The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) - Weitz's YA smash will bore your pants off

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There's no shortage of sexual promise and weird-looking youths on this foggy poster for Chris Weitz's The Twilight Saga: New Moon

 

Bella and Edward are very enthralled in their love of each other, but then he wants her to live a normal life (without a vampire lover) and disappears, and she begins a new intense, platonic love relationship with Indian wolf boy Jacob.

 

The Twilight Saga: New Moon is written by Melissa Rosenberg (Step Up (2006)), adapting Stephenie Meyer's (The Host (2008)) New Moon (2006), and directed by Chris Weitz (Down to Earth (2001)).

Nothing much new under the sun here in the second chapter of the Twilight franchise, which in its long love dialog scenes metaphorically play the strings, boil the sugar and glaze in fat - all at the same time!

Mostly contrary to its predecessor, Catherine Hardwicke's Twilight (2008), New Moon bores tremendously: No one performs well in the unexciting and at times incomprehensible story. Michael Sheen (Dolittle (2020)) is strange as an eagerly staring vampire leader, and the werewolves look about as natural as 1950s sci-fi b-movie monsters. SPOILER The final cliffhanger; Ed wants to get wed! Gasp! 

 

Related posts:

 

The Twilight franchise: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) - Slade brings the popular teen franchise a thin cup of more, slightly better the same

Chris Weitz: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) or, Ginny's Fate: A Star Wars Calculation (co-writer)

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

American Pie (1999) or, Losing It Before Prom (producer/uncredited co-director) 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 50 mil. $

Box office: 711 mil. $

=  Mega-hit (returned 14.22 times its cost)

[The Twilight Saga: New Moon premiered 16 November (California) and runs 130 minutes. Production was green-lit and announced the day after Twilight's sensational opening in 2008. Robert Pattinson (Water for Elephants (2011)) was reportedly paid 12 mil. $ for his performance, while Taylor Lautner (Abduction (2011)) was paid 4 mil. $. Shooting took place from March - May 2009 in British Columbia, including in Vancouver, and in Italy. The film opened #1 to a 142.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #1 another 3 weekends and then stayed in the top 5 for another 3 weekends (#2-#4-#5), grossing 296.6 mil. $ (41.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 43.4 mil. $ (6.1 %) and France with 39.2 mil. $ (5.5 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 1/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. The film sold more than 8.8 mil. home video units in North America alone, totaling 185.1 mil. $ in additional sales. The franchise and stars returned in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010). Weitz returned with A Better Life (2011). Pattinson returned in Remember Me (2010); Kristen Stewart (Seberg (2019)) in Welcome to the Rileys (2010). The Twilight Saga: New Moon is rotten at 28 % with a 4.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Twilight Saga: New Moon? 

Adventureland (2009) - Mottola's personally inspired, funny coming-of-age romance

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+ Best Coming-of-Age Movie of the Year

Jesse Eisenberg appears to look into the distance with a daydreaming glare on this nostalgia-styled, neat poster for Greg Mottola's Adventureland

It is 1987, and James is going to Europe and then on to Columbia University. That is, until his parents' economy changes, and he instead has to take a job at the local amusement park, which becomes the beginning of an eventful summer.

Adventureland is the 3rd theatrical feature for great New-Yorker writer-director Greg Mottola (Superbad (2007)). It is an assured coming-of-age romcom that has more to it than most probably expect; both in terms of laughs, sharp observations, lines, situations and scenes, which feel real. Adventureland is a lot like a fun removed cousin to Stephen Chbosky's masterpiece The Perks of Being A Wallflower (2012).
Jesse Eisenberg (Camp Hell (2010)) and Kristen Stewart (Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)) are charming together; Ryan Reynolds (Chaos Theory (2008)) is good as a park hustler, and Kristen Wiig (Sausage Party (2016)) and Bill Hader (The To Do List (2013)) are hilarious as the park owner couple.
Adventureland also boasts good music. It is a mature and solidly great movie, simply a fine time.

Related posts:

Greg Mottola: Paul (2011) - Pegg, Frost and Mottola delve into SF with mixed results

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]  

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 9.8 mil. $
Box office: 17.1 mil. $
= Big flop
[Adventureland premiered 19 January (Sundance) and runs 107 minutes. The script is based on Mottola's own experiences of working at the Farmingdale, New York amusement park Adventureland in the 1980s. Shooting took place in New York and Pennsylvania, including in the Kennywood Amusement Park, from October - November 2007, effectively hiding cold weather and sometimes even snowfall to achieve the narrative's summer setting. The film opened #6 to 5.7 mil. $ in North America, its peak there where it grossed 16 mil. $ (93.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 796k $ (4.7 %) and Australia with 95k $ (0.5 %).  The film was nominated for the Best Screenplay Independent Spirit Award. Adventureland is certified fresh at 89 % with a 7.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Adventureland?

