In the past 48 hours, I have watched two drastically different vampire movies in terms of age, setting, and costuming: Interview with the Vampire and New Moon. Interview with the Vampire spans several distinct clothing periods, regaling the viewer with the best of everything from the era of Louisiana as a French colony to modern day (as of the 1990s), and seduces the eye with lusciously, nearly sexual textures and color palettes as much as with Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Antonio Banderas.

On the other hand, New Moon is just the opposite, so grounded and modern-day that Nordstroms sells a line of clothing based on the general costume scheme of the cast (well, of Bella at least. Clothing more in line with Interview with the Vampire’s aesthetics, like Alice’s amazing white trench, are either absent from the clothing line entirely or buried under heaps of plaid and Team Edward tees.)

But my argument with the quality of the Cullens’ vegetarian vampire contacts aside, the clothing of the Twilight saga does have a distinctive and recognizable style, which made me think about cosplaying characters who wear street clothing. Street clothing has a very distinctive, mass-produced (even if it’s tailored or possibly handmade like Edward’s suit jackets) look; people usually don’t notice how easily they can identify street clothing vs. a costume until they notice something’s not right, like a hem or a seam that hasn’t been pressed, or trim that’s been folded over instead of mitered. But whatever it is, is the cosplayer responsible for studying the intricacies of street clothing and replicating it exactly? Do the expectations of creating vs. purchasing your costume still apply the same as the costumer making Armand’s cloak from Interview with the Vampire; does it become more about portraying the character versus putting on the clothes, or should cosplayers do that anyways? Along that similar train of thought, do cosplayers who make their own costumes sometimes use their intricate costumes to get away with not studying the character?

For the curious, the New Moon clothing line can be stared at in intrigue/confusion/etc. here: http://shop.nordstrom.com/C/6025925/0~2378467~2378483~6025924~6025925?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=leftnav&pbo=2378483

Current massiva jävla obsession: Interview with the vampire (boken).

Stills från filmen:

AN OPEN LETTER TO STEPHANIE MEYER

Dear Mrs. Stephanie Meyer,

Congratulations to all the success you’ve amassed, you’re a legend to all the teenagers worldwide, although in the process you’ve also managed to offend the I.Q. of all the important movie/book critics with all your literary efforts. H.L. Mencken’s assertion that “no one ever went broke by underestimating the taste of the American public,” the opening weekend take of $140 million for The Twilight Saga: New Moon is that evidence. It is a landmark movie that proves three things, 1.Bella “totally” loves Edward, 2.Edward is “totally” so HOT, 3.Anybody can “totally” write better than a Stephanie Meyer. I’m 100% sure the third didn’t go around as a mass-text message while screaming in the darkness of the movie theatre.

I’ve just rented the Twilight dvd and seen New Moon sequel in the theatre (in just about the same day) out of curiosity about the mass hysteria, I also read the two original childrens book where the movie was adapted from (Twilight and New Moon) just about the same week. I believe I would enjoy it more if I were an 8-year-old girl who don’t read books other than Cosmopolitan magazine. Your movies and your books that I have seen so far have no sense, no logic, no integrity, no reasoning, no wit or any sign of intelligence (Werewolves-don’t-have-penis-they-have-torn-out-jeans-in-the-cold-winter-of-Forks-Washington-logic), they are purely a teenage girl’s wet dreams and a tween’s Edward “teen porn” fantasy casted and played to perfection by Robert Pattinson, maybe the shallowest characters created since “Spice Girls the movie”, and what makes it worst, is that every young adult in the world will try to emulate the senseless temper tantrums your characters Bella, Jacob and Edward have been juggling throughout the film. The best review I’ve read so far is with Christopher Orr of The New Republic

The Tone Poem: ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon
A landmark cinematic event in 280 words, or one for every $500, 000 of weekend box office:

Senior year. How’d you get so old so fast?

Oh, good. Cullen’s here.

I’m 109.

Maybe I shouldn’t be dating such an old man.

Bella.

Jacob.

Hello, biceps.

I’m just filling out.

The Volturi are a very old, very powerful family.

Don’t hate the truck.

Ow, paper cut.

Jasper hasn’t been away from human blood as long as the rest of us.

I love you.

Love you.

You just don’t belong in my world, Bella.

You don’t want me. That changes things. A lot.

Goodbye.

October.

November.

December.

The absence of him is everywhere I look.

That’s it. You’re going to Jacksonville to live with your mother.

Jake, you’re, like, buff. How’d that happen?

You’re sort of beautiful.

Like, five hikers have been killed by some bear. But they can’t find the bear.

What, I can’t hold your hand?

Jake, your dad says you have mono. He won’t let me visit.

You cut your hair off? And got a tattoo?

Look, Bella. We can’t be friends anymore.

Things are bad again.

Dad, I saw them in the woods. They’re not bears.

Guess the wolf’s out of the bag.

C’mon in, Bella. We won’t bite.

You’re not the first monsters I’ve met.

It’s not a lifestyle choice, Bella.

Wait, there’s a vampire.

Bella, what’s that awful wet-dog smell?

Don’t. Get. Me. Upset.

Bella, Edward’s going to the Volturi. He wants to die, too.

What a happy surprise. Bella is alive after all. Isn’t that wonderful?

She knows too much. She’s a liability.

Goodbye, my young friends.

Bella, do not ever do that to me again. Ever.

It would be nice not to want to kill you all the time.

Marry me.

THE TWI-HARDS

And of course Ms Stephanie Meyer, all the 90% of film and book critics are bitter old people who just hates everything you do and you just dont give a fuck about that, the millions of screaming girls all over the world “The Twi-hards” are the only critics that matter$$$. That dream you had that inspired you to write TWILIGHT is shared by all the hormonal teens (age 4 to 44) in the face of the earth, if your mission is to want them to fuck Edward Cullen, then mission accomplished.

STEPHANIE MEYER VS ANNE RICE/ STEPHANIE MEYER VS J.K. ROWLING

I am an aspiring writer, and working on a few novels of my own, now I’m itching to write a vampire novel because of you, I am maybe the biggest fan of Anne Rice, I’ve read Interview with the Vampire hundreds of times and even seen the movie the same amount and it never made me want to write one, because I am a little intimidated by how much research, intelligence, passion and courage Anne Rice have- to write an exquisite novel like Interview and Lestat (among others). I’m not a fan of J.K. Rowling, I’ve seen a Harry Potter movie once and read the book that go with it once out of curiosity, but I have to say she is a very creative and intelligent writer and picked up a lot of vocabularies reading her book, I also realized that the dialogues in the Harry Potter movies are not laughable and “children book-like” like your two Twilight films. Then you came along and shown me that it is possible, the sky is the limit, anybody can write, and just hire an editor to clean out and organize the mess they scribbled somewhere and create a multimillion franchise like yours. Thank you for giving hope to millions of writers all over the world with very limited vocabularies and creativity, hope that it is possible to be a financially successful writer and popular with the age group 18 and below, or the people who have the IQ level of a toddler. With so less effort, you are a living proof that it is possible to be a successful writer, if success means money and fame and not the respect and validation of other writers like you.

JEALOUSY

Your fanatic followers will think that I am bitter and a “hater”, in fact I am jealous of you Mrs. Stephanie Meyer and you are changing my life unlike any other authors whose works I have read before. Now I am attempting to write a vampire book for children and that will be my new mission as a writer, because now I firmly believe if you can do it, I can do so much better than you. Thank you Mrs. Meyer.

Sincerely,
NAVO

Primeiro ops! 1 semana sem postar é osso né… hahaha’
Mas garanto que muita gente vai babar nesse post… (ou não).

Vou dar algumas dicas do que eu quero (muiito) hein hahaha’
-Ta super na moda;
-Tem diversos tipos (realmente para toodos os gostos;
-Sempre que olha voce fica hipnotizada;
-Se voce tivesse um com certeza precisaria de doações de sangue para aguentar…

CADA M O R D I D A QUE ELE TE DESSE.

(Brad Pitt – Louis)

(Tom Cruise – Lestat)

(Stephen Moyer – Bill)

(Alexander Skarsgard – Eric)

(Paul Wesley – Stefan)

(Ian Somerhalder – Damon)

(Robert Pattison – Edward)

(Kellan Lutz – Emmett)

(Jackson Rathbone – Jasper)

Quero um de cada por favor.
(ja que vai me dar pelo menos um, ve se capricha na dose de sangue A+)
hahahahahahaha’

I was looking up Edward Cullen on Wikipedia and I saw that it said that Edward was a Byronic hero. Because of that, I clicked on the link that explained what a Byronic hero was. Anyway, as I was reading the characteristics, it did sounds like Edward As I continued down the website, it mentioned that Lestat from the Vampire Chronicles and the Phantom from the Phantom of the Opera were Byronic heros as well, but I digress with the Phantom. That made me think about how much Lestat and Edward were alike in the sense that they are both Byronic heros. I think that’s the reason why I don’t like either character. I mean, it’s not that I hate them, but it’s just that they’re not my favorites characters from their respective series. Anyway, I think that’s the reason why I don’t like Lestat and Edward is the fact that they’re Byronic heros.

