I’m being a little unfair to the teenage fans of Twilight. For example, when discussing the movie’s $70 million haul this weekend, my wife asked why I had to pin it on teenage girls.
Well, because that’s who is going to this movie. I haven’t met one guy who has said “Yeah! I’m pumped to see it!” I mean, girls are taking videos of themselves waiting in line for the movie and posting them online.
Just so we’re clear, I don’t have a problem with girls doing this. I’m not making fun of them for that. I just want to point out to every chick that’s ever dissed a guy for waiting in line for Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, you have no moral authority now.
Truthfully, I wish this kind of thing would happen more often. I was thinking about how utterly confused I was by the Twilight phenomenon until I decided, “You know what – good for them.” Seriously. How often does something like this come along for teenage girls? As it pertains to movies, I mean. People weren’t exactly lining up around the block for midnight showings of the last Sandra Bullock movie, you know? Romantic comedies shouldn’t be the exclusive domain for “chick flicks.” Why can’t they have a kick-ass franchise like Twilight? For some girls out there Twilight is to them what Iron Man is to me and I think that’s AWESOME.
Does that mean I’m going to see Twilight? Unfortunately, no. At least not right away.
But not out of stubbornness. More out of timeliness. I wasn’t prepared mentally to face the crowd that was sure to be there over the weekend. Now with the Thanksgiving holiday fast approaching, I’ll probably have to take a pass.
Still, Jeffery Wells over at Hollywood Elsewhere makes a good point. “Guys of all ages can go to this thing and learn (i.e., remind themselves) how to act with their girlfriends and wives in a way that will most likely lead to some action. This is not a painful-to-sit-through, young-girls-only movie. It goes down fairly easily, plus it’s a major phenomenon that anyone who fancies himself to be any kind of cultural pulse-taker is absolutely required to see.”
Suggesting the movie communicates a coda for behavior that will get you laid later on is kind of crass and not the message I was attracted to. Rather, being a cultural pulse-taker, I feel I owe it to myself to check things out lest I flap my gums further. So I may make time for this yet.
Cami is seeing the movie with her book club Tuesday night. So I’ll have to see what she thinks. If she likes it, I’ll probably try to check it out later.
That’s it for now. Be sure to listen to The Triple Feature podcast tonight at 9:00 PM where we will discuss Twilight and more.
See you then!
I don’t know why I insist on drawing strips where people blow chunks on Thanksgiving, but I guess that’s how I subconsciously interpret the holiday – Stuffing your face until you puke.
I should add that I do not speak from experience in this matter. Carrot sticks only for me, please!
In advance of the Thanksgiving holiday, a bunch of movies have landed in theaters today. Four Christmases is among them. I certainly don’t begrudge an Academy Award winner from taking a straight paycheck movie from time to time. Certainly we all have to pay the bills. But it does seem a tad wasteful to have FIVE Academy Award winners in a movie that is tantamount to Fred Clause 2. Personally, I think they should play up the fact that they have this level of talent in their movie with the marketing. “This holiday season, see the movie with five Academy Award winning actors… A movie that will tug at your heartstrings and teach you the importance… of family… FOUR CHRISTMASES! Hey, hey, hey, hey!”
That said, Vince Vaughn is really the only draw on this movie for me. I guess I’m just a sucker for that whip-smart improvising he does from movie to movie. He’s really a unique brand. When you think about how he launched this fast-talking smart aleck persona in Swingers over 10 years ago and how he tried to bury it in movies like A Cool, Dry Place, Return to Paradise and The Cell it really makes you think about what a dumb move that was since he decided to bring it out of mothballs for Old School and crystallize it for Wedding Crashers. The dude has never been more successful! You’d feel cheated if you went to a Vince Vaughn movie and he didn’t act like that!
So, yeah. I’m a Vince Vaughn fan.
Not much else to talk about today. If you’re here in the states, have a safe and happy holiday and I’ll see you here on Friday!
Happy Thanksgiving!