Saturday, June 5, 2010

Let's Talk Vamps...

...It's Vamp Talk, darlin'.

The BWB girls chime in and talk vamps for today's feature.

Vamps do seem to be a hot ticket these days, from the soon to be released Eclipse, to the smokin' hot CW series, The Vampire Diaries. But, if you, my dear readers, are anything like the BWB ladies...we've been liking these particular paranormals for a very long time. Let's talk shop, we'll let you know what we think...but more importantly we want to know what got you into vamps, who gets you going, and what are your thoughts on some current vampy topics.

TINA:  Vampire Mullets and Celebrity Boneheads

The first time I saw a vampire was when I was fifteen. Pale, beautiful and sporting a really bad mullet, I fell in love with the dark and evil vampire that would be David (Keifer Sutherland) from The Lost Boys. I must of watched that movie 100 times, now granted the movie was a little old when I saw it and to watch the movie today is borderline ridiculous, but who can resist David's devilish charms or Michael’s icy blue eyes?  Vampires in any role usually please me; I can handle the dark, ugly vampire, Dracula’s evil, seductive vampire or my favorite the relatable, tortured trying to be a good guy with lots of skeletons in my past vampire…… AKA…Angel, Spike, Eric, Edward, Damon, Stephan, Bones, and the list go's on and on……………..Nowadays the biggest vamps are of course The Cullen’s and while I love the Twilight books as much as those crazy women on the Oprah show, I hate what the Twilight franchise has turned the story into. No longer is Twilight about Bella and Edward, or even its author Stephenie Meyer, its about are Robert and Kristen dating!!! Who cares!!! I mean it’s everywhere in your face, to the point of becoming overdone and irrelevant. I can’t even open my email homepage without a blurb…this just in about the Twilight Saga….and while some Twilight celebrity stuff is fun to read, most of it is rumors and speculation and frankly these people are celebrities not Gods.

Most of the celebrity stuff out there I ignore, especially when I really like an actor’s movies. Sometimes though they say something publicly that just makes them jerks or they openly bash something you care about, for example Kristen Stewart’s latest comments in Elle Magazine really bothered me. If you didn’t read or hear, she compared herself to a rape victim due to the pictures taken of her by the paparazzi. WHAT!!! Are you kidding me Kristen Stewart, what an ignorant and disrespectful thing to say! I’m sure rape victims everywhere compare their horrendous experience to that of a picture. Kristen has since apologized, almost immediately for the comment to People Magazine and stated that violation would have been a better word and I understand the comparison she was trying to make, but her choice of words were just tacky. Nothing is more annoying than listening to a celebrity whine about their lives. Don’t get me wrong, famous people need privacy, they need to get a cup of coffee without idiot photographers and psycho fans bothering them, but their famous and isn’t it just a given if you’re a famous actor your life will be in the spotlight? I’d say Kristen if you are that depressed and pissed off, take a break, you want to be that small Indie actress before Twilight but unfortunately you never will be............perhaps moving to France like Johnny Depp did will help you get away from the horrid fans and the paparazzi.

EMILY: Prom Dresses and Tasty Words

The moment I realized I was hooked on vampires (and UF/PNR in general for that matter) was as I was sitting, by myself, in Barnes and Noble for the midnight release of Breaking Dawn.  There were all kinds of activities going on as it was a prom-themed event, but I kind of sat in the sci-fi and romance sections looking at other books and stumbled, accidentally, on the Sookie Stackhouse books.  I'd seen them mentioned on Amazon and a few other places but had always said, "eh, who'd want to read about THAT?"

Well, I've been eating those words ever since, although the words in the books I discovered on that fateful night, surrounded by prom dress wearing Twilighters who were getting ready to throw down over which guy would emerge victorious (I pointed out that the series would kind of not make sense if Jacob had won Bella over and was given a dirty look by my conversation partner while her grandmother just looked confused.) I know we're focusing on vampires this week and for sure that was my foray into the world of urban fantasy and paranormal romance, but there was and is so much to explore from there.  Just when I think I've found my favorite book or the be all end all of series, I find something else! Does the fun really ever stop?

JULIE:Bad Acting and Lectures

Excited Over Eclipse?
Am I excited for Eclipse the movie ?? If you asked me this question 2 years ago, I would be jumping up and down and finding the time to see the movie. This is one of my favorite books because of the bedroom scene and the tent scene. Those were my must haves in the movie. But since Summit changed Victoria's from Rachelle to Bryce, and I wasn't a fan of Kristen's acting since the first movie --with the blinking and lip biting. I don't know..and this is an Edward fan.
 
I might do what I did last year with new moon. I bought the movie and mocked it at my home. I did a date night with my DH instead of seeing the movie opening weekend.  Yes I do want to see it ..but I will wait til the crowds die down a lot or wait till it ats the cheap movie location in town. Now if they did a movie from Edward's POV--I'll be there :)
 
Thoughts on Kristen's Stewarts "Rape"
I think that she misspoke , but if you are actress in the business and in a big blockbuster movies that have made you millions of dollars. Please either don't talk at all or listen to the PR person, because the fans made you popular and you can go back to doing Indie movies.
 