Café Society (2016) - Allen revisits old turf in okay romcom

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+ Best Romcom of the Year

 

A classy poster for Woody Allen's Café Society

 

When a young man from New York comes to Hollywood to work for his bigshot agent uncle, who is entangled in an extra-marital affair with his much younger secretary, complications arise.  

 

Café Society is New-Yorker master writer-director Woody Allen's (Broadway Danny Rose (1984)) 47th film.

Café Society is set mostly in New York and navigates familiar thematic waters for Allen: The capriciousness and complications of the heart, the realities of crime and enterprise, Los Angeles versus New York, - and religious speculations. It does so with the marvelous intellect and dexterity which we have grown accustomed to expect from him, though it can feel like scraps from familiar, great films of his fixed together and given a fresh coat of paint.

The casting: Steve Carell (Freeheld (2015)) brings such a sincerity to his bigshot agent character, who might easily have looked like a pig in a lesser actor's interpretation, that we like him, - and he successfully couples it with realistic, to-the-point showbiz vernacular. Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland (2009)) inhabits the 'Allen-part', but doesn't play Allen, but the response to his performance will be individual. Kristen Stewart (Panic Room (2002)) is incredibly erotic as the secretary. The depth and length of Eisenberg and Stewart's fickle relation here is stretched thin, though, and becomes hard to believe in. Blake Lively (The Shallows (2016)) is tremendously sweet, and Corey Stoll (Ant-Man (2015)) as the gangster brother and Jeannie Berlin (Bone (1972)) and Ken Stott (One Day (2011)) as the parents are all terrific.

Allen narrates the film himself. It is good-looking and fun and charming mostly, but of little import.

 

Related posts:
 
Woody Allen: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess

Irrational Man (2015) - Allen's pleasant morality tale divertisement

2014 in films - according to Film Excess

Magic in the Moonlight (2014) - Allen's irresistible French Riviera romance
Fading Gigolo (2013) - Turturro's pleasant turn as a high-end NY prostitute  (as actor)
Blue Jasmine (2013) - Allen presenets Blanchett, a woman under the influence

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
To Rome with Love (2012) - Woody Allen's slightest film to date  
Midnight in Paris (2011) - Allen's zany (and a little depressing) crowd-pleaser  

2011 in films - according to Film Excess
Cassandra's Dream (2007) - Allen's well-laid but inconsequentiel English cul-de-sac  
Anything Else (2003) - Perfect contemporary relationship comedy  

Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date   
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) - Allen's hypnotic, noirish shenanigans 
Celebrity (1998) or, Stars in New York 
Celebrity (1998) or, Beautiful Celebrities Talk About Sex (guest review) 
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) - Sin and guilt up for laughs and rumination in unspectacular Allen work 
Broadyway Danny Rose (1984) or, Keep Your Heart   
Annie Hall (1977) or, My Relationship with Alvie Singer   
Bananas (1971) - Woody Allen's South American misadventure is still a barrel of laughs   
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (as actor)   

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 30 mil. $

Box office:  35 mil. $ and counting

= Too early to say

[Café Society premiered May 11 (opening the Cannes Film Festival) and runs 96 minutes. Bruce Willis was supposed to play the uncle character but bowed out due to his involvement in the Misery stage adaptation on Broadway and was replaced by Carell, who is almost certainly a better fit for the part. Filming took place in California and New York from August 2015. It is Allen's first film shot digitally, using the Sony CineAlta F65 camera. The budget was originally 18 mil. $ but ballooned during production to become the largest in Allen's career, (and a major reason why the film will have a hard time making its money back.) Amazon Studios handled the North American distribution with Lionsgate. The film opened #18 in 5 theaters to a 359k $ first weekend, - the then-biggest theater average of the year, - widening to 631 theaters and #12 in North America, where it has grossed 11.1 mil. $. Café Society is fresh at 69 % with a 6.1 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Café Society?

