Little Ashes on DVD

Well, it's new release Tuesday and while I was out shopping at my local Walmart, picking up some cat food, I happened along to the entertainment section where I was looking for something new. Lo & behold, there was "Little Ashes" staring right back at me. It was released on DVD today in North America. Being an RPattz fan, I picked it up, not knowing what to expect with it. I mean, I did know some stuff about it from other blogs & YouTube.

Now, I have seen other works by Robert in between Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire & Twilight. I can't say I enjoyed them. GASP!! Not enjoyed something Rob filmed?? Yes, I did like "Bad Mother's Handbook" where he plays adorkable Daniel Gale, but I found "Haunted Airman" boring; "How to Be"...let's just say I wanted to smack Art upside the head for being so freakin' annoying. In "Ring of the Niebelungs" he's not a major character, but he does seem to do ok (maybe except that mullet of his).

I did enjoy "Little Ashes" While he does need to work on his Spanish accent a bit more, I found it to be a beautiful movie. A lot of people will focus on the relationship between Salvador Dali & Frederico Garcia Lorca as being on the homo-erotic side. I saw it as a beautiful relationship between 2 young men finding their way together in the midst of fascist Spain while at Art School. Sure they kiss a lot & show affection, but that's not the whole point of the movie, IMO. There was an underlying story with the onslaught of the Spanish Civil War where certain behaviors would have you sent to prison, writing poetry about freedom could have you executed. It was a story of 3 friends who met at school, who went on different paths that each other influenced in some way. It's not all about it being a gay movie. But I think I may spoiled some of the movie. It was a beautiful move. And I was surprised to hear Rob drop the F-bomb a few times...you don't get that in the Twilight Saga (can you imagine?!)

Robert Pattinson sheds "Twilight" image in film

Wed May 6, 2009 10:17pm BST

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Twilight" fans fell in love with Robert Pattinson as a vampire who makes girls swoon. But in "Little Ashes," which opens in the U.S. on Friday, the actor explores a relationship that could reshape his heartthrob image.

Pattinson, who turns 23 this month, plays surrealist painter Salvador Dali at a youthful stage in his life when he had a sexually charged relationship with poet Federico Garcia Lorca.

Pattinson took the role long before he became a sensation with legions of adoring, young female fans captivated by his portrayal of vampire Edward Cullen in last year's global box office smash, "Twilight."

Industry watchers say the success of the movie, based on a popular book series by author Stephenie Meyer, was largely due to girls imagining they -- not the film's heroine Bella Swan -- were being wooed by the fanged Cullen.

Pattinson, who has said he is straight, told Reuters he doesn't believe "Twilight" fans will think differently of him for his character's sexuality in "Little Ashes."

"I don't really mind either way," Pattinson said of his movie choices. "I'm not really trying to appeal to anyone in particular."

The British actor said the romance between Cullen and Swan somewhat resembles the attraction between Dali and Lorca in "Little Ashes."

"In a lot of ways, the storyline is similar to 'Twilight.' It's about two people who, for various different hangups and terrible insecurities, can't in any way consummate their relationship," Pattinson said.

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER?

Made with backing from companies in Britain and Spain, "Little Ashes" shows Dali forming a bond with Lorca (Javier Beltran), and evolving from a quiet student to the famously eccentric artist with his long, pencil-thin moustache.

Dali and Lorca kiss and swim in the moonlight, but the painter eventually spurns Lorca's advances.

In 1969, the painter told an interviewer that he had rebuffed Lorca's attempt at a sexual affair.

"I was extremely annoyed, because I wasn't homosexual, and I wasn't interested in giving in," Dali said at the time.

Yet the film portrays him as a willing, if emotionally conflicted, participant. Dali died in 1989 after a decades-long marriage to Gala, who served as his muse.

Cooper Lawrence, author of "The Cult of Celebrity," said Pattinson is an icon to young women because he seems like the perfect boyfriend.

"He's edgy but not too edgy, he's someone you can still bring home to mom, but he's a little down and dirty so you think he's cool. And he's so nonthreatening, and that's a big part of it," she said.

Many of his fans may not get a chance to see "Little Ashes" because initially it will screen in a limited number of theatres, mostly in big cities.

Last month Pattinson's "Twilight" co-star, Kristen Stewart, appeared in "Adventureland," also a low-budget film in limited release. It made $16 million (10.6 million pounds) at U.S. and Canadian box offices.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Xavier Briand)

(please visit our entertainment blog via www.reuters.com or on blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/)

Filmography

2009- The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Edward Cullen)

2008- Twilight (Edward Cullen)
The Summer House (Richard) **Not yet released**
How to Be (Art)
Little Ashes (Salvador Dali)

2007- Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix (Cedric Diggory)
The Bad Mother's Handbook (Daniel Gale)

2006- The Haunted Airman (Toby Juggs)

2005- Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire (Cedric Diggory)

2004- Ring of the Niberlungs (Giselher)
Vanity Fair (Rawdy Crawley) **only seen in deleted scenes**