In anticipation of the release of The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Time Out Chicago’s Hank Sartin and Time Out New York’s Joshua Rothkopf have been exchanging emails discussing and debating the cultural phenomenon that is Twilight. Last night they saw the film, and today they do a post-screening exchange on the film’s merits.

To: Joshua Rothkopf

From: Hank Sartin

Josh,

You were certainly right yesterday about one thing: the real auteurs—or at least the real source of energy—in Twilight Saga: New Moon are the audience members. It’s rare that a studio logo gets an anticipatory gasp and keening sigh, but so it was last night when the Summit logo came up on the screen. And they certainly added some needed zing when things started to drag a bit in the middle, which for me was at the fiftieth email from Bella to vamp Alice, a device that surely works better on the page than on the screen. The audience’s pleased but slightly self-aware laugh at how often and easily the film gets Taylor Lautner out of his shirt made me feel like I wasn’t wrong to find it a little comical.

Nope, I haven’t read New Moon. Made it through Twilight, thought in a vague way that I ought to read the second book before the film came out, and never did anything about it. And last night I didn’t feel too bad. I imagine the book does a better job of explaining how exactly Jacob is so in thrall to Sam and his pack of werewolves-without-a-cause. And maybe the book makes more sense of the fact that after months of his daughter waking up screaming from horrible nightmares, Bella’s dad doesn’t insist on the services of a good psychotherapist. Most parents would wonder if she’d been raped based on the deep psychosis she seems to enter. But I’m with you when it comes to reading source material: when you can, fair enough, but in general, if appreciating the film demands it, there’s something wrong.

For me, the film feels a bit monotonous. Bella is depressed. Edward is gone. Bella hangs out with Jacob and is marginally less depressed, which does make one wonder at Jacob’s nakedly randy obsession with her (refreshing as it is compared to Edward’s “I daren’t touch you” cool flame of a love). For me, the energy jump in the film finally comes when Michael Sheen starts swanning around just acting the pants off all these monster-wannabe whippersnappers. The scenes with the Volturi are amusingly purple.

But overall, I’ll counter your ’sequels are often better’ thesis with a counter: when the film is part of a planned trilogy or tetralogy, the second film is doing a lot of bridgework, but doesn’t get you to the farther shore. Think of how frustrated we were at the end of The Empire Strikes Back (back when that was its full title) to find so many plot threads left hanging. I felt that way about New Moon. Werewolves introduced. Check. Love triangle established. Check. Threat from Volturi made clear. Check. But so much is left up in the air in that last scene. I’m sure that’s okay with the fan base, who know damn well what comes next, but for the casual filmgoer, it’s like walking into the middle of a film and then walking out again before the plot resolves. Mostly what we get is the mopey middle.

Hank

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In anticipation of the release of The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Time Out Chicago’s Hank Sartin and Time Out New York’s Joshua Rothkopf will be exchanging emails discussing and debating the cultural phenomenon that is Twilight. Tonight, they’re finally seeing the new movie, so today they discuss their expectations.

To: Joshua Rothkopf

From: Hank Sartin

Josh,

Tonight’s the night we finally get to see The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and only this morning I hear that in a MovieMaker interview, director Chris Weitz says he thinks he’s got one more film in him and he’s done. (What is it with directors announcing they’re bailing out?—Soderbergh is making the same noises). Not that it matters to the Twilight crowd, since they’ve got director David Slade (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night) working on The Twilight Saga: Eclipse as we speak.

I’ll confess I’m actually pretty excited, and here’s why: As you rightly noted yesterday, Kristen Stewart is a good actress, and there’s every indication that this film will give her some fun stuff to do (feeling rejected by Edward’s departure, getting wild on motorcycles with Jacob). And honestly, though I’ve been the house crank in this debate, I think Weitz might bring an interesting energy to the story. To be honest, while I didn’t like Golden Compass much, I felt the reactions to it were more negative than it deserved, and I thought Weitz did pretty well (he’s pretty frank about how the film was taken away from him in editing, and I wonder if it might have felt more coherent if he’d retained control).

So there you are. The cranky naysayer admits he’s pretty excited about seeing New Moon tonight. What about you?

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In anticipation of the release of The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Time Out Chicago’s Hank Sartin and Time Out New York’s Joshua Rothkopf will be exchanging emails discussing and debating the cultural phenomenon that is Twilight. Today, they talk about marketing.

