It would be a mistake to classify The Twilight Saga as ‘adult teen’. It would be an even bigger mistake to identify her fan base as being young teenage girls. Many online writers did just that, assuming perhaps that very few would react to their apparent lack of research and basic knowledge of the book and its author.
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Well, they are in for a big surprise!
Here’s just one reaction to an article at Cinematical written by Jessica Barnes, who started her article with:
“I have never been all that keen to read Stephenie Meyer's vampire romance, Twilight. That is probably because I'm just a little out of the prescribed age range, plus, I'll always be an Anne Rice girl at heart.”
Within the day, more than 59 comments were posted. These are not just the usual ‘Awesome!’, ‘That’s great!’ commentaries. These are detailed, even analytical comments coming from the fans. Here is one reaction to Ms. Barnes article:
You have never wanted to read Twilight because you think you are "Just a little out of the prescribed age range"? Obviously the author of this article is a little too big for her britches. Maybe you should try READING the book before making such comments, or maybe you should do some research on the internet first. Have you heard of Twilight moms? They are all over 25, married, with kids. They are also one of the biggest fansites out there.
[ Cinematical, as always, aims to satisfy all audiences and should be commended for launching a new series of articles that promote Twilight. Here's one of the latest by Kim Voynar. ]
Arguably one of the best actors we have today, Edward Norton has had his share of controversy throughout his career. He has been known to argue with film studios and directors alike regarding a movie's final cut. But time and time again, studios seek out Norton to either work on the script or direct a movie.
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The latest buzz is that trouble is brewing at the upcoming movie, The Incredible Hulk. Says EW:
In recent months, Norton and the film's director, Louis Leterrier (The Transporter), campaigned for a longer, more detailed film. Marvel Studios wanted a faster, leaner one. Marvel won. These creative arguments happen in Hollywood a lot but usually remain a secret. This time, they didn't. [ read more ]
Norton is one of the most serious actors we have, and is never afraid to speak his mind, especially with regards to a movie's artistic merits. While there will always be conflict between the actor and film studios (artistic merits versus box office revenue), we hope this latest issue will be resolved soon.
tMF Special report on Twilight. Part 1 of a 4 parts series
Stephenie Meyer sounds like most novelists - she is happy to provide details about her books and the characters she created, and to explain how these characters, the result of a dream and later sustained by her vivid imagination, actually represent a part of her identity and personality. But unlike many novelists, her success in reaching out and connecting with her audience is, quite simply, incomparable.
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Numerous websites and blogs are available (including the author’s official website) if you need to read more of the author’s bio. We, however, want to focus on Ms. Meyer’s biggest influences and how they played pivotal parts in her quest to write her first novel. Now that the Twilight Saga is all the rage, we also took note of how she is coping with her newfound celebrity status.
Religious and Pragmatic: Simply being a Mormon and having been educated at that religion’s most venerable educational institution (Brigham Young University) is not enough for us to consider Stephenie a conservative and a follower of the faith. While she considered herself religious, she is also quite a pragmatist. This sense of objectivity and practicality make her a woman who can stand on her own.
"Don't be fooled by his somewhat happy-go-lucky attitude" says one Robert Pattinson watcher. "It's just his way of dealing with his nervous energy. The guy plans to become a talented actor, and he can't wait much longer."
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Twilight's Robert Pattinson, apparently one of the most charming and talented young actors today, also has one of the most ardent and resourceful group of fans who are obviously ready to take on the world. With a total of 3,876 votes, he virtually took over the recent tMF poll.
The rest of the leading young actors are: #2: Daniel Radcliffe - 954, #3: Channing Tatum - 176, #4: Daniel Bruehl - 139 and #5: Gaspard Ullie l- 101.
Some Inside Stories: We were hit by a huge amount of traffic starting early this week as the polls opened. The majority of these visitors wanted to move Robert Pattinson up the ranks. We thought we were prepared for this, but apparently we were not.
"They have no idea what they unleashed!" says one ardent Pattinson supporter.
Indeed we were clueless regarding the extent of Mr. Pattinson's legion of fans! But there were others who also took notice of the poll and managed to help other actors gain votes. With a little less than 1,000 votes cast, Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter himself, took 2nd place.
