Twilight Saga Series may have made Robert Pattinson a household name, but the names of Taylor Lautner, Peter Facinelli, Kellan Lutz, Jackson Rathbone and Jamie Campbell-Bower have had their own levels of success.

Campbell-Bower has joined RPatts in some pretty elite company. Only people to be in both a Twilight series film & a Harry Potter film. Not too shabby of a resume to go with his roles in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, or RockNRolla.

Lutz has started getting pretty regular work himself. Recently in the remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street, he has added on roles in films opposite Mickey Rourke & Samuel L. Jackson.

Facinelli is not just a doctor on the big screen. He has Nurse Jackie on the small screen, where he plays Dr. Fitch Cooper on his resume now. Add in a variety of film roles, and the elder statesman of the Cullen clan is making the most of his Twilight boost.

Rathbone, when not out touring with his band
The 100 Monkeys, he is filling that time with multiple film roles, including The Last Airbender.

Lautner, the heir apparent to Pattinson for Twilight fans to swoon over has been a busy boy himself. He has landed roles recently in films with the likes of Sigourney Weaver, Jessica Alba & Bradley Cooper.

All seems to be going well for the Twicast.
When they were here, most were great most of the time. Here is a few tidbits from their time here.

Twilight Saga series has made a lot of stars out of no ones. Perhaps none more than Robert Pattinson.

I have had a few chances to shoot pics of him, along with get autographs.

Most often...its when hes at a bar. Almost always, its with multiple castmates at his side...as shown in this set with Kristen Stewart & a almost un-noticed Nikki Reed lurking around his every move.

if you are 1 of the 817 viewers of my candid photos section of this site...maybe these arent new to you...but they certainly are....bigger.

While my wrist isnt 100% quite yet, its much better.....sooo, some blogging can finally be done.

With the 3rd installment in the Twilight Saga, Eclipse now in the theatres....time to toss out a few more pics of the cast while they were here filming New Moon & Eclipse.

First up...the females. I have far less photos of them than the guys, they were just seen less often by me.

So, heres so previously un-posted pics (in my blog...if you actually have checked out my candid photos section..maybe you've seen some of them)  of Ashley Greene, Dakota Fanning, Kristen Stewart & Nikki Reed... with special cameos by Ian Somerhalder, Taylor Lautner & Robert Pattinson.

The cast of Sanctuary were in full force for Saturday nights 12th annual Leo Awards. With the sci-fi show leading all nominees at 17, there was a lot for the cast to be excited about.

Below is a few photos of various cast that walked the carpet, including Chrstopher Heyerdahl (WINNER- Best Supporting Performance by a male in a Dramatic series), Ryan Robbins (NOMINEE-- Best Supporting Performance by a male in a Dramatic series), , Robin Dunne (WINNER- Best Lead Performance by a male in a Dramatic Series), Agam Darshi (NOMINEE- Best Supporting Performance by a male in a Full Length Drama), & Amanda Tapping (NOMINEE- Best Lead Performance by a female in a Dramatic series), .

The cast was all class. Each cast member signed willingly for the small group of fans & dealers that were along the red carpet.

The hardest working doctor in show business  was in Vancouver this past weekend for a Twilight fan convention.

The double shifting doc, known to the rabid Twilight series fanbase as Dr. Carlisle Cullen, or at his second doctoring job as Dr. Fitch Cooper on the television show Nurse Jackie spent several hours meeting, greeting and talking to fans at the convention.

While other stars were whisked away from the fans like they were recluse rock stars thru private corridors, Peter opted for a more low key & personable departure from the convention. He simply walked out the front door into an awaiting vehicle.

Outside he greeted fans, signing autographs & posing with fans.,..FOR FREE. Despite the absurd $30 an autograph & $50 for a photo with price the convention hawkers were gouging fans for inside, Peter did it for no extra charge outside upon his departure.

Once at the airport, a group of 8 people were awaiting his arrival. Fans & hounds waited for his arrival & when he finally showed up, he acted as if we were just as special as the people who in total might have shelled out over $360 for a complete Twilight fan package that weekend.