In my search for any Lestat vs. Edward stuff, I found quite a few pictures that made fun of Edward and the Twilight series or making fun of the fact the Twilight series “outshines” the Vampire Chronicles. The one that I found to be the most funny was the one where it showed Edward and Bella together in the first box, and the following three boxes showing Louis, Lestat, and Armand telling their opinions on the series. I found that Lestat’s and Armand’s reactions to be the most funny. Their reactions were classic Lestat and Armand. Anyway, the next one that I thought was funny was the one where Lestat as picking on Edward. I just found those funny. By the way, you can find the originals at this site.

Interview with the Vampire (1994)
★★★★ / ★★★★

After being caught up with the “True Blood” craze, I decided to visit some of my favorite vampire movies. “Interview with the Vampire,” directed by Neil Jordan, was one of those movies I saw in early high school that I loved but forgot the details as years went on. I’m surprised this one strongly held up against other horror pictures, especially vampire movies. It’s something I didn’t quite expect because the movies I used to think were scary when I was younger turned out to be silly and vapid in storytelling. Tom Cruise stars as Lestat, a vampire who was as equally hungry for blood as he was with power. He one day decided to make Louis (Brad Pitt) into a vampire because, at least according to him, he wanted to give Louis a choice to relieve his pain of losing his wife and child. Despite turning into the undead, Louis still managed to hang onto his humanity by refusing to feed on humans. This bothered Lestat and thought that Louis’ loneliness would be eliminated by giving Louis a companion–in a form of a vampire child played by Kirsten Dunst. But this all happened in the past as the details which covered centuries were revealed by Louis to an enthusiastic reporter (Christian Slater). Although I did read the novels by Anne Rice, I only could remember three things: Louis, Lestat and the passion (both good and bad) between the two. What made me really engaged about this film was not because it was scary in content. I was actually more into Louis’ humanity, his efforts to abstain from human blood, and his eventual search for those who were like him. That romanticism was reflected into the elegant designs of each room in the 18th century to the dark corners of the catacombs. Another thing that was interesting was Kirsten Dunst. As an adult actress, she bores me to death because every emotion she wants to portray on screen feels the same. But in this film, she had range: she was quite magical, menacing, fascinating all rolled into one. For me, “Interview with the Vampire” is a great vampire film because it makes the argument that vampires have the capacity to choose to be good instead of just being one-dimensional fiends who crave blood and live for centuries. Although necessary to paint the nature of vampire, the gore, the violence, and the evil were secondary. It was consistent, thrilling, and very interesting.

I was bored recently and was on my computer I don’t know why but I typed Lestat vs. Edward into Google to see what I would get. Anyway, a lot of stuff that popped up were drawings of people making fun of Edward through Lestat’s point of view, and videos and articles asking who would win in a no-holds bar fight. I immediately thought that Lestat would definitely win. I say that because, after looking up their powers as a refresher, while Edward has super strength, super speed, and can read minds, Lestat can do or has all of that, plus so much more. Lestat also has pyrokinesis, the ability to fly, and he’s telekinetic. Plus, he killed an entire wolf pack by himself, albeit with the help of his two mastiff dogs. Anyway, I really think that Lestat would definitely win the fight against Edward, and that’s assuming Lestat doesn’t fall in love with Edward first, which I doubt would actually happen, and that Lestat doesn’t hurt Bella.

Out of sheer curiosity, I watched “Twilight” this weekend. Although I do have a special place in my heart for young adult fiction, and I am truly obsessed with the Harry Potter series, I have not read any of the “Twilight” novels. I’ve never understood the allure of vampires, and watching the movie just confused me even more. I just don’t see why women and girls are so much more obsessed with Twlight than they are with your typical rom-com or tragic love-story.

It was incredibly hard for me to watch the movie without thinking about all the hidden messages about gender-roles and abstinence. The whole plot revolves around the fact that Edward (the sexy vampire played by Robert Pattinson) has to show self-restraint and not bite Bella (the angsty, beautiful human teenage girl), even though she desperately wants him to bite her so that she can be a vampire and be with him forever. All the dialogue is about self-control and how Edward does not want Bella to lose something so important (her life). To me, it is just so obvious that this is a metaphor for sex, and Edward’s self-restraint is what makes him so admirable. Honestly, I preferred the days of “Interview with the Vampire” where vampires weren’t showing any particular self-restraint (and Brad Pitt is much sexier than Robert Pattinson).

It’s not hard for me to accept the teenage-girl obsession with Twilight – after all, aren’t these obsessions a teenage rite-of-passage? What’s hard for me to understand is Twi-moms – women in their 30s and older who are obssessed with Twilight. This article suggests that Twilight is a form of nostalgia – a way for these women to re-live their innocent youths. All of this just continues to suggest that there is something wrong with sex, something wrong with growing older and losing some of that virginal, teenage innocence.  The article also points out that the Twilight novels are perhaps the first novels that many women have read from cover-to-cover in years. I’m all for reading, but this fact makes me very sad. Why does it take mediocre literature (Twilight, The DaVinci Code) to get people to sit down and read?

Finally, I think the Twilight phenomenon just further illustrates the dearth of intelligent films that are geared toward women. While my friend Lindsay made a good point that it is nice that “Twilight” was written and directed by women, I don’t want to have to turn to vampire films geared toward tweens to satisfy my craving for a romantic movie. I watched “Out of Africa” recently, and that sad (cinematically beautiful) story, about real live adult humans falling in love, and (gasp!) having sex, was much more satisfying than watching a glittering vampire and a teenage girl staring at each other melodramatically for two hours.

I will see “New Moon” (although certainly not on opening weekend), because I’m curious to see how this ridiculous story continues. But I’ll be the person sitting in the back silently wishing that he just bites her already and she becomes some totally bad-ass vampire.

Twilight.

In my attempt to avoid literature altogether for the last few years I had bypassed the Twilight Saga’s inception and success altogether.  As with some of my most loved books, I heard about Twilight first due to the movie adaptation which hit theaters last year.  However, my path to discovery in this instance came about somewhat backwards.

A few weeks ago a co-worker whose music tastes interweave with my own mentioned I should listen to a song she was in love with from the Twilight soundtrack, “Eyes on Fire” by Blue Foundation.  I had been in want of something aside from my humdrum iPod rotation for a while, but hadn’t gotten around to searching for new music as of late, and the radio seemed to be stuck in the same vicious cycle as always.  My response to this song surprised even me.  I listened to it on repeat for the next two hours, then sought out other songs from the soundtrack to get a feel for how the movie would potentially play out and quite a few of the songs greatly suited my liking.

Mind you at this juncture I hadn’t seen the movie, didn’t know the plot or genre other than “vampire teen drama”, and definitely hadn’t happened upon the book.  Did I mention I lead a typically reclusive life?  The soundtrack sparked a dormant interest in me and I purchased the special edition of the movie on the way home on a whim.  I waited for the three glorified bachelors I live with to leave the house so I could watch my movie in peace, knowing I would catch all kinds of slack from them for my choice of entertainment.

The movie was low budget, with a few really cheesy effects (yay sparkles!), and the lead actress is prone to overacting at times.  All that aside, I fell in love with the movie instantaneously!  Newcomer Robert Pattinson portrays one of the truest to “life” vampires I’ve seen on the silver screen, at least according to my vision of how a vampire should be.  The film was well-cast all around, the soundtrack flowed fantastically into the story, and I proceeded to watch it two more times over the course of the weekend to gain further understanding of the characters and catch things I may have missed on first view.

Now, before continuing I must backtrack further to explain how I came to the next logical step.

In 1994 Interview with the Vampire hit the theaters and my developing love of vampires and historical films seemed to come to a head with this picture.  I wasn’t allowed to see it in theaters due to the graphic nature of some scenes, but I was able to convince my parents to let me see it when it came out on video the following summer.  The same latching response occurred, and I proceeded to watch Interview pretty much every day for the following year.  I had it memorized by the first week, and would systematically fall asleep during the voyage to the Old World by the 6 month mark.  I asked for the box set of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles (Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned, Tale of the Body Thief) for my following birthday and devoured those books, rereading The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned in particular numerous times.  Over the next few years one by one I purchased and absorbed every book Anne Rice has written under that pseudonym and a few under different names.  My favorite book to this day is Cry to Heaven.  Furthering my involvement in her life and literature was the fact that the majority of her plots centered around New Orleans, a place near and dear to me geographically as well as emotionally.  I heart Anne Rice.

