“Twilight: Eclipse” Poem and Music

Posted on June 30, 2010 at 10:40 pm

“The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” begins with a famous poem, recited by Bella, “Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost:

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

It’s a good poem to set the stage for this story, as Bella is torn between two people who are more than human, Edward, a vampire, whose physical temperature is cooler than the average human’s 98.6 degrees, and Jacob, a shape-shifter who is part of a wolf pack, whose temperature is so warm he never has to wear a shirt (and who is only half-joking when he refers to himself as “hot”). At one point in the movie, Bella is so cold she is shivering, and Edward has to accept that only Jacob can give her the heat she needs — by holding her in his arms.

The poem’s themes of the warmth and heat of desire versus the iciness of hatred are also explored in the movie. Bella loves both Edward and Jacob and they are both passionately devoted to her. They must protect her from enemies who are fueled by frozen emotions like revenge and the need for power.

And listen to this beautiful Debussy piece, “Clair de Lune” (Moonlight), played in the film. It is the third and most famous movement of his Suite Bergamasque. It also inspired the movie “Frankie and Johnny” with Michele Pfeiffer and Al Pacino.

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Behind the Scenes
Interview: Taylor Hackford of ‘Love Ranch’

Interview: Taylor Hackford of ‘Love Ranch’

Posted on June 30, 2010 at 3:59 pm

How did director Taylor Hackford (“An Officer and a Gentleman,” “Ray“) get Dame Helen Mirren (Oscar-winner for “The Queen“) agree to appear in his film, “Love Ranch,” the story of Reno’s first legal brothel? It helped that she is his wife. But, as he told me in this interview, she had turned him down six or seven times when he’d asked her to appear in his movies. This time, though, he had what it took to get her to agree, a role of such range and force that she found it irresistible. In this film she plays Grace, a madam since she was 20, tough and cynical. And then she meets someone who opens her to feelings she never imagined she was capable of.
Tell me about the movie. I know that it is inspired by the true story of the Confortes, who ran the first legal brothel in Reno, Nevada, and an Argentine boxer.
The essence of what’s behind this film is — can not just one but three cynical professionals with no romantic delusions — can they find that they are overcome by their emotions, that passion explodes, that love and jealousy and all those things overpower them and take control. All this taking place in this cynical world where you’re selling sex, which is not erotic but businesslike.
I loved the costume design in this movie. The clothes did more than evoke the 1970’s — they really helped to tell the story, illuminating the characters and how they changed over the course of the film. mirrenloveranch.jpg
It’s great you say that. I went with a very young designer. Her name is Melissa Bruning. She had not done a lot of films, but she gave me her book, she draws, she has a great style, and I decided to take a chance. I didn’t have a big budget so she didn’t have a lot to work with but she just does fantastic work. The important thing here is you’re doing a film in the 70’s, and it’s a very arch era, big hair, disco, everything was high styled. Some people would make the whole film about that. But I wanted the actors to be wearing the clothes instead of the clothes wearing the actors. She found a lot of vintage clothes, all that lingerie, all those things the girls are wearing, that’s all period stuff. She did build some clothes for Helen. These clothes helped define these characters.
The antecedents of these characters are real. The character played by Joe Pesci is based on Joe Conforte who was an Italian from the Northeast but once he came West he affected the clothes and the style of his customers who were truck drivers and cowboys. You know by the clothes Charlie is wearing that he’s still got New Jersey all over him even though he is trying to have this bravura style of the West. Each actor collaborated with Melissa in their own way.
I like the way the costumes don’t just show us the characters but they show us how the characters change, especially Grace.
