Dear friends and lovely people of the Twi-Fandom,
Just wanted to say sorry for the lack of updates. School and mostly life are getting in the way of the blogging. But things will resume back to normal this week. Thanks for all the support regardless.
Peace & Love
Di & De
Filed under ANET News!, Miscellaneous
It’s been a bumper year for Hollywood, with box office takings totalling over $10 billion, but there is one big total they might not be so proud of – fans have spotted over 900 mistakes in this year’s releases, submitting them to website moviemistakes.com. A few of the mistakes:
New Moon mistakes: After Bella awakes from the first nightmare, we see her Romeo and Juliet book on the pillow beside her. When Charlie brings in her presents the book is gone, but then reappears on the pillow between shots.
In the very last scene, right before the ultimatum, if you look into the tail lights on Edward’s car you can see various members of the crew reflected. [read more]
Filed under Miscellaneous, New Moon the Movie
Chris Cook photosSanta Monica, Ca.-based television producer Zig Gauthier invites potential Twilight in Forks reality television series participants to a casting call held at the Twilight Lounge in Forks on Tuesday, Dec. 22. Young Forks men Sergei Holmquist, Cory Maldonado and David Cook stand behind Gauthier awaiting their chance at the casting call.
Dazzled by Twilight owner Annette Root poses with Zig Gauthier in the Twilight Lounge on Tuesday, Dec. 22 during casting for a potential reality television series based on local residents life in Twilight’s hometown. Root is remodeling the former Vagabond restaurant-bar on N. Forks Ave. and plans to reopen the restaurant in the first quarter of 2010.
Forks High School students (from left) Heather Nelson and Taylor Pearson are joined by Spartan graduate Lauren Henry at the Forks casting call. The trio is pictured filling out a questionnaire that will be used to determine who might be selected for the reality television show.Updated Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009
By Chris Cook – Editor Forks Forum
Los Angeles-based television producer Zig Gauthier held a casting call at the Twilight Lounge (former Vagabond restaurant/bar) in Forks on Tuesday, Dec. 22, and was scheduled for a second round on Wednesday, Dec. 23.Gauthier is proposing to film a reality show in Forks that would star local residents. The concept for the show would be presented to television networks who would decide whether to commit to backing the project.
On Tuesday the casting call started at noon and was to end by 4 p.m. On Wednesday, prospective participants were to be interviewed from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Gauthier said in a call from Santa Monica that he is working with Annette Root, owner of Dazzled by Twilight, on the logistics of the casting call. He said Root has been very helpful in arranging for the Forks interviews.
A typical casting call consists of filling out information about yourself including contact numbers and then standing in front of a back drop to have a digital photo taken. The producer then goes over the photos and information and may, or may not, call back those they are interested in appearing in the show.
In a press release the Los Angeles producer said he will be considering both individuals and groups when casting.
The press release asks:
“Do you have a dynamic, outgoing personality?”
“Are you TV friendly?’
“Do you permanently live in Forks?”
Filed under Miscellaneous
Twilight stud muffin Kellan Lutz is Calvin Klein’s “new Mark Wahlberg,” according to Fox News. “Kellan has been signed to Calvin Klein for a huge campaign that will feature him in his skivvies all over billboards and in magazines,” a source tells them. The label reportedly wants to re-create Wahlberg’s ads, and thinks Lutz is the best person to fill out the manties. Calvin Klein underwear is a mighty campaign to land, a coup for Lutz, his personal trainer, and theTwilight empire. And so as 2009 draws to a close, there could be no better time to reflect on Twilight‘s fashion journey, from its humble beginnings to ridiculously glamorous future.
The saga has had quite a mystic fashion adventure over the past year. Landing most noticeably first in Hot Topic stores, Twi merch bolstered the retailer’s sales in the third quarter of ’08, one of the worst economic periods in decades, keeping the chain not only from going under but also astoundingly profitable. The rest of the industry drooled over those financial returns, and companies quickly began scheming for their own fashion-derived pot of Twilight gold. Nordstrom was quick to launch its own Twilight line of Team Edward T-shirts, jewelry, and other nonsense. Increasingly ridiculous Twilight product launches followed, including makeup (more than one line), “Edward’s smile” necklaces, and vampire-fang veneers, which cost from $250 for a dentist to apply.
