The Mission - To Support The Writer, Director And Actors of Remember Me

Remember Me Saturday, 3/13/10. This is a nationwide fan event in support of Rob, Chris, Pierce, Lena, Emilie, Tate and all the people who worked on Remember Me. Bring family, friends, and anyone you know to see Remember Me on Saturday, March 13. Anyone will do! Your friend, a brother, a parent, your husband, your sister, or someone (anyone?) off the street! Drag them out to the theater on Saturday to help pull this fan event off and make Remember Me a success. For more information on this fan-supported campaign, please click here! Please also follow Twitter.com/RMSaturday.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Hollywood Is Watching: Can Robert Pattinson Open A Film?

In terms of Robert Pattinson, Hollywood has one thing on its mind right now and that's money. Can he open a film on his own? Can the name Robert Pattinson deliver derrieres in seats when it counts, March 12-14, 2010?

Remember Me is Pattinson's first film outside the Twilight franchise. While it has a small budget and is technically considered an indie film without the backing of a huge studio, the media, the general movie-going public and Hollywood itself, have all been busy spinning this film as a rather big litmus test for Pattinson's future as an actor and Hollywood's idea of a movie star.

In a little over 14 months, Pattinson has gone from "that guy in Harry Potter" to one of the brightest, fastest, rising young stars we've had in recent memory. His ethereal face graces the covers of countless magazines and he is the topic of so much baseless gossip across the Internet that even Pattinson has most likely lost track of his own self-described "boring" story. The spotlight has been resting squarely on his shoulders since before Twilight opened in November 2008 and today, it shows little evidence of letting up. But Hollywood wants what it wants and right now, what it wants is proof that Robert Pattinson is more than Edward Cullen and that he can put money in pockets. More money, that is.

While Pattinson became the face of the Twilight saga and arguably the breakout star of a franchise that has raked in well over a billion dollars, this is a vital time for his career. And a career does seem to be what he is quietly intent on seeking.

As a writer named Albrian on an Internet movie blog expressed it, "There is a quiet steely determination to succeed. The self deprecating quotes are a smokescreen for an ambitious young man."

The media constantly churns out stories asking if Robert Pattinson is the the new Depp, new James Dean, the new this, the new that. They desperately want him to be the new something, throwing out impossibly high standards and competitions that can never be won. Depp, Pitt, Clooney, and DiCaprio...all the major movie star names you can think of. Pattinson has been held up to the light and compared against them all, but to anyone with a little common sense, it's kind of like pitting a GED against Ph.D. in terms of sheer experience and acting credits. Of course when has the media (or random people on the Internet) ever had common sense?


Pattinson is a great story; charming, sweet, British and handsome with a huge and very loyal fanbase that believes he's talented. Just how talented? With the likes of Chris Cooper, Kristin Scott Thomas, Allen Coulter and Declan Donnellan among others signing on to work with him, it seems pretty certain that his fans have bet on a good horse.

Pattinson appeared on the Hollywood scene almost overnight. With his now recognizable name on everyone's tongue and flowing out of everyone else's pen, his sudden fame makes him a very easy target. And the media is determined to keep talking about "the new guy." One day he's the golden boy and the next he's being taken to task for the kind of fame he never even dreamed for himself. Depending on date and time, Pattinson is talented, he's not, he smells, he doesn't, he's stuck up, he's down to earth, he's hilarious, he's whines too much, he's sweet, he's mean, he's in, he's out, he's up, he's down.

The truth? He's just human, and by all accounts, a pretty decent, gracious and very grateful guy who's got to be overwhelmed by the wishy washy celebrity vortex he's found himself in during the past year.

Then there's Hollywood, and Hollywood is nothing if not impatient. Apparently time and experience is something Hollywood doesn't believe in anymore. "You've only been famous for a short while and you've only acted in a handful of teeny, tiny films few people have ever even seen? Too bad! You're "it" and you're now expected to open a film and open it big or we'll tear you down some more, Robert Pattinson! You must earn your fame young man!"

Sound like the dreams Hollywood is made of?

As the happy man in Pretty Woman says, "Welcome to Hollywood! What's your dream? Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don't; but keep on dreamin' - this is Hollywood. Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin."

Of course the media and the public (not to mention random people on the Internet) don't exactly know what Robert Pattinson's dream actually is. All evidence seems to point to Pattinson wanting good career as a working actor where he has the ability to make interesting, even risky choices -- A career that he can be proud of and a career in which the media doesn't compare him to anyone but Robert Pattinson. After all, he never asked for the comparisons in the first place. The guy just took a job.

Only time will tell if Robert Pattinson's dream parallel's Hollywood's dream for him and vice versa.

Stars rise and fall. We live in a celebrity culture that feeds on building people up to tear them down. It's the law of nature in Hollywood and all over the world, really. And like it or not, Remember Me is a test. Hollywood will be watching -- watching to see what happens at the box office opening weekend, watching to see if Robert Pattinson can pull in a wider audience sprinkled with all ages and sexes, watching to see if an audience will accept him in a role that doesn't require white makeup and an annoying love interest named Bella.

That's about the only thing Pattinson can be sure of right now; Hollywood will be watching. Needless to say, with the guy who flatly refused media training and seems to be very much his own man floating around in a big, fat, sea of sameness, Hollywood should be getting a damn good show.