His willingness to sign multiple items per person, stop and pose for photos with several of the fans, answer a few questions as best as he could, and do it all without even a sign of disdain is why I have him on my top 10 nicest celebs list. Because truthfully, most celebs in his position after just getting paid to sign autographs & pose for photos wouldnt have lifted a finger.

To top it off, you could clearly tell he was a bit worn down & probably, truthfully, would have been just as happy to leave with no fanfare. But instead of being gruff & anti-social he took it all in & seemed genuinely happy for the attention. He thanked the fans for coming out. He thanked the other photographer there and myself for coming out, shook our hands & went on his way.

Another great experience with Peter Facinelli wrapped up. With news that Breaking Dawn may be done in Louisiana, its possible this was my last interaction with Mister Twitter 2009. If it was, he left an incredible impression.

I considered burying my review in the middle of the blog, just to make you all read the whole thing thoroughly to find it....but, here it is..... It didnt suck, but it wasnt awesome either.
I'm giving it a generous 5.5/10.
Now remember, I have NEVER READ THE BOOKS!!! So dont gripe at me with "oh, they forgot this" or "the so & so scene was ruined because this pointless background detail wasnt there". I dont care. I graded it as a movie, and not as a comparison to a piece of literature. It is a movie, I graded it as a movie compared to other movies.

I was pretty worried it was going to be gawdaful after hearing responses from people I knew. Of the 6 people I knew in person who saw it prior to me, only ONE gave it any type of positive review. The rest were trashing it hard. Sites like IMDB & Rottentomatoes were in agreement with this assessment of it as well, so I was truly expecting garbage. Maybe thats why it rated higher than 5, because I went in with such low expecations & it overshot them.

To me the film has several good pieces which are wrapped around a pile of really dull, dragged out scenes. Some of the smaller characters are a bit too dorky for my liking. Just them saying even a couple words made me roll my eyes. The pudgy little school kid that has a crush on Bella might be the most annoying of the bunch. They shoulda scrapped him all together. I personally did not have the same problems with the acting of the big 3 that others have stated. They arent going to win the academy award, but its fine. I mean if Sean William Scott or Hugh Grant can continue to find employment doing the same character over & over again in movies that arent even connected to each other, than whats the problem with these 3 acting the same as they did in the first film? The supporting cast did a decent job IMO with the limited screen time they generally had. 
The Volturri looked good image wise, but Michael Sheen & Dakota Fanning were the only two that really made a positive impact on me. If Jamie Campbell Bower had more of a role, maybe he coulda done the same. The rest however... I found most of them too rigid & not smooth enough in delivery.  The fight scene was too sped up to enjoy. They needed to slow it down a bit. I realize they are vampires & are really quick, but the audience is only seeing minimal glances of the action & its really frustrating IMO.
It was certainly fascinating to see scenes in places I knew, or had been to. That might have given it an extra .2 or so just for the Vancouver element? But overall, it wasnt terrible. I wont go spend $12.50 to see it again, but I could see me watching it down the road again if someone rented it. Its certainly watchable.

So that is essentially my review of the movie, spoiler free I hope.
 
 
Of course Twilight Saga: New Moon is a film that was a big deal to me, as I hounded this film pretty intensely compared to the efforts I usually put in to celeb hounding.
 
Here is a list of top 10 things I learned/appreciated/enjoyed about the New Moon phenomenon being here.
 
- Jackson Rathbone. The man who plays Jasper turned out to not just be a wonderful surprise for interacting with, but perhaps the nicest celeb I have ever met. After 1 of the 100 Monkeys perfornaces here he talked in chilly spring weather for like 15 minutes about anything & everything. Awesome guy who even after that first encounter, kept up his good guy images all the way thru Eclipse even.
 
