The Twilight Saga: Breaking dawn, Part I, 2011

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (or simply Breaking Dawn – Part 1) is a 2011 American romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the 2008 novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. It is the sequel to The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) and the fourth installment in The Twilight Saga film series. The film stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, reprising their roles as Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Jacob Black, respectively.

TRAILER

PLOT

Several months after the events of the previous film, human Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen are getting married. During the reception, werewolf Jacob Black, who had left town upon receiving an invitation to the wedding, returns, much to Bella's delight. They share a dance in the woods, where Bella says that she and Edward plan to consummate their marriage on their honeymoon while she is still human. Jacob becomes furious, fearing that such an act could kill her.

After the wedding, Bella and Edward travel to an island off the coast of Rio de Janeiro for their honeymoon, and they make love for the first time. Two weeks later, Bella vomits after waking and notices that her period is late. She informs Carlisle Cullen, a medical doctor and Edward's adoptive father, that she believes she is pregnant.

Edward is distraught, as it is highly unlikely a human will survive giving birth to a vampire's baby. He encourages Bella to receive an abortion from Carlisle. She refuses and convinces Edward's sister Rosalie to be her bodyguard. They fly back home to Forks, Washington, where Jacob rushes to the Cullens' house to find a pale, underweight, and visibly pregnant Bella. He implores her to terminate the pregnancy immediately, but she refuses.

Jacob storms out of the Cullens' residence and meets in the woods with his packmates, including their leader Sam, who soon feels they should kill Bella to ensure her half-vampire child does not harm anyone. Jacob refuses, and he and several other werewolves separate from the pack.

As Bella's pregnancy progresses, her health declines rapidly. She soon realizes the fetus is craving blood, so begins drinking human blood obtained by Carlisle from the hospital, improving her health. As a half-vampire, the fetus's development is far more accelerated than that of a human fetus, and thus Bella's pregnancy progresses at an alarming rate.

Edward's resentment for the baby dissolves when he discovers he can read its thoughts. When Bella suddenly goes into labor, Edward, Jacob, and Rosalie begin performing an emergency C-section while Carlisle is out obtaining blood. The procedure is excruciatingly painful, and Bella falls unconscious, though she wakes to find she has delivered a healthy daughter, whom she names Renesmee (a combination of her mother's name and Edward's mother's name).

Bella's heart suddenly stops, and Jacob desperately attempts CPR. Edward injects Bella's heart with his venom in an attempt to transform her into a vampire, but his action appears to be futile as Bella remains lifeless. A distraught Jacob decides to kill Renesmee for apparently causing Bella's death; however, when he looks into the baby's eyes, he "imprints" on her: a werewolf phenomenon in which one realizes one's soul-mate. This prevents his pack from killing her as their most absolute law is not to harm anyone who has been imprinted on.

Over the course of two days, though still unconscious, Bella's injuries heal and her figure returns to normal. Finally, her eyes open and are blood-red, signifying that she has become a vampire.

In a post-credits scene, the Volturi, the keepers of vampire law, receive a letter from Carlisle which summarizes Bella and Edward's wedding and her transformation into a vampire. The Volturi bicker about how Carlisle is growing his coven and that the Volturis' dispute with the Cullens is over. However, the Volturi leader mentions that the Cullens still have something he wants.

Rating: 10 Stars

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, 2010 (Leaving Soon Netflix)

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (or simply Eclipse) is a 2010 American romantic fantasy film directed by David Slade. It was written by Melissa Rosenberg and was adapted from Stephenie Meyer's 2007 novel Eclipse. The sequel to The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), it is the third installment in The Twilight Saga film series. The film stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, reprising their roles as Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Jacob Black, respectively. Bryce Dallas Howard joins the cast as returning character Victoria, who was previously portrayed by Rachelle Lefevre in the first two films.

PLOT

In Seattle, Washington, the vampire Victoria attacks a human, Riley, and turns him into a vampire as she begins creating an army of newborn vampires to help her get revenge on Edward Cullen, who killed her lover James.

In Forks, Edward and his human girlfriend Bella Swan discuss her desire to be turned into a vampire, but Edward wants her to stay human. He asks her to marry him, but Bella is reluctant, even after Edward promises to turn her into a vampire if she agrees. Bella talks with her father, Charlie, who decides to lift Bella’s house arrest if she promises to spend more time with her other friends and Jacob Black, her childhood friend and a werewolf with a strong dislike for vampires and Edward.