The power of Twilight did not escape the notice of the fashion media, which also fell on incredibly hard times in 2009. Desperate to recover and, like too many of us, unable to ignore the psychodom of the Twilight empire any longer, fashion editors let loose their fangs and sank them into the vulnerable horde of teens and their parents, now hungry to know themselves what all this fuss was about. Hedi Slimane shot Robert Pattinson — an ex-model, in fact — forthe September issue of AnOther Man. Next came Harper’s Bazaar, the December cover of which starred Kristen Stewart and R-Pattz, further fueling relationship rumors with a dark, romantic spread inside the issue. Before the Lutz news broke, rumors surfaced about shirtless star Taylor Lautner signing on as the new face of Armani.
After all that, where are these stars to go? They’ve sparkled, vamped, and muscled their way from the dredges of Hot Topic to high fashion. They can have only one final destination: Vogue. E! Online reports that Robert Pattinson was shot for the magazine at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art along with his Remember Me co-star Emilie de Ravin.
Photographer Norman Jean Roy is said to have shot them in several spots throughout the museum, including interior and exterior setups. “It’s kind of edgy in a Vogue way,” the source says. “Emilie is wearing high fashion but it’s like sort of tattered-looking. Rob is mainly in suits.”
Sure, Vogue will publish the photos under the pretense of Remember Me coming out. But that’s only because they missed the Twilight train in the heat of New Moon. They may have been wishing it to disappear like the rest of us, but with the rest of the industry hooked and profiting, the mighty beast can go ignored no longer. And if that magazine came around to Lady Gaga, they can come around to anything.
Filed under Miscellaneous
The consensus was clear, here, when the story broke that even Chris Weitz, director ofThe Twilight Saga: New Moon, spoke out against the validity and necessity of charges against a young woman for piracy of the film – where the details of that alleged incident involved the woman supposedly taping the events of a birthday party without intention of pirating and selling the movie. Popular opinion cornered with Weitz, and the agreement was that the woman did not deserve to face the penalty of up to three years associated with this “crime.”
According to the Sun Times, Cook County prosecutors agreed and the Chicago woman was released with all but two days of her life (spent in jail as a result of the arrest) and the memory card for her video camera (confiscated and to be withheld by the police) in hand.
Yet, not everything is intact. “She’s traumatized,” and “[t]his is the worst event of her life and she wants to put it behind her,” said the woman’s attorney to the Sun Times.
Although piracy is a serious issue (and with the law, there’s an invisible line that is had to discern in some instances), for most this was a rather no-doubt situation. Too bad she’ll have the sting of an arrest on her criminal record and an attorney’s bill to pay as a consequence of what most people would probably call a “simple mistake.”
UPDATE: Here is film studio Summit Entertainment’s official statement on the matter:
In regards to the situation with Samantha Tumpach, we applaud Muvico for upholding the zero tolerance policy on piracy when the incident occurred at their theater in Rosemont, IL. The pirating of films is a very serious issue and we all need to remain vigilant to protect the art of film and the myriad of businesses that the film industry supports. We believe that the attention that this incident has drawn, has served as a reminder to us all that any form of film piracy, or perceived piracy, will be treated with the utmost seriousness.
Summit is pleased that all charges against Ms. Tumpach have been dropped and appreciate the efforts of the police and the prosecutors in this outcome.
Filed under Chris Weitz, Miscellaneous, New Moon the Movie, Summit Entertainment
The premiere of Twilight: New Moon takes place this week, exposing the public to throngs of screaming women overflowing with love for the movie’s leading men. Frenzied fans share their devotion and build social bonds. But sometimes expressions of adoration become inappropriate. What happens in the brains of women who fall for men they don’t know — and when does it cross the line?
