Last night I watched Twilight with some lucky fans who squeezed into the surprising small theater for the preview. They were linked arm in arm, wearing their Team Edward T-shirts, and the squealing that started when the lights dimmed continued when a major male character appeared on screen for the first time (Jacob, Edward, Carlisle, James, in that order of appearance). I sure hope director Catherine Hardwicke meant for those early scenes to be funny, particularly the first meeting between Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) where he looks like he's about to throw up and then stares at her throughout biology class, because the crowd couldn't stop laughing. (Not haha-laughing, but the I'm-so-giddy-my-throat-can't-stop-gurgling-over laughing). And any appearance by Jasper (Jackson Rathbone), who is silent nearly the whole film with a fixed expression of sheer terror, also brought on the chuckles. For a teen-angst romantic drama, this film was getting more yuks than You Don't Mess With the Zohan.
 But then the romance, and the action, kicked in, and Twilight settled into a brisk-paced drama sure to please readers who were waiting for Bella's rescue/Italian dinner, for the first kiss, for the baseball game, and the climactic ballet-studio fight sequence to play out on the big screen. Any tense moment between Bella and Edward (and it must be said, the pair have some great chemistry) was punctuated with a choked cry of ecstasy from some girl in the audience, so it was tough to really watch it as a film. Stewart is a perfect Bella, and Pattinson, while certainly looking the part, was probably two degrees too timid to carry off the more heroic aspects of Edward fans have come to love. (With his natural accent he was more masculine in Harry Potter; here, he's doing a James Dean-esque affectation that works as mysterious but not so much as... well, a hero) The forest confrontation was particularly awkward, because as Edward flits about demonstrating how menacing he can be ("I've killed people"), you don't fully believe him. If they keep making more films, Pattinson needs to dial up the cojones if Edward's going up against the Volturi. As much as I like Pattison, as I drove home I couldn't help thinking about the actor Stephenie Meyer envisioned as Edward when she wrote the books, The Tudors' Henry Cavill, and thinking there was a little more studliness to be desired.
 The only other sore spot in the film were the portrayals of Bella's classmates. Mike, Eric, and Tyler, it must be said, on-screen were completely annoying clowns who like to give each other noogies and wedgies between classes (and that's it). It's completely unrealistic for Bella to be friends with them. (Also noteworthy: in the film version Eric is Asian-American and Tyler is black, as is the nomadic vampire Laurent. Played by Edi Gathegi, Laurent is particularly inspired casting, but the caricatures created of Bella's friends might make some think this idea was too forcefully PC.)
If you aren't a fan of the books (and I am, even though I'm trying to write this review objectively), this movie will likely confuse you. The point from A to B to C leaves many unfilled holes of logic; the attraction between Bella and Edward on screen alone is never fully fleshed out, which would leave newbies going, "So.... he loves her, but is that because he wants to eat her? And why would she rather die than stay away from him again, despite this?" On the plus side, the movie leaves out many of the more overwrought purple prose from the book and is snappier, funnier (particularly anything featuring Bella's dad Charlie, played by Billy Burke).
 But you know what? In the end, it doesn't matter. Will Twilight please its fans? A resounding yes. Will I watch it again? Of course-- though in my house, and any gurgling squeals should indeed be my own. -- Ellen
Colin Firth used to be the sleaze. He impregnated Saffron Burrows in Circle of Friends (then assumed she'd get an abortion), paid to marry Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love, and schemed his way into many a bed in Valmont.
We've all forgotten about that now, of course, ever since he climbed out of that pond in Pride & Prejudice, which has sprung him into the uptight romantic leading man category he's since enjoyed with Bridget Jones' Diary, Love Actually, and many more.
I got the chance to interview Colin in New York where he was promoting When Did You Last See Your Father?, a Sony Pictures Classics release in which he stars with Jim Broadbent as a writer reflecting on his relationship with his father in the weeks leading up to the father's death. Here's the video of our interview, also available as a podcast. Find out why he took the role, what his favorite film experiences have been, and why he can't even watch Pride and Prejudice. -- Ellen
While building our Twilight store (which you can check out here, at www.amazon.com/twilight) I read through author Stephenie Meyer's blog and found her wishlist for the film's cast, written a few months before the current cast was chosen.
Henry Cavill (The Tudors) as Edward Cullen (Meyer then gave up the dream when the movie was finally optioned because at age 25 he was too old to play a permanently 17-year-old)
Emily Browning (Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events) as Bella Swan
John C. Reilly as Charlie Swan
Rachael Leigh Cook as Alice Cullen
Cillian Murphy as James 
Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy, Nicholas Nickleby) as Carlisle Cullen
To see who was really cast in Twilight, and watch trailers/clips, get character bios and own your very own Cullen jewelry set(!), visit our Twilight store. -- Ellen
 