- Sam Bradley show at Richards On Richards. It was my big payday of the event. It nabbed me my first ever celebrity photo run in a national magazine (sure, it was OK Magazine & I would later blast them for being idiots...but still, it was groundbreaking for me) I also learned to enjoy Sams music leading up to the show & the short amount of time I got to enjoy his performance. It also lead to a cool impromptu sing along by Sam on the street after the show that I thought was all too cool, which later lead to getting a couple Pattinson autographs. So all in all, a very productive night.
 
- Spencer Bell discovering. One of the things Jackson Rathbone told us about that night was Spencer Bell & asked us to donate to his site (link is in my twilight autographs section). It took me awhile after misplacing it, but I finally found the site & have since then enjoyed quite a bit of Spencers music. Sad that there cant be anymore.
 
- Meeting Rob after filming in New West. It was the only set hounding I did in New Moon & it nabbed me the nicest Rob autograph I obtained the whole shoot, and to top it off he did in despite his driver trying to deter him from signing for me. At 6 AM, after a long night of work, Rob came over to a fence & signed for the 5 or so fans who waited it out, while his co-stars left with little more than a wave from a distance.
 
- How it revitalized my celebrity hounding. Because of New Moon, I started hounding celebs a fair bit more over that run, and it still lingers some now. I met a lot more stars in that few months it was here that I had probably met in the past 5 yrs (minus my time at Toronto Film Fest a couple yrs ago) because I just rarely bothered going out.
 
- Twitter strategizing with others to prevent chaos during the Blue Water Cafe cast dinner. After the shenanigans of Punkd images & Lainey Gossip to try & ruin the casts party at the Blue Water Cafe, several of the regulars who were at the scene took action & banded together despite all having different interests in being there. The one thing we all knew was, if it wasnt stopped now, chaos was going to ensue. Within 10 mins of Laineys tweets, 2-4 people had shown up, but no one else did after that & for that, the credit mainly goes to the few fans & myself who worked on creating a smoke screen to assure no one else would try coming down & making it a mob scene.
 
- All the new hotspots I never knew about before. I pass places like Chill Winston often & have occasionally passed Glowbal & Blue Water Cafe, but never really though of them as anything special. Since then I have learned just how often they really have housed notable celebs.
 
- Celebs twitter updates. Before New Moon I barely knew of Twitter. Within a week of it, I had signed up for an account & was using it daily to keep up to date on where people were & more importantly, celebs who tweeted about their every detail. It was vital in giving me good, solid info more times than I probably confessed at the time. Fan updates were 1 thing, but celebs updates were 5Xs better.
 
-The day Kristen Stewart told my friends & I "I dont care". Outside of the Loose Moose one night we chatted with her for a few mins. One of my friends apologized for being there, which Kristen responded that she didnt infact care, understood we have a job to do. She respectfully asked us not to do 1 or 2 things, so we didnt. But for the mostpart, she was understanding that we had a job to do & was fine with it.

- The fans. Sure, there is a large portion who are batshit nuts. Odds are a few of you will even read this & say "well, he cant be talking to me". When I see a 40 yr old woman nearly in tears because she met Rachelle Lefevre or a girl probably no older than 12 telling Kellan Lutz she wants his body...well, yeah, THEY are nuts. But I also met quite a few cool, laid back people whow ere just fans & who just wanted to soak up a bit of the experience of them being here. Some of the regulars were the most normal people of the bunch. It amazed me every time someone told me they were from Brazil, Texas, Minnesota, Belgium or Japan. I was just like "wow, you spent your vacation time to come here in the HOPES of seeing one of the cast?". Now granted, I have considered the same thing for my favorite TV show...but I also can combine it with work to offset some of the costs, as well I have a fair bit more knowledge & experience in finding them than Joe fan. But I admired their commitment to an entertainment medium & most of the time, I found most of them to be normal.

For all the frustration the New Moon filming here brought me at times, the entertainment, money & memories likely outweight those frustrations greatly.

Thats it on New Moon I guess. Next up is Eclipse.....which as we all know, I have a less fond memory of.

Last week, Eclipse, the 3rd film in the Twilight Saga series, wrapped here in Vancouver. To be brutally honest, I was relieved.
 