Now, back to present.  Twilight.  I listened to the soundtrack, I watched the movie, the next logical step was to read the books.  Despite my long-standing subconscious aversion to delving into a good novel since high school, the void in my current life was crying out to be filled with something familiar and comforting.  Delving into a good story, reading into the wee hours until I was too tired to see straight, even the crisp turn of the page and the smell of fresh ink.  I missed this.  I needed this.  The following week I purchased Twilight and for a brief moment I felt complete again.  The first page released that hunger for knowledge and adventure immediately.  I moved on to New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn.  Each bringing me closer to that elation I had known in my youth, and the disappointment when I had completed the last book and would have to seek entertainment elsewhere.  After reading each installment I paused to watch Twilight the movie again to refresh my memory on the beginnings of the story.  I’ve listened to almost nothing but the soundtrack for the movie at work and on my commute for a month now.  Even though I’m done with the initial reading of the books, I can’t seem to bring myself to move on to another author or book just yet.

Perhaps it’s the obsessive-compulsive side of me causing this stagnation as I’ve experienced it in the past.  I’ve often wondered how I get to a point like this, where nothing else seems to satisfy my unknown cravings.  My short lived involvement with Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga feels like a burgeoning relationship cut short by some unforeseen circumstance.  Just when things were getting good it abruptly ends, and I’m left with a wanting for more, with no tangible conclusion.  At least with Anne Rice, much of her catalog was readily available when I picked up Interview with the Vampire.  I had years of reading and rereading ahead of me, a seemingly endless supply of lives to discover.  Basically, I need more before I can move on… perhaps when New Moon comes out this weekend it’ll satisfy my curiosity for the time being and I can focus on something else.

Vampires are mesmerizing beings. They’re labeled the undead, since technically they are neither dead nor alive. They mostly have a great sense of style and just are hot. Of course there is the whole ick factor of blood-sucking and all, but overall, they bring charisma, charm, lust and seduction to the screen. Many actors have taken on roles as vampires either in TV shows or movies, but right now this is a movies blog so we are going to go strictly film on this one. Now of course it is impossible to cover them all, so I am going to mention some of the most remarkable ones and if you disagree or think I’ve left some important ones out, well- please share

1) Interview with the Vampire (Based on the novel by Anne Rice)

Tom Cruise as Lestat in Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire

The first Vampire I met on screen was Anne Rice’s Lestat, portrayed by the skilled Tom Cruise:

link for the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGkBMe3j-Sk

Now, the trouble with Tom Cruise’s portrayal of Lestat- probably it has to do with the script, I haven’t read the novel, so I wouldn’t know how Anne Rice meant him to be- he brings humor to the story. Lestat isn’t scary. Oh sure, Brad Pitt’s Louis was rightfully scared when Lestat was sucking the life out of him, but Tom Cruise with blond hair and terribly white skin does not equal something of a cold, Scandinavian or in our case a vampiric beauty. Tom is good with jet black, short or a little longish hair like he has in Mission Impossible 2 or Jerry Maguire. Well, I hadn’t initially found Tom’s look funny, I just thought he wasn’t exactly scary or desirable. But here’s what happens: He picks Brad Pitt as his life partner. I have no objections as in picking a guy like Brad to spend eternity with, let’s face Lestat could do a lot worse. But, need I remind you Lestat is a male undead? Sure, a vampire is a sexual being and he could be as gay or as bi as he damn pleases. But a male vampire (Tom Cruise) siring another guy (Brad Pitt) is not exactly a girl’s fantasy. Well, it is not mine anyway. You haven’t picked up on the vibe? Watch closely. Lestat addsa little girl played by Kirsten Dunst to the group  and she keeps acting like a total brat. So Lestat gets pissed and threatens her with bringing home a sister. Dad Tom, Mommy Brad – and kid Dunst. One small, weird vampire family. Well, it didn’t hurt that the movie also features Antonio Banderas as a Vampire with beautiful long hair. But mind you, Banderas’ Armand is not nearly as destructively gorgeous as his El Mariachi in Desperado. There’s something wrong with the vampires in this movie. They are pretty. But they are not sexy.

Brad Pitt as Louis in Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire

Antonio Banderas as Armand in Interview with the Vampire

Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Kirsten Dunst in Interview with the Vampire: the "happy" family

2) BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA

Gary Oldman as Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula

Now Dracula is the ultimate myth, legend, fantasy. Dracula is the most famous Vampire of all times. Many versions have been written since Bram Stoker’s and many actors have played him. And this one with Gary Oldman is sort of fun. The cast is great. It has Winona Ryder as Dracula’s love/lust interest, Keanu Reeves as her fiancé and Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing. The problem is Dracula seems much too much like a cartoon character. The movie was directed by Francis Ford Coppola ,however it more feels like a Tim Burton movie. And I think I would have liked it more  if it had been a Tim Burton movie and with Johnny Depp as the Dracula. Gary Oldman is a fantastic actor but this movie is listed as a horror romance whereas the way it has been shot and acted out as a parody. Or maybe it just feels that way because it was short in 1992 and the effects aren’t that good. There is also a very superficial on my part that Dracula is very ugly for the most of the time. You saw the picture above, right?

here’s the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw2-ZMhxTUs

Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker's Dracula

3) DRACULA 2000

Gerard Butler as Dracula in Dracula 2000

trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oprkYnHObk

Now, this Dracula is fun. It is not scary or that much exciting, but it is fun. After all, we have young women being trapped,seduced, fed on by Dracula. And Dracula is Gerard Butler. Now, we shouldn’t have any lack of masculinity or charisma issues, right? But there’s something off about this particular vampire. He is supposed to be the perfect seducer. And fine, sure he looks a lot better than most of the people you would meet in a bar- but I am not sure I would have recognized Gerard Butler, had I not known he was in it. This clean- shaven face makes him look too young- and he is kinda young himself- and too innocent. However I was checking out stuff with Dracula 2000 and I came upon his audition, where he looks utterly different. He has long hair, a beard and he looks like he could be the perfect Pirate of the Carribean- minus Jack Sparrow’s a little eccentric behavior. I am posting the link, but I will put an image just to give you the picture. Gerard Butler appears in this video very similar to his image in Attila. And below is how he was in Attila.

Gerard Butler as Attila in Attila. But of course he is not playing a historical hero in the audition- he is darker,much darker- And I think this look could serve him better as a vampire.

link for Gerard’s Dracula Audition on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk3syqGaPN8&feature=PlayList&p=8981B582471B3361&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=31

4) QUEEN OF THE DAMNED

Stuart Townsend as Lestat in Queen of the Damned

video from the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz1HcYmlBq4&feature=related

I think Stuart Townsend makes the perfect Lestat. Of course I’m biased, not because I’m a great fan of Stuart – I became fan after this movie, but because this movie captures the goth and rock spirit that comes with the vampire territory. Here when Lestat wakes up, he also sort of takes a hard rock band under his wing and becomes their singer. The whole world falls in love with this vampire and his music. Rockstars have tons of groupies and many front men are considered as sex symbols. They have added the dark side and the allure of the vampiric quality and bingo! You have a vampire movie with a really cool soundtrack and a vampire that can really seduce. It is not highly rated but I believe this movie to be very underrated. If you like Vampires and hard rock, you will enjoy this movie.

P.S: I’m not including Twilight because I have already done a number of posts on Twilight and Edward Cullen.

Lestat and Louis share a late-night snack in "Interview with the Vampire".

(Neil Jordan, 1994)

November 4, 2009

by Joel Crary

Garlic and stakes through the heart are old wives’ tales. Coffins are an unfortunate necessity. “I actually like staring at crucifixes,” a man claiming to be a vampire tells a reporter in a modern apartment room somewhere in downtown San Franciso one night. Louis de Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt) is there to set the record straight. Forget about that Dracula nonsense. He was the product of a drunken fool of an Irishman.

Breaking up sure is hard to do, especially if you’ve spent the last 200 years attempting to get over your first time. That is, essentially, what Neil Jordan’s “Interview with the Vampire” boils down to. For vampires as for virgins, their first time is a life-changing experience that can never be repeated, no matter how many times a night they are able to feed afterward. The movie’s homosexual undertones are not subtle; in fact, for a while there, the filmmakers make a pretty good argument for gay marriage.

The monkey wrench in that machinery is Claudia, played by a very young Kirsten Dunst, who effortlessly delivers the film’s strongest performance. Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, who plays the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, are fine, capable actors, but they struck the completely wrong tone here. Cruise in particular looks almost embarrassingly made up in his role. Rarely is he able to break through the undeniably obvious fact that, underneath the blonde straggly wig and pale makeup, Lestat is simply Tom Cruise with sharper teeth.

