Twilight (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3 in DVD
• Brand: Universal
• Released on: 2009-03-21
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 122 minutes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The big-screen adaptation of Twilight, Stephenie Meyer's bestselling vampire romance, is aimed squarely at its key demographic: teen girls whose idea of Prince Charming is a brooding, pale, undead teen who could kill you instantly at any moment. Such a prince is more fascinating than frightening to new girl Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), who moves to the rainy-gray town of Forks, Wash., to live with her dad (Billy Burke), the local sheriff who's puzzled by a series of "animal attacks." On her first day at school, Bella appears to (visibly) nauseate her lab partner, Edward (Robert Pattinson). Turns out the scent of her blood is this vampire's "brand of heroin," and his struggle not to kill her causes an irresistible pull toward her. Whether he's attracted for the normal reasons or because she smells especially sweet to him is vague in the book and even less clear on-screen; nonetheless, Bella falls hopelessly in love with Edward, which sets her on a dangerous path when a few nomad vampires show up in town, one particularly keen on tracking the human. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen), Twilight is full of funny moments--not all of which are intentional--and the casting, from Stewart to Bella's self-absorbed friend Jessica (Anna Kendrick) is spot-on. The weakest link, unfortunately, is Pattinson. While he certainly looks the part, his Edward could have used an extra injection of testosterone (Pattinson, who is British, used James Dean as a model for his American accent). In scenes where he growls about the temptation to kill those who would harm Bella, or flitting around a forest warning her how dangerous he is, he comes off more like a whimpering puppy than a debonair monster. The good news is, his chemistry with Stewart (particularly in their big kissing scene) is palpable, which, let's face it, is really what matters to Twilight fans most. --Ellen A. Kim

On the DVD
The special features for Twilight kick off with an audio commentary with director Catherine Hardwicke and stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. There's some mumbling and groaning from Stewart (one gets the impression that Stewart is quite similar to her reserved character in the film), some standard behind-the-scenes observations from Hardwicke, and a lot of awkward self-deprecating remarks from Pattinson (of their big kiss, he opines: "This is quite difficult 'cause I have a really flat head, and so it's quite difficult to get a correct angle."). What's funny is Pattinson stumping Hardwicke with some basic plot questions, like "Why doesn't James just kill [Bella when she's packing at her house]?" While Hardwicke and Stewart attempt to answer, Pattinson doesn't appear satisfied. The deleted and extended scenes include an additional dream-sequence kiss (rightly cut because it took away from the buildup to their first kiss) and more footage of Victoria (Rachelle Lefevre). The seven-part documentary is a pretty thorough look at the development of the film, including stunts, special effects, and the involvement of author Stephenie Meyer. Another featurette looks at the Comic-Con frenzy; however, it spends no time on how the actors were cast, which would have been fun for fans who did all their own mental casting while reading the books. Also included: three music videos and trailers. --Ellen A. Kim

Twilight at Amazon.com

Twilight books

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Twilight soundtrack

Stills from Twilight (Click for larger image)

Customer Reviews

Financial advisors failed to recognize demand, Twilight dimmed
The popularity of the books should have been trusted. There should have been no hesitation by executives to plan big. They should have had a cross section of Junior and Senior High School kids act as the, "money men", and budgeters on this one. The movie industry's money moguls should have had their grandkids make policy. The geezers, that spent too little, should be put out to pasture, not even consulted on modern movies, especially of this genre, but left only to make decisions about black and white films where they speak with old English accents and star one of the Barrymores or Lawrence Olivier. The geezers who make budgeting decisions so off the mark, as with Twilight, cannot be allowed to even be in the same room with those in-the-know, in this case, the 13 to 16 year old girls of the world. Hollywood's grandpas have no clue why the subject of vampires is even hot right now. Being clueless, there was a minimal budget allotted for this first film, the first of many which will someday be one of the biggest grossing franchises ever.