Time flies when you're having fun! In the case of LAMB (The Large Association of Movie Blogs), it was less than 6 months ago that The Movie Fanatic became it's 22nd member. Right now, a milestone of sorts is taking place. Aside from launching member #69 (1 Minute Film Review), an exciting new 'something' is about to take place...
If you're reading this and you're a movie blogger, then it's about time you join the LAMB. Get the juice here:
The Large Association of Movie Blogs has arrived on the scene, and is intended for all audiences.
For movie blog readers: rather than hunting through Google or through any number of blog directories and/or blogrolls looking for a site that fits your liking, this is your one-stop shop. Read up on the latest sites: who's behind them, what their focus is, their goals and what you can expect when visiting. For movie bloggers: this is a place for your blog to be spotlighted, in its own feature post, for all to see.
I'm sooo disappointed with your top50 hottest young actors...where's Zac Efron? He is young and talented and hot and with a huge fanbase, why is he missing???? What is hotness anyway, can you define what it means???
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First of all, thanks for the email! We're trying our best to respond to all our viewers' feedbacks, and sometimes it might take us a while to respond to some.
The top 50 hottest young actors is actually based on a number of criteria. Unlike other list like Moviefone's 25 under 25, or Fandango's 10 to watch, our list is not limited to young actors in Hollywood. We do not claim 'superiority' to their lists, nor we based our own list on theirs. Here's part of our intro...
We started with more than 150 names, drawn from Hollywood and the best of world cinema - featuring young actors from the most acclaimed films of the past five years. If the movies you’ve watched are mainly mainstream Hollywood fare, then some of the names (perhaps a lot of them!) will sound unfamiliar to you.
Zac Efron, was in fact, part of the initial 150 list, where he ranked #57. It's just that other actors were ranked higher than Mr. Efron, hence he was not included in the top 50.
Sheer acting talent and international appeal. That's what matter the most in our top 50 young actors list. But being popular doesn't hurt either, so we have that covered too! While you might think being cast in a huge box hit will rank high, think again- we believe you need to be more than just a box office star to be considered an actor.
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Poll is now closed! Click this link to see the final results!
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THE TOP 10: Arguably the hottest young actors today. We have multiple award winners, Oscar nominees, BAFTA winners, the cream of the crop.
Gael Garcia Bernal. If there is one actor we are absolutely certain to be a bonafide political and social activist, then it has to be Gael Garcia Bernal. His brand of political activism is not limited to attending benefit concerts or being photographed in a refugee camp, he goes beyond the cliché and takes it further to where the real action is.
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Says Gael:
“I think we're all political, in a way. What has happened recently in my case is that, fortunately, I've been able to get more in touch with the things I can change and do.”
Just like in real life, his choice of roles reflects his ideals and principles. He is perhaps best known as the young Che Guevarra in The Motorcycle Diaries, as the rebellious Elvis Valderez in The King and as Padre Amaro in the explosive drama El Crimen del padre Amaro. With no mainstream Hollywood film to his credit, Bernal still managed to reach a worldwide audience with his thoughtful and provocative portrayals of young, rebellious and often outsiders in society. Together with good friend Diego Luna, he is now actively pursuing film production and directing; thus giving him more opportunity to produce and star in movies that deal with the most pressing social issues of the day.
Why he's on the top 10: Bernal is not only an amazing actor, he is now also a producer and film director. Aside from the fact that the most amazing filmmakers want him on their movies!
Latest Movies: New movies lined up include El Pasado, Rudy y Cursi, Blindness and Mammoth.
THE TOP 20: Almost there! These guys have it already- starring roles, amazing projects and multiple chances to work with some of the industry's cutting edge filmmakers. They are more than just 'matinee idols', they rock!
Chris Evans - As many aspiring actors know, good looks is not enough to become successful in this biz. It takes more than that- perhaps even more important is the guts to take on the challenge posed by a role or how to deal with a difficult director. Chris Evans is not only a goodlooking guy, he is also quite talented.
