But not quite yet...
I finished up the book (and the first chapter of New Moon) last night before I went to bed, and no, I didn't hop up and hit a 24 hour megalomart to go get the next book. I will get New Moon, but I also have Christmas shopping to do. So, I may just halt cold turkey (right).
Anyway, as expected, the climax of the book was pretty rushed. I really wish they had introduced the character of James before he went all huntery. Once again, I wish I'd be able to find out more about the vampires instead of all the teenage navel gazing. I think this might be the first time ever that I have been hypercritical of an author's use of voice. I certainly have no problem with first person books, especially Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone mysteries and Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum. However, I think Stephenie Meyer would have been better served to have written these books in third person omniscient. Without giving away the reason why, when Edward is sitting on a plane from Seattle to Phoenix, I would REALLY love to know how a rabid vampire, stuck in a flying metal tube, didn't just go apeshit and eat everyone. Sure, I know why he didn't, but I would love to hear the struggle of the character.
Ah well, we'll see how New Moon goes. I cannot say I was overwhelmed by the prologue and the first chapter, but at least the Volturi are mentioned in the first chapter (I assume they're the big bad's of the book since Entertainment Weekly was talking about who should play them yesterday...I already know Jacob has a larger role). So anyway...we'll see. I'm enjoying the story as a whole, but there is certainly a lot I feel like I'm missing out on. We'll see if Stephenie Meyer can keep my interest.
Anyway, I did do other stuff this weekend. I actually ended up seeing another movie on Saturday. So, here are my capsule reviews of what I saw Friday and Saturday:
Role Models: I love Paul Rudd, and Sean William Scott is hot from the neck down...especially when he doesn't speak. I had read good things about the movie, and I was in the mood for a comedy. So, I made this the first of my triple feature on Saturday. Yes, it is raunchy, but it is so damned funny. Seriously, the last 30 minutes or so is a role playing, medieval battle royale! The central conceit of two losers who find themselves while being "Bigs" to a couple of younger boys is pretty standard stuff, but I is just very well done. I may actually get this on DVD when it comes out. A special shout out to Jane Lynch and her bagel dog!
Quantum of Solace: It had been a while since I had seen Casino Royale. So, when it was referrenced a couple of times, I was a little bit at a loss. It wasn't really all that important, and I do not think you'd be missing out on too much if you haven't seen it at all. Quantum of Solace is a very brutal movie. There really isn't any wonder that Daniel Craig has been injured a few times during filming. The fight sequences are excellently choreographed, and they have gone a long way in recapturing the "cool" of James Bond. My two complaints are that they have lost the fun aspect of the franchise. I don't expect them to go back to the flippant Roger Moore days, but it wouldn't hurt Bond to lighten up just tad. Also, outside of Craig's Bond and Judi Dench's M, none of the other characters really registered for me.
Bolt: This is a very cute movie, and it certainly had a lot to offer an adult. It is pretty much your standard "Incredible Journey" type story, but it really doesn't kick into gear until Rhino, the fan boy hamster, comes on the scene. He's pretty much comedy gold, and I'd recommend the flick just to see him. Also, even though I didn't see it this way, I would say go see it in Disney 3-D if you get a chance. This is the first movie by Disney to be completely optimized for 3-D, instead of just having a few scenes that utilize it, and especially during the long action scenes, I felt like I was missing out on some of the fun. I might go see it again in 3-D. All in all, it is very solid, but Disney has a lot to learn from Pixar.
So, there ya have it folks. I'm going to try to see more movies, especially since we're getting into Oscar season.
Showing posts with label Twilight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Twilight. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Monday, December 1st - Twihard: With a Vengence
In my dream, I am pursued by a nameless hunter...
When I viewed those first few celluloid moments, I thought I could withstand the onslaught of this powerful, all encompassing beast, but as I sat and sifted through the enormous amount of history and lore, I could feel the floor beginning to fall away at the periphery of my consciousness, and I knew then, that I would succumb to the beast.
I stared without breathing across the long room, into the dark eyes of the hunter, and he looked pleasantly back at me....and without a modicum of resistance, I picked up my copy of Twilight...
