect example. Edward is terrible boyfriend material. He stalks Bella while she's with her friends, breaks into her house to watch her sleep, and tries to convince her she's suffering post traumatic stress disorder when she refuses to believe his transparent lies. In one of the most 'romantic' scenes of the film (and I only know this scene was romantic based on the volume of 'awww's being emitted by my fellow cinema goers) Edward tells Bella over and over how wrong he is for her. His stance? "I want to end your life". Her response? A breathless "I trust you". It's Unhealthy Relationship 101 and all the teens and 'tweens were eating it up. While the vampire may have lots to recommend him (not the least of which is impeccable style--Edward's grey wool pea coat was my favorite part of the movie!) it's the fact that all your friends think he's wrong for you that makes him truly irresistable.

Now, if someone could just explain to me the appeal of Hannah Montana...

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