You see her come alive. My wife is incredibly brave. She goes for whatever the character needs regardless of the way she looks. People appreciate the fact when someone is real, not phony. When you meet Grace , she is plenty tough, she is a cynical professional; I don’t think there’s an ounce of romantic illusion left in her. She’s tired, she’s done this for a long time. She’s sick. She discovers she’s terminal. She knows her husband is a philanderer. You can have that knowledge, but you don’t want your nose rubbed in it. She’s an unhappy person. Helen allowed herself to have that look. She has the big hair and the outfit, but it’s a uniform. She is tired, she doesn’t look so good, but as she discovers that it isn’t over for her, as the juices start to flow, she comes alive. Part of that is hair, makeup and costume and part is the actress herself, and the transformation is wonderful.
You worked with three stars from three different countries and three different acting traditions. How did you get them to work together so seamlessly?
Two things. When I first mentioned to people I as pairing Helen Mirren and Joe Pesci, they looked at me like I was joking. But I knew with both of them, their traditions are different but the commitment is total. You’ll never see either of them go half-way. They immediately hit it off. Neither one would give an inch and they realized, “We really feed off each other.” I thought they were terrific together.
The biggest and most difficult casting situation — it’s not a duet at the core of this film, it’s a trio. Joe and Helen are consummate thoroughbreds. Then the actor who plays Bruza, he has to go toe to toe with them. He’s younger, but he’s a forceful character, a boxer from Argentina. It was really tough. To find an actor who could do that was, I thought, almost impossible, though he has this bravura exterior he has secrets and pain he has to reveal over the course of the film. My writer, Mark Jacobson, handed me a picture of Sergio Peris-Mencheta and said, “This guy is from Madrid, he has a great look and is supposed to be a pretty good actor.” He stopped in Los Angeles, he came to our house, and he and Helen read. It just was uncanny. He had the spark, the humor, the incredible intensity, the animal magnetism. Helen said, “There’s so much going on. This guy has it.” He is a physical man. He was the captain of Spain’s national rugby team. But he didn’t know anything about boxing and he’s a slender guy. He had to train at Gleason’s gym in Brooklyn and worked with Jimmy Glynn, a very famous boxing trainer and put on 35 pounds. I also liked his being there because he was speaking English. He is the great discovery in this film. He could be a big movie star.
I didn’t expect to see in the middle of this movie an electrifying — and brutal — boxing match.
I love boxing. I’ve always been a boxing fan. I was the co-filmmaker on “When We Were Kings.” This film is about the flesh business, selling flesh both in a brothel and in the boxing ring. There’s a kind of poetic metaphor in that world of flesh when you can find true love. So my own ego says that if there’s going to be a boxing scene, it’s got to be great. It’s like doing a love scene. It better be there for a reason. If it truly is about two people coming together and something being discovered, there is a place for it. This is a catalyst, it’s the moment where everybody’s role changes. Charlie’s dream turns into a nightmare. Bruza, based on the boxer Oscar Bonavena, is hiding something and we discover his weakness. Grace realizes his vulnerability and that drives her. You need to see the bitter reality and the horror she feels. Everyone takes a 90-degree turn at that moment.
I’m proud of it because it is a realistic approach to boxing, done in Bonavena’s style.
You shot the film in New Mexico rather than Reno. Why?
We got a tax credit to shoot there. But it’s not dissimilar. It’s that austere, monochromatic, look, bare but still beautiful. Juxtaposing that natural exterior with an artificial interior, where you’re never supposed to know whether it’s day or night, you’re supposed to lose yourself. That juxtaposition was a wonderful stylistic metaphor. But we did go to Reno for three days. It has not been the success story Vegas has and you can still capture the ethos of the 70’s because so much hasn’t changed.
What inspires you?
Talent. Story. I’m a story-teller. I know how to use a camera and style is important to me but I like to reveal a story through the actors. You can only achieve that through a level of trust. Telling a story I’m excited about and I try to do something different and not make the same film twice. If I can take a personal journey that takes me on an adventure, I’m interested.

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Behind the Scenes Directors Interview
‘Twilight’s’ Alex Merez: Interview of Paul from the Wolf Pack

