Very well put! I totally agree, but I am worried that if zombies become the next best thing, we will have to deal with Meyer-esque zombie love stories and the teeny-boppers that love them. And don’t forget about the fact that all the “Twi-Moms” will now become “Zom-Moms”…yuck!

Zombies have already gained a lot of popularity recently (which is cool, yet annoying at the same time). I just hope it doesn’t all blow up in our faces.

Muse is on the soundtrack because Meyers is a big Muse fan (which is a credit to her because Muse is, as you said, amazing). She basically wrote half of Twilight while listening to Muse. Let us pray to Cthulhu Muse will inspire others to write something infinitely better than emo vampire love stories.

Meital Dohan is the best person in the show Woke Up Dead, starring the guy from Napoleon Dynamite. She plays a hot zombie named Aurora. She was also on the show Weeds. you can find out more on the show Woke Up Dead at hulu.com/woke-up-dead

I have never read nor seen TWILIGHT, so I have little opinion on it. I do have a general dislike for it based off of what I do know of it, but I am in no position to discuss it in an educated manner. I hope you have either read some of the book(s) or seen the film, otherwise your vitriol towards the franchise seems completely unfounded and ignorant. But that’s another story.

Regarding the bands who appear on the films’ soundtracks, I think it’s incredibly unfair to lose respect for them based solely on that. If you accepted a raise or promotion at your job, would that make you a sell-out? The guys in Muse are trying to make a living. Music is their livelihood. Who are you to judge them for making what you admit to be a smart move in their careers? It’s ridiculous to condemn them for attempting to further themselves by building a larger fanbase, which will in turn earn them more money, which will improve their quality of life. I have no doubt in my mind that those guys have worked their asses off to get where they are, and to refuse to appear on a movie’s soundtrack just because it features vampires who don’t conform to the “rules” and has some young, overly zealous fans… well, that would be just plain stupid. I would lose respect for them if they DIDN’T take advantage of the opportunity.

As for Paramore, they have had a fanbase of very young people for quite some time, long before they were on the TWILIGHT soundtrack. They are a pop band, and they have clearly targeted the young, Hot Topic-going demographic for years now. And I say that in no way to insult them. I actually love Paramore’s first record, as well as a lot of the songs on RIOT! They are very good at what they do, especially for having started at such extremely young ages. I admire them for how far they’ve come in just a few short years. It’s an extraordinary accomplishment to go from playing one of the smallest stages at Warped Tour for maybe 20 kids to having the lead single off the soundtrack for one of the biggest movies of 2008, all in the span of about three years.

I will never bash something unless I can back it up. So yes, I have read all of the books and seen the movie.

Actually I found the Twilight film to be quite watchable as far a story goes. Nothing earth shattering but a good movie and a basic romance themed story. I am long past my high school years and well past the time when I felt some music was cooler or less than cool than another. I found the sound track to be listenable and enjoyed it but was not shaken to the core by it at the time. I enjoyed Zombieland as well of course but find myself getting a little tired of Zombie comedies. I just saw the British zombie film Doghouse about a small town in Britain where only women become Zombies (this may be a movie for your Day of the Woman blog to explore if you have not already)and it was great but seems zombies cannot be taken seriously lately. I live in China and there is no Twilight marketing at McDonalds and really no major fanfare. The film here is more of a genuine cult article as Chinese people typically shy away from horror fare unless it is a South Korean or Japanese schoolgirl ghost story. Maybe I see another angle to the film because of living in a culture where it is not in my face each day. I personally enjoyed the film and can recommend it. That does not mean the viewer will like it but as a film, not a cultural phenomenon, it is acceptable in my view.

Thanks
Bill Courtney
aka Uranium Willy

Clarification: When above I said I was long out of High School that can be taken as a snide remark and that was not the intent. What I meant was that the film is a High School love story first and a vampire story second and that even an old misanthrope like myself found it enjoyable. I will be frank I did not expect to like it and if John at LOTTD does a possible round table discussion on Twilight I will explain why and defend my reason there since there is a small story to how it happened.

Again thanks and I hope my remarks are taken in the spirit they were intended.

Bill

My only defense would be on the actors. Even the best of actors can be made to look horrible (ie. Ms. Portman in the Star Wars prequels). I just finished watching the wonderful and under appreciated Adventureland where I promptly fell in love with Kristen Stewart. I however do not love Robert Pattinson so he very well may suck.

I have to agree with this whole vampire thing. Although I have not read the books or seen the movies ( I was planning on reading the books until this whole epidemic came through) I am hating the fact that vampires are everywhere not, and not even just twilight.

Zombies rock, so I did check out frank’s link. I remember seeing Meital on weeds. The shorts are interesting so I would give it a shot.

Meital Dohan as Aurora in Woke Up Dead is the hottest zombie around! I definitely recommend checking her and the show out at http://hulu.com/woke-up-dead