Courtesy of TIFF
MOVIE REVIEW
Prisoner's Daughter (2022)
Catherine Hardwicke is probably the least appreciated director working today. She personally revolutionized cinema with the alienated, moody “Twilight” – say what you will about it, it tapped into a deep (admittedly embarrassing) vein of teenage-girl longing and made young-adult adaptions the biggest thing in cinema for a good decade. She also has a knack for offering future stars their first big leading roles, most notably Oscar Isaac in “Nativity Story.” However, she did not direct any of the increasingly silly “Twilight” sequels, on which fellow director Lexi Alexander once sent some famously sharp tweets about how this was the perfect example of Hollywood sexism. And it must be said that Ms. Hardwicke’s films since “Twilight,” either for teenagers or adults, have not been terribly successful. From that angle this makes “Prisoner’s Daughter,” which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, an important movie, because if it does not succeed at what it sets out to do, it will be the end of an important director’s career. It’s pleasing to say that it does – but only just.
Continue reading “Father Figured” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Red Riding Hood (2011)
Kimberly French/Warner Bros. Pictures
Movies are often sold to studios on the promise of combining flick A and flick B to produce, well, flick A-plus-B or something. For example, “ ‘Dumb & Deader’ will totally be similar to ‘Dumb & Dumber’-meets-‘Sudden Death’.” It’s the age-old explanation for why Hollywood plagiarizes itself with such fervor.
In formulating “Red Riding Hood,” her ridiculous teenybopper-geared retooling of the fairy tale, director Catherine Hardwicke (“Twilight”) clearly couldn’t be bothered to restrict the formula to two movies, or TV shows, or popular trends. Instead, the medieval village-set picture is “Gossip Girl”-meets-“Spring Awakening”-and-a-Renaissance Faire with a dash of “Twilight,” a sprinkling of MTV, a touch of Baz Luhrmann-style anachronisms and all the sweeping helicopter shots you’ll ever need.
Continue reading “Can’t Fight the Twilight” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Twilight (2008)
Deana Newcomb/Summit Entertainment
For those knowing close to nothing about the “Twilight” phenomenon, it's tempting to approach this heavily promoted adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s novel with extreme trepidation. Oft-circulated clips of thousands of teenage girls descending upon star Robert Pattinson in a possessed frenzy further reinforced the notion that this is probably not something made for another demographic. Indeed, the film lives up to your expectation – for better or worse.
Continue reading “Let the Right One Bite” »