Yes folks...it happened. I'm a Twihard.
Remember when I said I was fascinated with the Edward point of view, but I didn't think I would read the almost 300 pages of the leaked version of Midnight Sun? Well, since Friday, I am more than 100 pages into that (read on my iPhone, mind you), and I picked up Twilight on Saturday evening. It is a 500 page book, and I am well past 350 already. Obviously, this isn't exactly Proust, but considering that I've probably only been reading for a few hours total, I would have to say I have devoured this much quicker than I anticipated. It is funny that fellow Twihards refer to this as a Textually Transmitted Disease, because, yes...it is!
Having seen the movie before reading the book, I obviously have the benefit of being able to use the imagery of the movie instead of coming up with my own mind's eye view of these characters, and this is probably why I'm not one of the screaming tweens who doesn't think Robert Pattinson is hot enough to play Edward. He's really not all that hot really, but he certainly has the ethereal side of things down. However, just like the movie, when Edward and his family were absent, I often found myself wondering what was going on in the much more interesting Cullen family. Bella, the narrator, is kind of...hmmm...annoying.
In a lot of ways, the movie is a better edited version of the book, which isn't always the case in Hollywood. One of the most annoying literary conceits for me when it comes to suspense/mystery novels is that the ending feels rushed, and since I am 350 pages into the novel and "the hunter" (that is referenced in the one sentence I feebly stole from the Twilight prologue above) hasn't even shown his face yet, I have a feeling that I'm going to feel rushed by what is about to happen. At least in the movie, they introduced him earlier by at least referencing weird killings by "animals" moving towards Forks. Also, the movie does a much better job dealing with Bella's awakening to what exactly Edward is, and the big reveal in the movie, which you've seen in commercials, is downright breathtaking, but in the book, it is simply a question and answer session in the car heading back from Port Angeles.
The one thing the movie got massively wrong is to neglect the story of Carlisle and Edward. I was about ready to go to bed last night, when I got to the chapter when Edward explains all of this. I couldn't stop reading, and it is by far the most fascinating part of the book for me so far. If they had just addressed a little of what makes the Cullen clan tick in the movie, I think I wouldn't have felt at such a loss for the subtext, and I must re-iterate again, if Stephenie Meyer wants to write books about the Cullen clan, I'll be there like a crack addict.
So, here I sit at work, wishing I was at home finishing the book. It doesn't help that today is one of those grey rainy/snowy days that are often the weather pattern in the book. The big trouble is that as soon as I finish, I'm going to want to start on New Moon.
AiYiYi....I'm weak!
When I viewed those first few celluloid moments, I thought I could withstand the onslaught of this powerful, all encompassing beast, but as I sat and sifted through the enormous amount of history and lore, I could feel the floor beginning to fall away at the periphery of my consciousness, and I knew then, that I would succumb to the beast.
I stared without breathing across the long room, into the dark eyes of the hunter, and he looked pleasantly back at me....and without a modicum of resistance, I picked up my copy of Twilight...
Yes folks...it happened. I'm a Twihard.
Remember when I said I was fascinated with the Edward point of view, but I didn't think I would read the almost 300 pages of the leaked version of Midnight Sun? Well, since Friday, I am more than 100 pages into that (read on my iPhone, mind you), and I picked up Twilight on Saturday evening. It is a 500 page book, and I am well past 350 already. Obviously, this isn't exactly Proust, but considering that I've probably only been reading for a few hours total, I would have to say I have devoured this much quicker than I anticipated. It is funny that fellow Twihards refer to this as a Textually Transmitted Disease, because, yes...it is!
Having seen the movie before reading the book, I obviously have the benefit of being able to use the imagery of the movie instead of coming up with my own mind's eye view of these characters, and this is probably why I'm not one of the screaming tweens who doesn't think Robert Pattinson is hot enough to play Edward. He's really not all that hot really, but he certainly has the ethereal side of things down. However, just like the movie, when Edward and his family were absent, I often found myself wondering what was going on in the much more interesting Cullen family. Bella, the narrator, is kind of...hmmm...annoying.