To: Joshua Rothkopf

From: Hank Sartin

Josh,

I think I reached the official Twilight media saturation point the other day when I saw a rather breathlessly excited news story on the coming release of the Jacob Black doll (shirtless, natch) from Mattel. But I have to give credit to the publicity department at Summit Entertainment; they’ve played the media like a violin. Looking back on the past year, the strategy seems to have been give a little at a time, and don’t let your clients out to too many media outlets at once. A well-placed rumor about Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson having a romance is worth far more than ten talk show gigs. No hosting Saturday Night Live (imagine Pattinson trying to be funny, or Stewart valiantly putting up with some SNL mocking of her fame…). No Twilight Happy Meals—the tie-ins and merchandising have been carefully chosen.

And the drip-drip-drip leaks of images and footage has been timed to perfection. Just when interest seemed to have flagged in April, Summit started making the trailers available online, one by one, and sent Stewart and Pattinson to the talk shows. That might seem weird—scheduling them to chat up a movie that wasn’t coming out for months, but Summit knew that all they had to do was fan the flames for a while. The soundtrack was released this fall, long before the release, once again drawing attention to the movie. And they worked social media, keeping buzz alive on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, iTunes. Pure gold.

I’m not suggesting that the frenzy doesn’t have a strong basis in real fans out in the world; based on the angry responses I’ve been getting for criticizing Twilight, people care and care deeply. But their passion has been fueled by a smart campaign from people who know about the idea of the slow build.

But now, in the last week, I wonder if it’s getting too omnipresent. The only thing saving us is Sarah Palin, whose book release has taken some of the media oxygen away from Twilight. Otherwise, it would be All Twilight All the Time on the morning shows, Entertainment Tonight and in the glossies. So, once again find myself in the strange position of  thanking Sarah Palin (the first time, of course, was when she helped scuttle McCain’s campaign by being such a nutjob). Weird world, huh?

Cynically yours,

Hank

New York’s response after the jump

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In anticipation of the release of The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Time Out Chicago’s Hank Sartin and Time Out New York’s Joshua Rothkopf will be exchanging emails discussing and debating the cultural phenomenon that is Twilight. Today, they muse on the appeal of Edward and Jacob.

To: Joshua Rothkopf

From: Hank Sartin

I’ve been thinking about all the mania around Robert Pattinson and his portrayal of Edward in Twilight. As an actor he reminds me of all the early hype around Hayden Christensen, who was sold as the next big thing circa Life as a House and Shattered Glass. Now he’s doing Jumpers 2. Pattinson’s Edward seems to me like a placeholder—he doesn’t have to do much except look dreamy and aloof, so girls can project their fantasies onto him.

It seems to me that the appeal of Twilight comes largely from the fact that the romance can’t be consummated (and I don’t just mean sexually—it’s all about frustrated love). As I said in my tirade on all things Twilight, I find the opposition of Edward and Jacob suggestive. Jacob has a dark secret too, but there’s none of the stuff about irresistible yet abstract charisma with him. Jacob’s much more normal than the vamps, except when he, you know, turns into a wolf. With options like these, it’s no wonder Bella is confused.

But the more I think about these characters, the more I get their appeal for teen readers and viewers. They’re archetypal and easy to fantasize about, and their darkness makes them more adult. Still doesn’t explain why adults are so taken with them.

Thoughts?

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In anticipation of the release of The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Time Out Chicago’s Hank Sartin and Time Out New York’s Joshua Rothkopf will be exchanging emails discussing and debating the cultural phenomenon that is Twilight. Here are the opening salvos from both sides.

To: Joshua Rothkopf

From: Hank Sartin

We’re a week away from the release of The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and as I recall you came out as more of a supporter of the first film than I was. So I watched Twilight again, and I stand by my first take; I like the new-girl-in-town stuff the best. Now if we could just get rid of those dye-job vamps. And, though I know this is heresy, I don’t get the hype around Pattinson. He’s got dead eyes that aren’t an acting choice, just a lack of any interesting spark. And the last act of Twilight just doesn’t work at all—a sudden jump into Perils of Pauline action that feels rushed and messy.

My resentment of Twilight has actually grown over the last year, because the damn thing has been so unavoidable. Everywhere I turn, I have to read about Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart’s romance and Taylor Lautner’s abs (Taylor himself? Who cares. But if his abs did interviews on their own, journos would line up). It all feels contrived, like fake grassroots to me.

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Yesterday, romantic vampire movie hype came to Aurora. Cast members Ashley Greene (who plays Alice Cullen) and Kellan Lutz (who plays Emmett Cullen) from the highly anticipated sequel The Twilight Saga: New Moon swooped in on the Hot Topic shop at Fox Valley Mall signing movie posters at a meet-and-greet for 500 lucky fans who purchased New Moon T-shirts early and answering Twilight questions in a Q&A later in the evening. In between, Anya Marina, who features on the film soundtrack, played a live solo set. TOC was on hand to photograph all the action. See the photo gallery above.

Photos: Jon Willoughby

Visit our Twilight page.

