Twilight < Let The Right One In

If you're female and under 30, there's a damn good chance you saw Twilight this weekend. There's a good chance you'll see it this week, or the next, or you'll see it repeatedly.

And that's okay. Most of you understand that it's a guilty pleasure, and if guys can watch stupid action movies or terrible comic book movies, you more than deserve the right to see a repressed Mormon author's sex fantasy realized in a cinematic abstinence parable.

But after you finish the soup, you should really try the chef's special...

Let The Right One In is a masterpiece. I finally caught it last week and slowly fell completely in love with it. A coming of age tale about a bullied and lonely little boy who forms a friendship with a vampire girl in the dead of winter, Let The Right One In manages to be touching, scary, heartbreaking and hauntingly poetic all at the same time. Several of the images remained with me for days, and it has an ending that manages to work on two distinct tonal levels simultaneously.

Yes, it's in Swedish with English subtitles. This of course means that you will have to READ. So what? It's great. It's darker, scarier, gorier, and more powerful than Twilight can ever be, for a number of reasons.

First of all, there is no overt sexuality in this film. These are children without sexual feelings. They're innocents, only one of them happens to feed on human beings to survive.

This isn't a story of good and evil. It's a story of survival, trust and love, even in the face of unrelenting darkness. How far would you go for your only friend in the world? What price would you pay to protect them?

The children are absolutely genuine and authentic. The special effects are subtle but effective, and the cinematography is absolutely genius. I guarantee you a number of these images will stick with you. Camera geeks should be talking about the pool scene for years to come...

Find a theater playing Let The Right One In and go see it now. RIGHT NOW, before they release the American remake with CW teenagers and PG-13 levels of sterilized anti-gore and forced sexual tension. Right now this movie is creeping it's way toward the number one spot on my top ten of the year.

Skip Twilight. Let The Right One In.

Drew Lindo

Drew Lindo, I miss you. I'll go ahead and speak for Miku, Vester, Lacy and Bobby and say that we all miss you. You were a wonderful temporary roommate and apt. 1R just isn't the same without you. Come back to us! 

Let The Right Movie In

I made a terrible mistake in New York City.

I had planned to go out to see a much buzzed about horror-drama the night it opened. The film is a dark, coming of age tale about a bullied little boy who falls in love with his neighbor, Eli, despite her terrible secret.

I'm talking about Let The Right One In...



The film is based on a novel, and no, it isn't Twilight. I have no interest in seeing tween soaps like Twilight, but Let The Right One In is supposed to be a moving, haunting masterpiece, and the tone looks right up my alley.

Too bad I changed my mind at the last minute.

I decided that since I was in New York, I should theme the movie night and go see Synecdoche, New York with my friends instead.

I had heard it was frustrating and flawed, and in fact I couldn't even get through the script, as it was so obviously going the dream-logic route and making no attempt to stay linear or make any sense. It was going to be a visual experiment, no doubt. I figured we would have a good time discussing it.



Mistake. The film is a dreary, repetetive cycle of misery, shame and failure. If you've ever wanted to see Phillip Seymour Hoffman cry for two hours straight while every one treats him like shit and/or dies, then this is the film for you.

Does it contain brilliant ideas? Yes. There are some great moments in the piece, but for the most part, the film loses much of its steam and impact thanks to its flat tone and uncompromising nature. Charlie Kauffman wanted to make a film about death and decay. Congratulations, I don't think I ever want to sit through this film again due to its droll, dreary nature, but I can't say I was ever emotionally invested in the first place.

I hoped I'd see Let The Right One over the following Halloween Weekend, but it didn't work out. I then checked the showtimes yesterday.

GONE.

The film lasted only two weeks in LA theaters and now it has disappeared. I'll have to catch it on DVD, or wait for the shitty American remake to come to pass.

Damn shame. I would have gladly gone and seen it during Twilight's opening day, out of sheer bitterness.

Let this be a lesson, children, ALWAYS go with your instincts.

East Coast. West Coast. Love.

Yes We Can!

Tonight, I am overjoyed.

When the EV count jumped past 270, I jumped onto my chair and screamed, with tears pouring down my cheeks. Within seconds, people throughout my apartment building were doing the same thing - applauding, cheering, setting off fireworks in honor of our new President-Elect, Barack Obama.

I, like many of you, have been following this election with great fervor and anticipation, watching every video and reading every article I could get my hands on. It has been the most intriguing and often downright gut-wrenching campaign in, at the very least, my lifetime. Between the historic Hillary/Barack primary struggle, the introduction and subsequent dissection of Sarah Palin, ruthless pundits, sexism and race baiting accusations, taxes, health care, roe v. wade, gay rights, Joe Six Pack, Joe the Plumber, hockey moms, pitbulls with lipstick, mavericks, Ashley Todd and Tina Fey... there was always something to talk about.

And now, the race is over. Barack Obama is our new President, with Joe Biden at his side. The Democrats have control of Senate and House, Kay Hagan is reaping the benefits of Elizabeth Dole's hateful "Godless" accusations and people all over the world are cheering us on in this historic moment . Unfortunately (in my opinion), it looks like Proposition 8/Amendment 2 have passed and somehow, Michele Bachmann has retained her seat in the House (I'm baffled). But that doesn't alter the magnitude of this election for America, as a whole.

Regardless of whom you voted for, we should all be proud of our country's voting turnout. We are so lucky to have this right and it's about time more people started exercising it. With our country at war and in an economic crisis that has us all biting our nails, it's no surprise that this election invoked passion across the board. It's also no surprise that the end of this race brought two of the finest speeches from both McCain and Obama, whose respective patriotism evoked our own.

I was pleasantly surprised and quite moved by McCain's concession speech, tonight. While I have dissenting views with most of the Republican platform - politics aside, I felt for him and his supporters. It is difficult to admit defeat, especially when it's something you have put your whole heart into. I had this same struggle with the past two elections and it was a horrible feeling. With McCain's age, he is well aware that this was his last shot at the Presidency; you could read it on his face, hear it in his voice. I felt it was the best speech he has ever given. On occasion in the past couple of weeks, we have seen a more vulnerable, human side of McCain that probably would have done him a lot of good, earlier on. Despite his loss, I think he and his supporters should be proud that he ended on such a graceful and humble note.

Then came Barack Obama, and my sympathy was replaced with immense bliss . I'm sad that I wasn't in Chicago to see it in person, and even more so that his grandma "Toot" wasn't around to see her grandson in his finest moment. His speech, like so many of his previous speeches, was profoundly inspirational and made me so very proud to call him My President. This is someone I can believe in; this is someone the world can believe in.

So tonight, I'm overjoyed. I am truly, utterly excited for change and proud to be an American under President Obama's guidance. While it won't happen overnight, he brings us what we have all been waiting for - Hope.

Yes We Can.

-Keiko Lynn