‘Twilight’s’ Alex Merez: Interview of Paul from the Wolf Pack

Posted on June 29, 2010 at 3:31 pm

Alex.JPGAlex Merez is one of the wolf pack in this week’s release of “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” the third of the series based on Stephanie Meyer’s wildly popular books. The wolf pack are the Quileute people who become wolves. I spoke to him when he came to Washington D.C. for a special showing of the last film, “New Moon.”
When “New Moon” came out, I spoke to two of the vampires, who told me they took movement lessons to develop their cat-like grace. What kind of preparation did you do for moving like a wolf? Was your background in dance helpful?
Yes. I think it is mostly about your posture. People can tell whether it is defensive or aggressive. I put some thought into it but I didn’t take any classes. (Laughs.) It’s all in the eyes. That’s where their chain of command is, in the eyes. Little subtleties, too, where their ears are, keeping my shoulders in, kind of scrappy and aggressive.
Do you have any action scenes in the film?
No, but my wolf does! I made sure to massage Phil Tippett, the genius behind making the wolves do what they do. I just massage his shoulders and then he made my wolf do extra-cool stuff.
What’s the most fun about playing a wolf person?
Being half-nude the whole time! It got freezing cold, but it was the only time I could be that naked and not get a ticket.
I watched over and over again Bram Stoker’s Dracula with Gary Oldman, one of my favorites. I really enjoyed that film. Now I like more dramas and indie films. I loved “Crazy Heart,” this anti-hero trying to reclaim the fleeting game.
Did you want to be an actor when you were a kid?
It wasn’t until much later. I thought if you wanted to be an actor you had to be on stage, acting, singing — that was not my cup of tea. But I met my mentor, a very strong, physical, masculine man and he persuaded me to go into it.
You are a First Nation descendant of the Purepecha Nation, so like the wolf pack in the movie you are of Native American descent. Is that important in playing the role?
The cool thing about it is coming from that cultural perspective, you can’t fake it or read a book about it. It’s something you just have. It’s just a part of you. So we really bring that into our characterization. We definitely focus on the community. And wolf packs rely on each other. They can’t survive alone. That’s something native people do anyway.
What did you do to have fun while you were filming?
We would go out to eat, we were watching movies. And Taylor would just hang with us.
Do you study martial arts?
Yes, I’m a black belt in Shidokan karate, have done muay thai, Afro-Brazilian martial arts, a little bit of ju-jitsu. twilight_saga_eclipse.jpg
Why is this story so popular?
It’s grounded in reality. Every great story is a love story at the root. Everyone can relate to that. Everyone understands hatred, betrayal, revenge, unrequited love. It touches on a lot of things that fans can grasp.
What do the fans say to you?
Take your shirt off!

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Actors Interview

Hot Tub Time Machine

Posted on June 29, 2010 at 8:00 am

I can understand why John Cusack, producer and star of this movie, would like to find a time machine to take him back to 1986. That was the last time he was making popular movies.
With the most explanatory title since “Snakes on a Plane,” we know where this is going, literally. Four shlubs, unhappy with their lives, go for a ski weekend at a place where the three middle-aged friends used to live it up. The fourth member is a shlub from the next generation who has never had a chance to live it up. At the resort, they go into a hot tub and faster than you can say Spandau Ballet, they are back in 1986. Three of them have a chance to correct their mistakes and the fourth has a chance to find out something about where he came from that will surprise no one. Within the first ten minutes we see a bong, a character throwing dog poop in someone’s face, and a suicide attempt. Party on!
Can you guess what happens next? Will there be jokes about cheesy 80’s trends? Someone is wearing a “Miami Vice” t-shirt. Will there be jokes about things people in the 80’s didn’t know were coming? Someone from the 80’s asks cluelessly, “What is email?” Will men who never figured out how to be grown-ups go back to being kids and learn that they didn’t know how to do that, either? Will there be appearances by performers from the 80’s intended to make us feel nostalgic but in reality just reminding us of how old they are now? Watch for Chevy Chase and, reminding us in addition about how much worse this is than “Back to the Future,” Crispin Glover. And then, just to throw everything possible into the mix, let’s add some raunchy humor with a lot of cheerful sexism and homophobia. Its slacker vibe matches its era, but it’s not unpretentious; it’s just lazy.
It tries hard to be outrageous, but more often it’s dull. Once again, and I’m just going to have to keep saying this until they get the message, referring to something is not the same as making a joke about it. And, for the record, let me add that jokes about and the appearance of bodily fluids are not inherently funny, either. On the other hand, if you disagree, you will love this movie.
The few bright spots include the always-welcome Craig Robinson and the on-the-brink-of-breaking-through Lizzy Caplan, still just one great part away from the big time. The un-bright spots include pretty much everything else.

(more…)

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Comedy Comic book/Comic Strip/Graphic Novel

Smile of the Week: PS 22 Sings ‘Viva La Vida’

Posted on June 28, 2010 at 8:00 am

A gifted teacher named Gregg Breinberg has made an elementary school chorus from Public School 22 in Graniteville, Staten Island (New York) into an international sensation. Here they sing the Coldplay song “Viva La Vida,” and their sweet voices and sincere dedication make the lyrics deeply moving.

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Music Smile of the Week
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