Kristen Stewart: an actress with (so far) limits

OK, here we go again, another character from ancient Greece: Athena, goddess of Wisdom. She personifies the rational, the thinker in us all.

When I have said that Kristen Stewart's emotions are 'suburban', I am really thinking of Athena. Stewart was incredibly good as a traumatized young teen in "Speak"; and as a well-to-do teenager in "The Land of Women." But she never 'lost control'. She was always 'civilized', even in her despair in "Speak".

But in Twilight, she fell short of what I at least expected from Bella. Meyer's Bella is among other things, sardonic, acerbic, and witty. Maybe she was taking direction from Hardwicke, here, but really, Stewart never went much beyond glum. Which is why I went to the trouble of buying her other movies to see if she can, indeed, 'act.'

Then, there was a rumor that Joan Jett made Kristen cry, during the filming of "The Runaways." Here, I'm going to drag you over to ANOTHER Greek god: Dionysius (Bacchus in Rome.)

This god exemplifies the ecstatic, uncivilized, chaotic side of human nature.

And this is what rock and roll and Joan Jett is all about. And it is here that
I believe Stewart has had difficulty keying into. So far, she seems to see Jett's story as one of women's liberation. It is much more than that, though. "Cherry Bomb" is an amazing experience, a female rock group being all that intensely passionate women can be. If Stewart does indeed come to understand this, and portray The Runaways, in all its wildness, she will be a much better actress, one with a future without limit.

Shoving Rachelle under the bus.. for what?

OK, the title of this post tells you where I sit today. In comments at Twilight Anonymous two names have come up in the comments: David Slade, director of Eclipse, and Ron Howard, incredibly famous and powerful Hollywood denizen .

My first reaction was that Ron wanted his little girl to get a great big chance in movies by moving that pesky nobody Rachelle out of the way, and placing Bryce in the role of Victoria. I even bet that it wouldn't take money to shove Pinnacle into going along with this: a simple invitation to a soiree at the Howard mansion would do the trick. (I don't have a lot of respect for the Pinnacle crowd, who have stumbled upon a goldmine in the Twilight franchise and don't know what to do with it, including keeping Rob Pattinson safe from NY harpydom).

The case of David Slade is also interesting. As I have mentioned below, by replacing Hardwicke, the Twilight Saga may lose the essence that is so appealing to its core audience: women. It is not quite 'respectable' to appeal to women, my friends. It is so much more cool to pull in the Transformers and Star Trek crowd, ok? David Slade is an action GUY, he will concentrate on the Vampire Wars, and denigrate the tension between Edward and Jacob and Bella (all of which is based on Wuthering Heights, which I am sure is of no interest at all to Pinnacle or Slade, being a 'romantic novel' and all.)

Rachelle has a vivid and energetic presence in Twilight. I don't think Slade or Pinnacle realize that... they think one red head actress is much like another red head actress, I guess.

The good thing is, the books are still here. Thank you, Stephenie Meyer!

I think we're going to miss Catherine Hardwicke...

"Twilight" was a huge and very pleasant surprise to Pinnacle: for every dollar invested, it has returned some 10 dollars to the happy investors. And this is despite the fact that it looks like a low cost indie film: the make up, the CGI, the lighting all reveal a lack of first class resources. On the other hand, the directors for "New Moon" and "Eclipse" have a lot more money to spend, and therefore, the movies will look a lot better.

But I don't think the next 2 movies will have the "soul" that has made "Twilight" a worldwide phenomenon. By that, I mean, Hardwicke made Forks high school come alive, with characters that fizz with adolescent energy. And, under her direction, Rob Pattinson plays Edward with all the shyness of a 17 year old boy, buried inside a century year old vampire. Remember when Edward is showing Bella his bedroom? Now that is ACTING with a director who has a feel for young lovers.

I could be wrong here. But, I suspect that Weitz's New Moon will look pretty. and the CGI will be formidable; and Slade's Eclipse will have incredible vampire violence. But Hardwicke brought a tender sensibility to the screen that we will miss in the next two movies.