If you’ve seen a screaming teenager, a heated middle-aged woman, or a giggly grandma recently, chances are you’ve been exposed to the Twilight phenomenon.
This collection of romance novels and movies, complete with vampires and werewolves, have become a global movement featuring legions of devoted, passionate followers — present company included. Women become so hopped up on their own excitement that they’re out of breath, panting and sweaty. Say or see anything Twilight-related and it’s immediately a scene on par with Beatlemania.
Only slightly sicker. And possibly more dangerous.
Where extreme Beatles’ fans would cry and faint, the Twilight fans, or Twilighters, come in a spectrum of devotion … and propriety. The well-behaved line up on sidewalks days in advance of the New Moon premiere in hopes of catching a glimpse of the stars. The dedicated, and mostly harmless, follow the movies’ actors around, camp out in front of their hotels. The audacious demand to be bitten. (Vampire novel, remember?)
But you know it’s gone too far when a middle-aged woman asks one of the younger actors — a then-16-year-old boy — to sign her underwear … that has his name stitched into them. She’s clearly lost her mind, not to mention her knowledge of statutory sexual predator laws. This is a land somewhere between schoolgirl crush and white-padded-room crazy. Admiration runs amok, pathological fascination kicks in and societal norms are ditched right along with the panties.
Welcome to the lives of Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, the leading men in the Twilight films. Whether welcomed by screaming masses at airports or being mobbed on the streets, they are magnets for inappropriate and strange infatuation-fueled requests. Yes, Pattinson, 23, who plays lead vampire Edward Cullen, says he has been asked to bite fans, including such a request by supermodel fan Tyra Banks. And yes, 17-year-old Lautner, who plays Jacob Black, says he has been asked to sign the underwear of a middle-aged woman.
The obsession runs so high among fans that Twilight is practically its own economic recovery engine. The first movie did $350 million in ticket sales and 80 million copies of books from the series have been sold. At a charity event, two kisses from Pattinson reportedly sold for $40,000. Forks, the town where the story takes place, now has an official Twilighttourism guide. But nothing quite shows the depth of this over-the-top yearning for all things Twilight like the fact there is a market for New Moon Wolf Pack Tattoo Packing Tape.
From innocent crushes to flaunting unmentionables, the questions beg to be asked: What drives fans into a frenzy? And what exactly is happening in the brains of women who obsess over (to the point of stalking) men they don’t know? Even Pattinson says he doesn’t quite get it.
Luckily for us — and Pattinson’s curiosity — the increased heart rate in each Twi-hard makes sense when seen through the view of Dr. Helen Fisher, biological anthropologist at Rutgers University and author of “Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love.”
When you look at this chaos through the eyes of Fisher’s brain-scan research, all of the behavior may not seem rational, but it does get a little more logical. Hang onto your Twilight lip venom and Team Jacob water bottles; we’re heading into the heads of devoted, smitten, frenzied women.
Chivalry Isn’t Dead — It’s Undead.
The path to romantic mania begins with what Fisher calls each person’s internal “love map” and what it does to the “reward system” in the brain. The reward system is the base portion of the brain; it controls our motivation — what we want in a primal way.
The love map is “an unconscious list of what you are looking for in a partner. And we’re carrying this around in our head,” Fisher says. “When you run into somebody, or read about them, or see them in a film, who fits within your concept of an ideal partner, the [reward system] can get triggered.”
Lauren Suero, the co-owner of the official Twilight Facebook fan pageputs it this way: “I think my addiction [to Twilight] happened because I wanted that relationship. I wanted that undying love. Really strong love.”
In other words, when women readTwilight and see how the character Edward Cullen treats his human girlfriend Bella, the readers’ reward systems tell the rest of the brain that this is something to get excited about; this is what you’ve been looking for. The ladies’ love maps dovetail with what Stephenie Meyer, the author of the series, has described in the book. Sure, Edward Cullen is a vampire but he’s also loving, caring, protective, generous and utterly devoted.
You see in the Twilight world, chivalry isn’t dead — it’s undead.