Lets take you back to the beginning when the cast was first in town for New Moon, the 2nd film in the series, coming out in theatres everywhere November 20th.
 
I started this entire venture, NOT LIKING the idea of Twilight. I had never seen the movie & vowed I wouldnt. In the first couple weeks, I even found it easy to justify my disdain for it as the stars we were seeing were few & far between & had been to say the least, unwilling to interact. From KStew staring at us as she walked into the hotel ignoring our requests to RPattz speed walking by us when we picked him out in mid day, they were giving us a negative vibe.
 
The first turning point came when meeting Taylor Lautner for the first time. He was extremely friendly, pleasant, signed everything that was asked of him & I watched as he talked on a fans phone to her friend in another city, just because she asked him to. I wasnt about to run out & see the film just because of that, but I was about to start softening on this cast.
 
Over the next while a variety of actions happened. I called out KStew publically, and she responded by becoming more cordial, cast members befriended the locals, and in general, cast came across as extremely friendly & easy to deal with. We liked them and they seemingly liked us (compared to other entertainers we encounter often who dont show any respect without any prior reason.). After I got my first Kristen Stewart autograph, I conceded that I would infact give the film a chance. She was the one hold out of the primary cast for signing at that point, and now she had signed & in fact done a 180 from what she was like in the early weeks. I rented the film, watched it with a couple friends. Not exactly Casablanca, but a moderately entertaining & watchable movie. I stated at that time I likely could see myself going to see New Moon when it comes out.
 
By the time the filming for New Moon ended, we were seeing the cast almost every couple days, Rob here, Taylor there, Kristen here etc. They were exceptionally good to us & on more than 1 occasion, 1 of those 3 said "I dont care, I know you have a job to do" when we asked for more autographs or a photo. They were finally understanding they had reached a certain level of fame, and had found a happy medium in their lives with dealing with it.
 
I was pro-Twilight by the time they left here at the end of New Moon. In the time between the end of New Moon & the start of Eclipse, a LOT happened in their lives (mostly with Rob & Kristen) & to be brutally honest, I had no idea how much it clearly affected them till I had to deal with them again.

They went to Italy where they got their first true big time encounters with paps since their fame had skyrocketed. Oddly enough days before leaving Vancouver, many fans who were not actually here constantly were saying "cant wait for them to leave Van, so they can get a break from all the crazy fans there etc etc etc" only to learn it actually is worse everywhere else. Italy likely stressed them some, but it was NOTHING like what they endured in NYC & LA where they were under 24/7 surveillance. At least in Vancouver, we were only on them at major events & some weekends. The fact that Rob had gone to the same bar about 8-10 times before we ever actually saw him going there tells you just how much they were going out here undetected. They didnt have that luxury anymore. It changed them for the worse.
 
When they came back for Eclipse, we again had a small slump at the beginning. Cast were being elusive. But this time it was not so much because of dumb luck as it was with the crowds waiting. Summer time in Vancouver, and growing hype around this series meant much larger crowds. To top it off, the mentally challenged gerbils in charge of Summit decided in their infinite wisdom to book the ENTIRE cast in 1 place. Imagine whatever your idea of hell is. This is surely what Rob & Kristen felt, if not, the smaller cast members as well.
 
By the 2nd week of production there was about 25 paps in town & on average 30-50 fans waiting in & around the Sheraton Wall Centre hotel. Cast were becoming elusive & quick. Regular casual castmates like Nikki Rieed, Kellan Lutz & Peter Facinelli were out far less this film than the film prior, and Nikki opted to move away from the hotel with Elizabeth Reaser to a different hotel. I never got a chance to ask them why, but by Nikkis new "dont look at me" attitude she spawned in this film, I am guessing it was obviously a "I dont want to be around the hype" change of address. They wanted quiet, so they moved away.
 
