Fandom Mania

Grow a pair (of fangs): Thank goodness for horrible, disgusting, merciless vampires

by Anthony Breznican

Can we please put a stake through the heart of the thoughtful, sensitive vampire?

You know, the kind that just needs the love of a nice girl to keep his deathly cold body warm through night? The poetry-reading kind. The sparkly kind.

This is why I am grateful for the whacked-out, Friday-night-at-the-summertime-drive-in vibe of this weekend’s Fright Night remake, which takes the vampire out of the gothic, mist-shrouded castle and plunks him into the middle of suburban life — but unlike Twilight or The Vampire Diaries, or (most recently, unfortunately) True Blood — Colin Farrell’s bloodsucker isn’t here to be a prom date.

( Read more... )

Good girls and vampires: 'Twilight' altering teen minds?
Scientists probe how young adult books, movies influence adolescents

By Clara Moskowitz

It's a potentially sucky situation. The vampire craze in teen literature – exemplified by the "Twilight" book series – could be affecting the dynamic workings of the teenage brain in ways scientists don't yet understand.

"We don't know exactly how literature affects the brain, but we know that it does," said Maria Nikolajeva, a Cambridge University professor of literature. "Some new findings have identified spots in the brain that respond to literature and art."

Scientists, authors and educators met in Cambridge, England, Sept. 3-5 for a conference organized by Nikolajeva to discuss how young-adult books and movies affect teenagers' minds.
( Read more... )

Bryce Dallas Howard thrilled to take over 'Twilight' role

BOB STRAUSS
Los Angeles Daily News

Don't be hating Bryce Dallas Howard.

She's really down to Earth. She's got a cute little kid. Her father's the nicest guy in Hollywood, for Pete's sake.

None of that, of course, matters to a certain strain of Twihards. You know the sort: overzealous fans of a fantasy franchise who can't abide the slightest change in their favorite series.

Like when Rachelle Lefevre, the actress who played the wicked Victoria in the first two "Twilight" films, had a scheduling conflict with another movie when she was supposed to start shooting the third vampire romance, "Eclipse." Summit Entertainment, which produces the "Twilights," abruptly fired Lefevre, and Howard -- a huge Twihard in her own right -- agreed to step into the role on something like three days' notice.
( Read more... )

Final ‘Twilight’ films will get hot and steamy
‘There will be sex scenes — multiple sex scenes,’ screenwriter confirms

LOS ANGELES — Melissa Rosenberg, the screenwriter for the upcoming “Breaking Dawn” films, has put Twi-hard worries at rest — all the appropriate scenes will be steamy.

“There will be sex scenes — multiple sex scenes,” Rosenberg told Access Hollywood of the upcoming romance between Bella (Kristen Stewart) and her love, vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), as she hit the red carpet on Thursday night for “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” premiere.

“There will be feathers,” she added of Bella and Edward’s between-the-sheets moments, which involves the vamp biting a pillow.
( Read more... )