Rock-and-roll punk spectacle has rarely looked more spiffy or energetic than it does in Flori Sigmundi’s The Runaways, an entertaining and authentic biopic of the 1970’s all-girl band. Sigmundi shows an incredible flair for realism within the rock scene, employing a fly-on-the-wall perspective to the troubles and triumphs that come with being young, famous and surrounded by too many drugs and choices.

The Runaways never downplays the serious consequences its young protagonists face but it also steers clear of turgid melodrama by delivering spectacular performance pieces. If there is a flaw to the picture overall, it is one I’m not used to writing in print; the movie needs more Kristen Stewart.

Stewart, the usually bland but stalwart star of the Twilight pictures, proves her that her talent is indeed being wasted on that series. In fact, if she can harness half the restless energy and internal spirit that she summons as Joan Jett and filter it into Bella Swan, then I might be interested in tuning in for the rest of that milquetoast vampire saga. Of course, she’s got something here that she was never given in Twilight; a strong script and a living breathing person to inhabit.

Does it help that Joan Jett is both very real and very lively, and served as a consultant to Stewart on the film? Perhaps, but those are only the tools used. Stewart takes those resources and proves a vital point that Sigmundi might have missed; the film should have focused on Joan and filtered all of its gritty details and organic atmosphere through her perspective.

Of course, this is where reality gets in the way. Cherrie Currie, the quite young leader singer of The Runaways, wrote the book that the film is based on and Dakota Fanning portrays her in the movie. Jett was the one who approached Kim Fowley, the sometimes addled, sometimes creepy, preeminent  rock manager of the time, and asked him to handle the band. It is also Jett that managed to rise up from the ashes of the Runaways and have a quite successful 80’s career. She seems to come packaged with less dramatic issues than the unfortunate Currie, but she’s also more interesting as an artist. When Stewart nails the beating ambition and the punky spunky charm of Jett, the movie detaches from its imposed focus and gravitates towards Jett.

I liked Fanning fine as Cherie, and she really shines in those moments when the band is up on stage and performing. The work that more than likely drew her to the role–the dramatic bits that deal with her fractured family life and her dalliances with all manner of sex and drugs, including a superficial (or was it?) fling with Jett—is never quite as convincing. I felt like I was watching Fanning mimicking Currie’s habits and style in those moments, but when she’s rocking out, she appears to be completely at home within the skin of someone who never seemed all that comfortable in hers.

Part of this no doubt has to do with the fact that the trajectory of the band, including the usual rise and fall, lacks a lot of intense drama that might have come with a different group. There are the usual issues and tragedies that arise from being cast into a life you have little preparation to deal with. Sigmundi wisely focuses on the music and the snarly allure of these gal pal rockers, and in doing so, the movie occasionally feels at odds with itself. I found myself wondering afterwards if The Runaways might not have been more compelling as a fictional concert film of sorts, possibly condensing events down to an evening or two, or perhaps a focus on the tour circuit.

However, it does dawn on me that we might have a bit less development of Michael Shannon’s Kim Fowley if that were the case, and that would have been a shame. By far the most seasoned performer in the cast, Shannon came ready to work for The Runaways. He nails the portrayal of Fowley as a man both talented and diseased, opportunistic and caring; a borderline predator curiously contrasted with a warped surrogate daddy.

Shannon can deliver the unsettling, as was demonstrated in 2006’s Bug, where he played a crazed ex-military man who wanted desperately to search Ashley Judd’s skin for crawling microbes. What he can also do is perfectly encapsulate the external perception of a character while drawing inside a totally different landscape, and then using all of his acting skill to slowly and surely integrate the two disparate pieces into an intriguing whole. In a different film, Fowley might have been a background player despite being front and center for Currie’s book. With Shannon, he’s right there in the foreground sharing glorious interaction with the female leads.

The Runaways may have a few issues when it comes to focus, but it’s as strong as they come in terms of delivery. Sigmundi and her production team have given us a 70’s rock microcosm that feels as authentic as any captured. She pushes her stars to great heights and gets for her troubles, characters that fit snuggly into that world, all the while striving for it and straining against it all at the same time. The Runaways is an anthem for punk chick angst, and the surprising thing is that it never feels flimsy or adolescent.

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

With a franchise this popular a fan base this rabid, nearly every day gets to be a Twilight related news day.

However, on this final day of March, it’s more so than usual. Fans of the films  have a couple of new pics from David Slade’s upcoming adaptation of Eclipse to help tide them over until June 30th, and readers of Meyer’s work have something else to get excited for.

On the picture front, we have 3 new stills featuring Bella, Ed, and Jacob, all in various forms of interaction/confrontation and another shot of the Cullens family lounging in the misty forest. You can check all three of them out below.