Pitt is not much better, but at least he is somewhat believable as a lost soul. He is able to cast baleful, melancholy looks in spite of the demonic contacts that look impressive yet seem to go unnoticed by his myriad of victims over the years. As the film opens, Louis is still alive in modern times and enlists the aid of a reporter (Christian Slater) to tell his story, which is ultimately lacking in philosophical detail. Who spends 200 years alive and yet learns so little about how the world works?

To Louis’ credit, not many of the other vampires seem to have much of a clue about the grand scheme of things either. He is given eternal life after Lestat discovers him, distraught and suicidal over the death of his wife and children. The two live together for years in New Orleans, feasting on the occasional human sacrifice to sustain their health (understandably, Louis can’t immediately bring himself to kill humans, so he swigs back rat blood like spring water). Giving in to his hunger one night, Louis bites into an orphaned girl and Lestat takes pity on his conscience, lending her eternal life as well. And then there were three.

As 10-year-old Claudia, Dunst is viciously self-aware and merciless. She bears a grudge to Lestat for her inability to grow up and dispatches him with trickery. His body is dumped in a swamp, but it’s hard to keep a good vampire down, and Lestat returns with fiery results. Louis can’t help but feel a little guilty in the midst of all this, but he and Claudia decide it best to travel to France and leave America behind altogether.

In Paris, they discover a clan of vampires who disguise themselves by way of showmanship, calling themselves the Théâtre des Vampires and offering very real shows of sacrifices as entertainment to an unsuspecting public. Their leader is Armand (Antonio Banderas), who takes a shine to Louis’ still-human soul. He claims to be the oldest living vampire, but offers still little in the way of existentialist conclusions in the vampiric circle. Rumours about what Louis and Claudia have done to Lestat circle among the clan with a nasty bit of vampire-style torture involving sunlight, but we know that Louis survives and returns to America.

What are we to gather from his story? Louis is a man whose loneliness pushes him to make a desperate choice, only for that choice to make his life eternally desperate. He gains no pleasure from his lifestyle and continually seeks knowledge that no one can give him. He offers nothing of consequence to his interviewer and hence to us. He exists in a perpetual state of guilt and is constantly taken to task by Claudia’s reminders that he made her what she is. It’s easier for her to play the victim. She’s been 10 for a hundred years.

“Interview with the Vampire” has terrific sets, costumes and special effects and benefits from Neil Jordan’s grand vision of direction. It’s too bad that the story is so un-flashy. The performances and dialogue are so over the top in moments that the whole thing might have succeeded as camp, but it repeatedly returns to wallow in its own gulag of depressing themes. The script was written by Anne Rice and based on her novel. She shows no real handle on what could make her characters cinematic as opposed to purely literary. Louis has a gift of sorts, but he’s so mopey. Where’s the fun in eternal life if you spend every waking moment wishing you were dead?

Your body’s dying. Pay no attention, It happens to us all.

– Lestat

I haven’t seen Interview with the Vampire in years. It has been so long that I forgot that Neil Jordan directed the film that was based on the book by Anne Rice. She wrote the screenplay and was famously know for disliking Tom Cruise being cast as Lestat. I still enjoy watching it again.

Louis de Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt) is a 200-year-old vampire recounts his life story to an interviewer, Daniel Malloy (Christian Slater) in his sparse apartment in San Francisco. At first, Malloy doesn’t believe that he is one, but Louis’ ability to movie stealth speed convinces him.

Louis starts in beginning circa 1791 Louisiana when his wife and child die within a year each other. He doesn’t want to live until he meets Lestat de Lioncourt  (Tom Cruise), a vampire that could grant him his wish for death.

Louis decides that he wants to have the gift of immortality. Newly turned, Lestat teaches Louis about how to be a vampire. Lestat has an unquenchable thirst for blood, going through three victims a night. Louis has the hunger, the desire, the thirst for blood, but he doesn’t want to take a human’s life. Over time, Louis hates Lestat for giving him his undead life. He resents him.

Lestat turns his attentions to the slaves in the surrounding area that rises concern with their servant girl, Yvette (Thandie Newton). When Louis’ desire takes over and tries to bite her, the slaves along with himself burns the mansion him and Lestat share, down.

Louis is always tortured about being vampire. They become nomads, moving from the place to place, feeding the people of New Orleans. Everything comes to a head when Louis couldn’t kill a young woman that Lestat wants him to do.

On the streets, a young orphaned girl is dying of the plague, Claudia (Kirsten Dunst). Louis takes pity on her. She is taken in and fed Lestat’s blood when she turns. She becomes their surrogate daughter when the thirst takes over her.

She becomes Lestat’s protégé. She matched his thirst for the kill. Lestat want to rule over their lives. Over three decades pass and Claudia wonders why she cannot grow up. Both Claudia and Louis are tortured because they realize that they will never grow old, never die. They want to leave Lestat.

I was swept up with the allure of these vampires. The dialogue is still sharp. The costumes were fantastic. I have a few minor gripes with Antonio Bandera’s heavy accent as Armand. Sometimes I couldn’t understand what he was saying. You can tell that there was some wire work in this movie. It shows. There is also a portion of the film that I need explained. Spoiler section time.

Judgment: A great vampire story that makes you wonder why people are into Twilight.

Rating: ****1/2

(SPOILER SECTION)

After Claudia betrays Lestat by slicing his throat, he bleeds all over the carpet, her and Louie dump his body in the Mississippi. When the two want to leave, Lestat comes back as a zombie vampire to kill them. Louis sets him on fire, New Orleans burns to the ground. Fast forward to 1988 where Louis is back in New Orleans, he could sell Lestat who is still in his same clothes from when they left. At the end of the movie, Lestat bites Malloy in San Francisco and he knows how to drive a car.

My question is how does Lestat survive all that when Louis burned that vampire hive in France the very same way. They burned to a crisp, but when the same thing happened to Lestat he manages to survive. How does that happen?

I admit, I don’t “get” why so many people are fascinated with vampires these days.  I mean, sure, I used to watch Dark Shadows and I loved every single minute of it.  I’d rush home from school, plant myself in front of the TV and for 30 minutes I wouldn’t move.  I guess you could say I was a fangirl of vampires back then but now, well, not so much.

Hey, wait a minute, maybe it’s that old soap opera that did it.  Maybe I got my fill of vampires back when I watched Dark Shadows religiously.  I guess you could even go so far as to say Barnabas Collins is my vampire soul mate–aren’t soul mates very important in today’s vampire stories?–since no other vampire has ever tempted me to spend hours of my life in their world.  Maybe no one else can ever do the same thing for me that Barnabas did back in the late 60s and early 70s.

Or maybe I’m just too old.  Could be, but I write paranormal romance and love writing in that genre so maybe I’m not that old.  Still, I rarely read any books that have vampires.  I’ve only read one Sookie Stackhouse book, the first one and it was pretty good, but I don’t watch True Blood and have no desire to read the rest of the books.  I’ve never read a single one of the Twilight books–is it true the vampires sparkle?  I’m sorry but that’s just wrong to me–and I’m definitely not tempted to see the movies.  I did read Salem’s Lot when it came out and I enjoyed it though it’s not my favorite Stephen King book.  I’ve also read Interview with the Vampire by Ann Rice, but was never tempted to pick up another one in that series either.  One series I vaguely remember enjoying was by an author whose name I can’t recall, nor can I remember the titles of the book or series.  Only thing I do remember is in the first one, the hero is a vampire and he wants to be turned back into a mortal and the heroine is a waitress at a diner.  I read another two–or was it three?–books in that series but I didn’t read all of them.

These days though, when all the world seems to be caught up in some sort of “Vampire Fever,” I just don’t get it and I definitely don’t want to write about them.

It could be because there seems to be a glut on the market when it comes to vampire books these days and again, no one will ever top Dark Shadows.  I read something somewhere the other day that they are making a Dark Shadows movie and Johnny Depp is rumored to be starring as Barnabas Collins.  Meh, I like Johnny Depp but I probably won’t go see the movie because that’s another thing I’m sick of.  Why do the people in Hollywood feel compelled to remake perfectly good movies–they can never improve on the original in my opinion–and movies based on TV shows–too much of a good thing and in most cases the movie is nowhere as good as the original show.  

Heck, maybe I am old…and cranky…and I know for a fact I’m most definitely tired…of vampires!  Which brings me to the real reason for this post, I’ve finished with the second book in my Apprentice Angel series and I’m thinking for the third one, the main character, Mac the Angel, is going to be sent to help a goth teenager who’s fascinated with vampires and all the lore that goes with them.  Not that there will be any actual vampires in the book, but the underlying theme will be a sort of vampire mania so…I guess I’ll have to get over my aversion and embrace the world of vampires again.