As a person really excited for the upcoming Twilight film, I'm highly disappointed in the new movie poster released today (right). This does nothing to evoke the themes of the film, plus Robert Pattinson looks like Jason Priestley if he were carved out of limestone somewhere far, far away from Beverly Hills and the beach.
Needless to say, it does not improve upon the first poster (left), which had a dreamier Edward (Pattinson) hovering/protecting over Bella (Kristen Stewart) instead of looking like they were Photoshop-ed together. What do you think, Twilight fans?
Stay tuned: the new trailer debuts on Friday. -- Ellen
 A quintessential leading man in every sense of the word, Paul Newman was an actor, a director, a producer, a philanthropist, and one-half of Hollywood's longest double-star marriage. Now gone at the age of 83, we lose yet another one of film's icons. Newman had reportedly been battling cancer for years, but would only respond to inquiries with "[I'm] doing nicely."
His filmography is well known; his two partnerships with Robert Redford (in The Sting and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) defined "buddy movie"; the pair always hoped to reunite once more but never found the right project. He fit well into the role of antihero in films such as Cool Hand Luke, The Hustler, and Hud; the '70s and '80s saw him working with directors such as Martin Scorsese (The Color of Money, for which he won his only Oscar in addition to two honorary ones), Sydney Pollack (Absence of Malice), Sidney Lumet (The Verdict), and even the Coen Brothers (The Hudsucker Proxy).
In the last decade he took smaller roles, with his final on-screen appearance as the father of Daniel Craig in Road to Perdition. His last screen credit was voicing Doc, the cranky aging former champion racer in Disney's Cars, a natural fit for the racing enthusiast who competed as recently as last year.
The man with the famous ice-blue eyes got his start in theater, studying at the Actors Studio with Marlon Brando, James Dean and Karl Malden. Through the stage, he met actress Joanne Woodward, whom he married in 1958 (he had two daughters and one son with his first wife, Jacqueline Witte; his son died in 1978 of an accidental overdose of alcohol and valium). Woodward and Newman have three daughters, and he directed his wife to an Oscar nod in the film Rachel, Rachel. He famously told Playboy magazine he had no intentions to stray from the marriage.: "I have steak at home, why go out for hamburger?"
But no tribute is complete without mentioning his charitable contributions, including a camp for children with cancer and the company Newman's Own, which has donated more than $175 million as of last year. As former co-star Sally Field said upon learning of his death, "Sometimes God makes perfect people. And Paul Newman was one of them."
We leave you with Newman's closing arguments in The Verdict, one of his finest film performances ever. -- Ellen
A quintessential leading man in every sense of the word, Paul Newman was an actor, a director, a producer, a philanthropist, and one-half of Hollywood's longest double-star marriage. Now gone at the age of 83, we lose yet another one of film's icons. Newman had reportedly been battling cancer for years, but would only respond to inquiries with "[I'm] doing nicely."
His filmography is well known; his two partnerships with Robert Redford (in The Sting and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) defined "buddy movie"; the pair always hoped to reunite once more but never found the right project. He fit well into the role of antihero in films such as Cool Hand Luke, The Hustler, and Hud; the '70s and '80s saw him working with directors such as Martin Scorsese (The Color of Money, for which he won his only Oscar in addition to two honorary ones), Sydney Pollack (Absence of Malice), Sidney Lumet (The Verdict), and even the Coen Brothers (The Hudsucker Proxy).
In the last decade he took smaller roles, with his final on-screen appearance as the father of Daniel Craig in Road to Perdition. His last screen credit was voicing Doc, the cranky aging former champion racer in Disney's Cars, a natural fit for the racing enthusiast who competed as recently as last year.
The man with the famous ice-blue eyes got his start in theater, studying at the Actors Studio with Marlon Brando, James Dean and Karl Malden. Through the stage, he met actress Joanne Woodward, whom he married in 1958 (he had two daughters and one son with his first wife, Jacqueline Witte; his son died in 1978 of an accidental overdose of alcohol and valium). Woodward and Newman have three daughters, and he directed his wife to an Oscar in the film Rachel, Rachel. He famously told Playboy magazine he had no intentions to stray from the marriage. "I have steak at home, why go out for hamburger?"
But no tribute is complete without mentioning his charitable contributions, including a camp for children with cancer and the company Newman's Own, which has donated more than $175 million as of last year. As former co-star Sally Field said upon learning of his death, "Sometimes God makes perfect people. And Paul Newman was one of them."
We leave you with Newman's closing arguments in The Verdict, one of his finest film performances ever. -- Ellen
If you missed the Emmy Awards, you can see a complete list of winners and nominees here. Meanwhile, here's a rundown of some highlights (and lowlights), along with favorite quotes.
THE GOOD (in no particular order)
 -Tina Fey and a pregnant Amy Poehler teaming up to present. Any excuse to get them together is most welcome. Poehler killed with a bit where they were greeting the international audience ("To our friends in Italy... Every-ah-bahdy Welcahm... Meatballs.")
-Doris Roberts yelling "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!" during the best-lines montage at the opening of the show.
-The nostalgic sets of Seinfeld, Laugh-In (including a reunion of the cast in character), The West Wing, and The Mary Tyler Moore show as part of the 60th anniversary of the show.
 -Ricky Gervais chastizing a hangdog Steve Carell for stealing the Emmy Gervais was not present to accept last year. "You didn't even see Ghost Town did you?" Gervais asked him. "I sat through Evan Almighty; give me my Emmy." To top it off, Gervais claimed he was going off script and stood in front of a seated Carell, haggling him to give it back until Carell reluctantly reached under his seat and handed it over.
-Heidi Klum announcing David Boreanaz as the star of "The Bones."
-Jimmy Kimmel getting back at the reality-tv host nominees by making them line up on stage, telling them they're all in the final two, then waiting till "after the break" to reveal the winner. But why was this category placed after the lead actor and actress, which are normally reserved for the most prestigious last half hour?
 -Tom Bergeron dropping Heidi Klum on the floor to illustrate "comedy."
-Don Rickles' improvised riff (which included insulting the show's writers with
"Let's read these funny lines they wrote for us"), all of which left co-presenter Kathy Griffin unable to keep a straight face.
-That the "in Memoriam" clip of Tim Russert was his interview with Hillary Clinton. Tim: "So you never want to be President?" Hillary: "No, I--" Tim: "Ever? Never? You'll never run?"
-Upsets. Bryan Cranston? Zeljko Ivanek? Jean Smart? Sure kept the show from being predictable.
 -Josh Groban singing through 60 years of TV theme songs. This was scheduled to run in the "Bad" column of this blog, until he did a spot-on rendition of the South Park theme song, Letterman, and Baywatch. (His Andy Griffith whistling skills were also impressive.) Clearly, after his appearance earlier this year in Jimmy Kimmel's Ben Affleck tune, someone's having fun with his own image.
THE BAD (also in no particular order)
The five hosts (the nominees for Reality TV Host) bantering "without a TelePrompTer." I think we were supposed to be impressed by this. We weren't. Even relegating Heidi Klum to a tux before stripping it off looked oddly demeaning. Of note: Before handing an Emmy to one of them, Jimmy Kimmel asked the audience to acknowledge that they were "sufficient."
-Absentee winners. Dianne Wiest, Tom Wilkinson, and Eileen Atkins
were all no-shows. Which we suppose made the show go by faster, but
everyone missed out seeing your reaction because your publicity head
shot was there instead.
-That we saw clips from the nominees for supporting actress and actor, but none for the lead categories. Did someone change their mind midway through to speed up the show?
 -Tom Bergeron skipping. We didn't get it.
-Jeff Probst stumbling on his introduction (in Dragnet costume and private eye drawl) of CSI's Laurence Fishburne and William Petersen.
-The absence of Mad Men's cast from the show. You bring the Desperate Housewives to present together again, but no one from the most-nominated drama (and eventual Best Drama winner)?
-Finally, it makes sense given the upcoming election and the wins for Recount and John Adams to urge viewers to vote, but the political undertones that dotted many, many speeches were hardly "under." (It may have been more subtle to have ObamaGirl dancing on stage.) Still, it was surprising Alec Baldwin, so vocal about the last election, didn't take the opportunity during his first Emmy win to put in his own two cents. Now that would have been a TiVo moment. -- Ellen
This year's biggest trend: Loose hair, dark strapless gowns
     
