Embedded media on this blog gone awry

I just went over my posts on this blog from way back and I noticed that some video clips I linked to from Access Hollywood are no longer the right ones, and some music files I embedded from Imeem are gone. What gives?

The video clips in question are those of scenes cut from the first Twilight movie. The music files are those from the OST.

Hope I'll get time to fix this before the holiday ends.

Eclipse - June 30 is the date to mark!

The wait is shorter this time. Eclipse the movie is just six short months away! Here's the poster I grabbed from the Twilight Saga's FB profile.

SM's birthday

Oh geez... I had been so busy doing nothing over the holidays that I missed one important person's birthday. Belated happy birthday Stephenie Meyer! She was born the same year I was--in fact, just nine days later. As I wrote in my entry for her birthday last year, I feel a sort of kinship with this lady because she, too, believes in true love and magic. But let me edit that this year: true love = magic.

About Edward's pelvic bones

...that I didn't even catch a glimpse of in New Moon. Because Edward's Volterra plaza scene went very fast, and my mind was busy reconciling the images on screen with what I had in mind while reading the book.

So what did I think of the movie?

It was Jacob's party, there's no argument there. I sensed an effort to play down Edward's "godlike" aura (as described in the books) so he wouldn't overshadow Jacob's character. Jacob was hot, of course. His hotness was enough to make some people defect to Team Jacob (but not me, hehe!).

Edward, on the other hand, was made out to be a ultra-emo vampire. Which I don't have a problem with, except he had the hairstyle to go with it. Reminiscent of Simon LeBon back when Duran Duran was big. Not too hot. Plus they made him look too pale and gaunt, like a regular heartbroken guy wasting away. Problem is, he's not a regular guy. He's not human. Vampires are supposed to be unchanging. The state of their heart is not supposed to be mirrored by the state of their, uhm, face. His loneliness would've shown in his eyes, but his overall look would still have been godlike. But I guess that would've required a lot of "eye acting" on the part of Rob.

Overall I liked it. It had the expected gasp moments, particularly in the part where Jacob took off his shirt for the first time. The mass intake of air was audible as Jacob's beefcakey bod filled the screen, albeit very briefly. Guffaws followed, presumably from the boyfriends who got dragged to the movie house by the girlfriends.

But the most emo part for me, which I think remained faithful to the book, was when Jacob begged Bella not to go with Alice. That was the defining moment for their relationship, or whatever it was they had. I could almost hear Jacob's hopes crushing under Alice's Mercedes as they drove away. That was the moment where love triumphed over logic and the instinct for self-preservation. In short, that was the moment where the "crazy in love" excuse was made to look good.

Emerging from that place where you don't update your secret Twilight blog

Okay, so if someone's still following my secret Twilight blog, thank you.

Matters in the human world have taken me away from the blog. So it's been months since that last post about Edward's pelvic bones (more on that later). My new workplace is paranoid about Web surfing and social networking sites. They're not really digging up the logs or anything, but I'm expected to be responsible there because, well, I'm among the 'seniors' (in all sense of that word). I don't do Facebook or Twitter there. I use my 3G phone for those. I know, it's corny, right?

The good thing is, I was able to form another coven in my new workplace. My Twilight saga books made the rounds among my female colleagues (including the daughters of one). I watched New Moon with three of them. My New Moon movie companion, the one with lots of outtakes of Jacob and the wolf pack, also made the rounds. Even odder, it stayed a couple of weeks with a male colleague.

So, my point really is, I'm still dazzling mortals all around. And I'm reviving this blog because I feel it's about time I did.

Still shirtless Edward

Ok, I may have spoken too soon. From the pics I saw earlier, Edward's body didn't seem too impressive. Maybe I just didn't get the right perspective. But this pic below tells me another story.  Had I seen those pelvic bones peeking from the top of the granddaddy slacks sooner, I wouldn't have been so hasty in my judgement. He did bulk up, but not to the point of looking like a steroid junkie. Jacob's bulk was also impressive, but this one's just, uhm, sexy?

Oh, if you're wondering what those dots are, no, they're not moles or pockmarks. They're tracking points for the CGI people who'll add the sparkles later.

More of these pics here.

Shirtless Edward

Too good to pass up. More here and here. Obviously this is from that scene in New Moon where Edward almost stepped into the sunlight, in an attempt to provoke the Voltouri, and Bella came just in time to stop him. This was when he thought he had died and gone vampire heaven. I guess this is that very scene.

Kristin's looking hot here. No longer the dorky Bella from Twilight. Edward, well, I hate those granddaddy slacks and shoes. Plus, is that the body that Bella thought was second only to his face in awesomeness? Remember when she said it was a monumental tribute to his face that she was able to stop staring at his sculpted chest, or something that went like that? This isn't the chest I had in mind at all!

Happy birthday, Rob!

I know I haven't posted anything here for the longest time--me getting a new job and all--but I couldn't pass this up.

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, whoever you're with, on this day, I wish you're happy and healthy and safe.

Now back to, uhm, whatever you call that place where you're not updating your secret Twilight blog.

Renesmee--1 day after conception

Since I love posting Twilight craziness on this blog, I couldn't pass this up. I first saw this on Geekologie some weeks ago, and honestly it scared even me. I had to look at it for a minute everyday to desensitize my senses, before I finally got the courage to put it up here.