As we continue our Vampire Week celebration here at The Steve Austin Book Club, today we are going to take a look at the rise and fall of a TV show that EG dearly loved – Forever Knight.

He was brought across in 1228 – preyed on humans for their blood. Now, he wants to be mortal again … to repay society for his sins … To emerge from his world of darkness … from his endless Forever Knight.

Starting in 1992, each episode of Forever Knight opened with those words. A nice, succinct way to let folks know what the show was about. But, for the beginning of this show, we really need to look earlier… not 1228, but 1989.

From Jessie’s Girl to Coffin…

And, here is where I show my age. One Saturday night, as I was flipping through the channels, I came across a television movie on CBS. It was a vampire movie (which hooked me) called Nick Knight. In this movie, Rick Springfield (attempting to escape soap operas) played Nick Knight, L.A. cop and vampire.

After centuries of giving into his vampire ways, Nick was trying to cure himself. Helping in this effort was Dr. Jack Brittington (Robert Harper), forensic pathologist and the only one who knew what Nick truly was.

He was advising Nick to live as a human in order to become human – eating real food, no longer drinking blood, and exposing himself UV light via tanning beds. Nick was also seeking out some magical goblets that could cure him.

When some homeless are found drained of blood, Nick is partnered with Detective Don Schanke (John Kapelos) to investigate.  (Note to readers:  That character’s last name is pronounced “Skanky.”  I know, right?  Awesome.)

Through the investigation, Nick comes to believe that Lacroix (Michael Nader), the vampire that sired him, is responsible.

I won’t spoil the movie any further. Overall, I enjoyed the movie, but it wasn’t anything spectacular. And, though it was supposed to launch a TV series, that never happened.

Well, not quite never…

The Schanke Years

In 1992, CBS was desperate for some sort of late night programming to go against the Tonight Show and Nightline. After going through a bunch of hosted, Tonight Show-esque programs (one of which starred Wheel of Fortune’s Pat Sajak), CBS decided to switch gears. The result? Crimetime After Primetime.

Crimetime After Primetime was a schedule of different hour long crime shows that aired, each airing once a week. The only one worth mentioning (at least, in my opinion) was Forever Knight.

Forever Knight was Nick Knight revamped (totally didn’t realize the pun, but I’m leaving it, so there!). Of all of the cast, the only actor to return from the original pilot movie was John Kapelos as Detective Don Schanke.

Nick Knight, now played by Geraint Wyn Davies, was now a Toronto cop and vampire. The basic idea of him seeking a cure and redemption continued in this series.

Dr. Jack Brittington became Dr. Natalie Lambert (Catherine Disher).

The role of Lecroix was taken over by Nigel Bennett.

And, the role of Janette (another vampire that appeared in the first pilot that I didn’t mention) changed from Cec Verrell…

…to Deborah Duchene.

Though production values were lower on the series than for the original pilot, across the board, I thought the level of acting went up.

Almost immediately, the show garnered a devoted fan base. Unfortunately, CBS was soon to drop the entire Crimetime After Primetime format, after securing David Letterman for their late night programming.

The voice of the fans was heard, though, and Forever Knight was continued in syndication.

The show’s popularity continued to grow in syndication through the end of the second season.

And, then, the writer’s saw Interview with the Vampire.

The Sun Rises (and we all know what happens to vampires when that happens)

With the third season, major changes came. It was announced that John Kapelos would not be returning to the series (no more Schanke… *sigh*).

It was also announced that Deborah Duchene’s role of Janette, vampire confidant of Nick, was also being eliminated.

Lisa Ryder, as Detective Tracey Vetter, came in as Nick’s partner.

Along with her, came a new, Lestat/Louis-esque vampire named Vachon (Ben Bass).

More and more, the focus of the show shifted toward the new characters, and the storylines seemed to be drawing from the same well as the well-known Anne Rice Vampire novels.

And, perhaps for the best, after three seasons and a radical change in the direction of the show, Forever Knight ended.

I do miss the show, but not what it was becoming. If the show had maintained the quality level that it had in the first two seasons, I would miss it more, but I’m pretty sure if it had continued the way it was headed, I would’ve dropped it.

Still, it is a good idea, and maybe, given the prevalence of vampires in primetime and movie theaters, we’ll see the concept revived yet again.

I miss Schanke.

Interview with the Vampire
directed by Neil Jordan

I admit it. Everything I used to know about vampires, I got from Anne Rice. I know better now, thank you. In time, I’ve learned that not all vampires are cultured and erotic and gay. Lately, I’m having a hard time reading her stuff. The way she describes a character bores the shit out of me. I get it, he looks like an angel, you don’t need three pages for that. Or maybe it’s just my attention span. ANYWAY.

200-year old vampire Louis (Brad Pitt) tells a reporter named Daniel (Christian Slater) the story of his life. He tells him about his maker Lestat (Tom Cruise), how he refused to feed on humans, his “daughter” Claudia (Kristen Dunst), how he met Armand (Antonio Banderas) and his coven. In the novels, the drinking of blood is something sensual, as though it’s how vampires have sex, and that is captured in the movie. Brad Pitt makes a charming Louis. I’m not sure about Tom Cruise, though. I think Stuart Townsend makes a more convincing Lestat.

Trivia: Stan Winston did the vampire make-up and effects. <3

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Vlad the Impaler (Gary Oldman) returns from the war to find that his beloved wife (Winona Ryder) had killed herself upon hearing he was dead. Pissed at God, he turns to Satan and becomes a vampire. Fast forward to the Victorian era, a young attorney named Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) was sent to Transylvania to arrange some real estate transactions with Vlad Dracul. Dracul saw a photo of Jonathan’s fiancee and believed that she’s the reincarnation of his dead wife. With the help of Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins), they try to stop Dracula from taking Mina as his bride.

Trivia: Monica Bellucci plays a vampire. She gets naked. Cary Elwes is one of Lucy’s (Sadie Frost) suitors. Keanu Reeves’ accent is especially confusing in this movie.

Near Dark (1987)
directed by Kathryn Bigelow

On a night in town, Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) meets Mae (Jenny Wright). While making out, she nips him on the neck and runs off. Caleb goes home dazed, confused, and smoking. It’s morning, the sun is out. Mae managed to get to him in time with the help of her “family”. Jesse (Lance Henriksen), Severen (Bill Paxton), Diamondback (Jenette Goldstein), and Homer (Joshua John Miller) are not happy about it. If he doesn’t kill soon, they will have him for dinner.

Trivia: The screenplay was written by Eric Red, who also wrote The Hitcher (1986). Henriksen, Paxton, and Goldstein have worked together in Aliens, which came out the previous year.

From Dusk ’till Dawn (1996)
directed by Robert Rodriguez

The Gecko brothers Seth (George Clooney) and Richie (Quentin Tarantino) are on the run from a bloody bank robbery. Their plan is to flee to Mexico where the cops can’t touch them. They take Jacob (Harvey Keitel) and his children hostage and force them to drive them all the way to Mexico. They are to meet Carlo (Cheech Marin) in the best-named bar in the history of ever, The Titty Twister. Unfortunately for them, the bar is home to blood-sucking freaks.

This is my favorite Rodriguez film. The script is brilliant and the cast alone is reason enough to watch it. Harvey Keitel, Quentin Tarantino, Juliette Lewis, Salma Hayek (Holy Mama, that dancing!), Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Tom Savini (SEX MACHINE!), and fine, George Clooney.

Trivia: Cheech Marin has three roles in the movie: a border guard, Carlos, and Chet Pussy.

The Lost Boys (1987)
directed by Joel Schumacher

Newly divorced mom (Dianne West) moves to Santa Carla with her sons Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam (Corey Haim). Michael falls in love with Star (Jamie Gertz) who’s running around with a bunch of vampire misfits led by David (Kiefer Sutherland). Michael becomes one of them and it’s up to Sam and the Frog brothers, Edgar (Corey Feldman) and Alan (Jason Newlander) to save him. Kiefer Sutherland makes a very sexy vampire. Jack Bauer’s got no shit on David!

I don’t know about you, but that right there is a good reason to see Lost Boys.

Trivia: If you pay attention, you’ll see that Sam has a poster of Rob Lowe in his closet. The title is a reference to the lost boys in J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. DUH.

Part 1 here. Maybe Part 3 tomorrow. I dunno how many parts there are going to be. We’ll see.

“Like all strong people she suffered always a measure of loneliness; she was a marginal outsider, a secret infidel of a certain sort”

-Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire

—-

The wonderful Anne Bachelier

]]> http://abjames.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/hello-world/ Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:18:57 +0000 abjames http://abjames.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/hello-world/

My name is Annabelle James, and I have a borderline unhealthy fascination with vampires.