I understand that she gets nervous in Interviews, but you have been acting for a long time. It should be easy for you by now. Look at Dakota( your co-star), she doesn't get all foot in mouth syndrome. If you don't want the paparazzi following you around , then you are in the wrong business. Go to college or stay away from the spotlight. The press will build you up and then knock you down.
RACHEL: NKOTB and Series Pimping

My first foray into Urban Fantasy was way before I even knew that terminology. It was with a tattered book that I found in a box at school. The Vampire Lestat. I didn't even know it was a series. I read it from cover to cover in a few days when I was in 8th grade.  It was a wonderful transition period for me. I had torn down my NKOTB posters and was looking for replacement obsessions. So became my paranormal obsession. Watching Lost Boys later for the first time, cemented that obsession. Form then on I didn't open a YA book again (until recently) it was adult, horror, mystery, science fiction... and it all started with Anne Rice. Mrs. Rice and I parted ways probably around The Body Thief, I continued to read the series here and there, but some authors just have to know when a series is over. These endless series are a thorn for me, when is enough enough? The Anita Blake series ended like SOOO long ago for me, but here comes LKHs latest, BULLET. Is she just beating a dead horse, racking up on a few loyal fans? The Sookie Stackhouse series, I've read some reviews where fans aren't to impressed, is this one that should be ending soon...or will it just drag along especially now that the TV series is so hot?

Chime in and let us know about your vamp obsessions and opinions on what we talked about. Also don't forget to enter the Nancy Kilpatrick giveaway that we are hosting. Let us know if you prefer a Mature Vamp to a Teenage Vamp (it seems votes are heavy for the mature man!). Also, we hit 500 last night. Thank you so much to all our followers, this little "project" has taken on a life of it's own. So much so, we might be in need of a little help soon (email me if you want to pitch in :))

Monday will start a HUGE BWB contest...tons of books, tons of fun - on numerous numerous blogs. 

Here are some questions for you guys to chime in on!

  1. What hooked you on vamps.
  2. What qualities do you like in your vamps?
  3. Edward or Bones?
  4. Thoughts on Kristen Stewarts "rape"?
  5. Excited Over Eclipse?
  6. Buffy, Moonlight, or The Vampire Diaries?

4 comments:

Smash Attack Ash said...

What hooked you on vamps? The Lost Boys! That movie definitely set me on the track to vampire love/lust. I am dating myself, I'm sure, but if you younger ladies haven't seen this late 80s cult classic, check it out!

What qualities do you like in your vamps? I want them to be sexy, honest, brave, and passionate.

Edward or Bones? BONES!!!!

Thoughts on Kristen Stewarts "rape"? She made a mistake, albeit an ugly one. She has apologized. I don't dwell on celebrity mistakes. They're human too.

Excited Over Eclipse? Yes!!! It was my favorite book of the saga.

Buffy, Moonlight, or The Vampire Diaries? Wow. Buffy still has a cult following to this day. I do miss her, to be honest, but I've moved on. I am still sad about Moonlight. It really stinks when shows you love get canceled, esp. right when they are getting good! The Vampire Diaries is really good. I thought the books were terribly written and I detest book Elena. However, the show is great fun! And hello - Ian and Paul, anyone?

Missy said...

1. What hooked you on vamps? Easy -- Dracula, by Bram Stoker, followed shortly after by Anne Rice. Don't get me wrong, I like some of the twists on the vampire mythology these days, but there's nothing like the old school not-so-pretty, very-much-dead vampires. They're predators of the night, plain and simple.


2. What qualities do you like in your vamps? I think the main thing is that they have fangs, they do entrance to feed from a human, they're very fast and much stronger than a human.


3. Edward or Bones? I have to say Edward, he has stolen my heart. And I'm not talking about Robert Pattinson, though he is quite dreamy ... I'm talking about the Edward Cullen in the Twilight books, the Edward we knew before Robert Pattinson came along.


4. Thoughts on Kristen Stewart's "rape"? I think it was taken completely out of proportion, quite honestly. Yes, rape is something that is very traumatizing that both women and men have experienced ... but, you forget that rape is also a word that means "violation" and it's not inclusive to just men and women. I recall a few history books talking about conquerors raping the lands that they battle war through - does that mean that we should take offense to history books or the people that write them? If she would have compared it to actually being raped, then that would have been different. But she used it in the right context and I think that people are a little over-sensitive to words these days and giving them more power than they should.


5. Excited Over Eclipse? Too excited. Eclipse is my favorite book in the series, so I'm definitely looking forward to seeing it brought to life.


6. Buffy, Moonlight, or The Vampire Diaries? My heart will always belong to Buffy as it was one of my first vampire shows. I like the other two as well, but I have to sat that Ian keeps me the most interested in TVD (I'm more of a fan of the books).

Anonymous said...

Love your guys thoughts....

About the History books.....hmmm...

Well when you hear a person talk about rape you don't (at least for me) think that a person stole another person’s materials or property...I think of an actual forcible act, I know in the Webster’s dictionary it has a sentence about rape equaling violation of one’s rights..which I’m pretty sure is what Kristen meant but my point using Kristen Stewarts comments were to highlight that celebrities are people in the public eye and every word they put out there gets examined with a fine tooth comb...I think sometimes they think it’s ok to just say anything and there not be any consequences...say not caring if they offended someone who had gone through a rape crises...or an actor who calls soldiers baby killers while your loved one or spouse is over fighting.....I don’t dwell on celebrity BS, but sometimes a famous person even ones who aren’t celebrities need to be ready for adverse reactions if they make such bold statements. You can only play the Free Speech card so many times.....

Julie@My5monkeys said...

Tina-

totally agree with you about the free speech actions. Look at what happened to the dixie chicks when they said something about the US in france. They got reactions from fans, and they stopped buying the cd's. So main point--actions or words from celebs will have consquences too. JMHO