Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Word vomit ahead! My take on Remember Me, Part 1

************SPOILERS***************


You know, I wasn't planning on writing anything about Remember Me, since I wasn't expecting anything more than lots of Rob eye candy (which there was!). But after seeing it 3 times (I have NEVER seen a film in a theater 3 FREAKIN TIMES!) I actually feel I have a lot I want to say. And how handy to have a blog to spew it all out on. I might as well let 'er rip!

(I'll break this post into 2 parts.)

Part 1

Summit Entertainment sucks

- Why the fuck did they take a movie meant to have an "R" rating and castrate it into "PG-13"? It could have had a lot more skin showing lots more EXPLICIT sex. Rob himself said they cut most of the sex out of the film! Rob...having sex...cut from the film. Are you fucking insane, Summit?

- Summit promoted RM like it was a "chick flick". I mean, they showed some of the dramatic elements in the trailer, but with uplifting music? They didn't highlight the brother/sister relationship in the trailer, which was only THE major relationship in the film. Yes, there was a romantic relationship, but much of the motivation behind Tyler's actions were based on his feelings for his sister. But would you know that from the trailer - no! So most people are assuming it's some Nicholas Sparksy romance, which it's not.

- Announcing that the first Eclipse trailer would premiere with Remember Me appeared to be a savvy move - entice Twilight fans to the film with the promise of the trailer. But then why the fuck did they release the Eclipse trailer online the day before RM opened? Are they sniffing glue over at Summit? And then after all that, the trailer sucked! Clearly Eclipse is not ready for primetime - we've heard about problems with editing and editors and it's pretty apparent based on the trailer, which was a snorefest.

So why did Summit fuck up so badly? Because they were banking on a "PG-13" film, marketed as a romance, starring Edward Cullen, attracting the Twilight demographic. FAIL!!! Tweens want their Edward Cullen one way and one way only - in Twilight. Remember Me is an ADULT film for an ADULT audience. Rob Pattinson has a lot of adult fans, but not enough to carry a film being marketed to tweens. He would have had LOTS MORE adult fans NOW if this film had been "R" rated, as intended, and marketed to the correct audience. Summit basically fucked Rob up the ass with this mismanagement fiasco.

Hmmm..I'm thinking there is a connection here


Even with no help from Summit, I'm still impressed by the numbers this film did get its opening weekend. Considering the genre, and the production budget, the weekend tally was pretty good for an indie film. And of course there is the element of the public that wants to hate Rob because of his sudden popularity or will forever assume he can only play a vampire or can't act. My hopes are that word of mouth about his performance will alter some of that prejudice. And I'm still hoping this is a sleeper that will grow legs... for Rob's sake.

Which brings me to...

I Loved Watching Rob in Remember Me

Rob, I couldn't take my eyes off of you



I've seen Rob in all of his movies, with the exception of Ring of the Nibelungs (ok, I tried to watch some of it, but Rob's voice was dubbed and it was just not watchable). And the only movie I really loved Rob in was Twilight. I really liked Bad Mother's Handbook as well, but dorky Rob is not an extremely hot Rob (although he had some moments in this). I prefer my Rob hot. All of his movies did make one thing clear though - Rob is willing to take risks to perfect his acting skills. And he has skills.

My love affair with Rob came about from a combo of Twilight and interviews. The Twilight saga is fun, but it's ROB I am obsessed with. So I cannot begin to explain the excitement I felt about Remember Me. This represented to me a vehicle to exploit the talent that was only touched upon slightly in Twilight. And missing for me in Harry Potter, New Moon, Little Ashes, How To Be and The Haunted Airman (hot, but young Rob). I was literally the only one at New Moon who squeeeeed when the Remember Me trailer came on (which probably was a pretty accurate indicator of the interest in RM among Twilight fans). I have never looked forward to a film this much - EVER.

And it did not disappoint.

From the moment they showed Rob out on his fire escape in his red shirt, becoming aware of the ringing phone, I was in heaven.



He was everything I could have hoped for in this movie and more. He looked beautiful. He embodied the character of Tyler. He made you care about him and made you believe he cared about others.



I Liked the Screenplay

I love intimate films that provide character studies. If I smile, cry and feel empathy, that proves to me it worked.

Highlights:

- Tyler and Aidan: I thought they had a believable friendship. Opposites, even in friendships, do attract. Aidan was the perfect foil for Tyler's quiet seriousness. I really enjoyed their interactions and dialogue. I laughed quite a bit.

- Tyler and Caroline: These characters were really the heart of the film. Rob played such a gentle, attentive and sweet older brother who was desperate to ensure his remaining sibling didn't face the same fate as their older sibling. In many ways, Tyler was the stereotypical middle child - playing the family peacemaker. Ruby Jerins was a wonderful Caroline.

- Tyler and Ally: I have a feeling this relationship had a lot more development - that ended up on the editing room floor. But overall I really liked them together. Ally seemed to be able to surprise Tyler a lot and her positive attitude gave Tyler hope and strength. Rob played Tyler so tender with Ally - when he held her hair while puking, touching her hair and face, etc. It came across that they needed each other.

1 comment:

  1. I agree! Summit really screwed this up. This really was an adult film. I do not expect tweens to like the film, and they removed the parts that the cougars wanted. They screwed it all up!!

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