Countdown to New Moon

Here’s why watching New Moon will be the best early Christmas present you can give yourself!
By Angel Constantino

Published: Candy Magazine, November 2009
Section: On the Cover

1. The transformation of Jacob Black. In New Moon, Jacob goes from scrawny teenager to full-fledged werewolf. To play the role, actor Taylor Lautner had to go through a physical transformation as well. At the 2009 Comic-Con, Taylor shares, “I knew Jacob's character changed a lot so if I wanted to continue portraying him correctly, I had a lot of work ahead of myself. As soon as I finished filming Twilight, I started hitting the gym. I got a personal trainer, ate a lot of good food—proteins and good carbs—and cut the sugars. It was a lot of work but it was definitely worth it.” We sure can’t wait to see him flex those muscles. Go, Team Jacob!

2. New director, new script. We’re all excited to see how Bella, Edward, and Jacob grow in this movie and we’re confident Director Christ Weitz will take New Moon to a whole new level. He says, “It’s a really extraordinary cast they’ve assembled for the first film, and I was very keen to work with them… Once I read the books, I realized they dealt with all these deep emotions everyone feels like love, heartbreak, and the ecstasy of reunion.”

3. More action, more drama, more love. While Twilight introduced us to Bella and the Cullens, New Moon explores the world of werewolves. Taylor says, “I'm excited that there are werewolves involved now because they definitely step up the action in the movie. There's also a different dynamic. Now it's not just this romance between a human girl and a vampire, but the beginning of a love triangle.”

4. The breakup scenes. We’re all for happy endings, but we all love a good breakup scene as well—and this movie has not just one, but two! At the 2009 Comic-Con, Kristen Stewart shares, “It's my favorite scene in the movie. We call it a breakup scene because Jacob basically tells Bella that they can't be friends anymore and he's transforming.” Taylor adds, “It was also painful to shoot because it was 35 degrees and we were being poured rain on and it was ice cold.” Meanwhile, Rob’s favorite was Edward’s breakup scene with Bella. He says, “Hopefully it'll come off as having quite a few more levels than the relationship in Twilight. It completely bypasses all the supernatural elements of the story as well, which I found quite interesting.”

5. The Volturi. If you thought James, Laurent, and Victoria were scary, wail till you meet the Volturi, a coven of vampire royalty who implement the laws of their world—with creepy red eyes to boot! They're played by a cast of new and veteran actors including Dakota Fanning (Push, Charlotte’s Web) as Jane, a high-ranking and powerful Volturi member, and Michael Sheen (Underworld: Rise of the Lycans) as Aro, their fearless leader. We can’t wait to see how Bella tries to save Edward from this intimidating pack of vampires—even scarier than those werewolves.

Photos courtesy of Pioneer Films and Summit Entertainment

For more on Rob Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, and New Moon, grab a copy of Candy's November 2009 issue and the Candy New Moon Special—available in bookstores and magazine stands nationwide!

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Michael Jackson's This Is It

By Angel Constantino
Photo courtesy of Sony Music Philippines

Published: Spot.ph, October 2009
Section: Movie Reviews

This Is It is a film about what could have been.

From March through June 2009, Michael Jackson and his crew were busy preparing for his final comeback—a series of sold-out concerts that would have been staged in London’s O2 Arena—if it weren’t for the 50-year-old performer’s death on June 25.

The movie gives audiences a glimpse of what went on during those rehearsals. It begins with Michael Jackson’s dancers talking about their experience of working with the King of Pop. Some of them are teary-eyed and barely able to speak, as performing with MJ has been their lifelong dream. A few minutes into the film, as snippets of the auditions are shown and the lucky chosen ones perform “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” with MJ, you begin to get immersed into their world.

This Is It is not an ordinary documentary. While there are a few interviews with different people who worked on the concert with MJ, this film is more about his music. Film director Kenny Ortega, who was also MJ’s creative partner and the director of the stage show, did an inspiring job of selecting the most poignant moments from over a hundred hours of rehearsal footage. The smooth transitions from different periods of rehearsals (with MJ and the dancers in different outfits) allow you to see the progression of the songs, which were arranged in the same order as they would have appeared in the concert.

But unlike the experience of watching an actual concert where everything is smooth and polished, this movie allows you to actually feel like a part of it. You see the mistakes they made, hear the odd instructions MJ would give that somehow make perfect sense (“Let it simmer…” he tells his musical director while rehearsing, “The Way You Make Me Feel”), and finally witness something close to the end product. Even the combination of high definition videos with blurry, low-resolution images gives the film an intimate feel—as if you’re seeing something you weren’t supposed to...

Read the rest of the article in Spot.ph!

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