Well, that wasn't very surprising. After four and a half years, "The Twilight Saga" came to an end this past weekend and made a ton of money. Not quite "Harry Potter" money, but it sold enough tickets to make it the eighth biggest opening weekend of all time.
The critics were split right down the middle however. Though "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" sits atop the box office results, its score at Rotten Tomatoes sits at 49 percent, which is pretty much the standard Tomato-Meter score at this point.
But we want to know what you thought? Vote in our reader poll after the jump to tell us how you felt "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" stacked up.
Then head over to Hollywood Crush to vote which "Twilight" movie rules them all.
Got more to say? Share your thoughts in the comments below and on Twitter!
There is one thing that a "Star Wars" fan never has to worry about: a lack of merchandise in the marketplace. The licensing geniuses at Lucasfilm ensured long ago that the universe of "Star Wars" stuff extends well beyond t-shirts, mugs and posters. And now that there's another trilogy in the works, "Star Wars" merch will be hotter than ever.
So, for the fan on your holiday shopping list, we offer this handy "Star Wars" Gift Guide. On it you will find gifts for everyone from young Padawans to old Jedi Masters that will fit every budget.
1. Winter's coming fast, so a functional yet stylish severed Wampa arm ice scraper will be much appreciated by your loved ones in harsher climes.
There's a storm of swords brewing in the Seven Kingdoms. It's just a shame that no one seems to realize that the real war lies north of Westeros.
"Game of Thrones" returns for its third season on March 31, 2013, bringing the frosty fury of winter along with it. Based on a portion of the third novel in George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, "A Storm of Swords," the teaser identifies what the real war humanity faces is truly all about ' and it's nothing that any of our heroes, save for the men of the Night's Watch, seems to give a hoot about.
When "Pride and Prejudice" and "Atonement" director Joe Wright was picked to helm another piece of classic literature in "Anna Karenina," it came as no surprise who he picked to play his lead. Keira Knightley has seen her acting career flourish in these types of roles. While she has had success in other roles her most critical success comes from her collaborations with Wright, resulting in two Golden Globe nominations and an Oscar nod.
In a recent interview with MTV News Knightley explained how her relationship with her title character, "Anna Karenina" has changed over time. After regrettably dropping out of school ("I was feeling really stupid," she cracked), the actress felt the need to read more books to keep her hesitations at ease. In reading the classic Russian tome, she originally found the character of Anna to be a sweet, innocent girl. However, after rereading the book in preparation for her upcoming role, she found herself hating Anna more than she ever would have thought. She explained that Anna is "not as nice as I thought she was."
"I think it's more interesting when you have characters where you don't know how you feel about them the whole time. I do sympathize with her and I do love her," she continued. "But you also go, 'She is manipulative and cruel and duplicitous."
Knightley's changing opinion of Anna proves just how far she has come as an actress. While many actresses research and work to truly become the roles that they play, it is clear Knightly thinks about it on a whole different level. Her struggle with the character of Anna is intriguing as perhaps the character experiences the same struggle.
While Anna can be seen as innocent, she is also the manipulative character that Knightley discovered last summer. "Anna Karenina" premieres in a limited release today, and if the Knightly/Wright combo has shown audiences anything, it's that they are perfectly suited to tackle this type of project.
It's easy to joke that "Twilight" is nothing but the characters giving each other very serious stares, but it's not until you edit them all together that you realize how much staring their really is.
The folks over at Film.com have made a supercut of all of the time Edward Cullen stares very intensely. (Spoiler alert: He does it many, many times.)
Whether we like it or not Hollywood is in full-fledged awards season mode which, in addition to soon being inundated with "For Your Consideration" print ads and billboards, means that it's never too early for us to start making our own predictions about certain categories.
Hot on the heels of this week's buzzworthy first listen of Neil Flinn's original song for "The Hobbit," I'm dedicating my first prognosticating to one of my favorite and under-appreciated movie-related subjects: Best Original Song. Yes, more people should care about this category! Here are the tracks I hope get the attention they deserve in the next few months:
Neil Finn, "Song Of The Lonely Mountain" Sure, the excitement for everything "Hobbit" is a little overwhelming and might seem excessive to some, but Peter Jackson's return to Middle Earth IS cause for celebration for film score and song nerds like me because it means more Howard Shore brilliance AND this expertly-crafted, fitting new song from Finn. It has an old school, period piece sound with a few whimsical elements thrown in that remind me of the instruments featured in Shore's previous scores for "The Lord of the Rings."