This is supposed to be Bella's womb, with Renesmee as a tiny fetus inside. I love Twilight--I have this blog to prove it--and I have nothing but awe and respect for all the creative fans who could put together dolls, fanfic novels, songs, poems, and what-have-you, all in the name of Twilight. But there is a line beyond which creativity becomes creepiness, and clearly this one had crossed it.

Cinematical has an image of the closed version of Bella's uterus.

You may inhale--Rob does shower!

While I was waiting for Twilight the movie to screen in Manila last year, I surfed around for information on a certain Robert Pattinson, the actor picked to play Edward Cullen. I knew he played Cedric Diggory, but beyond that I couldn't tell him from one Zac Efron, whose movie I haven't seen at all. Anyway, among the first photos of Rob I found was this:



Not bad, I thought. That face has potential. There's hardly a trace of the pink-cheeked, overachieving Hufflepuff. But hot damn, he sweats like he lived in tropical Manila! I mean, hasn't he heard of antiperspirants? Granted, the double shots of underarm wetness aren't enough to cloud his luster (read: sex appeal), but would I want that arm around my shoulder, fangirl or not? (After giving it some thought---hell yeah, I would! Even if at 5'4" my face would be right smack on the wet spot.)

So when rumors about Rob stinking up the New Moon set circulated last week, this photo came to my mind. And although I honestly believed the story was exaggerated, I was willing to allow that perhaps his royal hotness wasn't too conscious of his appearance, or the impression he made on people, because he was too focused on his work. I mean, it could happen to the best of us (raising an eyebrow).

But thankfully, it appears the rumors are not true at all! In an interview with Moviephone, Rob finally cleared the air, so to speak.

Is it true that, I don't know if you saw this, but a source on the set of 'New Moon' said that you don't smell good, that you don't shower?

I haven't even been on the set yet!

You know the same thing went around about Zac Efron a while ago; that he doesn't shower.

Really? He looks like he smells really good [laughs]. I also do shower.

Rob reads fan fiction

"It’s surprisingly hard-core. And very well written."

So said Robert Pattinson of Twilight fan faction in his GQ interview. And I totally agree! These Twilight-inspired works of fiction are very imaginative, and they go where Stephenie Meyer dared not tread--pre-marital sex between Bella and Edward!  Or at the very least  some really heavy making out scenes that could qualify as smut ("lemons" in FF lingo).

For sure, these FF writers have taken the Bellward saga beyond the confines of the young-adult genre. And a lot of them are so good I almost fear for SM (but she owns the characters and all things Twilight, so she need not fret). I actually find their take on SM's beloved characters, uhm, more rounded. They're darker, funnier, more "human" and more honest. In short, these are impefect characters that adults in my age group could actually relate to. Well, except for the fact that they get a lot more Cosmo-inspired sex than we do.

I used to stay away from FF, even from the Harry Potter era, because I didn't want stories that "desecrate" the characters I've come to love. So I never thought I'd be interested in stories were Edward is human, has a dirty mouth, and prone to in-your-face horniness, which happens to be the case is most popular Twilight FF. But after reading one such story, I realized this Edward could be as lovable, especially since I imagine he too has Rob Pattinson's face.

The novel-length stories come in installments, like a TV series. And they could be as addicting. I just dropped by Twilighted.net one time, and before I realized it the sun was rising and I had read a whole novel, with a cliffhanger in the end. Now I can't stop myself from clicking on the story I bookmarked to check for updates every morning.

I'm tempted to put the links to my favorite FF stories here but I'm afraid they might not be fit for young readers. But I encourage mature readers to go to Twilighted and check out what they have there. 

He can't lie, indeed

"A FEW DAYS AFTER we meet Robert Pattinson for the first time, we will call up his Twilight co-star Kristen Stewart, who will say this about him:

'He can’t lie,' she says. 'It makes things a little scary for him sometimes. But it’s my favorite thing about him.'"

The rest of Robert Pattinson's
GQ interview is here. Don't miss the link to the slideshow of him glammed up somewhere on that page!

Just to whet your appetites before you hit that link, here's what the article writer, Alex Pappademas, had to say of his answer to the Camilla Belle question:

"This is maybe the most poorly executed denial we’ve ever heard. This is, in fact, how we would deny dating Camilla Belle if we wanted as many people as possible to believe that we were totally hitting that, while still coming off as an untruthful person. Either Pattinson can’t lie, or he can’t lie very well."

Edward's bedroom

He had a hundred years' worth of journals! Now I know where some fan fiction I've read got their inspiration. Bella was feeling right 'at-home' in this clip. She was also really chatty. And Edward looked awkward, like it was really his first date. It's interesting but I liked how this scene came out in the final cut.

Trivia: A chincilla is a squirrellike rodent (Chinchilla laniger) native to the mountains of South America and widely raised in captivity for its soft, pale gray fur (www.thefreedictionary.com).

This alternate scene clip is from Trailer Park on MySpace Video.