With the release of Twilight on the horizon—see our Twilight package page—our Web editor asked me, why vampires? Why has the vampire endured as a symbol in film, TV and literature?

You might as well ask, why cowboys—another type of character whose genre reflects the changing needs of society? The vampire offers a potent, free-floating metaphor for our fears, for sex and for death. Like werewolves, vampires aren’t too far removed from us, and so provide a useful symbol of our temptations to transgress. They also, like any genre trope, reflect changing fashions: Move from Max Schreck’s long-nailed Count Orlok in Nosferatu to Bela Lugosi’s dapper Dracula to Christopher Lee in the Hammer films to Gary Oldman’s opera-ready 1992 incarnation, and you have a pretty good guide to what filmmakers thought would scare audiences over time.

If you had to cite a trend, it’s that vampires have become progressively more human and antiheroic, whether it’s in Anne Rice’s dabblings or Kathryn Bigelow’s moody, still-underseen Near Dark (1987), in which vampires aren’t all that bad—just outsiders with an unfortunate thirst for blood. (The flip side of that is the totally benign bloodsucker, who can be seen in ’80s cheese like My Best Friend Is a Vampire.) Michael Almereyda’s Nadja and Abel Ferrara’s The Addiction used vampires as stand-ins for AIDS. Lately, vampires have become synonymous with sleek: Some of the alleged vamps on screen today would be right at home in The Matrix (as in the Underworld movies and the forthcoming Daybreakers), which suggest the vampire is just as ordinary as any action hero. The original Buffy and then the series brought vampries into the realm of adolescence with wit and style. And now we have Twilight, which suggests that vampires can be just as boring as anyone else.

Are you feeling a little out of the loop on the whole Twilight zeitgiest, but not really that enthusiastic about actually having to sit through 122 minutes of longing glances and sparkly vampires? Fear not, there is a solution to not only tolerating Twilight, but to actually enjoying it. I present to you the Twilight RiffTrax.

If you’re not acquainted with the phenomenon that is RiffTrax, I’ll catch you up. Mystery Science Theater 3000 veterans Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett repeat the successful formula of heckling trashy movies only this time, they take on major film releases. For a few dollars, you can download an mp3 of these guys mocking the latest blockbuster DVD release, including Twilight. You will need to obtain a copy of the Twilight DVD elsewhere, though.

I’m quite addicted to RiffTrax, myself, and I have to say that the Twilight track quickly became my favorite. I had to watch it twice to actually hear all of the jokes because I was laughing so hard the first time. As the film begins and the credits across the screen read “Summit Entertainments Presents,” Nelson concludes it with, “an inexplicable cultural phenomenon.” From there it proceeds with jibes about Kristen Stewart’s proclivity for punctuating her dialogue with inexplicable blinking and stammering, Robert Pattinson gravity-defying hair and the overly dramatic Google search scenes. I laughed out loud at the Twilight Rifftrax more than most comedies I’ve seen in the theater recently. Don’t expect your Twilight-loving pals to have as much fun with it, though. While the trio’s barbs fly fast and furious at the cheesy elements of the film adaptation, they’re just as hard on the central elements of the story that Twihards so fervently adore.

The Twilight RiffTrax is $3.99, click here to view a sample video and purchase the track.

This past weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live featured a new SNL Digital Short titled “Firelight.” It greatly resembles the trailer for Twilight, with host Taylor Swift subbing in for Kristen Stewart and doing a bang-up job of mimicking her trademark lip-biting and hair futzing. However, the town vampire is not the object of affection in “Firelight.” Rather than the vampiric Cullen family, Swift’s Stella is curious about the Franks, a family of Frankenstein monsters. In particular, Phillip Frank (Bill Hader) catches her eye, but he’s concerned about getting too close as he has a tendency to accidentally strangle people.

It all makes for a humorous bit of Twilight roasting.

Inescapable pop culture phenomenon Twilight and its marketing machine has triggered an onslaught of inspired looks for salivating tweens, teens and maybe even adults. Hot Topic and Nordstrom have both issued collections (see samples from Nordstrom’s above) of shirts, charm necklaces, cardboard figures and lunchboxes emblazoned with Edward and Bella’s faces and phrases like “Bet you can’t read my mind.” Despite my personal Twilight obsession, I can’t get behind anyone (be they 13 or 30) wearing these clothes. I can, however, understand the appeal of some of the actors’ onscreen looks, such as Bella’s cozy parka, Edward and Jasper’s sleek jackets and aspects of Alice’s bohemian, vintage-inspired layers (bell sleeves paired with cropped vests and such). Want to get your own Twilight look, without buying the cash-in collections? Check out G-Star for similar men’s styles, our vintage store round up for Alice’s look, and find the exact replica of Bella’s parka by Jack BB Dakota at fredflare.com.