Paul Williams, "Still Alive" Speaking of nostalgia, Stephen Kessler's documentary "Paul Williams Still Alive" is probably the most blatantly nostalgic film of the year since it revolves around the director's lifelong obsession with Williams, but also reintroduces an entirely new generation to a '70s pop culture icon (writer of hits like "Rainbow Connection" and "Evergreen") who was a superstar way before MTV was born. Williams' original contribution to the film, "Still Alive," should tug on voters' heartstrings and muster a lot of nostalgic support. (For those curious about the movie, check out what Williams had to say about offering "hope for the hopeless" below)
Adele, "Skyfall" This song should be a slam-dunk nominee, but because the Academy's rules for original song are extra complicated, Adele and co-writer Paul Epworth's wonderful addition to the canon of Bond songs might not get the recognition it deserves. Kristopher Tapley over at HitFix has done a great job of analyzing exactly how and why this could happen, but I'm going to think happy thoughts and keep pulling for the big, sweeping and timeless track to continue to be included in the conversation.
Mumford & Sons and Birdy, "Learn Me Right" Original songs from animated movies have a strong track record of getting nominated and winning this category, particularly if the movie in question is a Disney or Pixar production, or a joint effort. Case in point, the soundtrack for "Brave." Although there are more than one nominee-worthy tracks here, "Learn Me Right" has enough originality, sentiment and folksy-ness to stay in the conversation. And the continued and increasing popularity of Mumford & Sons doesn't hurt either.
Toss-up: Willie Nelson, "Midnight Run" or one of Dolly Parton's "Joyful Noise" songs Remember that point made earlier about nostalgia and how Academy voters love subtle walks down memory lane? Well, they also love when legendary and award-winning musicians lend their songwriting skills to Hollywood. I would like to give this fifth spot to my wild card choice below, but I'm pretty sure that Nelson and Parton will garner enough attention to earn themselves nominations here; I just don't know which artist they prefer at this point.
Wild card: Diane Warren, "Silver Lining (Crazy 'Bout You)" Just because I like this fun collaboration between songwriting guru Diane Warren and UK pop phenom Jessie J. It's the most pop-y of the group, but there's enough buzz for "The Silver Linings Playbook" to maybe get folks interested in this catchy, upbeat tune (the video links for which have all been pulled down at the moment, due to copyright infringement).
This week at theaters, vampires, Russians, and the depressed.
Check out all of this week's pairing on Double Feature Friday!
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2" & "Lincoln" Here me out on this one. The order in which you watch these two is essential. You have to go see "Lincoln" first. In the historical drama from Steven Spielberg, Lee Pace plays Representative Fernando Wood, a dastardly opponent to Lincoln's proposed 13th amendment to free the slaves. You grow to hate him passionately over the course of two and a half hours, so much so that's it's conceivable that Rep. Wood isn't a man at all. He's so wicked, he could be a vampire. *Mind blown sounds* Then proceed to watch "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" as if Pace's character Garrett is actual Rep. Wood, much later in his immortal life. Enjoy.
"Anna Karenina" & "Hanna" With "Anna Karenina," Joe Wright delivers another intriguing cinematic experience. His previous effort, the unjustly under-seen "Hanna," remains a fun piece of genre work that should have found a larger audience. It's a complete change of pace for the director, who made a name for himself on costume-y period pieces (we'll forget about "The Soloist"). Instead of the class-based drama, "Hanna" mashes up fairy tale tropes and the spy genre to spin one great yarn.
"Silver Linings Playbook" & "Winter's Bone" Before she was Katniss Everdeen, Jennifer Lawrence earned an Academy Award nomination for playing Ree Dolly, the tough-as-nails daughter of an Ozarks meth dealer. Since it's pretty much a lock that Lawrence will once again get a nomination for her work as Tiffany in "Silver Linings Playbook," now seems like a good time to take a look back at the role that proved to the world how amazing Lawrence can be.
If one movie is never enough for you and you're looking for a flick to get you in the mood for this week's new release, Double Feature Friday is here to help. Every week we break down the new releases and pair them with older movies that you should catch before heading out to the theater. Or just skip the new movie and check out the classic we recommend.
Tags Anna Karenina, hanna, lincoln, The Silver Linings Playbook, The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn part 2, winter's bone