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" I think movies can strike a chord in a way that I don’t think many things can. So I thought maybe I would give acting a try and by the time I was a senior I had done five or six plays that I just loved. I moved to New York just to give it a shot and it went well and the first opportunity I had on film just sealed the deal. The contrast with theatre is that you have to play to the back of the audience and with film you can be as subtle as you like and really try and mirror reality, that’s the fun part of acting, trying to be authentic. " says Chris Evans.
Famous Roles: As Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four, as Mace in Danny Boyle's recent film, Sunshine and as Ryan in Cellular. The 25 year old Evans has indeed come a long way, from starting out in teen movies where he got noticed to being one of the industry's most sought-after young actors.
Fansites are supposed to be in fierce competition, even its owners/webmasters are involved in nasty rivalries. That's the basic premise I have learned to accept eversince I started operating tMF. Based on my experience dealing with webmasters that promote certain celebrities and from experiences of certain members of the tMF team.
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Why is that, you might asked? Perhaps it's the need to feel secure and the continued perception that the celebrity is truly grateful only to one site and to no other... Take the case of Heath Ledger. If you're not privy to what's been going on before his death, you might be surprised at how much controversies the different fansites have been involved in. But before I continue with this already 'off-topic' commentary, let me just say that the way the many Twilight sites have been dealing with each other, all I can say is that they're all AMAZING.
There maybe rivalries in different levels- outscooping each other for news, securing interviews, posting the latest photos, but there is this camaraderie- a sort of belonging to one big family- that prevail within these sites. And with numbers come the power to change. ( I'm sure these sites will be involved in future campaigns and would successfully mobilize their members to achieve certain goals.)
Here are the top 3 Twilight sites we @tMF admire and enjoy: [ in no particular order ]:
THE TOP 30: Capturing their share of fame, buzz and awards, the top 30 represent some of cinema's finest young actors. There's the trio of Lou Pucci, Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield - exciting new teen actors on the verge of break through. Also on the list is the toast of Italy - the funny and charming Elio Germano...
Nicolas Duvauchelle: With just a few films, twenty-five-year-old Nicolas Duvauchelle has become one of the most disconcerting presences in French cinema. It was Erick Zonca (La Vie rêvée des anges - The Dreamlife of Angels) who gave him his first great role in Le Petit Voleur [The Little Thief] (1998), in which he played an apprentice baker doing battle with a gang of yobs. With his tattooed arms and angelic looks, Duvauchelle soon caught the eye of the best French film directors, including Claire Denis, who gave him a role in Beau Travail [Good Work] in 2000, then in Trouble Every Day in 2001, in which he is literally devoured by vampire Béatrice Dalle.
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A mysterious actor with an imposing presence, Duvauchelle is regularly sought out for films about sport or physical performance, such as Snowboarder in 2002 and Poids léger [Lightweight] in 2003, in which he plays respectively a snowboarder and a boxer. The advertising world is taking an equal interest in him: he was recently chosen by clothing labels Hugo Boss and Levi as an emblem of the new manliness. "
What a perfect description for France's rebellious star! It was the movie Le Grand Meaulnes that made us instant converts! Duvauchelle is not only charming, he has this sort of reckless devil-may-care attitude that lights up the screen.
UPDATES: tMF launches the new Top 50 listing, based on viewers' poll! Now see why these guys belong to the top 50, with a rundown of their most awesome roles and their movies to look out for this year and the next.
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Sheer acting talent and international appeal. That's what matters the most in our top 50 young actors list. But being popular doesn't hurt either, so we have that covered too! While you might think being cast in a huge hit will ensure a high ranking, think again - we believe you need to be more than just a box office star to be considered a successful actor.
Special report by Jed Medina (Also a featured article at the IMDb HitList)
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How it all began. We started with more than 150 names, drawn from Hollywood and the best of world cinema - featuring young actors from the most acclaimed films of the past five years. If the movies you’ve watched are mainly mainstream Hollywood fare, then some of the names (perhaps a lot of them!) will sound unfamiliar to you. Unlike other top lists you might have seen, this one has a more international flavor. Hey, it’s about time you got to see what your friends from the UK, Canada, Germany, and France have been raving about!