“You’re My Own Personal Brand Of Heroin.”
This personal yearning should sound familiar to Twilight fans. In the story, Edward Cullen is famously torn between loving Bella and killing her. He says she’s his own personal brand of heroin. That’s a lot how fans of the series feel about Edward Cullen or Jacob Black — they match their own personal love map.
When women recognize traits in a person (or fictional characters, as it were) that they’d want in their own mates, Fisher says the reward system in their brains become active. The brain sprays positive signals and natural drugs, specifically the pleasant-feeling dopamine, all over the place. Physiologically speaking, Fisher said in aTED speech, this is the same spot in the brain that “becomes active also when you feel the rush of cocaine.”
Edward Cullen is literally causing a feel-good drug reaction in women’s heads.
The co-owner of fan-site Cullen Boys Anonymous, Kim Clarkson, says visitors to her site joke about this all the time asking, “What did Stephenie Meyer put in these books?”
The Embodiment of Edward Cullen
What has started as a crush on Meyer’s perfect male character got a lot worse when Edward Cullen got assigned Robert Pattinson’s flesh-and-blood face.
“An exquisite beauty,” is how Vanity Fair’s Evgenia Peretz described Pattinson. ” … with perfectly formed red, red lips and a face that might have been dreamed by the Romantic poets … ”
Some girls would just say “smoking hot,” but the point is the guy has a mug that’s worthy of another dopamine high. Suero says, “When [the fans] have the visual from the movies, it’s ‘Oh my God, Robert Pattinson!’ That’s when the addiction hits.”
The Twilight line “You’re like a drug to me” is taking on a whole new meaning now.
Even if Pattinson doesn’t get it, his leading lady co-star Kristen Stewart does, in a way that makes it seem like she’s been reading Fisher’s books. In a joint-interview with Entertainment Weekly she said to Pattinson, “Edward Cullen is such an icon. When you see people in the street, it’s not just that they feel like they know you. It’s like they need you. You can complete a very personal aspect of their lives.”
See Rob, Kristen gets it.
The incessant media attention isn’t helping the targets of our fascination get any peace, either. With every new headline and each new picture, the girls find something else to attach to.
Taylor gained 30 pounds of muscle out of dedication to the role! Swoon!
Pattinson sings a song on the Twilight soundtrack! Sigh!
Dopamine. Dopamine. Dopamine. Each hit feels great; women are left wanting more. The addiction is being fed.
This Is Your Brain On Love
Physiologically, a funny thing happens when the reward system is lighting up and dopamine is flowing — the rational-thought system dims down. Simply put: Romantic love makes you do dumb things, like,
say, falling for fictional characters or men we don’t know.
“Blood pours into brain regions associated with motivation, with drive, with energy, with focus, with craving and with goal-oriented behavior,” Fisher says. “In this case the drive to pursue somebody who you’ll never get and will never respond.” And just where does all of this blood-flow come from? Why, from the rational part of the brain responsible for making decisions, of course. Suddenly love affairs with fictional vampires or movie stars make a little more sense.
You heard it here first: Robert Pattinson really is sucking your blood … from the sane-making portions of your brain.
But, how far does this dopamine-induced idiocy go? “You crave the person, you’re willing to do irrational things to win the person,” Fisher says, “you obsessively think about the person. You distort reality.”
After hearing all this, I was tempted to say that Lautner’s underwear woman wasn’t totally nuts, she was just drunk on dopamine. Fisher was quick to correct me: “It’s not an either/or. The ‘drunk on dopamine’ is creating this reaction and this adoration is continuing the rush of dopamine. It’s one in the same.”
When it comes down to it, these rushes physiologically mirror drug addictions in the brain, but there is still no excuse for crossing the line, and die-hard Twilight fans are vehemently against the UndieGate woman (Tyra Banks’ neck-biting stunt, too).
“[The underwear] was offensive — it’s too personal. Let [Lautner] remain in your fantasy,” said Dawn Sirtak, one of the first five women in line for red carpet access at the New Moon premiere. Her friends, including administrators and visitors of fan site Twifans (pictured below) agreed. “It was ridiculous,” Yolanda Rodriquez said. “That was dumb.”