In a lot of ways, the movie is a better edited version of the book, which isn't always the case in Hollywood. One of the most annoying literary conceits for me when it comes to suspense/mystery novels is that the ending feels rushed, and since I am 350 pages into the novel and "the hunter" (that is referenced in the one sentence I feebly stole from the Twilight prologue above) hasn't even shown his face yet, I have a feeling that I'm going to feel rushed by what is about to happen. At least in the movie, they introduced him earlier by at least referencing weird killings by "animals" moving towards Forks. Also, the movie does a much better job dealing with Bella's awakening to what exactly Edward is, and the big reveal in the movie, which you've seen in commercials, is downright breathtaking, but in the book, it is simply a question and answer session in the car heading back from Port Angeles.
The one thing the movie got massively wrong is to neglect the story of Carlisle and Edward. I was about ready to go to bed last night, when I got to the chapter when Edward explains all of this. I couldn't stop reading, and it is by far the most fascinating part of the book for me so far. If they had just addressed a little of what makes the Cullen clan tick in the movie, I think I wouldn't have felt at such a loss for the subtext, and I must re-iterate again, if Stephenie Meyer wants to write books about the Cullen clan, I'll be there like a crack addict.
So, here I sit at work, wishing I was at home finishing the book. It doesn't help that today is one of those grey rainy/snowy days that are often the weather pattern in the book. The big trouble is that as soon as I finish, I'm going to want to start on New Moon.
AiYiYi....I'm weak!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Saturday, November 29th - Midnight Sun
So after waking up on the couch after a night of drinking, post-Thanksgiving and of course, dealing with a work issue that I slept through the call for, I decided that I was going to go to the movies. The Mean Girls have been talking for a while (just talking...not doing, mind you) about going to a movie, and since there were plenty out currently that I had a passing interest in, I decided to do something I hadn't done in a very long while - hop around theaters. Now, growing up in a small town, I never really had the opportunity to go to a big megaplex of theaters, which makes this practice imminently easy to do, and I can recall the absurd joy I got when I did it for the first time, a double feature of The Matrix and Analyze This. To add even more to the fact that I am going to hell, I did my first theatrical sin on Good Friday.
Anyway, back to today... I suppose I was feeling even more sinful, because instead of just making it a double feature, I mapped out the heretofore unattainable goal of a TRIPLE feature, and the fact that I did it with flying colors (and NO popcorn with "buttery" topping), makes me think that a quad-feature is not impossible. We shall see! I took in three very different movies: Role Models, Twilight, and Quantum of Solace. I am happy to say I enjoyed all of them for different reasons, and I'll do reviews of the rest in a later post. However, I want to focus on the current teen craze/popular culture zeitgeist of Twilight.
(While I hate people who spoil movies and I do not plan to reveal too much here, I will say if you have any plans to watch Twilight and want to remain untainted, you'll probably want to stop reading here.)
I like to consider myself pretty much on the cutting edge of pop culture. I keep up to speed on celebrity news/gossip, Billboard charts, subscription to Entertainment Weekly, etc, and even if I'm not well versed in stuff, I at least feel like I have a grasp on what is "big" out there. Well, the whole tsunami surrounding Stephanie Meyer's creation really completely flew under my radar. I do recall when the Twilight the book came out, because I read the review in EW calling it the next great teen series in the same vein (ha) as Harry Potter, inasmuch as there is plenty for adults to like about the series, but instead of running out and reading it then, I just swept it under my mental rug. It wasn't until this year and the unavoidable hype surrounding the (poorly received) 4th book, Breaking Dawn, and the movie adaptation of Twilight, that I began to get mildly interested. Of course, there was Harry Potter connection of Robert Pattinson, the dreamy Edward, having played the doomed Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire. Even with that, the hype, and the pretty good reviews of the movie, I still have to say it wasn't something I felt necessarily compelled to go see in the theater, which all changed when I saw it fit well in my triple feature plans.