Twilight

Bella's not-so-chaste dreams

If I remember right, the scene where Bella woke up from a fitful sleep and found Edward at the corner of her room was shown early in the film. This was before they were even friends, before she knew he was 'different,' before she got a touch of his cold skin, before she knew the ardour she showed and the implied spit swap in this clip could be fatal. Is this what they called a nightmare in the book?

This is among the deleted film scenes provided by Access Hollywood.

'I'm not Edward Cullen'

I saw this first on Twilight Extremists. It's one of those gems that I particularly love to put in this blog. I swear, this will crack you up.

Charlie bit me, Twilight version?

I'm amused by this previously unseen Twilight footage from Access Hollywood. Honestly, I can understand why it landed on the editing floor. Is it just me, or did that finger biting and then licking part really come out awkward rather than sexy? Too bad, the "fragile humans" line came right after that. Rob delivered that quite well.



And in case you missed this YouTube sensation some years back, see for yourself why I think it inspired the above finger-biting scene.

Making sense of the DVD race

There's a slew of Twilight DVD choices coming out this month, and thank God Twilighters.org came out with an ultimate guide to help us pick. The earlier we send our choice to our Titas and Ates in the U.S., the better their chances are of getting these for us. You could pre-order and have some of these shipped, but there's always the risk of the stocks going out. The local release (is there only one, really?) is not very loaded so you might want to pick from these.

I'm personally partial to Target's Twilight 3-Disc Deluxe Edition DVD, with 45mins of previously unseen content and the iTunes movie download. At $22.99, that's just around P1,120.



Text version of this video is here.

This blog's Wordle

I discovered Wordle through Geekologie. I thought I should try it. It's totally a waste of time but it's fun. Click on the mini-Wordle below to view the full-sized version.

"Wordle is a toy for generating 'word clouds' from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends."

Stephen skins Stephenie

The first time I read Stephen King was in 1988, for my Composition class under Ms. Elvira Tabobo. I hadn't heard of him before that as I had barely graduated from Sweet Valley High then.  Christine just caught my eye because, well, it had my name on it. And when I started reading it I realized that I had seen the movie adaptation on video some three years back. 

That it was about an evil car is the only thing I remember about that book, but it had introduced me to the guy whose Pet Sematary will later give me my first experience with the macabre. This is the same guy who is now dissing Stephenie Meyer. In a recent interview with USA Weekend, King was quoted to have said:

"Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people. ... The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good."

Ouch! I've read those lines more than a few times today and I squirmed every time. 

He then explained why he thought Twilight was a phenomenal success:

"People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because they’re not overtly sexual. A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet."

Apparently he thinks he got SM's formula down pat. It's simply sex. Subtle maybe, but it's still just sex. And girls like that because it appeals to feelings they can't confront yet. Safe, not theatening, appeals to feelings. Whew! How it must hurt to be dismissed like that by no less than Stephen King!

Of course, gauging from their reaction, SM fans are definitely not taking this sitting down. If they were shape-shifters like Jacob and his pack, I believe they would have already phased completely into wolves. From their forum posts, I could imagine the shaking and shuddering, and carotid arteries bursting. I shudder to think what they would  do to King if he were within leaping range. 

Facing the furor, my favorite Book Examiner Michelle Kerns explains King's comment here, basically saying that King criticized SM as a writer, not as a storyteller, which she is obviously an effective one. She concludes that "Twilight is not an example of good writing, but, really, it wasn't a serious attempt at it either. Stephenie Meyer did achieve what she was attempting--to tell a compelling story spiced with a bit of danger and a bit of romance."

I personally agree that Twilight is not a contender for the National Book Awards. It was never intended to be. I also believe that there's no point in comparing SM and King. I'm not going there at all. They simply wrote for different audiences, and for different reasons. The same way that there's no point in comparing King and Tolkien. They're not in the same league, although the former often names the latter as his influence.

But what I question is King's motive in publicly dissing SM. Is he just being frank and straightforward? Perhaps. He has, after all, the "Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters" tucked under his belt. And the American literary clique is definitely behind him, those defenders of literary standards who are forever bitter at the general reading public for largely ignoring their "critically superior" works.

But no matter how King belittles SM as a writer, it remains a fact that her debut novel, Twilight, is way more succesful commercially that his Carrie was. That means more people paid to get copies of Twilight, and more people read its supposedly inferior text. Not all the dissing in the world could change that.

Who do writers write for, if not readers like you and me? Let the critics pan or praise what they want. In the end, it is we, the consumers, who judge--with our currency--if a book is any good. After all, isn't literature a mere commodity, subject to economic laws?

Twilight spoof, too

I found this Twilight spoof floating around last week. A lot of people find it funny. I also think it has its moments, but it kinda pales (lousy pun intended) beside The TWILIGHT Before Christmas.

PETA rides on Twilight

Apparently Bella isn't the only one getting some piggybacking action in Twilight. Animal activist group PETA got a lot of forum space in fansites and blogs last week when it gave Twilight the Libby Award for “Most Animal-Friendly Movie.” I googled for an official explanation how a movie about vampires eating anmials in lieu of humans could be considered animal-friendly--I found none. 