As a result of the fear of failure, the budget did not reflect the recognition of the large group of fans already out there, pre-sold on any film representation of what they must like, since primed and accepting of any attempt, however pathetic. They still came to the theaters in droves to see the halfhearted effort handed them, cheating them, since it was about their addiction to, and profound love for, these stories. Who did not see that coming? If the budget planners had consulted their demographic studies, and/or grandkids, they would have:

1. Hired actors instead of what was done, using volunteers from the local High School Drama Classes.
2. Used real film instead of the way it was shot, with handheld video cameras, piloted by the kids of the local High School Audio/Visual Departments.
3. Consulted a qualified company with experience, and associated modern resources, to do the Special Effects, instead of having the local High School Art Class members doing it all.
4. Hired screenwriters with experience doing dialog that demonstrated some indication they knew about the art of movie dialog, rather than what they did, using the local Junior High English Classes to contribute their term papers, saving money using that level of incompetence.
This is a movie for those actual age groups but cannot be made by them. Get input from all those groups in all those areas, but pay the price and let talented filmmakers actually make the movie. It takes the indefinable talent of the best and the brightest that Hollywood has to offer to get it right, even if everything is done for the 13 to 16 year old. If it was done with little effort and money invested because all those involved knew the kids would like anything they made, because of the popularity of the books, and they intentionally spent as little as they could, knowing that spending a lot would simply decrease net, then they did a disservice to us all, dishonestly and with premeditated deception. The box office gross cannot be the only measure of the success of the art of filmmaking.

good move even if your not a teenager
purchased for my 13 yr old daughter who "had to see it" after reading all the Twilight series.....I watched it online "Amazon on Demand"(they sent me the freebie before the movie came in mail with the purchase) good teenage girl movie, no sex, some violence, nothing horrible, no drugs....can't really recall much profanity either.
Cute 'chick flick'. MY 13 1/2 yr old daughter and her friends LOVE the movie, my 15 1/2 yr old SON hates anything to do with Twilight....go figure...lol.

Twilight movie
The movie was excellent especially if you did not read the book, but if you did read the book you'll find that many situations were changed and or added. I realize that Stephanie Meyers approved the movie and changes, so who am I to complain. Outside of that it was a very good movie.

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"New York City Serenade": Frank Whaley Blog

by Armchair Commentary at 1:34 PM PDT, March 24, 2009

Frank Whaley is most recognized from his starring role with Kevin Spacey in the independent cult favorite Swimming With Sharks and films like Pulp Fiction and Vacancy, as well as television shows including The Dead Zone, CSI, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and House M.D. But this time, Frank is behind the camera - as director and writer of the independent film, New York City Serenade starring Freddie Prinze Jr, Chris Klein and Jamie-Lynn Sigler, which recently opened theatrically in New York. And who better to tell us about the film than Frank himself - so check out his blog below written just for Amazon to celebrate the film, which is now available on DVD. - Lisanne

I began writing the screenplay for NEW YORK CITY SERENADE one early November morning in 1994. The night before, my best friend at the time and I were sitting in a pre-Starbucks coffee shop on the west side of Manhattan trying to figure out what to do with our Saturday night. We bumped into an acquaintance who was on his way to a party up at Columbia University where his lady friend was a student. We decided to tag along, despite his sheepish warning “It might be by invitation only.” We assured him it would be fine. Like most things in those days it was on a lark, an impulse conducted with little or no thought. This particular Saturday evening, this crashed party, and it’s aftermath, became the basis for the script.

We took the subway uptown and found the party. It was in a beautiful old townhouse which was now home to a Columbia fraternity. My friend immediately engaged himself in a close conversation with an exotic looking blonde art student. Left to my own devices, I began making mindless conversation with various coeds. One of these conversations turned into a spirited game of truth or dare between myself and a couple of philosophy majors in an upstairs study and ended when one of the young lady’s boyfriend and a few of his frat brothers burst in. I accepted their invitation to fight but only one at a time before scurrying out of the room like a squirrel. Hearing the commotion my friend removed himself from the back room where he and the art student had moved their conversation and the two of us hauled ass out of there, escaping a small angry mob of drunk frat boys.

The next night I was packing up my drums in the dive bar where my band had played a set earlier in the evening, (For many years I played the drums in a NYC band called the Niagaras). The place was called Mondo Cane, a fire trap situated above an Italian restaurant in the West Village with space to occupy thirty people but whose owner frequently allowed in five times that many for a ten dollar cover charge. My friend came in and sunk into a corner table looking forlorn. Evidently the art student was a friend of a co-worker of his girlfriend. Word had traveled and his girlfriend found out he had been getting busy with her at the party the night before. She broke up with him at dinner earlier in the evening but not before throwing a full glass of ginger ale in his face.

