Blues, Buckets, Repeat: Making sense of Bend’s love for Hillstomp

Besides bloodlust, we have great hearing and a keen fashion sense. "Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone I loved. Noble even. That ought to count for something."

Thus begins the new movie, Twilight, inspired by the first of four books about a young girl and her vampire boyfriend by Stephanie Meyers, and in the hands of virtually every young girl aged 11 to 20 in America right now. Four novels, seventeen million copies - get the picture?
I have to admit, I didn't read the book and went in cold. And I was mesmerized. The story involves a sixteen-year-old high school student, Bella Swan (Kristin Stewart), who leaves her single mom in Arizona to go and live with her policeman dad in Forks, Washington. It's a gorgeous setting for this film: grey, perpetually foggy, green, mossy, mysterious, and, most importantly for vampires, sunless.

Cry it out. This fun little movie is actually a light-hearted look at Hollywood
back stabbings and financial dealings. In other words, this could have
been a scathing expose on Hollywood corruption, but What Just Happened
just lets it happen and allows us to be the judge.
Robert De Niro
plays Ben (yes, just "Ben"), a producer trying to balance his work
while juggling a messed-up life involving two ex-wives and kids to go
with them. Ben has two big deals in the works: one is a Cannes entry
entitled, "Fiercely," starring Sean Penn (as himself), directed by
indie filmmaker Jeremy Brunell (a superb Michael Wincott). We only see
snippets of the cruel and violent ending scene of "Fiercely," which the
producers insist should hit the editing floor. Jeremy takes it badly,
promoting tension between producers and himself. The second deal is an
action picture starring Bruce Willis (as himself). Here, the dilemma is
that Willis, contrary to all advice, has put on weight and grown a
Grizzly Adams beard, adding extra girth for his concept of the role
then refuses to shave his beard.