Twilight (2008 film)

Twilight is a 2008 American romantic-fantasy film directed by Catherine Hardwicke and based on the novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer. The film stars Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, a teenage girl who falls in love with vampire Edward Cullen, portrayed by Robert Pattinson. The project was in development for approximately three years at Paramount Pictures before it was put into pre-production by Summit Entertainment. The novel was adapted for the screen by Melissa Rosenberg in late 2007, shortly before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The film was primarily shot in Washington and Oregon in early 2008. Twilight was released in theaters on November 21, 2008,and grossed $35.7 million on its opening day.The soundtrack was released on November 4, 2008.

Plot

See also: Twilight (novel)

Seventeen-year-old Bella Swan moves to Forks, a small town on Washington state's rugged coast, to live with her father, Charlie, after her mother remarries to a minor league baseball player. She is quickly befriended by many students at her new high school, but she is intrigued by the mysterious and aloof Cullen siblings. Bella sits next to Edward Cullen in biology class on her first day of school; he appears to be disgusted by her, much to Bella's confusion. A few days later, Bella is nearly struck by a van in the school parking lot. Edward inexplicably moves from some feet away and stops the vehicle with his hand. He later refuses to explain this act to Bella and warns her against befriending him.

After much research, Bella eventually discovers that Edward is a vampire, though he only consumes animal blood. The pair fall in love and Edward introduces Bella to his vampire family, Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie. Soon after, three nomadic vampires—James, Victoria, and Laurent—arrive. James, a tracker vampire, is intrigued by Edward's protectiveness

Directed by	Catherine Hardwicke
Produced by	Mark Morgan Greg Mooradian Wyck Godfrey
Written by	Novel: Stephenie Meyer Screenplay: Melissa Rosenberg
Starring	Kristen Stewart Robert Pattinson
Music by	Carter Burwell
Cinematography	Elliot Davis
Editing by	Nancy Richardson
Distributed by	Summit Entertainment (USA) Entertainment One Ltd. (UK)[1]
Release date(s)	November 21, 2008 (United States, Canada) December 11, 2008 (Australia) December 19, 2008 (United Kingdom) December 26, 2008 (New Zealand)
Running time	121 min.[2]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$37 million [3]
Gross revenue	$376,148,833[4]
Followed by	New Moon

Malaysian PM resigns in favour of deputy

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - - Malaysia's king Thursday accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi after six years in office, clearing the way for a smooth transfer of power to deputy Najib Razak.

Abdullah and then Najib met King Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin for successive audiences at the palace to seal the long-planned transition.

"PM Abdullah offered his resignation to the king. The king is understood to have accepted it," a senior official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Government officials Wednesday said the king had agreed that Najib could be sworn in as prime minister at 0200 GMT Friday.

Najib was last Thursday officially declared president of the United Malays National Organisation party, effectively smothing his path to the premiership because of its dominance of the political scene.

He said he would reveal details Friday of the direction he wanted to take Malaysia amid economic crisis and political uncertainty, with the core of his roadmap being a programme aimed at uniting the multi-racial nation.

"I think this new thrust will ensure there will be a fairer distribution of government allocations and assistance to all communities," he said Wednesday.

Analysts say he faces an enormous challenge to rejuvenate his UMNO party, which has floundered since disastrous election results last year, and cushion the country from the worst effects of the global meltdown.

Malaysia, Southeast Asia's third largest economy, has been hit by slumping exports and manufacturing, with more than 26,000 people losing their jobs so far this year.

A slew of economic data for January underlined the scale of the problem.

Industrial output fell 20.2 percent year-on-year, manufacturing sales sank 22.7 percent and exports plunged 27.8 percent to hit their lowest level since 2001.

Najib, who is also finance minister, unveiled a stimulus package worth 16.2 billion dollars earlier this month, but warned that the export-driven economy could shrink by 1.0 percent this year despite the massive spending.

He will face his first big test as prime minister next Tuesday with three by-elections that will be seen as a referendum on his fledgling leadership.

"He will inherit a divided party with trust in the government at its lowest ebb and a strong opposition," political analyst Shahruddin Badaruddin told AFP earlier.

He said Najib's challenge would be "to unite the fractured elements of the party."

Najib has an impeccable pedigree as the son and nephew of two former prime ministers, but he has been dogged by controversy and Shahruddin said he had to stem the allegations against him.

He has repeatedly denied opposition allegations connecting him to the 2006 slaying of the mistress of his close aide -- a Mongolian woman whose body was blown up with military-grade explosives.

"He must end all the rumours and allegations about the Mongolian case once and for all," Shahruddin said.

"It has affected his image locally and internationally," he added. "As long as these rumours persist, it will make it hard for him to do what needs to be done."

UMNO leads the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition which has ruled Malaysia for more than half a century since the former colony gained independence from Britain in 1957.

However, last year it put up its worst electoral performance for 39 years, leading to calls for Abdullah to step down.

The coalition of race-based parties -- which also represent ethnic Chinese and Indian communities -- were mauled by the opposition led by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

The opposition seized an unprecedented one third of seats in parliament and now controls four states.

INDIE ROCK?

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that most notably exists in the independent underground music scene. It primarily refers to rock musicians that are or were unsigned, or have signed to independent record labels, rather than major record labels. Genres or subgenres often associated with indie rock include lo-fi, post-rock, sadcore, C86, and math rock, to list but a few; other related (and sometimes overlapping) categories include shoegazing and indie pop. Indie rock artists place a premium on maintaining complete control of their music and careers, releasing albums on independent record labels (sometimes their own) and relying on touring, word-of-mouth, and airplay on independent or college radio stations for promotion. Some end up moving to major labels, often on favorable terms won by their prior independent success.

