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Last year, Clinton Street Theater co-owner Aaron Colter took a chance when two community members suggested a screening of Twilight (2008), the Oregon-filmed adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s loved and loathed bestseller about human-vampire courtship.
The screening was an unqualified triumph, selling out the theater and paving the way for the inevitable: a Twilight film festival at the Clinton that will include all of the sequels, New Moon (2009), Eclipse (2010), Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011) and Breaking Dawn Part 2 (2012).
The festival begins with New Moon on Monday, Aug. 21. (The other films will follow in September, October and November) Expect trivia games and costumed fans, with 10% of ticket sales going to the Quileute Indian Reservation, one of the movie’s most memorable locations.
Ever since the original Twilight was filmed partly at Madison High School, the franchise has enjoyed enthusiasm from Oregonians, despite the frequently mocked performances of Robert Pattinson as the mopey vampire Edward, Kristen Stewart as his comically apathetic human lover Bella, and Taylor Lautner as the whiny werewolf Jacob, who just keeps getting in the way.
(In fact, the Hollywood Theatre went so far as to screen the original film as a fundraiser for the recording of the inaugural performance by the Columbia Chorale of Oregon at Scappoose High School. No, I’m not making any of this up.)
While New Moon features no Portland locations, it is by far the most delightful of the films, thanks in no small part to Lautner’s, ahem, impassioned delivery of dialogue such as: “Feeling sick? Maybe you need to go to the hospital. Do you want me to put you in the hospital?!”
Tickets for New Moon are $15. You can also purchase a series pass for all four films for $50.