This is just a Thread, standing Open in the back of the room, asking you for comments.
Movie news! If you’re reading this camped out in line for the first part of the last part of the Twilight series, bundle up tight and drink plenty of fluids, because it’s cold out. Or maybe you’re enjoying a craft beer with some brioche and waiting for indie favorite The Descendants, starring George Clooney and the island of Hawaii. Either works.
(Speaking of, there’s a new Hunger Games trailer out, and I’m not getting misty watching it; you shut up)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ87RdKsdEw
Like music? Rihanna’s streaming her new single, “Talk that Talk,” on her Facebook page, a few days in advance of its actual release. Drake has a new album out. And in TV and gossipy comedy news, Ricky Gervais is confirmed to host the Golden Globes for a third time, which will make for entertaining reading the morning after.
Anything we missed? Sound off in the comments, for this is your … Open Thread.
So apparently, there will not be 10 Best Picture nominees again. There will be some number between 5 and 10, as determined by a complicated mathematical formula:
http://gawker.com/5860650/the-new-oscar-nominating-system-doesnt-make-any-damn-sense
Honestly, the moment they decided there could be more than five nominees JUST for Best Picture is the moment I really, truly stopped caring. Didn’t even watch last year.
If I watch anything from it, it’ll be purely for the purpose of seeing what Billy Crystal does- and it’ll be clips after-the-fact via the internets. I stopped watching the year after Whoopie hosted, whenever that was.
A body could write a dissertation on the socio-political institutions of the Academy.
The Gorillaz are releasing a compilation of their singles on Tuesday. Yes, I’m excited. (I may have mentioned this one before, come to think of it.)
How about the protests against Bradley Cooper over Ryan Gosling as Sexiest Man by People? It’s good to know the spirit of protest is still alive in this country, I had almost forgotten. Or maybe these women just don’t have anything else to… occupy… their time.
I think something to consider with this whole Twilight thing is that a significant portion of the target demographic when first the books came out is now over twenty years old and thus of legal, marriageable age; and I wonder if any, since they’re older than Bella at the time of her own nuptials, feel like spinsters and think it’s over, are still hoping for a love that
abusivedeep, if they actually think they’ll find their own Edward tostalk take care of them. There are pics of women in actual wedding dresses next to life-sized cutouts of him at the premiere, and I die a little inside at the chance some of them are more than half serious.I’m planning on reading the Hunger Games books while I travel this winter break. Either that, or a few select DC titles, but hey, a modern woman has to make choices, aye? Anyhoo, point, I do plan on seeing The Hunger Games when it comes out. Will it be as “big” as Twilight? Of course not. But I’d like to see for myself why Catnis is such a better female role model- I read (and so far have watched) all about Bella, time for something else.
OH! Speaking of female role models, though, the new Pixar movie, Brave, has a new, more plot-telling trailer:
http://youtu.be/TEHWDA_6e3M
Cat and I already started talking about it on FB. I think there are reasons to be excited and wary at the same time. It has an absolutely amazing cast, though, if nothing else.
HTML fail…
“Or maybe these women just don’t have anything else to… occupy… their time.” I laughed hard at that :)
About Twilight, I’ve read two reviews so far (Ebert’s and the NYT) and was surprised that no one mentioned how Bella was unconscious during the bed-wrecking sex and how horrifying that is. I have to confess I haven’t seen the movie or read the book, but I’ve read plenty about the book and many different sources say she passed out during sex, making it rape after that point (especially when you add the bruises and the broken bed to it). So, extremely creepy? And just plain wrong?
I was hoping the movie might make it clear for moms who thought Twilight was going the virginity-porn route all the way that Bella is just a really, really bad role model for young girls.
Or maybe I misunderstood something?
I think you just set your hopes far too high. Alas.
Yeah, the whole Twilight thing leaves me worried about the state of romantic movies these days, though I think it should be noted that Edward’s apparent “love” for Bella has hallmarks of the great Gothic romances/cases of internet stalking of the past. You read something like “Wuthering Heights” and Heathcliff is the personification of douche, yet Catherine loves him anyway. It all goes a long way towards making people seem stupid when they’re in love.
Then again, the argument could always be “if they don’t hook up, there’s no story.” I’m coming at the Twilight angle as someone whose knowledge of it is based solely upon the demented ravings of female friends of mine on Facebook and countless “Team Edward vs. Team Jacob” pissing contests among them. I have never had a desire to see any of the movies or read any of the books, and as a frustrated writer myself I can’t help but feel some envy over what Ms. Meyer has managed to do. Something tells me, however, that the universality of Twilight will fade in time, unlike the appeal of something like Harry Potter (which strikes me as more universal than some cheesy tale of vampire love).
