Shana Tovah!

Senator Amy Klobuchar Talks 'Twilight' With Elena Kagan

Who cares how Kagan will rule on gun control, the urgent question is where does she stand on Edward vs. Jacob!

There won't be any musical numbers - Bill Condon writes message to Twilight fans

I adore Bill Condon, and have since his film Gods and Monsters.  I was a bit surprised that Summit was looking at more than one Oscar nominated director for Breaking Dawn.  I think Bill Condon is a very intriguing choice to direct what will likely be two final films (why kill the cash cow early after all?)  Young fans likely only know him from Dreamgirls, but he started in horror films, (Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh) and Gods and Monsters is a film about the last part of legendary film director Jim Whale's (Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein) life.  Bill Condon won an Oscar for the screen play of Gods and Monsters, and it garnered Oscar acting nominations for Lynn Redgrave and Ian McKellan (who as robbed!).  Any Twilight fan should run out and rent Gods and Monsters, one of my all time favorite films.

I love how Bill Condon starts this note to the fans on Facebook as I am certainly one of those Twilight Moms:

Greetings Twihards, Twifans, Twilight Moms, Team Edward, Team Jacob and Team Switzerland,

I just want to say hello to all of you and let you know that I'm stoked to be getting underway on the adventure of making BREAKING DAWN. As you've probably heard, I've been given a very warm welcome by Stephenie and Team Summit - who are super-focused, as you know, on getting these movies right.

I'm pretty busy bringing myself up to speed on what you already know by heart: I've read BREAKING DAWN twice, rewatched Catherine's and Chris's movies 2-3 times each, have all four CDs playing in my car, and have Catherine's notebook, Mark Cotta Vaz's companion books, and even Volume 1 of the graphic novel here on my desk - a corner of my office is starting to look like Hot Topic. I realize that this barely qualifies me for "newborn" status in the universe you've been living inside for a few years now, but a guy's gotta start somewhere.

Like many of you, I've always been slightly obsessed with vampires, dating back to the prime-time series DARK SHADOWS, which I followed avidly as a kid. But that alone hadn't been enough to get me interested in making a vampire movie, even though my early screenwriting and directing efforts grew out of a great love for horror movies and thrillers. Since making GODS AND MONSTERS thirteen years ago, however, I've been yearning for a return to a story with Gothic overtones.

The wonderful world that Stephenie has created has obviously struck a chord with you, and I don't think it's difficult to see why. For me, her characters are simultaneously timeless, yet very modern. Rooted in a beautiful, real landscape with a great sense of place, Bella, Edward, Jacob, and the rest of the Forks/La Push menagerie, experience emotions that are primal, and universal: desire, despair, jealousy - and it all comes to fruition in BREAKING DAWN. This is a final chapter in the best sense; not just wide in scope and scale, but emotionally charged and intense throughout.

I'm a huge admirer of the already-iconic Kristen, Robert, and Taylor, and wanted to be the one to work with them as they face the challenges of bringing your beloved characters to the end of their journeys. Really, what could be more fun than that?

Please feel free to ask questions in the comments section below, and I'll do my best to answer them. I hope that this will be the first of many occasions I'll get to check in with you as we set to work bringing BREAKING DAWN to the screen. I am excited and grateful to have all of you alongside me for my TWILIGHT journey.

All best,

Bill Condon

P.S. Answer #1: No, there won't be any musical numbers.

Woman Married To Fat, Emotionally Distant Vampire Escapes Into 'Twilight' Novels

Read all about it at the Onion! This poor housewife is stuck with a 834-year-old overweight vampire husband and finds solace in the novels of Stephenie Meyer.

"Edward is so romantic," said Pastor, referring to Edward Cullen, Twilight's vampire hero. "He loves [17-year-old protagonist] Bella so much that he runs away from her to protect her. My husband, on the other hand, hasn't posed any kind of danger to me in years."

"When we were first married, Andrei was so dark and mysterious," Pastor said wistfully. "These days, pretty much all he does is sit around swilling blood and watching ESPN."

Added Pastor, "Edward would never do that to Bella."

*snort*!

Cam Gigandet with daughter Everleigh

Cam Gigandet from Twilight running errands with daughter Everleigh.

I love this picture!!

Hat tip:  Perez Hilton

How Twilight Should Have Ended

LOL!

Hat tip: BluEyedDaizy

Producer says there is "every intention" of making Breaking Dawn

/Film pointed out this short film clip on the Making Of site, where producer Wyck Godfrey talks about the plans for making Breaking Dawn:


Breaking Dawn is a very different book from the others in the series. It's definitely an adult book with the marriage of Bella and Edward leading to sex scenes and a bizarre new relationship for Jacob. Adapting that script to keep the movie PG-13 could be much more of a challenge. Really though, with the extreme financial success of the first two Twilight movies, was there any doubt they'd adapt the fourth book?

There are four clips of producer Wyck Godfrey discussing New Moon and Twilight, including breaking down the cliff jumping scene in New Moon. My favorite was this one about the casting difficulties of Twilight. "Why don't we look at some of those Harry Potter kids..." lol!

Kevin Smith talks about Twilight

This was from Comic Con in San Diego last summer. Kevin makes similar points that Harry Knowles did about Twilight last year. Mock these screaming Twilight fans at your peril, because this is the genre entryway for these girls.

Twilight Cycles

Twilight Cycles from Brandon Routh

Superman as Edward! LOL!

My favorite line, "And it glitters!"