Edward's clairvoyant sister, Alice Cullen, foresees the newborn vampire army, led by Riley, attacking Forks. Edward's family chase Victoria through the forest, but she escapes into werewolf territory, causing an incident between the vampires and the werewolves that flares up tensions between them. Edward decides to keep all this a secret from Bella.

At school, Edward and Jacob have a tense meeting, where Jacob reveals the incident to Bella. Bella, annoyed with Edward keeping things from her, decides to leave with Jacob, and starts spending more time with him and his tribe. Eventually Jacob confesses his love to her. She tells him she's in love with Edward, but he refuses to believe it, and forcefully kisses her against her will. She punches him, but hurts her own hand due to his werewolf nature. Later, Jacob apologizes for his behavior, and Bella forgives him.

The Cullens forge an uneasy alliance with the werewolf tribe to defend against Victoria's oncoming attack, and train together. During the training, Alice's partner, Jasper, tells Bella that he was once part of a newborn army and hated himself, but eventually experienced happiness once he fell in love with Alice.

Bella and Edward spend the night alone in his family home, and, afraid how her feelings will change after being turned into a vampire, she agrees to marry him if he agrees to have sex with her. The two make out, but Edward finds it too dangerous, and explains that he wants to wait until marriage, after which he shows Bella his mother's ring and asks her to marry him, and she says yes.

They use Bella's blood to bait the newborn vampire army, and Edward and Bella camp in the mountains away from the fight to keep her safe. They discuss their engagement, which Jacob overhears, after which he storms off. Bella chases Jacob and desperately asks him to kiss her, which they do. Bella explains to Edward that although she loves Jacob, her love for Edward is stronger.

They get interrupted when Victoria and her army attack. The Cullen family together with the werewolves manage to fend off the attack, with Edward killing Victoria, but Jacob gets badly injured during the fight. After the werewolves carry Jacob to safety, the Volturi guard, who carry out vampire laws, arrive and find the Cullens guarding a teenage newborn who surrendered. The Volturi torture and interrogate the newborn, despite the Cullens' protests. When the Volturi note that Bella is still human, against their agreement, she explains the date for her transformation has been set. The leader of the Volturi guard sends one of her subordinates to kill the newborn, with the Cullens too afraid to intervene. Afterwards, Bella visits the injured Jacob to tell him she has chosen to be with Edward, and he reluctantly accepts her decision.

Bella and Edward talk about their upcoming wedding in their meadow. Edward questions why she's doing this, and Bella explains that she feels more herself in Edward's world and wants to be connected to him, and they decide to reveal their engagement to Bella's father.

Rating: 10 Stars

The Twilight Saga, 2008 (Leaving Soon Netflix)

Twilight is a 2008 American romantic fantasy film directed by Catherine Hardwicke from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer. It is the first installment in The Twilight Saga film series. The film stars Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, a teenage girl, and Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen, a vampire. It focuses on the development of Bella and Edward's relationship and the subsequent efforts of Edward and his family to keep Bella safe from another coven of vampires.

TRAILER

PLOT

Seventeen-year-old Bella Swan leaves Phoenix, Arizona and moves to Forks, a small town located on Washington state's Olympic Peninsula, to live with her father, Charlie, the town's police chief. Her mother, Renée, is remarried to Phil, a minor league baseball player.

Bella becomes re-acquainted with Jacob Black, a Native American teen who lives with his father, Billy, on the Quileute Indian Reservation near Forks. At school, she finds the mysterious and aloof Cullen siblings particularly intriguing. She is seated next to Edward Cullen in biology class, but he seems repulsed by her.

When Bella is nearly struck by a van in the school parking lot, Edward instantaneously covers a distance of over thirty feet to put himself between her and the van, stopping it with only his hand. He refuses to explain his actions to her, warning her against befriending him. Jacob tells Bella about a long-standing animosity between the Cullens and the Quileutes; the Cullens are not allowed on the reservation.

When Edward saves Bella again, this time from a gang, after research she concludes that he is a vampire. He eventually confirms this, explaining that he found her scent irresistible back in biology class and that the Cullens only consume animal blood.

The pair fall in love and he introduces her to his vampire family. Carlisle Cullen, the patriarch, is a doctor at the Forks Hospital. Esme is his wife, and Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie are their informally-adopted children. The family's reaction to Bella is mixed, as some of the Cullens are concerned that the family's secret could be exposed.

Edward and Bella's relationship is jeopardized when three nomadic vampires—James, Victoria, and Laurent—arrive, responsible for a series of deaths being investigated as animal attacks. James, a tracker vampire, is excited by Bella's scent and becomes obsessed with hunting her for sport. The Cullens protect Bella, but James tracks her to Phoenix, where she is hiding with Jasper and Alice, and lures her into a trap at her old ballet studio.