A lot of people who know me would probably be shocked that I am a pretty big romantic at heart. Truly, I'd say most of my relationships have ended because I have more of a high schooler's idea of what a relationship should be, which is perfection personified. The fact is relationships are tough, and they're rarely the meadows full of wild flowers and blue skies as far as the eye can see that we imagine them to be. However, from a celluloid area, I am a sucker for a good romance. Indeed, The English Patient, while certainly not a wild flowers story, is by far my favorite movie of all time. When I watched that movie with my parents so long ago, my mother said "There is no way you can love that movie and not be a romantic," which was probably the clearest look I have ever given my parents into my soul. So, knowing that Twilight looks at love from a youthful perspective, I knew that I would likely fall helplessly in love with the story of Bella Swan and Edward Cullin. I did...mostly.
The movie itself was well constructed and acted. Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson have a great chemistry, which is absolutely necessary if you're going to believe a story like this. It takes a lot to make a viewer believe in love at first sight (or scent...), and I certainly believed it this time. However, I came out of the movie wanting to read the book, just because I felt like I was missing a lot of the subtext. This is probably one of the very first times I'll have watched an adaptation without having read the book first, and I suppose I now have greater appreciation for those who didn't quite "get" The Lord of the Rings because they hadn't read and memorized everything like I did.
While I believed the central romance of the movie, I found myself rather bored with the character of Bella Swan, and it really has nothing to do with the story or the actress. For her part, the angsty teen, in love with someone she knows is dangerous is probably one of the most threadbare, movie cliches out there. Sure, she is dealing with the love for the undead, but she pales (ha) in comparison to the much more interesting story of Edward. For the record, I do not want you to think I find Edward interesting because I'm gay and he's a hot guy. No, I'd actually say I find Robert Pattinson to be less than "the hottest guy in school" that Edward is supposed to be. Sure, I would love it if a guy ever looked at me the way Edward looks at Bella, but there is just a lot more depth inherent to Edward. The character arc of the vampire, the predator, who has to fight at every moment the bloodlust to kill Bella is just so damn interesting, and yes, I know this has already sort of been done by Buffy and Angel. The fact that the Cullen clan has been around for at least a century and chooses to be "vegan" -- they do not feed on humans just animals -- makes their whole story a lot more interesting. Indeed, since I was thwarted in my meager effort to purchase Twilight to read tonight, I went online to find out more about Midnight Sun, which is Stephanie Meyer's retelling of the story of Twilight with Edward as the narrator. Something tells me that I'm going to enjoy inhabiting the thoughts of Edward more than Bella, and I'm going to have to resist the urge to read the unpublished manuscript for Midnight Sun, because I'd rather wait until she releases the book on her terms, not because some idiot released it to the wrong person, who subsequently released it to the internet (I'm already one chapter in though....so, um..yeah, probably going to read the rest of it).
Since I do not know how much of the back story you get in the subsequent books, I would hope that Meyer decides to write a prequel series, because I think there is a lot of interesting ideas to be mined about Carlisle Cullen and how the rest of his "family" came into being. That story I would read from day one. Until that happens, I would recommend Twilight to anyone who likes a good romance, and especially, if you're willing to check your adult brain at the door. This story doesn't exist in the reality of relationships, and if someone as jaded as me can get swept up into the story, then I think almost anyone can enjoy Twilight.
Anyway, back to today... I suppose I was feeling even more sinful, because instead of just making it a double feature, I mapped out the heretofore unattainable goal of a TRIPLE feature, and the fact that I did it with flying colors (and NO popcorn with "buttery" topping), makes me think that a quad-feature is not impossible. We shall see! I took in three very different movies: Role Models, Twilight, and Quantum of Solace. I am happy to say I enjoyed all of them for different reasons, and I'll do reviews of the rest in a later post. However, I want to focus on the current teen craze/popular culture zeitgeist of Twilight.
(While I hate people who spoil movies and I do not plan to reveal too much here, I will say if you have any plans to watch Twilight and want to remain untainted, you'll probably want to stop reading here.)
