Campy 'Twilight,' Splashy 'Millionaire,' Okay 'Bolt,' Junky 'Transporter,' Joyless 'Christmases'
FS
Issue date: 11/25/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
The proper response to "Twilight" (wide release), the adaptation of the first book in Stephenie Meyer's "young adult" series about a high-school girl who falls in love with a classmate, who just happens to be a vampire (though a "good" one), could be: Fangs for nothing.
Maybe the very idea of such inter-species attraction might seem novel to the book's hordes of adolescent girl readers, but actually, it's pretty old hat. And as a modern rethinking of the "Wuthering Heights" template, it really comes across as a pale imitation.
But it could have been treated far more effectively than it is here. The young stars try their best, but they're sabotaged by Catherine Hardwicke's direction, which never finds the right blend of campiness and swooning romance.
And the effects are distinctly subpar, mostly consisting of speeding up the film stock to give the impression of swift, catlike movement.
"Twilight" appropriated the release date of the new "Harry Potter" picture when it was pushed back until next year. Any hope that this laughable opus will achieve similar franchise success seems very far-fetched.
Far better is Danny Boyle's vivacious, colorful "Slumdog Millionaire" (Magnolia), about a young man from the ghetto of Mumbai who wins the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" by recalling incidents from his life on the streets that give him the answers to difficult questions.
The script is constructed in puzzle fashion, rather like "The Usual Suspects," as the fellow-who's thought to be cheating even as he becomes a national celebrity among the downtrodden-is interrogated by the police and flashbacks show how he knew the peculiar facts that win him the cash.
What gives the picture its special punch, though, isn't just the clever story but Boyle's quick-cutting, razzle-dazzle style, endlessly energetic and vigorous.
And stay around for the Bollywood dance number that accompanies the final credits. It can't help but send you out of the theater happy.
Maybe the very idea of such inter-species attraction might seem novel to the book's hordes of adolescent girl readers, but actually, it's pretty old hat. And as a modern rethinking of the "Wuthering Heights" template, it really comes across as a pale imitation.
But it could have been treated far more effectively than it is here. The young stars try their best, but they're sabotaged by Catherine Hardwicke's direction, which never finds the right blend of campiness and swooning romance.
And the effects are distinctly subpar, mostly consisting of speeding up the film stock to give the impression of swift, catlike movement.
"Twilight" appropriated the release date of the new "Harry Potter" picture when it was pushed back until next year. Any hope that this laughable opus will achieve similar franchise success seems very far-fetched.
Far better is Danny Boyle's vivacious, colorful "Slumdog Millionaire" (Magnolia), about a young man from the ghetto of Mumbai who wins the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" by recalling incidents from his life on the streets that give him the answers to difficult questions.
The script is constructed in puzzle fashion, rather like "The Usual Suspects," as the fellow-who's thought to be cheating even as he becomes a national celebrity among the downtrodden-is interrogated by the police and flashbacks show how he knew the peculiar facts that win him the cash.
What gives the picture its special punch, though, isn't just the clever story but Boyle's quick-cutting, razzle-dazzle style, endlessly energetic and vigorous.
And stay around for the Bollywood dance number that accompanies the final credits. It can't help but send you out of the theater happy.
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