Blood pressure rises in gothic-tinged 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part l'

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part I" means the beginning of the end of the teenage saga of vampires and werewolves, and Team Edward and Team Jacob. At this point, you have either been bitten by author Stephenie Meyer's world of youthful angst or are long past caring.

One reason you might care about this film is that it is directed by Bill Condon ("Gods and Monsters," "Chicago," "Dreamgirls"), who has, for better or worse, added some gravitas to the franchise. I would think mostly for the better, finding the first four films in the series rather lifeless. Condon pumps a little blood into the characters, and even if they don't come across as quite human - even the human ones - they are more interesting.

There is a more disquieting gothic feel to the story - as if the director reimagined it via "Frankenstein," part of the theme of his "Gods and Monsters" - with some dark humor thrown in.

"Breaking Dawn - Part I" brings us (finally) the wedding of nice-girl human Bella (Kristen Stewart) and nice-guy vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) after their long romance. Despite her desire, she's a bit apprehensive. After all, he does have fangs, and she has a vision of a large wedding cake covered in bloody corpses. Werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner), by the way, is off pouting, having lost out on her affections.

As it turns out, Bella's worries aren't unwarranted. After some bruising sexual play on her wedding night, the heretofore chaste Bella quickly becomes pregnant. Who knew that could happen?

The film then moves toward its uneasy end, setting up what could become a real bloodbath in Part II. (Having not read the book, I'll wait to be surprised.)

Questioning the Bard

In Roland Emmerich's new film, "Anonymous," the authorship of William Shakespeare's plays becomes more than a dry, academic question: The future of the British monarchy and even the whole

What else would you expect from the German filmmaker who has put the world at peril in such apocalyptic big-budget visions as "Independence Day," "The Patriot," "Godzilla," "The Day After Tomorrow" and "2012"?

In "Anonymous," Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, is the real Bard, and the man from Stratford-on-Avon merely a mouthpiece, a way of publishing tragedies like "Macbeth" without the crown knowing.

Emmerich's film focuses on the burning question in England at the time: who would succeed Elizabeth I, who had no children - the Scottish James, a Catholic, or a more distant but Protestant relative. The power struggle, as history tells us, would create decades of violence.

As you might expect, "Anonymous" does better in the action scenes than in the drama, which gets a little turgid at times, but Emmerich doesn't spend much time focusing on that. There are some nice turns by a fine cast, though - Rafe Spall as a bumbling Shakespeare, Rhys Ifans as de Vere and Joely Richardson and her real-life mother, Vanessa Redgrave, as the young and old Elizabeth.

As for whether de Vere was the Bard, there are better and more cogent arguments, although I am personally skeptical he was.

If it had been more serious, "Anonymous" might have been annoying. (That, of course, would have required a lot more historical accuracy to begin with.) As it is, the costume drama/swashbuckler is passable entertainment.

Keep in mind

"Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey, Season 2" has been every bit as good as season one. The miniseries from Julian Fellowes, writer of "Gosford Park," is set during World War I and tells the story of the Crawley family - aristocrats who live on an estate in rural England - and their servants. I would recommend watching season one, which begins with the news of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, first.

Despite the big names in the cast, "Fireflies in the Garden" is a rather modest film about a dysfunctional family. It is about all those things that films about dysfunctional families are about - childhood hurts that never healed, strained relationships, the longing to be whole, etc. First-time writer and director Dennis Lee doesn't do much with any of this.

The film, which stars Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds and Emily Watson, isn't necessarily bad, but it doesn't have much of an impact.

Rob Lowman

818-713-3687

robert.lowman@dailynews.com