Of course, when your life is as extraordinarily dull as mine, it’s not like there’s much else to do. You find an obsession, and you obsess over it.

Mine started when I was just a kid. Around six, to be exact. And it started with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The movie, of course. I know I’m one of probably only a handful of people in the world who actually liked it, even among Joss Whedon fans. Anyway, I loved that movie so much as a kid, my mother made me Buffy’s cheerleading costume for Halloween one year. The main bad guy in that movie, despite all his evilness is portrayed in a way that is seductive. Even as a child, I think part of me latched on to that.

Fast forward five years, to the debut of the show. This is where my vampire fascination really blossoms into an obsession. The moment the pilot ended, I knew that my life had been changed. Impacted. I was completely hooked, and I followed the show religiously for the duration of its run.

This was also when I discovered the world of fanfiction. I read fanfic to keep up my Buffy fix during the summers, and I read the crappy novelizations based on the movie and the tv show. I laughed at all the witty jokes and weird slang. I gasped when I discovered Angel was a vampire. I’ve worn a claddagh ring ever since Angel gave one to Buffy and explained the significance of the symbols (love, friendship, and loyalty). I sniffled when Buffy slept with Angel and he lost his soul. I sat on my living room floor and sobbed like a baby when Buffy had to send Angel through the porthole to Hell, my mother laughing hysterically at me the whole time. I shared in the collective “WTF?” moment when Buffy suddenly and inexplicably acquired a younger sister, and my heart wrenched when Buffy swan dove off the tower and died and I thought my show was over (until I found out it had been picked up by another network and she would be brought back via witchcraft).

As I worked my way through elementary school and middle school, I was reading The Last Vampire series by Christopher Pike and watching Interview with the Vampire and The Lost Boys on repeat. My junior year of high school I fell behind in all of my schoolwork the month that I discovered the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton.

Anyway, the point of this entry is just to give you a little bit of background on me. Me and vampires go waaaay back. I’m not one of these people that jumped on the bloodsucking bandwagon the moment Twilight hit the NY Times Bestseller list. Though, admittedly… I love Twilight. There’s so many things that are wrong with it but thanks to Angel and Anne Rice’s Louis I’m a sucker for the tortured, brooding type. I can’t resist. But as much as I love Twilight, my new Buffy, as it were, is most definitely True Blood, and the series of books its based on. That is some good shit. Again, with the dangerous and brooding vampires. How is that not sexy?

So where does that leave me now? Well, I’m certainly enjoying the popularity because if vampires are suddenly cool again, that means that there’s more of them. More things for me to watch, on the tube and on the silver screen. More things for me to read. More for me to obsess over. I’m not seeing how this is a bad thing.

So this is me, whatever name you wanna call me. Vampire lover. Fangbanger. Coffin bait. Whatever.

This is my life. Welcome to it.

NEXT ENTRY

It’s 1995 and I’m scared out of my mind.
As much as I’m scared, I can’t stop watching.
There’s something about the character on the screen that’s not letting me look away.
Is it the eyes? They’re almost clear, see-through, and they’re boring a hole into my soul.
Is it the hair? It’s long, thick, and falling graciously onto muscular shoulders.
Is it the mouth? So red, so moist, and turned into a pout…almost a kiss.
Is it the skin? So white almost like a porcelain doll. Perfect white skin.
I’m scared out of my mind but I can’t stop looking at Louie. He stands there fighting internally with who he is while his brother/creator, Lestat, torments him to give in to who he is.
It’s 1995 and I can’t take my eyes off of “Interview with the Vampire”.
I’m freaked out by the blood and the crazy actor vampires that Louie and Claudia encounter, but I can’t look away. I’m intrigued, fascinated, hooked. I wasn’t in Bon Temps, Louisiana, but I was definitely “glamoured”…and have been ever since.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock that’s located 10 feet below the ground, you know that Vampires are having a “Moment” right now. They are the genre du jour for all things books, movies, and TV shows…and I have to say, these vampires have me by the throat. I’m eating all this up like you would not believe.
As I type this, I’m listening to the wonderfully sad yet beautiful New Moon soundtrack.
I’ve read the Twilight series 4 times now.
I’ve seen Twilight, the movie, at least 50 times.
I’m attending the midnight showing of New Moon on Thursday, November 19 (1 month & 4 days!!).
I’m currently reading The Awakening, the first book in the Vampire Diaries series.
I’m addicted to the Vampire Diaries TV show.
I’m watching Season 1 of True Blood on DVD.
I’m looking forward to seeing Johnny Depp play a vampire in the upcoming movie adaptation of Dark Shadows. To see Johnny Depp place his lips on the smooth plains of a young lady’s neck. Perhaps that young lady has olive skin and likes to blog about pop culture………………….oh sorry, I got lost in my own thoughts for a minute there. What were we talking about again? Oh yes, vampires…

Many wonder why vampires are so popular.
What is the fascination?
I’ve asked myself that question a couple of times. Why vampires? Why have I become a vampire chick?
There are central themes to vampirism that resonate through each incarnation. In essence, vampires are everything we want to be (minus the whole blood thing). They are supernatural beings that posess every ideal that we secretly wish for.

Youthfulness
Whatever age they were when they were changed, that’s what they’ll be for the rest of their life. No medical issues brought on by age. No wrinkles. No sagging breasts. They are forever plump, tight, and beautiful.

Beauty
Most of the modern vampires are gorgeous (EDWARD CULLEN!). Gone are the days of Nosferatu and Dracula (although Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula had a foppish kind of handsome going on). They’re beautiful. And as much as we don’t want to be vain and self-centered, who doesn’t want to be considered beautiful by everyone….even our prey?

Living Forever
Death is a non-issue for our pale friends. Many people fear death and the unknown. Vampires are dead yet still live. It’s the best compromise. The best of both worlds.

Strength
Because vampires can’t die the way we do, they are essentially impenetrable. They have the strength of Hulk Hogan + The Terminator + Colossus in fashion model wrapping. Who doesn’t want that?

Their technique
When you think of a vampire, you think of sucking blood. While that act is pretty gross, think about where they’re sucking. Most likely, right now, you’re envisioning a vampire sucking the blood out of someone’s neck. Now change the picture a little. Instead of a vampire, imagine that it’s the “victim’s” lover. Now you’ve got a totally different scenario exciting other areas of your body. Let’s be honest. The neck is one of the most erogenous zones we’ve got. It’s a very sexy death move, if you ask me. (See my wandering thoughts regarding Johnny Depp above). You’ve got someone young, beautiful, and strong putting their lips to your neck. Before those fangs start digging, the last thing on your mind is death. You’re thinking pleasure, pleasure, pleasure. And THAT, my friends, is what’s so fascinating about vampires. They play with a dichotomy between pleasure and death.

So now that I’ve overanalyzed all things vampires, I present to you my favorite vamps. In no particular order…

Lestat, the mack daddy of vampires, & Louie, the vampire with a conscience.

Edward Cullen
I’ve never “fallen” for a fictional character before. I love me some Edward Cullen. (Plus, we all know how I feel about Robert Pattinson)
Count Von Count
I love his laugh! Ah! Ah! Ah!

Bill Compton
I’m still getting to know Bill but so far I’m loving him. He’s a Southern gentleman with a bite.
Damon Salvatore. He is my new favorite. He’s bad and sexy. Everything a vampire should be.

As of now, vampires are a staple in pop culture and I’m totally cool with that. As long as they’re running around in Forks, Bon Temps, and Mystic Falls, LaLocaLi will be glamoured.

Wether he’s swindling women out of their panties or money, biting necks, punching faces, or being eccentrically hot, Brad Pitt has always been that man. I noticed him in Thelma & Louise along with everyone else in the world. But he really got my teenage whoremones a raging when he took a turn for death as Louis in te much beloved Anne Rice adaptation,  Interview with the Vampire. All though he’s been looking a little tired in recent days, remember him as the soap making maniac in Fight Club and let your body sigh with satisfaction.

Cei care ma cunosc stiu ca imi plac filmele cu vampiri. Nu stiu de ce ma fascineaza. Credeam ca le-am vazut pe toate care merita vazute, insa mi s-a confirmat inca o data ca niciodata nu trebuie sa spui niciodata. Fiindca tot vorbeam ieri despre filmele pe care le-am vazut, am uitat sa mentionez ca joi m-am uitat la ‘Interview with the vampire’. Mi-a placut foarte mult, desi initial am adormit (nu din cauza actiunii in sine ci din cauza oboselii si a noptilor nedormite care se adunasera), insa m-am trezit noaptea si m-am uitat din nou la el. Trailer-ul, pentru cei care nu au reusit sa il vada pana acum, desi nu cred ca mai sunt multi ca mine:

Zilele urmatoare voi incerca sa imi amintesc celelalte filme care mi-au placut. Astept sa imi spuneti daca mai este vreunul pe care sa il fi sarit!