James attacks Bella and infects her with vampire venom. The Cullens arrive and kill James, decapitating and burning him, as Edward removes the venom from Bella's wrist, preventing her from becoming a vampire.

In the aftermath, Edward accompanies an injured Bella to prom, where he refuses her request to transform her into a vampire. They are unaware that James' mate, Victoria, is watching them, plotting revenge for her lover's death.

Rating: 10 Stars

The Twilight Saga: New Moon, 2009 (Leaving Soon Netflix)

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (or simply New Moon) is a 2009 American romantic fantasy film directed by Chris Weitz from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the 2006 novel New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. The sequel to Twilight (2008), it is the second installment in The Twilight Saga film series. The film stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, reprising their roles as Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Jacob Black, respectively.

TRAILER

PLOT 

In Forks, Washington, on Bella Swan's eighteenth birthday, she awakens from a dream in which she is an old woman and Edward Cullen, her immortal vampire boyfriend, is forever young. Edward's family hosts a birthday reception for Bella at their home. 

After she receives a paper cut and is almost attacked by a bloodthirsty Jasper Cullen, Edward realizes he has put her life in danger by putting her amidst vampires. He ends their relationship and the Cullens leave town. 

Bella is left severely depressed and isolates herself for months. She accepts a ride from a biker and the dangerous encounter reminds her of a near-assault where Edward rescued her. She realizes that dangerous activities cause her to hallucinate his image. 

Her Quileute friend Jacob Black supports her during her slump. While attending a movie with Bella, Jacob abruptly shows signs of pain and leaves. He cuts his long hair and now exhibits the same Quileute tattoo as leader Sam and the other tribe members. 

He inexplicably tells Bella to stay away. When Bella hikes to the meadow that she and Edward often visit, she is confronted by Laurent seeking to avenge the Cullens' past killing of James. A wolf pack saves her and Bella discovers that Jacob and the other tribe members are werewolves, with Jacob only recently gaining this shapeshifting ability. 

Their age-old enemies are vampires, though a treaty exists between the Cullens and the tribe. Edward believes that Bella has killed herself after his clairvoyant adoptive sister Alice has a vision of her jumping off a seaside cliff. Distraught, Edward travels to Italy to ask the vampire council, the Volturi, to end his life. 

When they refuse, he plans to force their hand by exposing himself as a vampire to humans during a large festival. Alice and Bella arrive in time to prevent him from doing so. 

Overjoyed that Bella is alive, he confesses that he left Forks to protect her but promises never to leave her again. Edward defends Bella from the Volturi, who do not allow humans to know about their vampire society. As the Volturi are about to kill Edward, Bella asks that they kill her instead. 

Impressed by a human's willingness to sacrifice her life for a vampire, they allow her the choice to be transformed into a vampire instead of dying, convinced when Alice shares a future vision of Bella as a vampire. After returning to Forks, Bella asks the Cullens to vote on her becoming a vampire. 

Despite Edward's protestations, almost everyone votes yes. Charlie is upset with Bella but allows Edward to be with her and he punishes her for leaving with no explanation. Bella tells Edward she wants him to be the one to turn her into a vampire. Jacob confronts the pair, reminding Edward that the years-old treaty with Quileute will be broken if any Cullen bites a human, but Bella tells him it is her choice, not the Cullens'. Edward agrees to let Bella transform into a vampire only if she will marry him, leading to the next movie. 

Rating: 10 Stars

The Substance, 2024

The Substance is a 2024 body horror film written and directed by Coralie Fargeat. It follows a fading celebrity, Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) who, after being fired by her producer (Dennis Quaid) due to her age, uses a black market drug that creates a much younger version of herself (Margaret Qualley) with unexpected side effects.

TRAILER

PLOT

On her fiftieth birthday, Elisabeth Sparkle, a once-celebrated but now-faded Hollywood film star, is abruptly dismissed from her long-running aerobics TV show by the producer, Harvey, due to her age. A distraught Elisabeth crashes her car while distracted by a billboard of herself being taken down. At the hospital, a young nurse covertly gives her a flash drive advertising "The Substance", a black market serum that promises a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of oneself.

Elisabeth, intrigued and desperate, orders The Substance and injects the single-use activator serum. She convulses as her body generates a younger version of herself emerges from a slit in her back. The two bodies must switch consciousness every seven days without exception, with the inactive body remaining unconscious and fed intravenously with a weekly food supply. Daily injections of stabilizer fluid, extracted from the original body, are required to prevent the new body from deteriorating.