Adoration: The Good News
Despite a few bad apples, dedication to the series and the stars can be good for the soul. “When you drive up dopamine in the brain you feel more optimistic, you feel more energetic,” says Fisher. “It’s entirely possible that being crazy about some kind of rock star is being useful to them in some way.”
Fisher also says that sharing the communal experience of Twilight is a way to strengthen social bonds among friends. Waiting near the red carpet for a glimpse of a star can be “about sharing this experience with your friends and tightening your community,” says Fisher. “You aren’t just connected to this person but you’re connecting to the people around you.”
A quick survey of the line of women waiting for red carpet access to the premiere ofNew Moon proves that point. Fifty people down the line there was an Australian girl being hosted by a woman from Burbank. The two had met at the Twilight premiere last year and have remained friends ever since. The Cullen Boys Anonymous and Twifans groups drove out together from Arizona, camping out (and bonding) since Thursday.
As for Pattinson and Lautner, Fisher says the fans will stay as long as they’re getting the high, but there shouldn’t be any post-Twilight letdown.
“[The fans] already got what they wanted out of this,” Fisher says. “They weren’t looking for a long-term attachment; they were looking for a rush. They got the rush. If they don’t get it again out of this, they’ll find another.”
Hear that Rob and Taylor? It’s only a matter of time and you’ll be able to take a walk in public again, free of underwear signatures and bite requests. Someday
The University of Oklahoma is offer a class on Twilight, read below for more info ….
“Twilight,” the vampire phenomenon that has been sweeping the nation, is now a topic for a December intersession course called “Twilight and Youth Culture.”
English instructor Ieva Zumbake-Larchey, who is teaching this intersession course, said the class will be examining this phenomenon to teach them about the preoccupations and aspirations of a certain segment of the generation.
“Obviously ‘Twilight’ is too big to ignore,” Larchey said. “‘Twilight’ seems to be taking the obsession of the fans to a new level.”
Larchey said she plans to structure this class to have secondary readings written by critics of popular culture and youth culture.
“We will examine “Twilight” as a product and a producer,” she said.
Larchey said the class will read these outside sources and examine “Twilight” in the context and dialogue with other cultural phenomena to see how it compares and what it can teach people.
“Hopefully they will go away realizing that ‘Twilight’ isn’t just a romantic story, but it’s a powerful influence that can affect the way people see themselves,” she said.
Larchey said she hopes the students will realize the kinds of things they see in the media impact all of our perceptions of ourselves.
“For example, part of the class will talk about the way gender is portrayed in ‘Twilight.’ Bella’s perception of herself and the happiness of her life is really dependent on her romantic relationship and her love for Edward,” she said. “If you internalize this, you may start thinking a romantic relationship is the No. 1 priority that determines the quality of your life.”
Larchey said “Twilight” is only one media form students will see that affects or helps their construction of their identities.
The class is full, with 30 students signed on for the class.
Gentry Johnson, University college freshman, said she likes “Twilight” because it is a new concept.
“‘The Twilight Saga’ gives an alternative to the traditional love story,” Johnson said. “It’s interesting and very appealing to teenage girls.”
Johnson said she has midnight tickets for “New Moon,” which opened this morning, along with her entire sorority.
Boomer Butler, health and exercise sciences sophomore, said he thinks “Twilight” is just another fad.
“I’m not going to the midnight premiere of ‘Twilight,’ but 60 percent of my female friends have tickets,” Butler said.
This course is three credit hours and is being offered from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. every day from Dec. 21 to Jan. 14
Filed under Miscellaneous, The Twilight Saga
I don’t know why, but this picture is sexy. I think it may be Rob’s jaw . . . or maybe his face in general, it’s hard to figure out what has me drooling about this. LOL .
Filed under Miscellaneous, Mr. Robert Pattinson
rockydee
urbansophistication
A Never Ending Twilight 