The good news was she was no longer his girlfriend and therefore no longer going to the film festival in Houston, Texas where a short film he had made was going to be playing. It took a little bit of convincing but I was the recipient of the extra plane ticket and moreover a free trip to Houston.

This relatively pointless series of events became the script and eventually the movie. What I set out to do was capture an otherwise forgotten moment. I was in my mid thirties and at a real turning point in my life, which had become a nightly booze fueled whirlpool of adolescence and I was becoming way to old and tired for the whole thing. I think writing the script helped me come to terms with a lot of things at that time.

I also wanted to write a story about New York, the New York that I experienced in my younger days.

Mostly I wanted to tell a story about friendship and the strange way people have of moving in and out of each other’s lives like ghosts. All the people that I wrote about and characterized in the movie are no longer a part of my life, at least not in any significant way. It’s as though I lived another life, remote from me now and completely forgotten about. Somewhere tucked away in the nooks and crannies of memory there are vague pictures.

In the movie Owen and Ray are like brothers, of the same mind, two sides of the same coin. Inseparable. In the end they have no choice but go their separate ways.

After I wrote the first draft I put the script away for a long time. I wrote and directed my second film THE JIMMY SHOW, got married and started a family. In 2001 I came back to it, I did a couple of revised drafts, changed the title from THE WINTER SPRING RISE AND FALL OF RAY and set out to try and get it financed. I sent it to my agent and she said “No one wants to see a movie about these two awful people.”

A little over four years later I somehow managed to raise the money to make it. In the summer of 2006 Freddie Prinze Jr., Chris Klein, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Heather Bucha and Wallace Shawn among others along with my faithful producer Rachel Peters and a very good and hard working crew began twenty-two and a half blistering, drama filled and very difficult days and nights filming NEW YORK CITY SERENADE in and around the city of Manhattan.

Nearly three years later the film has finally found a theatrical release, an extremely limited release (one theater) , but a release none the less. More importantly it will find an extremely beautiful DVD release courtesy of ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT.

It’s been quite a journey from that early November morning in 1994. I’m glad I was able to tell this story. I hope people enjoy the movie. - Frank Whaley

In topics: Comedy, Exclusives

All Hail "Kings" (and Here's Why)

by Armchair Commentary at 6:16 PM PDT, March 16, 2009

TV's next great drama is here. It's called Kings, and for some of you, all I will need to say is that it stars Ian McShane of Deadwood fame. He's not as profane in this show, and he's not the villain (though it's not quite right to call him a good guy). Either way, he commands the screen. His kingdom is called Gilboa, not that it matters, really, as it's essentially America with a monarchist veneer. And Gilboa is a country at war. There are battle scenes, but this show is really about a different kind of warfare. We've seen it before, in shows like Gossip Girl or (to get old school on you), Dynasty. It's beautiful people with money and power and a thirst for more, more, more. Adding the royalty gives it a twist in Kings, as does the source material, aka Bible stories. Not for nothing does our soldier hero (David) "slay" a tank called a Goliath. "This court needs a new face to look up to," says the king. "We can use him." But will the earnest soldier/hero be so easily played?

Yes, the show is not necessarily surprising (The cute hero and the king's daughter together? Who'da thunk it? And the king faces treachery from within his own family? Really?). Plus, there's a scene involving butterflies that really beats subtext into text. That said, though, the storylines are compelling and the cast, well, let's just say McShane isn't the only memorable one. Our soldier/hero is played by Chris Egan, an Aussie with a Heath Ledger edge, and his princess is played by the Katie Holmesian Allison Miller. The double-length first episode is available free for a limited time at Amazon Video On Demand, where you can watch it on your PC, Mac or TV. Enjoy! -- Stephanie Reid-Simons, Amazon Video On Demand

Charlie Kaufman is Not Scary

by Armchair Commentary at 11:56 AM PDT, March 10, 2009

A few months ago, Robert Arambel and I got the chance to sit down with Charlie Kaufman while he was in town promoting Synecdoche, New York, a complex and beautifully epic story that kind of makes you question everything you've ever concluded about your life and your place in the world. It's a hoot. If you've seen any of Kaufman's other films (as writer), including Being John Malkovich or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, you know that he rarely takes the most direct route to reach his conclusion and Synecdoche, New York, in all it's surrealistic jumbled glory, is no exception.