The Age Factor. Where are Christian Bale and Tobey Maguire? How about the great Leonardo di Caprio or Oscar winner Adrien Brody? Or that amazing actor Moritz Bleibtreu? It would be easy to have them at the very top of the list, but we narrowed the list to actors not older than 30. Even the likes of Cillian Murphy (31) and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (30) were excluded, though we would surely have loved to include them!
What we have here are emerging talents, the ones you will see getting the big roles in the near future - and some of them already have, with awards and nominations to boot.
Moviegoers were divided upon seeing Charlie Bartlett, one of the most recent coming-of-age flicks to hit the theaters. While I found it to be quite entertaining and in general a good film, I still look forward to what many at Sundance have been raving about: The Wackness. This film is director Jonathan Levine's eagerly awaited follow-up feature to All the Boys Love Mandy Lane.
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Winner of the Audience Award at Sundance 2008. NYC, summer 1994. A tender and cool coming-of-age story. Pot-dealing kid Luke Shapiro is trying to figure out how to solve his parents’ insolvency, beat depression, and get laid before pushing off for college. Luckily he’s got a deal going with a psychiatrist, Dr Squires, who trades therapy sessions for grass. It happens that the doctor’s marriage is crumbling, so the two – one in late adolescence, the other in late middle age – embark on a passage into new life stages. As Luke falls for a classmate who just happens to be Squires’s daughter, the summer heats up as he follows the doctor’s orders, learning to coexist with pain and make it part of himself, rather than let it become his downfall. A great, energetic soundtrack of vintage hip hop standards punctuates the movie throughout.
The movie stars Ben Kinsley, Josh Peck, Famke Jannsen and Mary-Kate Olsen. We're especially thrilled to see the up and coming young actor, Josh Peck.
In our first 'sites we love' post, we listed three new movie/entertainment sites - Jaden's Screenwriting for Hollywood, Jean's Sizzling Popcorn and James' Worth the Popcorn. They are a bunch of highly professional and committed bloggers, with their own unique approach to blogging and social networking. They've become good friends and I think that's what really matter the most. Now, we have three more sites we love featured here. Check them out!
SoundtrackGeekis actually one of tMF's 'contemporaries' and we have so much respect for this site! Aside from its unique take on music and soundtracks, it's definitely becoming the authority in movie soundtrack reviews. Jorn who is originally from Norway, now resides in the UK. Oh, He's also tMF's soundtrack reviewer, with a few projects for tMF coming up soon! Taken from tMF's About Us section, here's what Jorn has to say:
He has written one book and is composing music in his spare time. His dreams are to travel around the world and he has lived in several countries, including Ireland and China. He has a particular passion for the music in movies and decided to start his own blog about movie scores and soundtracks at soundtrackgeek.com.
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The Reviewer has been 'reviewing' movies since 2005. I find his reviews comprehensive and honest and very refreshing compared to some review sites that are obviously just out to impress.
Aside from that, the site's layout is superb! It's very user-friendly and while there are lots of ads, they are presented in an organized way. Says Mikey:
I just like movies, and people liked what I had to say about them. So I started writing about them. I write poorly, I spell even worse, but will try to keep sentences in a somewhat readable format.
How's that for honesty?
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I really hate Haneke's Funny Games! But that's just me of course. I just recently visited a movie review site that had been discussing the dreaded movie and they've launched a series of debates to deliberate on almost every detail of this remake.
I have been surprised (and impressed) by the way they've developed their site strategy. It's not because of the way they review films - they review the way most movie review sites do - but because of their ingenious concept for making articles more interesting and challenging. That is very hard to do, especially in such a crowded niche field as movies!
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne Director: Robert Luketic Release Date: March 28, 2008 Running Time: 123 min MPAA Rating: PG-13 Distributor: Columbia Pictures
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Review by Jeremy Welsch
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It's movies like this that test the film critic in me. I have two sides battling for supreme domination. On one hand there is my generally critical nature of movies themselves and on the other, there is my love for the subject matter. They are two sides that I knew walking in to the theatre would go at it like a Seinfeld black and white cookie.