My question to Summit. Why the hell didnt you do what you did from the beginning? 3 hotels= moderate crowds most days. 1 hotel= everyone at the same place. It was literally ground zero & the cast were prisoners of their film companies incompetence. It made the fans more desperate, it made the paps more desperate, it made us autograph hounds more desperate. So what happens when you have that much desperation building? Stupidity. With 20+ out of town paps here, the first real uh oh was the night they went to a sushi bar for a cast party. Upon their return, Robs cab went underground, and without hesitation, the out of towners with nothing to lose since they dont live here, followed them in. This was a no-no amongst the regulars, but these out of towners who would onyl stay here for a week or two did not care. This action made the cast even less willing to go out. Soon, sightings were quite rare & it was usually the same couple guys. Kellan in full sprint for a jog. Xavier for a walk. Peter Facinelli out for a short stroll. The big 3 were hiding. Rob, Kristen & Taylor were practically ghosts except for group functions or at the set.
 
Eventually the crowds died out. Ironically it came in the form of Summit growing a functioning brain cell, and it had the added luck of falling right when school was starting. They moved a large chunk of the cast out of the Sheraton to a small, still not completed apartment building a few blocks away called Level. I still remember 2 days before the first people would stumble across it saying to a couple people "I think they have moved them out of here" because it was so rare seeing anyone there. Within a week, all the regulars that were in the know had the new address. Only ones left without that info were the obsessive 24/7 "I cant live without seeing Rob/Taylor" fanatics that were still lurking around the now nearly ghost town like Sheraton.
 
For a couple weeks, there was still moderate crowds around the Sheraton, while us regulars were finally getting a cast that was far more relaxed signing & posing for pics coming out of their new residence, they would sit around there on weekends hoping to see cast when there was only 3 elusive regulars there & occasionally a couple part time cast members. Eventually, even the die hards gave up. For the past month or so of filming the place had practically no one waiting there 5 out of 6 times.... Ironically, it coincidentally was around the same time a few fans were figuring out where the residence was. Soon there was crowds of 8-10 at the residence on any given day. It quickly became the end of the cast going out as often as they were those first couple weeks there. While the focus shifted to the smaller cast members, the likes of Rob & Kristen were finding it easier to get out & were seen often out on the town by fans. Thats something they had not enjoyed since as far back as New Moon production. They had to endure being "caught out" a handful of times, but for the mostpart, they went out with little fanfare... which brings me to why?
 
Why with so much freedom suddenly were they so put off when they were found out? It wasnt just some paps they were trying to evade. Even in moderately calm settings where they would have signed or taken a photo with in NM, they were speedwalking/running away from now. They made people more desperate, and because of that. Stupid actions like the elevator incident happen. I dont endorse what my friend did. But in the same breath, I get somewhat why he did it. Rob & Kristen were giving him no choice. A reasonable reaction to us being there would have been a short, head down walk into the hotel, isntead of the Usain Bolt impression Kristen was trying to pull off everytime she came in. If they had casually walked in, like they had dozens of times in the past, there would not have been the panicked desperation of someone to follow them inside, because they would have been satisfied enough with the 2-3 seconds of them walking in, like the dozens of encounters prior. But when you hastily try to run away, all it does is incite panic into the others. So they feel they need to get something out of this, so they follow inside.

Its sort of the same philosophy of what happened at the sushi place weeks earlier. They made a big production about getting the cast out of the restaurant, which included calling in police to escort Rob & Kristen to the garage... a private underground secured garage. They called POLICE in to help them escort them TO A PRIVATE SECURED UNDERGROUND GARAGE??!!!!, because there was 10-12 paps waiting 200 feet away on a sidewalk in the dark. I didnt even get to the pathetic part of this.... THEY WERE IN A SECURE BUILDING!!??? There was no need to drag officers off the street for this. All it did was again, like elevator gate, incite panic in those involved, and when panic is brought in, stupid decisions happen. So what did they do? Panicked & ran in after the cab to the underground. Every stupid action could have been prevented. That includes last weeks cab fiasco (which I still laugh at all the comments of people who have adapted the story to fit their own needs & act like there was a Fast & The Furious type race thru the crowded streets of Vancouver or something). Illogical actions lead to illogical actions.
 