I'm sure PETA's spin people are aware that the irony of the award has boggled the Twilight world, but not a word is heard from their side. Probably they're thinking that the less they say about it, the more people will speculate, translating to more publicity. And it looks like it doesn't matter to them what kind of publicity they're getting. Good or bad, publicity is still publicity after all. Here are some theories being thrown around:

1. PETA didn't get the Cullens' "vegetarian vampire" joke.

2. They came in late and didn't see the opening shot where Edward feasted on Bambi.

3. They fell asleep before Edward could tell Bella about his special diet.

4. No animals were harmed in making the movie.

5. Victoria wore faux fur (I wonder how they could tell).

6. Bella ordered mushroom ravioli at La Bella Italia.

What's your theory?

'Midnight Sun' still sits on the shelf (what's new?)

We've known since August. Stephenie Meyer is upset about the leaked Midnight Sun manuscripts and won't be writing up a conclusion to that cliffhanger in PDF. Any Twilight watcher worth her/his bite should have read Stephenie's statement on her site, and read the partial novel she posted there as well.

So why is this news all of a sudden? The story is now all over the Internet. Google Twilight news and you get headlines saying the same thing--that Stephenie is still upset and hasn't changed her mind. Is this even newsworthy? Is the fact that Brangelina or Tomkat are still together something to fuss about? If Stephenie snaps out of whatever it is she's going through and decides to finish Midnight Sun, then that would be newsworthy.

On the other hand, if this is someone's idea of a publicity stunt for Mindnight Sun, then maybe there's hope that it would see print after all. Perhaps someone thought that reiterating that Midnight Sun is truly dead would actually ressurect the fans' anticipation and result in $$$ when it does see daylight! Yeah, that's a possibility. But I'm not holding my breath.

Little Dakota as Jane?

She's little, has a helipad for a forehead, and at a certain angle looks like Smeagol. Note that I said Smeagol, not Gollum. That's because I don't think she's ugly at all. I think she could actually be likable, if only she didn't have that not-quite-human vibe about her.

And that's why I agree that Dakota Fanning would be perfect as Jane. According to Marc Malkin of E! Online, Dakota didn't even try out for the role; it was offered to her. I could almost see her eyes blazing in hatred for Bella. Chilly...

Apparently, I'm not the only one scared of her. Even Fish is.

Buzz: New directors considered for Eclipse

Variety.com hinted that the search is already on for the Eclipse director, and prominent names that have popped up are those of Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage) and James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma).

If this is true, then Chris Weitz won't be directing Eclipse after all, contrary to what was suggested by Alan Baltes here. But if they're looking for a director for Eclipse this early, Alan might be spot on about New Moon and Eclipse being filmed back-to-back.

Speaking of casting, Alan just announced the casting call for Native American teenagers for New Moon. René Haynes is casting the parts, as announced by Twilight casting director Lana Veenker on her blog. Lana emphasized that her office is not doing New Moon, as casting for this movie will be in Vancouver, LA and Italy, not in Oregon or Washington as was the case for Twilight.

Ashley Greene and her revelations

Alice is one of my favorite characters in Twilight. I mean, who doesn't like her? She sees the future and has been on Bella's side from the start.

But her alter ego Ashely Greene is another interesting character altogether. She's a shining star to herself even out of the Alice character. And it looks like she has everyone hanging on her every word. Look how she started a tsunami when she made one tiny comment about Vannessa Hudgens being a good fit for the role of Leah Clearwater. People (particularly at MTV.com) went as far as interpret her "I think she'd be great" comment as a sort of confirmation of rumors that the HSM starlet auditioned for the she-wolf role.

And now this buzz about Robert Pattinson getting into trouble with Twilight producers for getting rid of his vampire locks. Everyone's talking about it, and they're all quoting Ashley! I too was intrigued by Rob's daring move last December--and even talked about it here and in a public chat--because I knew the trademark hair was supposed to be in his contract. I mean, I didn't think Rob was the type who would keep what looked like a high-maintenance hairstyle, unless he was sort of forced to. I suspected, as I suppose every Twilight watcher did, that there was official furor in the background, but no one said anything about it. Until Ashley gaffed, and now it's all over the place.

I just love Ashley. I think she's the girl every reporter should talk to. You could never guess what jewels would emerge from those vampy lips. I wonder if the things she told reporters got her into trouble as well. Now that's something JJJ should ask her.

An aside on the Hudgens affair: The unnamed source at Summit who was quoted by Access Hollywood--where all the speculation about Vannessa Hudgens' supposed Twilight designs started--remained unnamed, but the confusion spread like the proverbial wildfire. Melissa Rosenberg herself was pushed into revealing that she hasn't written Leah into New Moon yet, which made sense as Leah didn't have much page space in the Twilight saga until Eclipse. But the rumors persisted, especially since New Moon and Eclipse will apparently be shot back-to-back. The Hudgens camp thought they had to put the rumors to rest, and told JustJaredJr.com that the actress has not auditioned for New Moon. But this doesn't say anything about Eclipse, right? Both Twilight installments are supposed to be cast simultaneously, if they are indeed being filmed back-to-back. Oh well, by now it should be obvious that I am not a VH fan, and I hope I don't see any pre-Twilight big-name actor in the movie adaptations ever.

