THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 2: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 3:46.1

Vampy Family, Assemble!: Clockwise from center: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Mackenzie Foy await the repressive forces of vampiric tradition in THE TWILGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 2.
Vampy Family, Assemble!: Clockwise from center: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Mackenzie Foy await the repressive forces of vampiric tradition in THE TWILGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 2.

So now Bella (Kristen Stewart) is not just vamp, but super-mega-ultra-vamp, the smartest, strongest, most beautiful, most morally pristine vamp there ever was. Meanwhile, her brand-new and rapidly growing daughter, Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy) is blessed with the psychic ability to melt even the coldest heart with the power of L-O-V-E, not that that matters to the Volturi, who still want her dead, because… well, because. And Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner) are still just the big, buttery hunks of dreaminess they always were.
And you’d think with all of that we’d get a pretty rip-roaring wrap-up to the TWILIGHT SAGA franchise, but, nope, THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 2, is still the kind of moody, formless slog we’ve been through before, only slightly energized by a long-delayed bit of action that still manages to turn around and slap you in the face for even daring to hope that the film might be working itself up to a compelling moment. Cinefantastique Online’s Steve Biodrowski and Dan Persons unburden themselves of the experience with a cathartic, in-depth discussion of this final chapter. Then, Dan gives his capsule thoughts on the Russian satire GENERATION P; plus, what’s coming to theaters next week.

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Snow White and the Huntsman & Piranha 3DD: The Cinefantastique Spotlight Podcast – 3:22

Towards the End of His Life, Disney Admitted His Greatest Regret was Neglecting to Include a Giant Forest Troll in SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS: Kristen Stewart faces down a wilder fairy tale in SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN.
Towards the End of His Life, Disney Admitted His Greatest Regret was Neglecting to Include a Giant Forest Troll in SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS: Kristen Stewart faces down a wilder fairy tale in SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN.

Probably looked good on paper. A “grown-up” retelling of Snow White, featuring the stars of THE TWILIGHT SAGA and THOR, with additional star-power in the casting of the wicked queen and the seven dwarfs and a lush, stylish mounting courtesy of the director of many, visually innovative commercials, here making his feature film debut — what could go wrong? Well, forgetting to put the term “entertaining” into the precis for SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN may have been the first problem. Ripping off concepts from far better films such as NEVERENDING STORY and TIME BANDITS for no particular reason certainly didn’t help.
Come join Cinefantastique Online‘s Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons as they discuss how one film manages to confound not only the talents of the easily susceptible, such as headliners Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth, but also such seasoned performers as Charlize Theron, Ian McShane, and Bob Hoskins. Then: Steve gives his capsule review of the satiric gore-fest PIRANHA 3DD, and Dan weighs in on the animated adventure A CAT IN PARIS. Plus: What’s coming to theaters.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 2:45.1

Nibbles from Inside: Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) confront the prospect of bring new undead life (uhhh... you know what we mean) into the world in THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1.
Nibbles from Inside: Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) confront the prospect of bring new undead life (uhhh... you know what we mean) into the world in THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1.

It’s vampires! And werewolves! And the most romantic wedding ever! Annnnd… actually it’s mostly about that wedding, and the repercussions thereof (in other words, somebody’s winding up with a bloodsucking bun in the oven). For those already enamored by the ongoing travails of blushing heroine Bella (Kristen Stewart) and her sensitive vampire beau Edward (Robert Pattinson), THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 begins the final chapter of an epic romance, as humans, lyncanthropes, and the undead begin to confront the daunting prospect of mortal and immortal merging into one, tiny life. For those not prone to reflexive swooning, Cinefantastique Online’s Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons are willing to apply a more critical yardstick, exploring the tale’s confusing explication of vampire gestation, its zeal for licensed pop music, and whether its none-too-subtle pro-life subtext should be cause for concern.
Also: What’s coming in theaters.

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The Twilight Saga: Eclipse now playing

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)Summit Entertainment releases the third film in the TWILIGHT SAGA (and isn’t it funny that the feel the need to use “The Twlight Saga” in the title, as if fans won’t know that ECLIPSE is part of the franchise?). Anyway, the film focuses on the love triangle between human high school girl Bela Swan (Kristen Stewart), vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson, and werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). David Slade (who helmed a considerably different kind of vampire movie with 30 DAYS OF NIGHT) directs from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer . Coincidentally, co-star Jackson Rathbone is also in M. Night Shyamalan’s THE LAST AIRBENDER, which opens the same day; we know the TWILIGHT films are proven box office winners, but is ECLIPSE really ready to go head-to-head with one of Hollywood’s powerhouse summer blockbusters?
Release date: Originally announced Friday, July 2, the film was bumped up to a Wednesday, June 30 date, with screenings starting just after Tuesday at midnight.
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