2009
This series is over. We’ve covered all five of the Twilight films based on all four of Stephenie Meyer’s supernatural romance novels. So what did we think of them? Did we survive? And whose team did we end up landing on?
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We continue our struggle with Bella’s decision – will she choose Jacob or will she stick with Edward? We’re here for it. Join us as we continue our journey through the film adaptations of Stephenie Meyer’s series in our conversation about Chris Weitz’s 2009 film “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”
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Does this film that really kickstarted Lynn Shelton’s career completely work or are there elements that don’t work as well? How much do we like Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, and Alycia Delmore as the three principal characters? And does the ending work? We’re kicking off our Lynn Shelton series with this film, so check it out and tune in to get answers to these questions and more!
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Are the rules of this world starting to get more nonsensical as they progress? Could they have done more with this clear Romeo & Juliet retread? At what point does this happen in relation to everything with Selene? Tune in to this week’s show to get answers to these questions and more!
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Stieg Larsson had plans to write an entire series of Millennium novels, but unfortunately died having only written three of them. Because of this, they’re often referred to as the Millennium trilogy. Sure, they have the same characters largely and are centered around the Millennium magazine, but it’s not really a trilogy per se. That being said, when making the three films, it didn’t stop the team from shooting them all back to back to keep the story as cohesive as possible. It doesn’t help that the third film, Daniel Alfredson’s 2009 The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest, starts to feel a bit like the storytellers are stretching credulity a bit.
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Stieg Larsson’s second novel in the Millennium trilogy, “The Girl Who Played With Fire,” saw the continuation of the story of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomqvist while they try to stop a sex trafficking ring in Sweden. The whole trilogy of books was a massive success, but the film version was given half the budget of the first film for some reason, while also being paired with a different director. Daniel Alfredson put together an effective film, even if it feels a bit average at times.
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With the international success of Stieg Larsson’s novel “Men Who Hate Women” and its sequels, it was inevitable that a cinematic version would be made. The three films that make up Larsson’s ‘Millennium Trilogy’ were made back to back and were all released in Sweden in 2009 before making their way around the world to financial and critical success. The first film, Niels Arden Oplev’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, introduced the world cinematically to both Lisbeth Salander and the actress who portrayed her – Noomie Rapace.
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Anyone who has seen a Ricardo Darín film knows he has very expressive eyes. The actors in the 2009 film El Secreto de Sus Ojos, or The Secret in Their Eyes, had to have more than just expressive eyes, though. They had to be able to carry heavy amounts of subtext in their eyes. And while director Juan José Campanella’s film is largely a detective story as Darín and his team work to solve a cold case, it’s also a story about unrequited love. Luckily, Campanella had worked with Darín before so he knew Darín could do it. And Darín pulls it off effortlessly, along with his costars Soledad Villamil and Guillermo Francella. Join us as we continue our series on actor Ricardo Darín with Campanella’s 2009 film The Secret in Their Eyes.
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With the financial disappointment of Star Trek: Nemesis, Paramount wasn’t so sure they would return to the well again. But in 2005, when Viacom/Paramount split from CBS, they had to get a movie in the works or risk losing rights to the property. Hence, Star Trek was born. But screenwriters Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman and director JJ Abrams didn’t want to continue the story from where it left off — they felt it had been played out. They went back to one of the early ideas to have Kirk and Spock in their Academy years.
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Bong Joon-ho’s follow-up feature to his massive success “The Host” was about a murder and the person trying to figure out what happened. To some people, it sounded awfully like his second film “Memories of Murder” and they were afraid he was returning to the safety of familiar territory. But 2009’s “Mother” ended up being a very different film and one which is hard to forget. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we continue our Bong Joon-ho series with “Mother.”
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