Left to Right: America Ferrera, Debra Messing, Tina Fey, Lauren Conrad, Nicollette Sheridan, Kristin Chenoweth
Best dressed
  
Marcia Cross (Elie Saab): Lara Flynn Boyle once showed up to the
Golden Globes in a much -maligned ballerina gown. Cross' dusty rose
tulle looks the part without screaming "tutu."
Christina Applegate (Reem Acra): Dramatic, elegant and nice toned-down hair and makeup to offset the shimmer in the gown.
Brooke Shields (Badgley Mischka): There were many tiered gowns that got it wrong. This fuschia dress, with Shields' cascading waves, was bright and blazing.
Worst in show
   
Eva Longoria Parker (Marchesa): Dress too short, neckline ill-fitted,
and the slicked hair. Then there's the big floppy bow in front. Did no
one learn from Anne Hathaway, Oscars 2006?
January Jones: This Mad Men star forgot the actual dress, appeared to grace the red carpet in just the corset
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Narcisco Rodriguez): Woulda been a hit if not for the diamond-shaped cutout in the middle of her torso. As Sela Ward and others before her have learned, most dresses with cutouts usually land you on a worst-dressed list.
Attacked by a bird before telecast...
 
Kathy Griffin, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Grace Park
And finally...
  A note to Jeff Probst and William Petersen: You're off the island and the crime lab. It's a formal event. Wear.A. Tie. Black T-shirts, begone!
--Ellen
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