Hardwicke

I was reading a review of the movie Twilight this afternoon and I was surprised to find that Catherine Hardwicke was the director.

I've seen all the movies that she has directed up until Twilight.
I think the woman is on crack.
Her directing choices are so bizarre.

Her first movie was Thirteen starring Evan Rachel Wood and Holly Hunter.
I understand what she was going for in this movie. I would even say, on some level, it's a good movie. But, I didn't like this movie. At all. 13-year-old girls are brats. I have a lot of respect for middle school teachers. It's on the list of jobs I would never, ever in a million years want, right alongside garbage collector and nurse (can you imagine me voluntarily entering a profession where I have to touch people for a living on purpose... yuck!).

Her second movie was Lords of Dogtown starring Heath Ledger and Emile Hirsch.
It's a kick-ass movie about the fathers of modern skateboarding based on the documentary of the same name. Love it. In fact, I own it.

Her third movie was The Nativity Story starring Keisha Castle-Hughes (aka that chick from Whale Rider). I don't think I need to enter a description of what this movie is about.

Um, what? The first two are gritty, fast paced stories about kids who grow up too fast surrounded by drugs, sex and alcohol. And in Lords of Dogtown's case, fame too.
The third is about the birth of Christ.
One of these things is not like the other...

Now, her fourth movie is Twilight.
Basically, a glorified teen soap opera about a vampire who falls in love with a human.

I haven't seen Twilight, but I've read the book it was based on. It's about the furthest thing from gritty that I can think of.

The first three movies all look alike. They have the same color palette and choppy cut away style, that I'm banking the fourth one has as well.
The only thematic thread that holds them together is that they are about teenagers.

If I didn't know that they were all directed by the same woman and you listed those four movies, Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown, The Nativity Story and Twilight and asked me what they all had in common, I would say nothing. They have nothing in common.

I'm not even bagging on her. It's just such a weird group of movies to call your own.
It makes me wonder what the thought process was. Does she just direct any movie they'll let her direct? Is there a rhyme or a reason there? If so, what the hell is it?

Maybe if I start smoking crack it will all become clear.