And heck, should the big test falter this time out for Rob, remember...Hollywood loves comeback stories. Comeback stories are what it's built on.

13 comments:

  1. Great article! Remember looks like it will be good although it's not a movie I would normally see. But, if Hollywood is interested, the fact that Rob is in the movie will assure that I'm at the movie.

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  2. This is article has been very refreshing to read, probably because it's full of factual statements.
    I personally feel badly for Robert Pattinson for the mere reason that since Twilight it has been hard for him to deal with everyday kind of life.

    I believe he is a great actor and I have felt so since Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
    If Hollywood is waiting for Remember Me to determine how good he is, then that is simply ridiculous.
    I was fortunate enough to see him star in Little Ashes, and to me that would have been a difficult role for anyone to play. Robert Pattinson was brilliant in it !
    It proved to me, and should prove to Hollywood, his ability to leap into a character and put his heart into it.
    I wish him all the best in his acting/singing career.

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  3. I love the article! Well done! :D

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  4. WOW! Who was the author of this article? It totally blew me away...WOW..:-O For me...this article captures the true essence of Robert Pattinson, well...um...as I see him, anyway. I just hope he will NEVER lose himself to Hollywood...and continues to stay true to himself and his fans...he is a breath of fresh air to this stale and often unrealistic industry.

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  5. Finally! A well written article in a sea of internet garbage. Nice job

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  6. Thank you for your thoughtful post. It is so refreshing to see a piece about Robert's career and not his personal life.

    I predict a strong future for Mr. Pattinson in the entertainment industry.

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  7. Great article, well written. I'll echo the sentiment that it is very refreshing to read something that is factual and not filled with his personal life.

    Thanks!

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  8. Odd, how one snarky comment about an 'annoying love interest named Bella,' totally ruined the thrust and perspective of what I initially mistakenly thought was an objective article.
    .
    I was wondering if anything pointedly snippy would be said (since Pattinson gets as much ink about his 'love life,' as he does anything else at this point) - and at the 11th hour of this piece you didn't disappoint (or rather DID, disappoint).
    .
    First, let me preface by saying, as a writer, I think Stephanie Meyer is a hack. I'd bet 10 to 1, everyone associated with the films, thinks the same thing. Most of the cast had not even read the books.
    .
    That said, the framework of the story itself, teen girl from a broken home, moves to Forks, WA and falls in love with a vampire boy, wolfman childhood friend objects - was pretty brilliant on a marketing level, and interesting from a storyteller level as well (as the much more talented writers of internet fanfics demonstrate).
    .
    That said, how is Bella 'annoying?' What makes her more or less 'annoying,' than Edward, or Jacob or any of the other characters?
    .
    Are you commenting on the characterization of 'Bella,' or the way she's played - is this your underhanded way, of sneakily back handing Kristen Stewart (I wouldn't be surprised, those who feel strongly about Robert and his career, get bizarrely worked up and angry over the young woman he reportedly is in a relationship with)?
    .
    If that's the case, here's a piece of advice: What you feel is normal, I know. Girls/women get jealous, a LOT. I used to be 'annoyed,' when my 'crushes,' had girlfriends IRL as well. But do yourself a favor, for the sake of your writing (which you excel at), don't denigrate your own skill-set and 'point of view,' by introducing unnecessary catty snark as the undercurrent.
    .
    You were doing great, and then I had to hit that very weird descriptive of a character that's anything but.
    .
    Maybe one day you can expound on why you find Bella annoying (just an FYI IMO: typically, disaffected quiet teens from broken homes, who keep to themselves, don't really 'annoy,' anyone).
    .
    Conversely, young actresses that believe so strongly in a young man's gifts, talent and burgeoning career - so much so, that she'd not like him tainted by the tabloid 'conjunctive name' nonsense and saturation that would damage it, are also, NOT annoying.
    .
    They are extremely smart, insightful, forward thinking and caring...not that I'd expect the contingent that wish he was 'single,' to recognize this fact.
    .
    Jealousy and hate win out every time(among some catty snarky females).
    .
    Until then, keep writing - but please, enough with the 'mean girl,' snipes -- even if it is only one sentence...for me, that ruined this whole piece.

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  9. kind of like the way you ruined your otherwise "brilliant" comment with your catty remark about Stephenie Meyer being a "hack" as you so eloquently put it, "writer."

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  10. gossipoly, thank goodness you were here to school the author in the error of their ways. For a 'writer' you have a pretty narrow minded view of the world. The author does not need you to validate their work or opinions. Get over yourself. And please, while you are deigning to visit us, link to your multi-million dollar saga. You know, the one you wrote that has mass appeal and qualifies you to call anyone a hack.

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  11. Robert Pattinson doesn't owe anything to Hollywood he is him and doesn't need the Hollywood spotlight to bright. I saw Little Ashes to and he was amazing a very difficult role but an awesome performance he's a good actor and of course I will be in the opening weekend for Remember Me!

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  12. what is the best site for watching blockbuster hollywood online movies?
    Thank you
    Brad Fallon

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  13. Who do you think is bigger in Hollywood Robert Deniro or Tom Cruise?
    Thank you
    Brad Fallon

    ReplyDelete