The new body, naming herself Sue, becomes an overnight sensation after auditioning to be Elisabeth's replacement and is eventually offered the chance by Harvey to host the network's prestigious New Year's Eve show. While Sue lives a confident and hedonistic life, Elisabeth becomes a self-hating recluse. Nearing the end of one allotted weekly cycle, Sue parties and brings a man home for casual sex, delaying the switch by extracting additional stabilizer fluid, causing Elisabeth's right index finger to rapidly age. Elisabeth contacts the supplier, who warns her that disobeying the switching program leads to irreversible, rapid aging of the original body. Despite their shared consciousness, Elisabeth and Sue begin to view themselves as separate individuals and grow to despise each other; Elisabeth resents Sue for her frequent disregard of the switching schedule, which further exacerbates her aging, while Sue is appalled by Elisabeth's self-loathing and binge-eating. Following a particularly destructive episode as Elisabeth, Sue stockpiles on stabilizer fluid and refuses to switch back.

Three months later, the day before the New Year's Eve telecast, Sue runs out of stabilizer fluid and contacts the supplier, who informs her that she must switch back to replenish the fluid. When they switch, Elisabeth finds herself transformed into an elderly hunchback. Desperate to stop Sue from aging her further, Elisabeth orders a serum designed to terminate her. However, Elisabeth, still craving the admiration that Sue's celebrity status provides, stops before fully injecting the serum and resuscitates Sue, leaving both of them conscious. Realizing Elisabeth's initial intent to terminate her, Sue attacks and kills her before leaving to host the New Year's special.

Without Elisabeth, Sue's body begins to rapidly deteriorate. In a panic, she attempts to create a new version of herself using the leftover activator serum, despite the single-use warning. This results in the creation of a grotesque mutated body, "Monstro Elisasue", with both Sue and Elisabeth's faces. Wearing a mask cut from a poster of Elisabeth, Elisasue returns to the studio and attempts to host the show, but the audience erupts into chaos. An audience member decapitates her, only for an even more mutated head to grow back, and one of her arms to break and drench both the audience and studio in torrents of blood. Elisasue flees the studio, but collapses and explodes into viscera. Elisabeth's original face detaches from the gore, crawling onto her neglected star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She smiles as she hallucinates being admired before melting into a puddle of blood, which is cleaned up by a floor scrubber the next day.

Rating: 10 Stars (Super Interesting)

Font: Lora

Uglies, 2024

Uglies is a 2024 American science fiction drama film directed by McG and written by Jacob Forman, Vanessa Taylor, and Whit Anderson. Based on the novel of the same name by Scott Westerfeld, the plot centers around a future post-apocalyptic dystopian society in which people are considered "ugly" until they become "pretty" by enduring extensive cosmetic surgery at the age of 16. The film stars Joey King, Keith Powers, Chase Stokes, Brianne Tju, Jan Luis Castellanos, Charmin Lee, and Laverne Cox.

TRAILER

PLOT

In the future, the world has fallen into chaos after exhausting all natural resources. To keep humanity alive, scientists first create genetically modified orchids that are a new energy source, and second, a surgical procedure to enhance human beings in both appearance and fitness to prevent prejudice and discrimination. The surgery is performed on "Uglies" when they are sixteen before allowing them to go to the city, where celebrations occur among the "Pretties."

Tally and her best friend Peris are Uglies, but Peris, being three months older, leaves for his surgery first. The two share scars on their hands, which they vow to keep despite the procedure. They also promise to remain friends and meet again.

Tally, anxious to see Peris again, sneaks into the city. She confronts him but discovers that he has become careless, and the scar they vowed to keep is gone. When Tally is discovered, she is chased by the Wardens back to the Uglies' dormitories. Later, she befriends Shay, a rebellious Ugly who tells her about "The Smoke," a land of freedom in tune with nature. Shay encourages Tally to come with her, reject the surgery, and seeks out The Smoke and its leader, David. Tally refuses.

On her sixteenth birthday, Tally is denied her procedure until she tells Dr. Cable, the operations leader, where Shay is. She is told that David is dangerous, will hurt Shay, and that he is also building a weapon to destroy the city. Tally is sent as a spy into The Smoke, reunites with Shay, and meets David.

The smoke reveals the orchid energy source is toxic to nature, so The Smoke rebels set them on fire to wipe them out. Tally and David share a moment, and she tosses her tracker into the fire after renouncing the system and rejecting her chance to become a Pretty.

