Twilight Tries to be Prestigious and Other Stories

I don't really have any new films to write about, which is fine really, I've had work to do and what not. I've actually been trying to catch up on some things, but its been a rough road in that regard. So instead I've got a few random little things that I can write about.

The good folks at Summit Entertainment now have a Best Picture winner in The Hurt Locker, and certainly must be very proud: they now have prestige and box-office winners (the latter would be the Twilight Saga). However, they have a lot to learn. It was announced today that Summit is approaching Oscar nominees to direct Breaking Dawn, most notably Sofia Coppola, Gus Van Sant, and Bill Condon (who's never been nominated for directing, just writing). Van Sant and Condon are terrible choices, since the Twilight films are not really compatible to their styles (the series' other directors- Catherine Hardwicke, Chris Weitz, and David Slade- all have experience with certain elements of the story). Interestingly, Coppola would be a rather nice fit to the series in that she is a master of atmosphere, which has been an integral element to the series thus far. It would be interesting to see what she does in that respect, but other wise this material (vampire babies eating the womb) is far, far below her. Hopefully none of them will agree to this crap.

I've discovered a new obsession on Netflix. It's Showtime's This American Life, which is based on Ira Glass' Chicago Public Radio show. This documentary series focuses completely on ordinary Americans, and I've been surprised at how touching, funny, and honest the episodes have been. As Glass himself says, each week shows stories based on a particular theme, whether it be growing up (which featured senior citizens who were making a movie) or escape (a 27-year-old man with a crippling nervous disease). It's all fascinating, and host Glass is never judgmental of his subjects. It's all made me realize though that between this, Dexter, Weeds, and United States of Tara, Showtime has become one of my favorite networks. Go figure.

Do you have any thoughts about these things? Comments are always welcome.