Will “New Moon” Be Too Dark?

Those of us who have read New Moon realize how dark and depressing it is. Even Robert Pattinson voiced his concern about its darkness in a recent interview.

Will Summit Entertainment and director Chris Weitz be able to lighten it up a bit for Hollywood? I can only imagine parents’ cries of outrage as we watch Bella repeatedly try to kill herself, with the hopes that Edward will come and save her.

I, for one, am curious to see how it will all unfold. Reading New Moon was difficult enough, due to how depressing and dismal it was. I wonder how sitting through two hours of seeing it played onscreen will be. What do you think?

Real Vampire Dug Up in Italy

Italy Vampire VeniceSince much of the Twilight sequel, New Moon, takes place in Italy (the Volturi segments, at least), I decided to do a little Googling and learn about some vampire supersitions in Italy.

In March, the Associated Press reported that the remains of a woman believed to be a 16th Century vampire were dug up north of Venice in 2006.

Apparently, it was  an old Italian tradition to bury believed vampires with a brick in their mouth.

This is the first instance of actual archeaological evidence of real vampires. The remains were dated and the woman was believed to have died during a plague. There was another mass grave nearby.

Texts from the medieval period describe that people believed in vampires because they were disturbed by the way decomposing bodies looked. People had to see them during epidemics because mass graves had to be reopened in order to bury the freshly dead. The decomposing bodies often had blood spewing out of their mouths. This led to the belief that the undead (or already dead) feasted on blood. Also, often there were holes in the burial shrouds over the corpse’s mouth, leading people to believe that they were eating their shrouds. Believed vampires were often called “shroud eaters.”

Obviously, thanks to modern science, we know that blood seeps out of a corpse’s mouth due to the decomposition of its organs.

Back in the 16th Century, a stake through the heard wasn’t enough to kill a vampire. They had to put a brick in its mouth, in order to make it starve.

The woman was believed to have been 60 at the time of death, and the brick was probably placed in her mouth by a priest or a grave digger, after the grave was redug. Italian anthropologists explain this away by saying that Italians created vampire myths because they didn’t know about bacteria or the spread of disease.

But…maybe this woman was a Volturi member! I guess we’ll never know the vampire secrets until we’re bitten…

Robert Pattinson Speaks About “New Moon” Movie

When Robert Pattinson was recently asked what “Twilight” fans can expect from the upcoming release of “New Moon”, he answered, “be ready for something different and perhaps a little strange.”

Pattinson began production on New Moon this week, in Vancouver, Canada. “Twilight” the film should be a pretty tough act to follow, grossing $373.4 million from box offices around the world. Personally, I thought the book version of “New Moon” left much to be desired, compared to the series starter Twilight. But…we’ll see what the producer does with it! It will be difficult to wait until November.

Meanwhile, Pattinson is portraying Salvador Dali in “Little Ashes,” opening May 8. The film tells the story of the love affair between Dali and Federico Garcia Lorca, a poet.

When asked about his expectations of “New Moon,” Pattinson seems a little worried. He told Reuters,”The book of ‘New Moon,’ the majority of it is incredibly depressing. fObviously ‘Twilight’ was about finding first love and the difficulties of that, but ‘New Moon’ is really about loss and reconciliation, but the reconciliation isn’t completely full…It’s a strange story to have for a market that, I guess, wants to see a love story,” he added.

In spite of his worries (and mine, too), Pattinson said the entire cast and crew is trying their hardest to make sure that “New Moon” is as successful as “Twilight.”

Pattinson, a former model, is enjoying the newfound stardome and fame that “Twilight” has afforded him. Up until last year, he was a somewhat obscure actor whose biggest claim to fame was a supporting role in two of the “Harry Potter” films. Shocked by the routine stalkings by the paparazzi, Pattinson says, “It has turned into this crazy situation. I guess it has become a sort of phenomenon now which I really, really didn’t expect.”

When Pattinson gets a rare moment to himself, he escapes the chaos with his love of music. He plays piano and guitar, and two of his songs can be found on the “Twilight” soundtrack. As for the “New Moon” soundtrack, Pattinson reports that there are no current plans to include any of his music on it, but admits that he has become “obsessed” with writing new material.

When asked what actors he was influenced by, Pattinson recognizes Oscar winner Jack Nicholson, and he also says that he would love a job out of the spotlight. “I like any job where you can just shut yourself away from everybody,” Pattinson says.

“New Moon,” directed by Chris Weitz, is scheduled to open November 20th at a theater near you.