Paramore?? Love this Band.

band info

The combination of musical energy between brothers and Hayley’s bold charisma earned them instant attention, particularly from Florida indie Fueled by Ramen, who signed the band and put them to work recording their debut. Says Hayley, “Some of our favorite bands are on Fueled by Ramen. We knew that they would know exactly how to carry out the vision for our band and music.” Paramore went into the studio with producers James Wisner (Dashboard Confessional, Further Seems Forever, Underoath) and Mike Green (Yellowcard, The Black Maria) and blew them away with their sincerity and enthusiasm.

history

Over the Past 3 Years Now

Vocals: Hayley
Bass: Jeremy
Guitar: Josh
Drums: Zac

Paramore, the rapidly emerging pop-punk quintet from Tennessee, has been building a near-deafening “next big thing” buzz. Driven by riveting live shows and the undeniable charisma of their frontwoman, 18-year-old Hayley Williams, they have captivated an increasingly rabid following. Confronted by the double-edged sword of overwhelming early praise, Paramore has risen to the challenge and recorded an album that happily delivers on all the claims made on their behalf. With their new Fueled By Ramen collection, “RIOT!,” they announce that they have the talent, the passion, and the songs to take themselves to the next level.

The band’s rise has been the result of consistent hard work since Hayley first met Josh Farro (guitar, age 20) and his younger brother Zac (drums, age 17) while they were together in school four years ago. After adding Jeremy Davis (bass, age 22), Paramore was formed in 2004. They played their first show in Nashville, and were soon building a local fanbase. After just a few months of gigging, the band had their first big break in early 2005, when Fueled By Ramen founder John Janick saw them at a gig in Florida. He was instantly struck by their presence and their dedication, and he immediately signed the band to the label. As Hayley says, “Fueled By Ramen has been amazing to us. So many kids started checking us out because our name is on their roster. It’s like a big family; we all share such a massive unit of fans.”

Upon the release of their debut album, “ALL WE KNOW IS FALLING,” in the summer of 2005, the music community began taking immediate notice of the band. The New York Times and Spin hailed the album, singling out Hayley as a star in the making. Nonstop touring throughout 2006 with bands such as Straylight Run and Simple Plan, combined with show-stealing festival performances at Warped and Bamboozle, continued to build the momentum. The year culminated with a sold-out headlining tour of North America in the fall of 2006, as well as successful tours of both Europe and Japan.

The accolades continued as 2006 came to a close. After an overwhelming response to a U.K. tour at the end of the year, Kerrang! readers voted Paramore as the “Best New Band” and Hayley as the #2 “Sexiest Female.” NME named Paramore one of the ten acts to watch in their “New Noise 2007” feature, proclaiming Williams as “young, articulate and with plenty to say.” Some bands would begin to get nervous with those kinds of accolades. Not Paramore. “I love getting all the ‘Next Big Thing’ notices,” says Hayley with a grin. Josh continues, “The first few years everything was new to us and we made a name for ourselves as a band in a lot of places. But with ‘RIOT!,’ we’re really ready to blow people’s minds.”

It only takes one listen to “RIOT!” to see the depth of the band’s growth in the past two years. Produced by David Bendeth (Hawthorne Heights, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Killswitch Engage), the music has taken on a richer, deeper, more intense tone, without sacrificing any of the melodicism that has been their trademark. As Hayley explains, “For us, the title ‘RIOT!’ literally means an unbridled outburst of emotions. When we were writing, it seemed like our thoughts and emotions were coming out so fast that we couldn’t control them. It felt like there was a riot within us. So the album takes our passion to a new level; it’s just all raw energy.”

That raw energy and passion is evident in “Misery Business,” a song that has its origins in a message Hayley put on the band’s Live Journal page, asking her fans to post what they’re ashamed of. “I found that people really were reaching out to someone to spill their guts to,” she recalls, “So I did the same thing lyrically in the song and let everything out. It’s more honest than anything I’ve ever written, and the guys matched that emotion musically.”

The wryly titled “For A Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic” stems from what Josh reflects as “putting your faith in someone and they blow it.” But in the writing of the song, he saw that his faith in his bandmates was not misplaced: “I wrote the music specifically to be awesome live and to be extremely energetic. It all came out at once. I showed it to Hayley and she just nailed it lyrically. She completely got the feeling I wanted the song to have.” And “Hallelujah” serves as one of the album’s true anthems. As Hayley recounts, “It’s one of the oldest songs we’ve got, but we wanted to save it for this record, and it’s the perfect home for it. It’s a claim of victory for both ourselves and our fans.”

That connection with their audience is most evident in “Born For This,” a song that was specifically written for their fans. “We wrote it as a message to them,” Hayley explains. “They’re going to take us to the next level. Everything they’ve done has helped us so much… it’s really kept us going.” And to drive that point home, the band held an online contest for fans, with the winners getting to sing gang vocals on the song.

“Next big things” come and go, but it is obvious that Paramore has something special – both talent and staying power. “RIOT” is the band’s declaration of ambition, musical growth, and dedication. “We all have such a love and passion for this music,” says Josh. “We’re lucky to have made such a connection with our fans that we’re making a difference in their lives.” Hayley concludes, “We want everyone to hear this album. We want to take it as far as we can. ‘RIOT!’ is everything we ever wanted to say on one album. If it all ended today, this is what we’d want to be remembered for.”

MUSIC/ALBUM

*ALL WE KNOW IS FALLING(2005)
*RIOT(2007)
*THE FINAL RIOT(2008)
*TWILIGHT(2008)