As she begins to grow close with David, he and his family reveal the truth about the surgeries: they limit human free will, so the Pretties are easily controlled. A select few are given a cure to become the scientists surrounding the scheme. David's parents worked as some of those scientists until they discovered the truth and fled. Ever since, they have been working to develop the cure.

Her active tracker signals Dr Cable, who arrives with troops to round up the rebels. Peris, modified to be a enhanced soldier, kills David's father, and Tally is discovered to be the traitor. Still, she convinces David to take her with him to free the captured rebels, who are held in a lab facility.

Tally, David, and some of Tally's friends make a plan to rescue the captured rebels. Tally's friends make a diversion that lets Tally and David arrive where the rebels are held. Everyone is freed except Shay, who has already undergone her procedure. Completely changed and oblivious to her previous cause, she is taken with the rebels to a safe spot. Peris confronts the team Tally tries to get through to his true personality, although Peris show's promise, David protects Tally and throws Peris off a building into rubble to his death.

While escaping, David's mother reveals she stole the final piece of her cure. Yet, she does not want to administer it to Shay as she's unwilling. Tally volunteers to undergo the surgery and test the cure. She swears she will not let being Pretty change her drive for justice. She bids David and her friends goodbye.

Rating: 10 Stars

Miss Potter, 2006

 Miss Potter is a 2006 biographical drama film directed by Chris Noonan. It is based on the life of children's author and illustrator Beatrix Potter, and combines stories from her own life with animated sequences featuring characters from her stories, such as Peter Rabbit. Scripted by Richard Maltby Jr., the director of the Tony Award-winning Broadway revue, Fosse, the film stars Renée Zellweger in the title role, Ewan McGregor as her publisher and fiancé, Norman Warne, and Lloyd Owen as solicitor William Heelis. Emily Watson stars as Warne's sister, Millie. Lucy Boynton also stars as the young Beatrix Potter and Justin McDonald appears as the young William Heelis. It was filmed in St. Peter's Square Hammersmith, Cecil Court, Osterley Park, Covent Garden, the Isle of Man, Scotland and the Lake District.

TRAILER

PLOT

In 1902, Beatrix Potter and her chaperon, Miss Wiggin, visit the publishing house of Harold and Fruing Warne, who decide to publish her The Tale of Peter Rabbit. While Beatrix is thrilled, behind closed doors the Warnes think her book is ridiculous and only agree to publish it because they promised their younger brother, Norman, a project.

Norman and Beatrix meet, and realise they share a vision for her work. As production on the book begins, Norman introduces Beatrix to his mother, and his unmarried sister, Millie, who befriends Beatrix. Tensions rise in the Potter household, as Beatrix's social-climbing mother, Helen, is unhappy about her daughter spending time in the company of tradesmen, and she believes that the book venture will fail.

However, the book sales are very successful, and Norman encourages Beatrix to submit other stories for publication. Eventually, Beatrix's father, Rupert, voices his support of Beatrix's writing career, after hearing about the popularity of her books from his friends at the Reform Club. Encouraged, Beatrix invites Norman and Millie to her family's Christmas party. Beatrix shows Norman a story she is writing especially for him, "The Rabbits' Christmas Party", giving him a drawing from the story as a present. Finally left unchaperoned, Norman proposes to Beatrix, and she happily accepts.

Beatrix's parents disapprove of the match, but she stands firm, reminding her mother that both her grandfathers were tradesmen. Beatrix learns that not only can she survive on her own with her books, but that she is now a wealthy woman from her royalty earnings. Her parents eventually suggest that Beatrix and Norman keep their engagement secret for the summer months, and promise that they can marry if their feelings remain unchanged after three months. The Potters holiday in the Lake District, and Beatrix and Norman maintain a regular correspondence.

After a few days without a letter from Norman, Beatrix receives a message from Millie, informing her that he is ill. Beatrix travels back to London only to find that Norman has died. A grieving Beatrix shuts herself up in her room; she turns to her drawing, but discovers that her characters disappear off the page. Millie comes to visit and comfort her, and Beatrix decides she must leave the family home.

Beatrix buys a farm in the country in the Lake District and moves there to resume her work. She hires a farmhand to run the farm and finds comfort in her surroundings. Millie visits, returning the painting of The Rabbits' Christmas Party. With the help of her solicitor, William Heelis, Beatrix outbids developers at auctions and buys many other farms and land in the area to preserve nature.

A textual epilogue reveals Beatrix, to her mother's disapproval, married William eight years after moving to the Lake District. The land she purchased formed part of the Lake District National Park in North West England, while her stories became the best-selling children's books of all time.

Rating: 10 Stars