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) - Slade brings the popular teen franchise a thin cup of more, slightly better the same

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Kristen Stewart perfects her vampy look on the poster for David Slade's The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Vampire Edward proposes to Bella, but she is also getting courted by Jacob the Indian werewolf, whom she is also fond of. Meanwhile a vampire gang are on the loose in Seattle.

Basically the story doesn't really move anywhere here in the the third Twilight movie. The plot is pretty secondary and often inscrutable, and it doesn't seem to have anything to do with an eclipse.
Still, the film is handsomer than its predecessors, more romantic and has scenes with some charm, as well as Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World (2015)) as a welcome, new feature, taking over the part of Victoria from Rachelle Lefevre (The Caller (2011)).
The film is written by Melissa Rosenberg (Twilight (2008)), adapted from Eclipse (2007) by Stephenie Meyers (Twilight (2005), as the third and only Twilight feature from great English director David Slade (Hard Candy (2005)).

Related review:

David Slade: Hard Candy (2005) - A stylish and intense modern thriller classic

Five shirtless guys who are obviously werewolfs of native-American heritage ... ahem ... in David Slade's The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 68 mil. $
Box office: 698.4 mil $
= Huge hit
[The Twilight Saga: Eclipse premiered June 24 (LA) and runs 123 minutes. Filming took place August - October 2009 in and around Vancouver with unspecified reshoots taking place later. An early draft of the script was leaked online in January 2010, apparently stemming from one of the cast's minor stars. The film broke many box office records and was a massive hit almost everywhere in the world. It opened #1 with a 64.8 mil. $ first weekend, (but was beat to #2 the next weekend by Despicable Me), in North America, where it grossed 300.5 mil. (43 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 45.7 mil. $ (6.5 %) and Germany with 33 mil. $ (4.7 %). It became the 4th film of the year to break 300 mil. $ domestically. Roger Ebert has given it 2/4 stars, translating to a note harder than this review. The film has made in excess of an additional 164.6 mil. $ from 9.4 mil. DVDs sold in North America alone. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is rotten at 49 % with a 5.5 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse?

On the Road (2012) - Salles' near-perfect adaptation

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+ Best Road Movie of the Year

This poster for Walter Salles' On the Road looks like a really good book

Aspiring author Sal spends the years from 1948-50 with his best, but very selfish friend Dean, on the roads of America, devoted to their experiences and his writings.

On the Road is the grand-scaled, very impressive adaptation of great American author Jack Kerouac's (Big Sur (1962)) same-titled 1957 novel, adapted by Jose Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries/Diarios de Motocicleta (2004)) and directed by Brazilian master filmmaker Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries).
The film features a killer ensemble cast: Amy Adams (The Master (2012)), Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises (2007)) and Steve Buscemi (Fargo (1996)) and more appear in minor parts; and both Sam Riley (Control (2007)) and a very erotically charged Garrett Hedlund (Pan (2015)) lead with strength and conviction. Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia (2011)) is outstanding in raging despair, and Kristen Stewart (Twilight (2008)) is a vivid sex kitten.
The film is terrifically shot by Eric Gautier (Into the Wild (2007)) and successfully recreates the feeling of being on the road, being young and free, a fluid traveler moving ahead without a clear destination, which is its greatest feat. The protagonist is an observer who writes a lot, and this may put some audiences off due to its apparent passivity, but the film doesn't focus on Sal's texts, and I find that it only gets better on a second watch.

Related posts:

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 25 mil. $
Box office: 8.7 mil. $
= Mega-flop
[Kerouac wrote a letter to Marlon Brando in 1957, because he wanted him to portray Sal in a movie version of On the Road. This never happened, and several other movie versions of the book were prepared and fell through in the decades until Salles' film. Since 1979, master filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola bought the rights to the novel and has fruitlessly been attempting to adapt it. Salles did extensive research on Kerouac, the period and artists in preparation, and Rivera reportedly completed 20 drafts of the script before shooting. The cast were sent on 'beatnik bootcamp' for three weeks before filming, getting taught in the works, artists and the period, and watching inspirational movies like Breathless/À Bout de Souffle (1960) and Shadows (1959). Shooting took from August 2010 to some time in the coming winter in Canada, the US, Mexico, Argentina and Chile. The film premiered in competition in Cannes, but received mixed reviews and only grossed 0.7 mil. $ (8 % of the total gross) in North America. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France (2.7 mil./31 %) and Brazil (1.5 mil. $/17.2 %). On the Road is rotten at 43 % with a 5.6 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of On the Road?