On the literary side of things, Meyers has just recently announced that she’s finished a spinoff novella from the Twilight series, which will be distributed for free online. Following a secondary character from Eclipse, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner will expound on the exploits of its titular hero. In addition to the electronic roll out, the novella will also hit bookstores on June 5th, 2010, preempting the film’s release date and no doubt cashing in on mounting excitement.

So, tell me fans, does Bree Tanner, whoever they might be, really warrant his/her own story? Let’s hear about it in the comments.

As an outsider to the cult of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight, I confess to not understanding the draw of Bella Swan and her pasty, blood-sucking paramour.  Having not read the novels and seen only the  frustratingly bland and often risible  first installment, I was less than eager to catch-up with New Moon.

After watching it, less-than-eager seems far too naive a stance to have taken. Significantly more stilted, cloying and nondescript than its predecessor, Moon stares full-on into the flat, gray abyss of teenage gothic longing and sexual repression. I now understand the draw, but am baffled by the lack of taste with which the series handles its themes.

Last time, wobbly, vacant-eyed teen Bella got all goo-goo over even more vacant-eyed and self-absorbed (though the series want to sell it as self-possessed) Ed Cullen, part of a local vampire clan. Their chaste courtship in the first movie was the stuff that narcolepsy is made of. I’m at a loss to think of a film with a less lively couple of lovers at its center, and I’m counting that scene of the snails mating to classical music in Microcosmos.

Stewart and Pattinson, both proving acting chops in other films, simply don’t generate together the heat or conviction necessary to make anyone–save for the most easily swayed–want to follow them. Some claim that the innocence of their relationship hampers that flame. Nope, not at all. See Kiera Knightley and Matthew McFayden in Pride and Prejudice or Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw in the recent Bright Star to see burning passion and commitment without carnal action.

 In fact, the relationship between Bella and Ed doesn’t come off to me as innocent; instead it’s more than a little creepy. First time through, Ed says “You are like my heroin” and Bella, little more than a blank slate, fawns over him for it. He’s shifty, controlling, and even his selflessness, exemplified in this movie by sending her away from him forever because she makes his family crazy(all that warm white girl blood I guess), could be interpreted as surly indecision. We know he will be back, and that Bella will probably be waiting.

Ed wants her out of danger. Even though they are parted, whenever she finds herself in a scrape, he appears to her as an Obi Wan-esque ghostly image. When she figures out what triggers these supernatural Skype moments, she starts seeking out danger and adrenaline rush so she can dial up her brooding beau. Seriously, Bella, he dumped you. Stop trying to get his attention with idiocy.  

Left alone, it isn’t long before she’s attacked by some of the vampires from the first movie and then rescued by her American Indian bud, Jake Black, who has clearly spent the summer on the 300 diet before being reunited with Bella. I suppose its a spoiler of sorts if you live in a cave, but Jake, and the rest of his ‘clan’, are werewolves; he’s just recently discovered that special time in a boy’s life when he starts changing at will into a large CGI Alsatian. Jake takes his shirt off, Bella stares at him, and thinks “It’s been awhile since I’ve pined for a grumpy, emotionally-inaccessible monster”. Yea, that’s pretty much it. Plenty of ‘will they/won’t they’ moments, but not anything that made me care either way.

For a movie with vampires and werewolves based on a fantasy series that is overwhelmingly popular, you would expect much more to actually happen here. Even Chris Weitz’s heavily truncated last adaptation, The Golden Compass, had more going on in its passages than this tepid loaf of half-narratives and paper cut-out characters. I didn’t miss Edward, but his absence makes this film even more arbitrary than the last one.

Moon doesn’t work very hard to make us think Jake and Bella have a chance, and Bella can’t be bothered to understand his lycanthropy in the same we she accepts Ed’s vampirism. She may like washboard abs, but not as much as men the same color as the washboard. As for Edward, he goes to meet a coven of elder vampires headed up by Dakota Fanning and Michael Sheen. Eventually, the whole movie has changed setting and the characters are all racing around Italy looking desperately for a plot that matters.

As I’ve said before, I’m no Twilight fan, but I take no pleasure slagging the series simply because it is popular or it happens to be the kind of story that usually sits best with 13 year old girls. The truth of it is that Moon isn’t very interesting and a lack of actual repercussions or consequences for the characters’ actions, coupled with a very simplistic and silly view of teenage obsession, renders it almost negligent as entertainment for the younger crowd.