Twilight icons

Our fellow Twilight fangirl in Sweden, Angelica, has some cool Twilight icons on her blog Whirlwind. I already placed one on the right navigation bar. After much tweaking around, I finally got to it!

Here are some catchy ones:

IMDb users rate 'Twilight'

IMDb is an interesting neighborhood. You often don't know what interesting jewels you would stumble upon. And this morning I saw Twilight's user stats, and predictably, Catherine Hardwicke's handiwork rated well among females, particularly those under 18. Average rating from female users is 7.5 and 5.4 from male users. The discrepancy is so telling!

Here are highlights of the demographic breakdown (highest rating is 10):

Females under 18 - 8.1
Females Aged 18-29 - 7.4
Females Aged 30-44 - 7.2
Females Aged 45+ - 6.9
Males under 18 - 5.5
Males Aged 18-29 - 5.3
Males Aged 30-44 - 5.5
Males Aged 45+ - 5.6

Interestingly, while the lowest rating from the female group, 6.9, came from those aged 45+, the highest rating from the male group, 5.6, came from those aged 45+. Could this be saying that as we girls age, we become less prone to being carried away by teenage romantic stories? And as guys age, they become more forgiving of the cheese?

Vanessa Hudgens joining New Moon? Taylor Lautner Oh so Proud of his Muscles!

I so love Hollywood! Here's the news regarding Taylor and Vanessa (they seem to be good friends on the picture? Vanessa Hudgens To Join 'Twilight' Sequel?

Vanessa Hudgens of High School Musical is being considered for a role in New Moon because she has auditioned for the role of Leah Clearwater and Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen) thinks she'd be great in the role! Hehehe Michael Buckley of 'What the Buck' will definitely freak out on this because he doesn't like Vanessa and on the other hand, he likes Twilight!

Again I haven't read New Moon so this is making me all excited and sad at the same time. *sigh*

Now about Taylor Lautner, really this dude is definitely enjoying the limelight! As in he's like beginning to be visible in every events...he's doing his best and making the most of it! He's even proud of his new physique!

According to him and Access Hollywood:

Taylor also showed off his new bulked-up physique for his return as Jacob in "New Moon."

"I get into the gym every single day, seven days a week, two hours a day, eat as much as I possibly can," he told Access. "[I'm] going crazy."

Taylor said he's put on 26 pounds since starting his training regimen the day after he finished filming "Twilight" -- and he's not done yet.

"I put on 20 pounds and then I guaranteed 10 more pounds," he said. "I've already put on about six, so four more pounds. I'm a man of my word."

Duh! Ego and Narcissistic much? Rob isn't like that at all! But then again Jacob is very different from Edward so Taylor really need to prepare for New Moon because it's his moment. He can't be all glitter tits like Edward so might as well bulk up right? Hehhehe..Hey, not everyone is given the chance to become one hot sexy werewolf. In my case it's like me in disbelief as an older sister to Taylor (though I'm not literally hahaha) I just can't believe that at a young age -- he isn't 18 yet! He's just so bulked up! I'm beginning to worry for the boy...

Prince Caspian Wants to Play the role of Aro in New Moon?

Okay, I after I watched The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian I think I'm falling for Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian) btw he will reprise his role as King Caspian on the third installment of Narnia.

Anyway, as I was searching something about him because he's now my crush hehehe, I checked on Ben Barnes at Wikipedia and it was stated there that Barnes would like to play the part of Aro in the 2009 film-version of Stephenie Meyer's book New Moon (novel).

I kind of like the idea of him being a vampire. Unfortunately though I haven't read New Moon yet so I can't picture him as Aro. I was focused on Jacob, Bella and Edward that I dunno who the Aro character is...care to enlighten anyone? Thanks! c",) xoxo

Bella dolls

I was patrolling the Net for interesting Twilight tidbits and came across these cute dolls at Dollz Mania. I think these are more interesting than the story about that HSM starlet auditioning for the Leah Clearwater part so I'm putting them up here.

Bella just before the van accident.


Bella at the baseball game.


Bella at the prom.

The 'Twilight' screenplay that didn't make the cut

Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg may have hit a jackpot with her Twilight adaptation, but there's another screenplay that has been winning fans all over the Internet. I'm talking about Eric D. Snider's rejected Twilight screenplay. I pasted Scene 1 below. See the rest for yourself here.

Scene 1

BELLA: I'm sad to leave the hellish, uninhabitable wasteland of Phoenix to live in a rain-soaked town full of rubes. I wish everything about my comfortable and privileged life were completely different!
DAD: Hi, Bella! Welcome to Forks, Washington. I'm glad you've stopped playing mother to your own flighty, irresponsible mom and come here to be my mother instead.
BELLA: It will be my pleasure to cook and clean for you.
DAD: I bought you an old truck from an Indian in a wheelchair!
BELLA: I ... have no response for that.

Read the rest of this overlooked masterpiece.

Taylor tries to put our minds at ease

And he does that by showing off his newly buffed up biceps. Access Hollywood caught up with the visibly happy Taylor Lautner (Just listen to him laugh! He makes Tinkerbell come alive!), and here's what they saw.