So I’ve been doing some research on Stephenie Meyer, writer of the Twilight series (yes, series, not saga) trying to dig up some dirt on her, and I found this wonderful website called Fans of Reality TV. She had been an active member there before she got famous, with over 2000 forum posts.  Apparently, Stephenie Meyer likes reality television.  Her username there is Spegs, by the way.

I got the following quote Meyer did from an interview after Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse were published:

“I never planned to write a book. I wasn’t planning a career in writing. I wasn’t thinking about stories that I wanted to write down. I had a dream… I hadn’t realized how much I would enjoy writing. I knew I loved to read, but writing was just that little bit better… At that point I started thinking about publishing. That was really the first time that I thought of it.“
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SQ9bJIhcJ0

On Fans of Reality TV, back in 2003, Meyer makes an interesting post:

“I majored in English, so of course I’m an aspiring writer. I have pretty small audience, though. I write novels for my sister, because I’m too much of a coward to go public. She’s a stay at home mom, too, so she actually enjoys it when I drop a 500+ monster on her doorstep. I’m working on her christmas present right now–not even halfway through and I’m already on page 300 , poor my sister. (That’s why I haven’t been to the FORT as much this summer).

I did look into the whole idea of trying to get published, but I was quickly frightened off by the bewildering world of agents and queries and rejection slips. Maybe some other time when I’m feeling braver.”
http://www.fansofrealitytv.com/forums/general-discussion/18461-everyone-fort-writer-otherwise-known-secret-ambitions-6.html

 That isn’t the worst of it.

During a Q & A session, found at http://stepheniesays.livejournal.com/20266.html:

“Do you see any similarities to movie Underworld?

Stephenie Meyer: You know, I am not a horror person, so I really can’t, I don’t know what the similarities would be to Underworld or Buffy or Anne Rice because I was never into that and now that I’m writing vampires, I don’t read anything or watch anything about that. So I don’t know if there are links or not. And I probably wouldn’t watch it anyway because they’re scary, isn’t it? I don’t do scary stuff.”

On the Fans of Reality TV website, Stephenie Meyer had something different to say.  This is one of her posts, dated in 2003, with the subject line Underworld 9/19:

“I’ve seen the trailer for this one a couple of times, and I wonder if anyone recognizes the song that’s being played?
(It stars Kate Beckinsdale and Scott Speedman in a story about the fight between vampires and werewolfs–looks like a cross between the Matrix and Interview with a Vampire. It actually looks pretty good from the trailer).”
http://www.fansofrealitytv.com/forums/movies/8524-underworld-9-19-a.html

This seriously pisses me off.  A lot of people have asked Stephenie about this and she’s always denied seeing any similarities because she doesn’t know anything about it.  Here, she’s talking about a fight between vampires and werewolfs!!!!  Also, she gets the name Interview with the Vampire wrong. Gah…

These aren’t the only inconsistancies I’ve found.  There’s another minor one, having to do with the sparkling. *shudder*

On Meyer’s website, she says that she got the idea from her dream:

“I woke up (on that June 2nd) from a very vivid dream. In my dream, two people were having an intense conversation in a meadow in the woods. One of these people was just your average girl. The other person was fantastically beautiful, sparkly, and a vampire…”
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight.html

In a Q & A session, however, she says that she came up with it later:

“When I was working on the Twilight mythology, so I’m just thinking at that point in time that I’m not writing a book for anyone else, just writing this story for me, and I was trying to make things make sense. Why would they explode into cinders in the sunlight? It just made sense to me that there would be a reason for staying out of the sun, maybe not something that drastic, and then I want to write about pretty things, you might have noticed that. I really like the idea of, Edward in particular because he’s so conflicted, being something so beautiful in the sun and he can’t see that. He only sees that he’s so obviously a monster. But to Bella, she can see how angelic he even is. It was just a fun way to go. I didn’t know the rules to not follow them, but I didn’t feel any compunctions to keep up with the genre because I was just doing it for me.”
http://stepheniesays.livejournal.com/5065.html

These are all minor inconsistancies, except for maybe the Underworld one, but they make me really upset.  Stephenie Meyer is looked up to by hundreds of thousands of teenage girls and she can’t even get her stories straight.  Before, I only disliked Meyer as for her bad writing, but now I’m beginning to think of her as a bad person, too, if she’s going to lie to her fans.

I’ve been doing some more research into some possible plagiarism, besides the one there was a lawsuit for, so I’ll post more information about that when I get more details.

Eirne Xx

Travelling the world in the 90’s, I saw the great influence of American Pop Culture wherever I go, Tom Cruise’s 1986 TOP GUN poster stapled on a barber shop in Boystown, Pattaya-Thailand, Brad Pitt’s 1994 Legends of the Fall poster in a “mostly censored” movie rentals in Al Khobar-Saudi Arabia, Leonardo Dicaprio’s life-size cardboard cutout in the streets of Lan Kwai Fong-Hong Kong, 90’s Jason Priestley and Luke Perry of  90210 all over the notebook covers of teenage girls (and boys) in my highschool in Manila, I have to confess I bought my first Tiger Beat with River Phoenix cover to wrap my textbook for my drudging calculus class.

James Dean
(February 1931 – September 1955)

In “a  fun experiment” by Irina Aleksander on her article “The New Male Beauty” (June 23, 2009) for The New York Observer. She suggested that the latest “It boys”sort of look alike– High School Musical’s Zac Efron, Twilight’s Robert Pattinson, Gossip Girl’s Chace Crawford, Star Trek’s Chris Pine, Hairspray’s James Marsden, Fantastic Four’s Chris Evans and the list goes on, and she calls it the NEW MALE BEAUTY: those wide-set eyes, the narrow nose that flares up at the tip just so, the childish puffy cheeks and the not-too-rugged jaw lines, topped with carefully placed strands of layered hair. (http://www.observer.com/2009/style/new-male-beauty)

Although I agree with her that this twenty-something James Dean doppelgänger’s has been dominating the box office and prime time tv this decade, whats new? Since James Dean starred in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), he’s reincarnation’s in the “Male Beauties” of the 60’s (Warren Beatty), 80’s (Tom Cruise), 90’s (Leonardo Dicaprio) has always been prominent. The 2000’s Young Hollywood cannot deny that “another swoopy-haired, pretty-faced actor dominating the box office” has started in the 50’s. Although I was born in the 80’s and Tom Cruise was the king, I acknowledge that on my list of top 10 Male beauties of all time, it’s a not a Mr. Pattinson or a Mr. Efron topping my list- its the original, Mr. Dean.

River Phoenix
(August 1970 – October 1993)

The American film actor who starred in Gus Van Sant’s 1991 Semi-documentary footage of Seattle street hustling “My Own Private Idaho” is one of the reason I fell in love with american filmmaking, not only its sexiest Homosexual road movie ever made, its casted perfectly with beautiful talented stars all at the top of their respective games. The film’s success solidified Phoenix’s image as an edgy actor with leading man potential, without even trying, he is the most authentic reincarnation of James Dean’s beauty and talent in the 90’s.

Brad Pitt
(December 1963)

Yes, it’s not a surprise Mr. Pitt’s in the list, hailed as one of the world’s most sexiest men over and over in some top 10 list all over the world. But I can’t help but put him in this one, because am only human. Most of my favorite movies of all time are starred by Brad Pitt, and three of the sexiest and most beautiful characters that the silver screen ever produced he had played – J.D., the cowboy hitchhiker who seduces Geena Davis’s character in the 1991 road movie “Thelma & Louise”, as Louis de Pointe du Lac in “Interview with the Vampire” (1994) – the most referenced vampire of this decades’ teen vampires and Tristan Ludlow in the 1994 drama “Legends of the Fall”, how can I resist?

Johnny Depp
(June 1963)

There is something so mysterious about this American actor that I find so mesmerizing and beautiful, after 50 films and running, from “A Nightmare on Elm Street” to “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” from “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” to “Pirates of the Caribbean”, he just makes me ask for more.

Joe Dallesandro
(December 1948)

Aesthetically speaking if the Greek philosophers will have a perfect mold for the male beauty, it will be “Little Joe”s face. Thanks to Andy Warhol, the 70’s underground films will always have their nude James Dean. Although he never become a mainstream film star like Mr. Dean, Mr. Phoenix, Mr. Depp and Mr. Pitt –Mr. Dallesandro is a sex symbol of the 20th century in his own right, and an iconic beauty on my list. Like Mr. Phoenix he starred as as a beautiful teenage street hustler in the 1970’s film Flesh and hailed as one of the 10 most beautiful men Scavullo had ever photographed. As a photographer how can i disagree?