The movie 21 tells a story I am familiar with. It is the Hollywood version of the book Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich, the story of six MIT students who perfected a card-counting system and took the Las Vegas casinos for millions of dollars in the early 1990s playing blackjack. I use the term ‘playing’ loosely because these kids didn’t get involved in the game to gamble. It was business - they were there to make money. And make money they did. I became familiar with the story after my first trip to Las Vegas, many moons ago. The story spoke to the kid in me the same way The Goonies made me think I was going to find treasure in the small Iowa town of my upbringing. I don’t think it was so much that I thought it was really going to happen but that it would be way cool if it did.
tMF offers membership for free and is open to everyone! If you have problems accessing the site or wanted to tell us something, perhaps offer us some suggestions, or a request to profile an actor or an actress or even just to say hello, we would be quite happy to respond to you. Please note that some hotmail & AOL users may encounter problem with registration. Please use this form to contact the tMF Admin or simply use this email: modelwatcher at gmail dot com for any tMF issues.
BLOG OF THE MONTH
Every month tMF will pick one blog to be featured as Blog of the Month. For starters, we are featuring Jaden's Screenwriting for Hollywood as our first ever blog of the month feature!
If you own a blog or a site about movies and actors, be our guest! Tell us more about it!
It would seem hard to talk about Casey Affleck without mentioning his brother Ben or vice versa. The brothers have been the subject of many articles - from their looks and their relationships to Ben’s decision to cast his brother in Gone Baby Gone and the completely different career paths both guys took on: Casey remained oblivious to the glamour and glitz of Hollywood, while Ben adjusted to the glare of being in the spotlight. [ read more ]
Jonathan Rhys-Meyers - The 30-year old Irish actor is known for speaking his mind- he is quite vocal about a number of issues- from the failings of the film industry to dealing with directors with huge egos to the irrelevance of celebrities & the lack of real talent in some of today’s biggest box-office stars. [ read more ]
Not many people are blessed with the opportunity to enter a deeply rewarding and exciting career. In the case of Michael Angarano, it has been like that since he was 5 years old. As a young model, he was exposed early to the hustle and bustle of a glam job. Not surprisingly, he began his successful transition into acting a couple of years later. [ read more ]
Kostja Ullmann: Taking on such a challenging role is not a new departure for the actor. After appearing in a variety of shows on German television, Ullmann was offered the role of Achim, one of the leads in Marco Kreuzpaintner’s Summer Storm. [ read more ]
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The Movie-Fanatic Admin has changed the policy regarding original articles and posts published in this site, effective 21 April 2008.
The Movie-Fanatic is launching a new feature that will put the spotlight on the best fansites on the net! As you may have noticed by now, tMF is especially into 'emerging talents', the next stars and we're searching for the best sites that promote these actors and actresses.
If you know of a site worthy of this recognition, please let us know!
Spread the word about the Movie-Fanatic! Link to us.
tMF welcomes new affiliates! What's unique about our directory is that we do not limit our affiliates to fansites or film reviews, we have listings for all sites related to acting, films and entertainment. If you have a site that features one of the actors here, or even a film review site or an entertainment portal, we would love to have you at tMF. You may also use any of the banners below.
Just right click to get the URL and paste them at your links/directory page.
Gael Garcia Bernal. If there is one actor we are absolutely certain to be a bonafide political and social activist, then it has to be Gael Garcia Bernal. His brand of political activism is not limited to attending benefit concerts or being photographed in a refugee camp, he goes beyond the cliché and takes it further to where the real action is. 
Chris Evans - As many aspiring actors know, good looks is not enough to become successful in this biz. It takes more than that- perhaps even more important is the guts to take on the challenge posed by a role or how to deal with a difficult director. Chris Evans is not only a goodlooking guy, he is also quite talented.
Nicolas Duvauchelle: With just a few films, twenty-five-year-old Nicolas Duvauchelle has become one of the most disconcerting presences in French cinema. It was Erick Zonca (La Vie rêvée des anges - The Dreamlife of Angels) who gave him his first great role in Le Petit Voleur [The Little Thief] (1998), in which he played an apprentice baker doing battle with a gang of yobs. With his tattooed arms and angelic looks, Duvauchelle soon caught the eye of the best French film directors, including Claire Denis, who gave him a role in Beau Travail [Good Work] in 2000, then in Trouble Every Day in 2001, in which he is literally devoured by vampire Béatrice Dalle. 
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne 
love u always... 