Is it just me or do those muscular lumps look out of place in his teenage torso? My maternal hormones are poking the worry instinct--Could Sharkboy be overdoing it? Are there steroids in the recipe? I suppose we'd know the answer to the latter if we hear Lou Ferrigno's Incredible Hulk voice in New Moon instead of Jacob Black's sunny laughter.

Twilight series in 2008 bestsellers list

This of course comes as no suprise. Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series--all four books--made it to the 2008 top 10 list of best-selling books in the US. Breaking Dawn topped the list, followed by  Twilight. New Moon and Eclipse ranked 5th and 6th, respectively. Michelle Kerns, my favorite (book) examiner at Examiner.com, has the top 50 list here.

Here's the top 10:

1. Breaking Dawn - Meyer, Stephenie
   
2. Twilight - Meyer, Stephenie
   
3. A New Earth - Tolle, Eckhart
   
4. The Last Lecture - Pausch, Randy
   
5. New Moon - Meyer, Stephenie
   
6. Eclipse - Meyer, Stephenie
   
7. The Shack Young - William P Windblown
   
8. The Tales of Beedle the Bard - Rowling, J K
   
9. Brisingr Paolini - Christopher Paolini
   
10. Eat, Pray, Love Gilbert - Elizabeth Gilbert
    

On a side note, I'm pleased that Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture figured in the list. The brilliant professor died a few months back, and his last lecture video became a YouTube sensation. 

From Sharkboy to werewolf

I'm actually happy that Taylor Lautner has been retained as Jacob Black in New Moon. I know there has been some contention among Twilighters about his casting, and the anti side has given valid arguments why he should be ditched, major of these was his height. New Moon is after all Jake's movie, and  unless Taylor spurts really big this year, he might end up looking like Sharkboy rather than Jake, who'll be growing to 6'5" or thereabouts in this sequel.

But I guess the people behind the movie realized that tweaking with the original cast members at this point, at least for the major parts, was just too risky. And Jake after all was a regular 16-year-old when the novel opened, exactly the same age as Taylor now (althought Taylor will be 17 by the time they start filming).

Here's New Moon director Chris Weitz's announcement, as posted on Stephenie Meyer's website on January 7: 

I'm very happy to announce that Taylor Lautner will be playing Jacob Black in New Moon and that he's doing so with the enthusiastic support of Summit Entertainment, the producers, and Stephenie Meyer.

The characters in Stephenie's books go through extraordinary changes of circumstance and also appearance; so it is not surprising that there has been speculation about whether the same actor would portray a character who changes in so many surprising ways throughout the series. But it was my first instinct that Taylor was, is, and should be Jacob, and that the books would be best served by the actor who is emotionally right for the part. I think that fans of Twilight the book and the movie will be surprised by the Jacob Black that Taylor will bring to the screen in New Moon; and I'm looking forward to working with him and the rest of the cast in realizing the film.

very best

Chris Weitz

And Stephenie herself adds:

I'd just like to add that I was very much a part of this decision. My first priority was always what was best for New Moon—what was going to give us the best possible movie. I'm truly thrilled that Taylor was the one who proved to the director, to Summit, and to me that he is the best possible Jacob we could have. And I'm very much looking forward to seeing what he's going to bring to Jacob's character this year.

- Steph

On a side note, I tried googling for Jacob Black official posters and found that they're quite rare. Even pictures of Taylor in character are very limited. But here's what I found so far. And even from these few picks, I can see that Taylor will be able to flesh out Jake's sincere, sunshiny but volatile character.

Ok, his body doesn't look so Jacoby. But he's not doing bad for a 16-year-old boy. I just hope he doesn't take to steroids just to look burly.

I was just "rereading" Twilight through an audiobook, and I can't help but think of this face when the young Quileute boy was mentioned. He does look warm and friendly enough to be that boy who unwittingly revealed Edward's secret to Bella at the La Push beach.

Mystery solved

Remember the ABS-CBN news article about "Takipsilim" that suddenly disappeared? This is belated news, but apparently the story was retracted. That's why the link no longer worked. ABS-CBN had issued an official erratum on December 30.

Could it be they decided to withdraw after the overwhelming opposition to the idea? They probably got wind of Louise's petition campaign against it.

I'm posting the retraction here, in case it too disappears:

Erratum on 'Twilight' remake

By gani_de_castro

Created 12/30/2008 - 19:54

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 12/30/2008 7:54 PM

On December 24, abs-cbnNEWS.com uploaded a story, "ABS-CBN bags rights for local 'Twilight' remake". The source of the story was a report by entertainment writer Edgar Cruz posted on yehey.com. 

 

The duty editor who uploaded the story failed to check with ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. whether the story was correct and accurate. 

 

ABS-CBN Corp. Communications head Bong Osorio has since denied that the company will do a local remake of the movie, Twilight. 

 

abs-cbnNEWS.com thus decided to remove the article from our website. 

 

Our apologies. -- Eds.

as of 12/30/2008 7:54 PM

More on Chris Weitz and New Moon

I found this interesting Twilight blog by ScullingOnSquam, who's doing a PhD on fantasy literature adaptations. She had actually done work on the movie set last year, and has a lot of interesting insights on both the book series  and the movie.