Gabriel Aubry
(January 1976)

“Quick, name one male model.” asked by Lauren Streib on her article “The World’s Most Successful Male Models” (May, 07 2008) for Forbes Magazine. Gabriel Aubry, Mark Fisher, Marlon Teixeira, Jon Kortajarena, and Greg Knudson and yes, Fabio doesn’t count. In my personal list of Top 10 Male Beauties of all time, it only make sense that half of them are models and three out of five are signed with Wilhelmina Models in New York City. All five of them have the movie star good looks minus the Zoolander ego that plagued most male models this decade.

Signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York City, the only male model to ever appear on the cover of Uomo Vogue while appearing in 4 different campaigns at the same time, in the same magazine. Aubry is a Canadian male model, that has been the face (and body) of blue chip clients like Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein, DKNY, and Valentino, achieved supermodel status after modeling for Hugo Boss.

Mark Fisher
(January 1976)

One source of male beauties for me back in college are the men’s fashion magazines, I have converted my room in a mini-magazine library and nobody can avoid all the muses for more than four decades of the legendary photographer Bruce Weber, Mark Fisher is my favorite. Mr. Fisher is an American model best known for his campaigns for Abercrombie & Fitch, Polo, Versace and Ralph Lauren. In my book he is one of the original male models that carries the James Dean charm without even knowing it.
Fisher was born in Detroit, but grew up in Atlanta and considers himself a little boy from the South.

Marlon Teixeira
(September 1993)

Signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York City, Teixeira appeared on Dior Homme Campaign, the provocative Diesel Ad shot by Terry Richardson, the face of the 2009 Christian Dior Summer/Spring collection to name a few. The brazilian beauty is half Portuguese and has Indian and Japanese origins and at the very young age and early of his career he is becoming one of the top working male model now.

Jon Kortajarena
(May 1985)

Those chiseled cheekbones, full pout and sexy stare has placed Spanish male model on my top 10 male beauties, signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York City, Kortajarena has been the face of Just Cavalli, Tom Ford, Bally, Etro, Trussardi and now on his film debut on the upcoming directorial debut of designer TOM FORD “A Single Man” (2009) with Colin Firth, and Julianne Moore.

Greg Knudson
(November 1978)

Whenever people ask me who’s my favorite model I ever photographed, this American male model, native of california always come to mind, I never thought I’ll ever meet a real life James Dean in my lifetime, but I did, and his body covered by Oriental tattoos of his gang membership in his teen years, a troubled teen like the characters that James Dean, River Phoenix, Johnny Depp would usually play in their films and his striking resemblance to Brad Pitt is uncanny.

Excerpt from my book Acknowledgement “STARK”: I remember buying my first photo book, Just Between Us by LA photographer Greg Gorman, when I was in Fine Arts college majoring painting. I will never forget that, because I had never before spent so much money on a book; but that day and from this day on I knew it was all worth it. The moment I saw Greg Knudson on the book cover in the display, I considered him the most beautiful person on the planet, and I still feel he is.

When I shot him in LA last year—8 years after I bought the book—Greg told me I might be the last photographer he would ever work with since he is thinking of retiring; he has worked with most of the top photographers in the 1990’s. Now he is gracing my photo book, and I am elated.

“What explains our enduring fascination with vampires?
What is it about the vampire myth that explains our interest?
Is it the overtone of sexual lust, power and control?
Or is it a fascination with the immortality of the undead?“

Desde los tiempos de ingenuidad en que se creía que el vampiro era una encarnación del demonio hasta nuestros tiempos en que se ha convertido en un referente múltiple que abarca de lo romántico a lo melancólico a lo temible y horroroso, el mito del vampiro nunca ha dejado de interesar a los mortales.

Explicaciones hay tantas como libros y películas respecto a ellas pero lo cierto es que el vampiro nos genera una atracción tan mágica e inexplicable como sus propios orígenes.

Vampires: The Occult Truth, una desmitificación del vampiro repleta de datos históricos e historias que respaldan la existencia de los vampiros en la actualidad, por Konstantinos, $15.000.-

Los hay horrorosos monstruos sin razón ni corazón, como también los encontramos elegantes caballeros condenados por su propia naturaleza a sufrir en tinieblas. El mito ha inspirado a artistas durante tanto tiempo que sus limites se han doblado y llevado a lugares inimaginados tanto en la literatura como en el cine…

Nosferatu por F.W. Murnau,la clásica visión de Murnau al Drácula de Bram Stocker en edición especial de 2 dvds, $23.000.-

Nosferatu Phantom der Nacht por Werner Herzog, la extraordinaria performance de Kinski hace de esta edición especial de 2 discos un deber, $23.000.-

El mito del vampiro es inmortal y surgio hace siglos. Desde las culturas romanas y griegas a la Europa del siglo 18 las historias de seres que viven gracias a la vida de otros han abundado. Pero hay una historia que no sólo conjugó el folclor con la fantasía sino que transformó el antiguo mito del vampiro en la leyenda de la cual se sustenta el vampiro contemporáneo.

La novela “Dracula” de Bram Stoker es la piedra angular para la ficción vampírica moderna.

Dracula de Bram Stoker, edición de lujo, tapa dura y notas, $13.000.-

Bram Stoker's Dracula de Francis Ford Coppola, edición especial de 2 discos, $12.000.-

Este año Dacre Stoker, el heredero directo de Bram Stoker e historiador experto en el mito de Dracula, edita “Dracula: the Un Dead” la secuela a la obra que dió base al género de vampiros.

Dracula: The Un Dead por Dacre Stoker, la continuación a la novela de Bram Stoker, $18.000.-

Durante años fue “Dracula” el referente vampirico alrededor del cual se generaron peliculas y novelas de todo tipo, pero durante los años setenta una nueva visión del vampiro vendria a volverse un referente y gestor de un nuevo tipo de vampiro.

Las “Crónicas Vampíricas” de Anne Rice ofrecieron una nueva visión tanto del origen como del comportamiento vampirico, siempre respetando las limitaciones que hacen de este ser un personaje trágico asi como poderoso.

The Vampire Chronicles de Anne Rice, edición especial incluye los 3 primeros tomos de la saga, $18.000.-

El libro “Entrevista con el Vampiro”, primer tomo de “Las Cronicas Vampiricas” de Anne Rice fue llevado a la pantalla grande con gran exito por Neil Jordan. Hoy es un clásico del cine de vampiros y comparte el lugar junto con otras grande versiones del mito…

The Hunger de Tony Scott, con David Bowie, Susan Sarandon y Catherine Deneuve, $18.000.-

The Lost Boys de Joel Schumacher, edicion especial de 2 dvds, $21.000.-

Let The Right One In de Tomas Alfredson, probablemente la mejor película de vampiros de esta década, $13.000.-

Vampyr de Carl Theodor Dreyer, un clásico de culto en edición de lujo, 2 discos, $28.000.-

Durante el último tiempo se han lanzado nuevas historias de vampiros tanto al cine como al libro. Todas ellas apuntando a un píblico específico que gusta de cierto tipo de vampiro. Tanto el monstruo como el romantico caballero tienen cabida hoy en la amplia variedad de novelas y sagas editadas en el mundo.

The Strain de Guillermo del Toro, edición tapa dura, $20.000.-

Una plaga de vampiros amenzada con consumir Nueva York y una pareja de médicos, un experto en folklor y otros personajes deberán frenar lo que podria ser la epidemia que extermine a la humanidad. Mucha acción y gore en esta novela escrita por el director de “El Laberinto del Fauno” y “El Espinazo del Diablo”.

The Midnight Guardian de Sarah Jane Stratford, edición tapa dura, $19.000.-

En esta mezcla de ficción vampírica con historia, Sarah Jane Stratford enfrenta a los vampiros contra los Nazis y elimina de paso toda pre-concepción del bien y el mal.

Vampire Academy Box Set de Richelle Mead, los 3 primeros tomos en una caja protectora, $20.000.-

True Blood Saga Box Set de Charlaine Harris, los siete tomos en caja protectora, $35.000.-

Twilight Saga Box Set de Stephenie Meyer, los 4 tomos en edición de lujo, tapa dura y láminas de las portadas, $52.000.-

Los vampiros definitivamente seguirán presentes en la cultura pop y sus historias seguirán fluyendo por las páginas de miles de libros en el mundo… si buscas alguna en especial no dudes en contactarnos…

Escríbenos a kthulu.shop@gmail.com y encuentra el libro o película que buscas al precio que más te conviene.