Rating: Popcorn
It’s 5:50pm Thursday night. I’ve just arrived at Empire Theatres Bayer’s Lake for the advance screening of The Boy In The Striped Pajamas, but tonight’s main event is 4 hours and 10 mins away. This event happens to be the first public showing of Twilight, a teen romantic thriller based on the series of novels written by Stephenie Meyer which have created a pop culture phenomenon around the globe. Camping outside the theatre doors of The Boy In The Striped Pajamas are a handful of teenage girls waiting for their movie to start in 4 hours. With them, they’ve brought their “Twilight” books, all four of them plus the movie companion book, to read as they eagerly await the 10pm show.
2 hours and 40 minutes later, still an hour and a half left before Twilight begins, I’ve just exited the screening of The Boy In The Striped Pajamas, but these 5 teenage girls have turned into a hallway filled with “Twilight” fans who are attending 1 of the 3 10pm showings.
It’s now 9pm and I’ve just arrived in downtown Halifax to Empire Theatres Park Lane to finish my film-filled day. With a long line-up of mostly female teens, the theatre opened up another showing to accommodate the viewers.
All of this goes to show you how one American housewife has created a frenzy around not only the novels she has written, but also around the movie adaptation of her first book in the series.
For those of you who have never heard of the novels or the movie, Twilight is a teen boy-meets-girl film involving both humans and vampires. Bella Swan is sent by her mother to go live with her father in the little rainy town of Forks, Washington. During her first day of classes at her new high school, Bella meets Edward Cullen, a boy unlike any others. Edward is intelligent, witty and able to see into her soul. The two teens are quickly swept into a passionate but unusual romance. Able to run from point A to point B in a flash and being able to stop moving cars with his bare hands, Edward has not aged since 1918. Although he’s immortal like any other vampire, he doesn’t have fangs nor does he suck human blood. As Bella and Edward’s romantic relationship flourishes, he must resist her scent from controlling his emotions. When the Cullen family’s mortal vampire enemies, James, Laurent and Victoria, come into town looking for Bella, what will Edward do?
Summit Entertainment’s Twilight stars some emerging young actors including Kristen Stewart (Panic Room), Robert Pattinson (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Cam Gigandet (Never Back Down), Edi Gathegi (Gone Baby Gone), and Rachelle Lefevre (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind). Catherine Hardwicke directs the film while the screenplay adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s novel is written by Melissa Rosenberg.
Twilight is the same old romantic story, but with the added twist of vampires. With a small budget of approximately $37 million, the film and its special effects are well executed, making it an entertaining flick for the girls. Twilight attracts a younger female audience with their mothers, but also pulls in some male fans from the “Harry Potter” books. If you loved the books, the film is a must see! If you’re not part of these demographics, you might want to see something else as there is a little bit of cheesiness in the dialogue.
Release Date: November 21, 2008
3 Comments, Comment or Ping
Missy
The book was terrible so I’ll skip it.
Dec 2nd, 2008
Nicole
The books were great, though an easy read.
Movie got better the next time i watched it.
It would’ve been better if the budget was better, but whatever. Overall a good movie.
Dec 23rd, 2008
Emmy
I love the books and have seen the film three times yet, it’s really GREAT <3
Dec 23rd, 2008
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