In a recent post, she talked briefly about Chris Weitz, the director of "New Moon":

"Weitz also worked on the screenplay for The Golden Compass, and I’ve been told that he had one version of the script that was basically rejected and changed and the one that ended up being shot is completely different from what he wrote. If that’s true I wonder why, who told him no, what was wrong with his, how was it different, and what his reaction and thoughts on the new one was. Obviously he shot it, it’d be hard to turn down an opportunity to direct a $180 million blockbuster starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig just because you’re unhappy with the changes to your script (and I don’t even know if Weitz was unhappy with the changes or if he approved the changes). Overall, it was a not a well-done adaptation. It was visually stunning, the cast was incredible, I thought the music was lovely, and the costumes and setting unmatched. It had all of the details and grandeur of The Lord of the Rings but with more gold."

This must be the story behind Weitz's bailing out of "The Golden Compass" mentioned in his IMdB profile, which I quoted in an earlier post.

I don't want to prejudge Weitz's ability to helm "New Moon" based on the above, but somehow stories like this shape our expectations. I feel sorry for the guy, actually. Since Catherine Hardwicke was able to put together a Twilight adaptation on a shoestring budget, and managed to shatter records at the tills, expectations are stratospheric for Weitz who is given more leg room budget-wise. The guy must feel he has a whole planet sitting on his shoulders right now. This is a make-or-break opportunity for any director, and one must have a lot of chutzpah to take it on.

'Rereading' Twilight: A cure for insomnia?

A friend had shared with me the audiobook version of Twilight, and for the past week the voice of narrator Ilyana Kadushin has been soothing me to sleep. I'm six again, and eager for bedtime so I could hie off to a distant dreamland--only this time it's not a chocolate factory or a secret garden, but Forks, with its "too green" mossy forest.

It felt like I was rereading the book, only this time I could do it flat on my back. It was my first audiobook ever, and I thought it was cool to be able to "read" with the lights off and with my eyes closed (so I'm thinking of scoring the New Moon audiobook soon).

Reviewing Twilight through the audiobook reminded me of why I fell in love with it in the first place. Here are few of the reasons:

The first time he spoke to her: 

"Hello," said a quiet, musical voice. I looked up, stunned that he was speaking to me.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."

The first lip contact: 

"I was thinking there was something I wanted to try." And he took my face in his hands again. I couldn't breathe. He hesitated, not in the normal way, the human way. Not the way a man might hesitate before he kissed a woman, to gauge her reaction, to see how he would be received. Perhaps he would hesitate to prolong the moment, that ideal moment of anticipation, sometimes better than the kiss itself. 

Edward hesitated to test himself, to see if this was safe, to make sure he was still in control of his need. And then his cold, marble lips pressed very softly against mine.

The first time he went to her house, invited, and admitted spying on her when she slept:  

"How often?" I asked casually. "Hmmm?" He sounded as if I had pulled him from some other train of thought. I still didn't turn around. "How often did you come here?" "I come here almost every night." I whirled, stunned. "Why?" "You're interesting when you sleep." He spoke matter-of-factly. "You talk."

He pulled me against his chest, softly, naturally. "Don't be self-conscious," he whispered in my ear. "If I could dream at all, it would be about you. And I'm not ashamed of it."

The first time she saw her in her room:

My eyes scanned the darkness, the impenetrable shadows of the trees. "Edward?" I whispered, feeling completely idiotic. The quiet, laughing response came from behind me. "Yes?" I whirled, one hand flying to my throat in surprise.

He lay, smiling hugely, across my bed, his hands behind his head, his feet dangling off the end, the picture of ease.

And that's just halfway through the book. I'll try to add more later. Meantime, I'll get ready for when Bella meets the Cullens. 

What The Buck's Best Movie of the Year Is....

I just like What the Buck so much that every time I get the chance to be online I always watch it! Here's Michael Buckley's final review and award for 2008!

Nuking the Fridge and Top 10s

I'm back! Iwas just checking the best and worst of anything in Hollywood and the Top 10s of Yahoo! in Entertainment last 2008, and of course Twilight is always one of the picks for their list:

Top 10 Trailers of 2008 (of course Twilight is part of the list) 

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/top-trailers-of-2008.html

Top Box Office of 2008
8. TWILIGHT
Total Gross: $169,925,169
http://movies.yahoo.com/photos/collections/gallery/1319/top-10-box-office-movies-of-2008#photo3

Nuking the Fridge
http://movies.yahoo.com/photos/collections/gallery/1328/nuking-the-fridge/#photo9

Sometimes while watching a flick, there's a moment that is so jarringly stupid, so breathtakingly ridiculous that it throws you out of the movie, leaving you either befuddled or chortling like a lunatic. This year, a term was coined for such a moment -- "Nuking the Fridge"

TWILIGHT--VAMPIRE BASEBALL/WESTSIDE STORY MOMENT
Going into "Twilight," you'd expect to see some teen angst, a little blood sucking, and a lot of moony-eyed swooning. Yet the baseball game might be a surprise. Apparently, vampires love to don uniforms popular during the Black Sox scandal and play ball in thunder storms. Apparently, Edward can bolt after any fly ball with lightning speed, even if the special effects used makes him look more like Speedy Gonzales than an undead dreamboat. And apparently when two rival bands of vampires meet, they face off Broadway-style, like the Sharks and the Jets in "West Side Story."