So, the last few memories I have of the Eclipse cast, are primarily negative. Much of the respect I gained for Kristen in New Moon, was lost in Eclipse. I had respect for Rob, now, I am unsure. The rest of the cast became less pleasant as well, with the likes of Kellan literally ignoring 3 girls as he returned to his hotel & not even making eye contact with them, Nikki leaving her place in hoodie tied up and sunglasses at night & giving a shit excuse like "I cant right now" before I even asked her.... which I would have understood if she was late for something. But she literally brushed off 3 people to go across the street & grab groceries, which of course meant she couldnt when she returned. I think much of her attitude comes from Paris though. Others who saw her occasionally when he wasnt around said she was her old friendly self still. I never had such luck after pre-production.
 
It also was not helping sell the movie on me when certain minor stars tell me "I am only allowed to sign 1 & I have to put your name on it". Now if your Rob Pattinson, you can get away with that type of demand without raising red flags. But when you are Cameron Bright, well I really dont find that level of ego acceptable. Of course, its not entirely his fault. Most of it, is the people around him implementing such levels of narcissism. I wont name names, but a certain PARENT to him is a bitch...and its not just me and the regulars here who thinks it. I recently recieved an email from a fan who met him at a function overseas and she was with him there too, and she was no less pleasant to PAYING fans at an official function. Cam is gonna grow up thinking his shit doesnt stink because of his family, and one day hes going to learn they were wrong. The most disturbing part of this is, people from his school who were over here tell us he has the ego at school even. Its cast members who sell the movies....and unsell the movies. Even family members can help unsell a movie.
 
Dont get me wrong. Eclipse still had some class in the cast. Bryce Dallas Howard, Xavier Samuel, Peter Facinelli & Jackson Rathbone were all awesome when they were seen around. Booboo Stewart, Jack Huston, Bronson Pelletier & Chaske Spencer were all great as well in the brief time I saw them.

But just like I said during New Moon, when I said I wouldnt see Twilight till Kristen changed her ways. I wont see Eclipse because of the attitudes shown by them here. I'll still go see New Moon. I have good memories of that experience. But Eclipse, no. Its sad for Xavier & Bryce that I wont get to see the film that they did here, the one that they made such a positive influence on me with. For that, they can thank others, namely Kristen Stewart, Summit Entertainment, Stephenie Meyer, Kellan Lutz, and to a lesser extend Nikki Reed & Elizabeth Reaser.
 
I absolutely hope they take Breaking Dawn to Portland. It will be a relief to not have it here. Dont be confused if it goes there either. Its NOT because of security/fans/paps because it will be considerably worse there obviously. It is because of the all mighty dollar. Which is fine, it is a business. But those of you who naively think the Twilight series is moving there because it will be calmer need to get your head checked. Anyone with an IQ higher than single digits & even a minor knowledge of Portland can tell you it will be far far far worse there with a region only about 1/2 the size of Vancouver, closer proximity to the stories roots, and closer proximity to Los Angeles, the media and fan attention on the area will be overwhelming for the cast. Just like when I told you all that Vancouver would be better than Italy, NYC & LA for their privacy, trust me when I tell you, Portland will NOT be better in that aspect. Its just not logically possible. But as we all know, Summit doesnt make decisions in the interest of their stars, they make it in the interest of their pocket book. Which like I said, is fine. it is a business after all. Too bad for them, their business model doesnt include a public relations course for the cast, that might help then sell the movie on possible fans on the fence. Its all fine & dandy to do a mall tour where the actors pretend for a couple hours. You should teach them how to pretend outside the mall as well. Thats where you actually do win over people. The ones lining up for 2+ hrs to see a star will likely go to see the movie regardless. The random encounter with someone at a hotel or restaurant on the other hand, those people likely have not made a commitment to see the movie & the stars can unsell the movie far easier than they can sell the movie to those same people.
 
I started off as not a fan of Twilight, I was won over by the cast of New Moon, and was alienated by the cast of Eclipse. This month, I will go to see the LAST Twilight movie I intend to see from the series.