Robert and I attended an advance screening the night before our interview. Kaufman came in after the film and did Q & A with the audience. This experience, it must be said, left us both a little nervous, as he came off as both incredibly brilliant and just a little grumpy. The next morning however, the director was still incredibly brilliant, but also very gracious and thoughtful and we left marveling at his strength of vision and astonishing comittment to show the world just a little piece of it. Check out our interview below. ---Kira

In topics: Amazon Insider, Avant-garde, Cult Films, Drama

Madagascar - Escape 2 Africa (Widescreen) (2008)

Madagascar - Escape 2 Africa (Widescreen) (2008)

released on February 6, 2009

The first trailer to "Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa" from Dreamworks Animated Studios.

The Secret Life of Bees (2008)

The Secret Life of Bees (2008)

Release on 3 Feb 09

Amazon.com

Headed by an all-star cast of women, The Secret Life of Bees is the heartwarming and well-told story of a young girl who finds love and acceptance from a trio of independent sisters. The Secret Life of Bees is based on the bestselling book of the same name by Sue Monk Kidd and centers around the plight of 14-year-old Lily (Dakota Fanning). Assuming the burden for her mother's premature death, she has a precarious relationship with her abusive father T. Ray (Paul Bettany). Lily's only friend is her caregiver Rosaleen (Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson). Set in South Carolina in 1964, when civil rights wasn't a given, Rosaleen's life is threatened by racists who'd just as soon see her dead than exercise her right to vote. Lily runs away with her to a town she believes may hold the secrets of her mother's life. There the pair meet the Boatwright sisters August (Queen Latifah), June (Alicia Keys) and May (Sophie Okonedo)--who produce the area's famous Black Madonna honey. They eventually provide Lily with the unconditional love she never felt she had and also show Rosaleen that being a black woman in the South doesn't mean she can't have a sense of worth. The Secret Life of Bees doesn't try to pass itself off as a historical documentation of race relations in the 1960s. But the fictional slice of life still resonates because of the feelings of injustice that it stirs up. Though the film is written to show the disparity between blacks and whites, there is always a strong sense of hope, thanks to the lead actresses who bring empathy and dignity to their roles. Hudson exhibits some of the same quiet grace that Regina Taylor brought to her role as the family housekeeper in the superb TV series I'll Fly Away. Latifah has the part of wise matriarch down pat, even when she's playing a sister rather than a mother. And it's clear that Fanning is making a seamless transition from kid to young adult roles. Whether she's giving an impassioned monologue or listening thoughtfully, Fanning brings nuance and intelligence to her role. --Jae-Ha Kim

Emergency!: Season Five

Emergency!: Season Five

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Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 01/20/2009

A spin-off of Adam-12, the 1970s medical drama Emergency! was a surprisingly realistic depiction of firefighters and paramedics at work. The melodrama followed the heroics of the rescue workers of Station 51 and Rampart Hospital. Cast member Mike Stoker was a real-life firefighter, and one of the emergency vehicles used in the show was donated to the Los Angeles Fire Department for actual service. Nelson Riddle composed the memorable, fast tempo theme.

Appaloosa

Appaloosa (2008)

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Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow. Studio: New Line Home Video Release Date: 01/13/2009 Starring: Ed Harris Jeremy Irons Run time: 116 minutes Rating: R Director: Ed Harris

PR: wait... I: wait... L: wait... LD: wait... I: wait... wait... CY: wait... I: wait... L: wait... YCat: wait... C: wait... SD: wait...

Reba - Season 5

Reba - Season 5

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Being a single mom in today's world is a daunting task. For Reba Hart (Reba McEntire), parenthood encompasses not only watching over three kids, but also keeping an eye on a son-in-law, a granddaughter, an ex-husband and an ex-husband's neurotic wife. 'Reba' began with the Hart family in the midst of a divorce as Texas soccer mom Reba watched her white-picket-fenced world collapse...