Wednesday, January 7, 2009

It's a new year, it's a new post

This makes me laugh. Yesterday my husband announces he's writing a blog and wants to know what the big hoopla is about the Twilight Saga. More specifically, the commotion over the filming of New Moon.

He'll deny it and say that he doesn't like this Twilight craze, and that he doesn't see what's so 'big' about it. I only asked him to read the first book of the series and he is now currently reading the fourth and final book. He also can't be separated from his "Team James" bookmark. He's hooked just like the rest of us, don't let him fool you.

He asks me to write him an email explaining in two sentences what the uproar is over the New Moon casting.

Here is what I wrote:

Don't fix things that aren't broken is the saying.

Basically, with the new director and the new budget there has been a lot of talk. They want to cast a young guy (the dude that played Prince Caspian in the second Narnia movie) as Aro. Aro is supposed to be head of the Volturi - king vampire if you will. He commands authority and you just don't get that from a young guy. He doesn't need to be gorgeous like the Cullens. In fact, it would be a better choice to cast someone like Gary Oldman, Christopher Lee, or someone fierce like that.

They want to cast Michael Copon as the new Jacob Black. This is causing uproar for many reasons. First, you have the Taylor Lautner following. These are the people who say "I don't want you to change the actor, I already know this guy as Jacob and he did such a great job." Then you have those who say "well Jacob is supposed to age significantly for New Moon and I just don't think a 16 year old can pull that off."

Basically in this situation Chris Weitz is damned either way, however nobody wants to see Copon as Jacob Black despite his strong resemblance to Lautner. He's arrogant, posting already on his Myspace that he is the new Jacob Black when this isn't a decision that has been made. He doesn't have a very reputable background, appearing as a jackass in One Tree Hill (in only a few episodes) and more famous for his role as the Blue Power Ranger in the new Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers TV show... sounds like a class act.

They are thinking about hiring Vanessa Hudgens or Brenda Song as Leah Clearwater. Leah has only a small role in New Moon but is very significant in the fourth movie/book. She plays the only female werewolf and has a grudge on all men. She is bitter and lonely and has absolutely no one to confide in given her situation. Vanessa Hudgens is from High School Musical - that's as far as her talent goes. Brenda Song is from the Disney channel - a show called The Suite Life with Zack and Cody. Apparently she doesn't show the best acting ability either.

Why are they dumbing down these roles? Yes, the books are targeting a younger generation but that doesn't mean you have to dumb down the movies. Have some respect for this generation, they did have to READ the series to become involved. They have intelligence that you seem to be mocking. You need to hire people that are talented and will take their roles seriously. Take Ashley Greene for example. Never heard of her before Twilight, and she now has a very important character (AKA Alice) in the movies. Despite her lack of history in the film business she did a stellar job.

Twilight was basically a 'no-name' actor cast with few exceptions. The actors lived up to their roles, all of them. You hire these young people and you're looking at getting an actor who will 'beauty pageant' the whole thing. They can smile, look pretty, laugh, and flirt but at the end of the day, you know they aren't taken seriously.

Why not cast the Jonas Brothers to play the rest of the werewolf pack. They're famous and cute and I'm sure it will go over well with the younger audience and maybe even pull in more people, who knows? What I do know, is that no matter how popular the Jonas Brothers are, or how big their fan base is, they have no right to this series.

I'm fully aware that many of these things are speculations and rumours, but they have to come from some where. Especially if they are repeated by many sources, no? Please them all be rumours.


You're dumbing down our intelligence with these decisions. Read the books, do your homework and if you're too lazy to do this then get Stephenie Meyer involved. Get her to cast the actors she deems fit. Get her to tell you the main plot points and quotes that just can't be missed.

I can tell you right now, coming from a person who has seen Twilight 5 times in the theatre (and counting) - at this moment, I have no interest in seeing the New Moon. I'm losing respect for Chris Weitz. You have the budget to make this film spectacular, don't mess it up.

I guess that's more than two sentences, but I'm passionate!

For those interested in seeing what my husband actually did with this email, read his blog:
http://dannybrown.me/2009/01/06/listening-to-vampire-lovers/

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps I was worried there wouldn't be enough room for my own take? ;-)

Thanks for the info - I did use SOME of it :)