Meyer actually inserted crap about Wuthering Heights into the series, I think at an attempt to do just what you say, elevate her work to the same place as Bronte and her fellow Gothic novelists. “See?! My characters do the same things!!”
Difference? Meyer’s a terrible writer (with a bad copy-editor, to boot). Also, I don’t think anybody would argue that Heathcliffe is a good guy, while there are so many people saying Edward/Jacob do nothing wrong other than love Bella too much bladdybladdyblah.
I do hope it fades away, like you predict; or that, if it does stick around, it does so as a precautionary tale (and by that, I mean the social phenomena it spawned). When they do an “I Love the Aughts,” the people recollecting the craze will do so with sorrow (and perhaps even a little shame) in their hearts, “What were we thinking back then? It’s a good thing we changed!”
Another HTML fail? REALLY?! >.<
And here’s another reason to think this series is making the lowest common denominator of society even lower:
http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/11/22/breaking-dawn-dui-arrest/
How old is the vampire in Twilight? Older than Hugh Hefner? So “romantic” seems to be super-creepy old pervert hanging around high schools to bang underage girls. Awesome.
So, I watch a lot of British panel shows on YouTube. This week’s episode of a show called “Never Mind the Buzzcocks”, which is a music-based gameshow, had Alice Cooper as host. Amazingly, Alice got along great with the guests and was just generally a good host. He told a great story about meeting Elvis.
He was a good host but I still miss Simon and the magic some of the replacement hosts have had in the past. David Tennant + Catherine Tate? Brilliant. Josh Groban? When is that going to happen again? And I’m not sold on all the new rounds they’ve come up with. Thank goodness the Intros round is going anywhere.
Oops! Typing too quickly. I meant “isn’t” going anywhere.
Anyone seen the episode from this season with Adam Buxton? I thought he was excellent, and I’m not even an Adam and Joe fan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgxUeD2-kJc The Moby tiebreaker was a delight.
Oh, and I’d like to say I miss Mark and Bill.
Hum… yeah I´ll probably watch it, since I love watching movies. Although I rather watch mind filling movies lately. This one seems a little kiddy somehow…
This Wednesday was GIS Day – a celebration which only exists in the darkest corners of college campuses and local government IT departments. GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems, if you were curious. Maps married to databases.
@Gab The part about the aging of Twilight fans interested me not because of the emotional and psychological issues involved with vicariously living through a cipher to the point where you’re infatuated with a fictional character…but because of the choice of writing a certain form of heroic narrative with a young protagonist. I think there’s been a particular rise in the popularity of young adult fiction getting translated to film with the long-term success of the Harry Potters and Twilights of the world. So what does that mean? Is the lack of accomplishment or romantic attachment in the lives of real world readers discouraging for all of them? These books are in large part about the growth/development/maturity of their characters. Are we going to get a generation disappointed with their own lack of grand-scale battles and romances? What does it mean that these series try and end with characters in a more mature state, Bella married and the HP crew with their epilogue? Does this ending read as genuine or false?
I also wanted these last two Twilight films to get a little crazy given the stories that I’ve heard but alas, they’re not willing to go there. Which is an odd decision really, since presumably fans of the series had no problem with the events as they were depicted in the books. I wonder if anyone is actually disappointed with the decision to tone down the movies.
I’m reserving judgment on Hunger Games until the reviews start filtering out. If two actors from Zathura end up starring in major franchises (Kristen Stewart and the boy who is going to be in the Hunger Games) I might have to develop a conspiracy theory about that movie.
As to Wuthering Heights, I’ve only read half of it but I didn’t read it as a traditional romance. The movie is fairly romantic but the book is more about intensely uncontrollable passions on the part of both of the main characters. They’re a bit wild and extreme. They belong together not because of some grand love but because they’re both really unfit for society and connect with each other on that level.
Occupy the Walking Dead. When are they going to stop meekly following the unelected leader just because he used to be a cop and consider some democratic form of decision-making? Is the hero that stupid or that interested in having powers over the others that he has never suggested taking votes? I have enjoyed it so far, but starting to fray around the edges, especially this latest episode where every secret held by one character is being intuited by other characters. Sigh.