As a heroine (not the kind Ed likes) Bella is pathetic, her taste and approach to men eerily echoing the same kind of behavior that lands real world women in abusive relationships. Wietz, nor anyone else working on the film, seems to see this, preferring instead to assume it is just a lightweight fantasy. The truth is that New Moon is far, far less than that; its training wheels for brooding angst.

movie rating:

Rating: ★½☆☆☆ 

To prove I’m not a complete grump, here’s a sequence, featuring Ed and Bella sharing an important conversation, from this summer’s upcoming ‘Eclipse’ (From what I hear, this can be found on the WalMart version):

Bluray Special Features:

*Note* Die-hard Twilighters, you may have to poke about at the various retailers for the version you want, as there seem to be several of them out there. Walmart, Barnes and Nobles and Best Buy all boast different sets with different features. I’ll leave the task of determining which is best to you.

The version I’m covering here is the one disc Bluray edition.

Although not jam-packed with all the goodies the others might have, this one disc actually has some fun stuff for fans of the series. 

There’s a quite good audio commentary with director Chris Weitz and Peter Lambert, the film’s editor, that is remarkably lively considering the film it’s attached to. Weitz seems quite happy with the movie, the shoot, and his actors. If you enjoyed the film, this is definitely worth a listen. I was more than happy to listen to these two talk over the rest of the picture.

The big extra on this disc is a six-part ‘Making Of’ documentary that covers all of the shooting, the props and costumes, some funny anecdotes involving Kristen and Rob filming some of the forest scenes, and a nice peek at the special effects work on the wolves. Gene Siskel used to be fond of saying “Is your film as interesting as a documentary of the same actors eating lunch together?” New Moon and it’s ‘making of’ feature prove perfectly what Siskel was talking about.

Pattinson and Stewart, and even Lautner all come off as funnier, more charming and energetic than their onscreen counterparts. It looks like every0ne really enjoyed making the film and it was a good time on the set. Strangely, for me, none of this translates to the final product. I was honestly a bit surprised by that.

Oh well, it’s clear that I’ve missed the boat on this one, but if this is the trip you are looking for, I’d recommend the Bluray; the forests are greener, the werewolves more ripped, and Ed pastier than you can hope for in regular old dvd. If you are the kind of fan that made it through my trouncing of the movie just to find out what’s on this disc, seeking out one of those meatier versions might be the best way to go.

And finally, a scene I was hoping to catch on this disc but isn’t anywhere to be found. Sigh!

For those of you who cannot wait a moment longer for a new dose of “Twilight Saga: New Moon”, here is the latest movie trailer spawned out from today’s MTV Video Music Awards. Starring Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Launter and many others, here it is below. Twilight Saga: New Moon comes out in theaters everywhere November 20th.:

Continuing on with even more pictures of the dreaded Volturi, the head group of villainous and beautiful vampires in the movie Twilight Saga: New Moon. Below is several pictures of more vampires, including Alec (Cameron Bright), Marcus (Christopher Heyerdahl), Aro (Michael Sheen) and Jane (Dakota Fanning) just to name a few. Twilight Saga: New Moon comes out in theaters everywhere on November 20th.

For all of those who are going through weekly withdraws of all things Twilight Saga: New Moon, here recently released is pictures of our favorite blood suckers. The Volturi, the Italy based group of head vampires that take a role within the second installment of the Twilight franchise are dressed to impress on their individual pictures. Showing off the vampires Aro, Jane and Caius, here continues on the constant tease to fans of the popular book and movie series.

It just works. Here’s the first look at Kristen Stewart as the rock machine, Joan Jett, in the upcoming The Runaways written and directed by Floria Sigismondi.

She looks rather melancholy, right? Ms. Stewart’s post-Twilight career has lit up since her starring role as every tweens favorite love-lorn, angst-riddled teen, Bella. Then becoming a love-lorn, angst-riddled teen who does Ryan Reynolds in Adventureland, Stewart was quickly cast as the immortal rock chick, Joan Jett.

The Runaways will focus on Jett’s rise to stardom along with her band in the fabo ’70s. Dakota Fanning will play Cherie Currie, Stella Maeve will play Sandy West, and Alessandra Torresani will play Lita Ford in what will be Italian director Sigismondi’s first full-length feature film.

(sigh)

Fanning gets ready to smack around some vampires.

Teen actress Dakota Fanning (Push) is ready to put on some pasty make up and red contacts as she jumps onto the ever growing cast for the Twilight sequel, New Moon. Fanning will be playing Jane, one of the head members of a secret vampire organization that call themselves the Voultri.

After Bella (Kirsten Stewart) recovers from the vampire attack that almost claimed her life, she looks to celebrate her birthday with Edward (Robert Pattinson) and his family. However, a minor accident during the festivities results in Bella’s blood being shed, a sight that proves too intense for the Cullens, who decide to leave the town of Forks, Washington for Bella and Edward’s sake. Initially heartbroken, Bella finds a form of comfort in reckless living, as well as an even-closer friendship with Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). Danger in different forms awaits. (Courtesy of IMDB)

Filming is currently underway for the Summit Entertainment film. It is set for release on November 20th of this year.