Hmmm... come to think of it... it does kinda look like the face-off in the West Side Story only in a different way and story, without singing and dancing. Only heaving chests and piercing eyes and sharp teeth! hehehe.

This Just In: Rayver, Shaina deny they'll be in local 'Twilight'

From: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/01/03/09/rayver-shaina-deny-involvement-alleged-twilight-remake

The supposed cast and crew of the rumored Filipino version of “Twilight” have denied they will be doing a local remake of the American film.

In the alleged Filipino version, reports said the movie’s lead characters, Edward and Bella, would be portrayed by Rayver Cruz and Shaina Magdayao.

The web reports also said that it would be directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina and aired on ABS-CBN.

These speculations generated angry comments online from Twilight fanatics, forcing ABS-CBN Corp. Communications head Bong Osorio to issue a statement denying the reports.

In an interview on “Entertainment Live”, Cruz, Magdayao and Molina also denied that they were involved in such project. The three said they were even clueless about the reports until the whole thing became a big issue.

Cruz said he was shocked when he first found out about his alleged involvement in the project.

“May nag-text sa akin. Sabi niya, ‘Bro, gagawa ka daw ng Twilight Filipino version?’ Sabi ko, ‘Ha, ano ‘yon ?’ Sabi niya, ‘Tingnan mo sa Internet.’ ‘Yong tiningnan ko nand’on nga. May picture pa kami ni Shaina, ‘yon mismo, ‘yong Twilight,” Cruz said.

Cruz was referring to Twilight’s movie poster where the faces of the original American actors had been replaced by his and Magdayao’s faces.

Magdayao said it was obvious that the movie poster had been altered. She also pointed out that her photo in the poster was shot for her 18th birthday.

“Marami ring nagtatanong sa akin tapos ako ‘yong una wala talaga akong alam, ‘San ba talaga galing ‘yan?’” she said.

She added: “Gusto ko lang po klaruhin na hindi po ako si Bella. Wala pong Filipino version ng Twilight.”

For her part, Molina said: “It’s impossible for me to start shooting that project in February dahil sa February maglalabas kami ng part two ng ‘A Very Special Love.’ So, hindi naman ako nakakagawa ng two projects at the same time.”

as of 01/03/2009 10:29 PM

Rob's new hairdo

About three things I am absolutely positive. First, Rob is hot, in Edward character or not. Second, he is NOT Quentin Tarantino's brother. And third, the new hairdo makes him unconditionally and irrevocably yummy. As in, gay or not, I don't care.





I know this is old news, but I thought you might want to see His Yumminess' new look here. I'm not sure about rules on posting images I didn't take myself, or whose owners I haven't contacted directly, but I saw these on other sites so I presume they're up for grabs. If this is illegal in any way, just let me know.

Do you like Rob's new do? Let us know!

How do you like Rob Pattinson's new 'do? hosted by tintelesforo.

Join now

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Chat about what's on your mind. More about public chats.

Let that other vampire movie in

I was just recently wondering how Twilight would go if Bella and Edward switched places--that is, if Bella were the vampire and Edward the mortal lover. Would she be as protective of him? Would he not mind being the weak and vulnerable one?

In Pinoy stories, it's not unusual to have the suffering supernatural character a hot-looking female, as in the case of the aswang (well, I have Alma Moreno in mind), the diwata, the white lady or the restless ghost. When it is male, it's usually malevolent and unattractive--think kapre, tikbalang or maligno. Love stories between a mythical female character and a human male usually end with her giving up immortality to join her mortal lover, or to save his life. But in Western movies, we often have supernatural characters or even superheroes male and strong, and their love interests frail human girls. Think Spider Man and Mary Jane, Superman and Lois.

But just before New Year's, we watched Låt den rätte komma in (Let The Right One In), an interesting Swedish movie where the vampire was not only female, but also a child. She kind of reminded me of Claudia, Kirsten Dunst's character in Interview With The Vampire. Both were trapped in a child's body for eternity. Eli, the girl vamp's name, had been 12 for 200 years, which made her technically older than Edward. But unlike the Cullens, she wasn't sparkly or dazzling, but was sickly and funny-smelling when thirsty, and she had dirt under her fingernails that looked like dried blood.

In short, she was plain scary--not the type of predator that could draw you in with your senses--which wasn't really necessary because she hunted by pouncing on her victims from a tree, or crying out for help in a dark corner then biting her would-be rescuer. She comes out only at night and sleeps in a tub during the day, and would catch fire when exposed to sunlight. Her eyes shed bloody tears when she tried going inside someone's home uninvited. The title actually alludes to the traditional belief that vampires could not enter anyone's home unless invited in.

The story revolves around a boy named Oskar who befriended her. Constantly bullied in school, Oskar found an ally in Eli, who eventually became his girlfriend. Their friendship was sort of innocent, at the same time disturbing. There was a tender kissing scene, but not the kind that made your heart flutter; rather it made your heart ache. The dialogue was relatively sparse, at least that's how it seemed because I was only reading the subtitles.

On the whole, I found the story well crafted, and the film exquisitely executed. I would highly recommend it if you wanted some salt and less sugar in your regular vampire love story.