Firelight - SNL Twilight Parody

Vampires as Gay Men?

Esquire has published a provocative article stating the reason that the current Vampire craze is not like the scary vampires of yesteryear:

Vampires have overwhelmed pop culture because young straight women want to have sex with gay men. Not all young straight women, of course, but many, if not most, of them.

The author cites not only Twilight, but the new CW TV series Vampire Diaries and even Bill from True Blood. These new vampires are much more normal and non-threatening than anything Bram Stoker dreamed up.

Edward, the romantic hero of the Twilight series, is a sweet, screwed-up high school kid, and at the beginning of his relationship with Bella, she is attracted to him because he is strange, beautiful, and seemingly repulsed by her. This exact scenario happened several times in my high school between straight girls and gay guys who either hadn't figured out they were gay or were still in the closet. Twilight's fantasy is that the gorgeous gay guy can be your boyfriend, and for the slightly awkward teenage girls who consume the books and movies, that's the clincher. Vampire fiction for young women is the equivalent of lesbian porn for men: Both create an atmosphere of sexual abandon that is nonthreatening.

So, what do you think?  Does Stephen Marche have a point?  I suppose there could be something to it, but I think young preteen and early teen girls just find sex in general scary.  Vampires have always had to do with sex, the transfer of blood (eek!  bodily fluids!) and the puncture of the teeth has obvious connotations.  But gay sex?  I think girls that age have been attracted to androgynous non-threatening males for a long time, because they can be romantically dreamed about but they aren't dripping with sexual power and machismo.  Orlando Bloom, anyone? 

His theory, however, falls apart for all us Twilight Moms, because it wasn't all 12 year olds who read those books and went to the movie.  We aren't in it for the gay sex, I don't think, all though I can't speak for everyone.  ;)  It's the unabashed romanticism that appeals.  In this day and age, what the hell can keep lovers apart and keep the sexual suspense going?  Historic Romance novels are huge because there were different rules then, and the lovers are not going to fall into bed on page one (or at least mostly).  Paranormal Romance is also a huge genre, and it isn't all vampires.  There are werewolves, witches, fey creatures and shapeshifters of all kinds.   We may not want a macho alpha male in our real life, but it's fun to read about them and vampires and werewolves tend to take what they want, and (maybe) apologize later.  I'd bet Stephen Marche hasn't read much adult Paranormal Romance, and I can assure him that most of those adult vampires are anything but gay (J. R. Ward novels excepted.)

I'm not saying vampires have nothing to do with gays.  The Anne Rice novels surely held allegories to gays and AIDS, and Allen Ball is pretty explicit in True Blood with drawing parallels to vampire persecution and gays.  The GOD HATES FANGS sign is right in the opening credits, and the Church of the Light campaigns against the "vampire lifestyle" in the show.  It's there, but it's not the only thing that's there.  Vampires are simply about sex, both gay and straight.

Tell me what you think!

May Your New Year Be Sparkly!

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books has been running a contest of creating "Twilight" like covers for other books, and graced us this Jewish New Year's message tonight! And now I'm off to Erev Rosh Hashana services myself.

L'Shana Tova!

See who won the cover contest here!

WeBite 34 Vampires T-shirt

Chop Shop has come out with a very cool t-shirt with 34 famous vampires from film, TV and animation all in the shape of a bat. The shirts are only $20 and come in a wide range of sizes for men and women. Can you identify the vampires from their silhouettes (click on the image above to see it full size)? The closeup shot below spotlights one famous recent vampire!


I have to admit, most of the weirder anime looking ones have me stumped, but I can spot many of the film vampires.

Hat tip: /Film

Just You ... and your Edward Cullen Shadow

We've gone way beyond glitter cream, now! The latest in Twilight products? Get your own 6' 2" lifesize Edward Cullen shadow vinyl sillouette for your wall or door from Etsy:

Let everyone know that you are a true Twilighter by giving Edward Cullen a home! Or you can keep him to yourself... put him on the back of your bedroom door so he can be intrigued while you sleep! He'll be keeping an eye out for any roving carnivorous vampires searching for a snack, while reminding you to "Be Safe".

It doesn't say that it glitters in the sun, but you can order it in Silver Metallic.

That all seems very tame compared to The Vamp sex toy. (NSFW, duh!) Not only does it sparkle, but

by popular request... Yes the The Vamp retains hot and cold temperature. Toss it in the fridge for that authentic experience.

Oy.

Twilight Star Kellan Lutz Does Pushups

The only way this could be better is if he was shirtless.

What a trooper with his fans!

Robert Pattinson Dripping Wet

US Weekly has published a couple of outtake photos from the Rolling Stone Photo Shoot. Yep, they threw a bucket of water on our boy.

Buffy vs Edward (Twilight Remixed)

Buffy schools Edward on his "creepy" stalking behavior.
"Did anybody ever tell you the whole smelling people thing's a little gross?"
LOL!

Cam Gigandet vs. Twilight Fans

Cam Gigandet vs. Twilight Fans from Cam Gigandet

LOL!!!

First New Moon Clip to be shown at MTV awards

Twilight fans rejoice! The first look at New Moon will be the airing of a clip on the MTV Movie awards. Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart will introduce the debut footage.

Twilight ties with Slumdog Millionaire for the most nominations -- six. Andy Samberg hosts the MTV Movie Awards on May 31st.

Twilight...with Cheeseburgers

Hat tip: EW Popwatch