I like to consider myself pretty much on the cutting edge of pop culture. I keep up to speed on celebrity news/gossip, Billboard charts, subscription to Entertainment Weekly, etc, and even if I'm not well versed in stuff, I at least feel like I have a grasp on what is "big" out there. Well, the whole tsunami surrounding Stephanie Meyer's creation really completely flew under my radar. I do recall when the Twilight the book came out, because I read the review in EW calling it the next great teen series in the same vein (ha) as Harry Potter, inasmuch as there is plenty for adults to like about the series, but instead of running out and reading it then, I just swept it under my mental rug. It wasn't until this year and the unavoidable hype surrounding the (poorly received) 4th book, Breaking Dawn, and the movie adaptation of Twilight, that I began to get mildly interested. Of course, there was Harry Potter connection of Robert Pattinson, the dreamy Edward, having played the doomed Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire. Even with that, the hype, and the pretty good reviews of the movie, I still have to say it wasn't something I felt necessarily compelled to go see in the theater, which all changed when I saw it fit well in my triple feature plans.
A lot of people who know me would probably be shocked that I am a pretty big romantic at heart. Truly, I'd say most of my relationships have ended because I have more of a high schooler's idea of what a relationship should be, which is perfection personified. The fact is relationships are tough, and they're rarely the meadows full of wild flowers and blue skies as far as the eye can see that we imagine them to be. However, from a celluloid area, I am a sucker for a good romance. Indeed, The English Patient, while certainly not a wild flowers story, is by far my favorite movie of all time. When I watched that movie with my parents so long ago, my mother said "There is no way you can love that movie and not be a romantic," which was probably the clearest look I have ever given my parents into my soul. So, knowing that Twilight looks at love from a youthful perspective, I knew that I would likely fall helplessly in love with the story of Bella Swan and Edward Cullin. I did...mostly.
The movie itself was well constructed and acted. Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson have a great chemistry, which is absolutely necessary if you're going to believe a story like this. It takes a lot to make a viewer believe in love at first sight (or scent...), and I certainly believed it this time. However, I came out of the movie wanting to read the book, just because I felt like I was missing a lot of the subtext. This is probably one of the very first times I'll have watched an adaptation without having read the book first, and I suppose I now have greater appreciation for those who didn't quite "get" The Lord of the Rings because they hadn't read and memorized everything like I did.
While I believed the central romance of the movie, I found myself rather bored with the character of Bella Swan, and it really has nothing to do with the story or the actress. For her part, the angsty teen, in love with someone she knows is dangerous is probably one of the most threadbare, movie cliches out there. Sure, she is dealing with the love for the undead, but she pales (ha) in comparison to the much more interesting story of Edward. For the record, I do not want you to think I find Edward interesting because I'm gay and he's a hot guy. No, I'd actually say I find Robert Pattinson to be less than "the hottest guy in school" that Edward is supposed to be. Sure, I would love it if a guy ever looked at me the way Edward looks at Bella, but there is just a lot more depth inherent to Edward. The character arc of the vampire, the predator, who has to fight at every moment the bloodlust to kill Bella is just so damn interesting, and yes, I know this has already sort of been done by Buffy and Angel. The fact that the Cullen clan has been around for at least a century and chooses to be "vegan" -- they do not feed on humans just animals -- makes their whole story a lot more interesting. Indeed, since I was thwarted in my meager effort to purchase Twilight to read tonight, I went online to find out more about Midnight Sun, which is Stephanie Meyer's retelling of the story of Twilight with Edward as the narrator. Something tells me that I'm going to enjoy inhabiting the thoughts of Edward more than Bella, and I'm going to have to resist the urge to read the unpublished manuscript for Midnight Sun, because I'd rather wait until she releases the book on her terms, not because some idiot released it to the wrong person, who subsequently released it to the internet (I'm already one chapter in though....so, um..yeah, probably going to read the rest of it).
Since I do not know how much of the back story you get in the subsequent books, I would hope that Meyer decides to write a prequel series, because I think there is a lot of interesting ideas to be mined about Carlisle Cullen and how the rest of his "family" came into being. That story I would read from day one. Until that happens, I would recommend Twilight to anyone who likes a good romance, and especially, if you're willing to check your adult brain at the door. This story doesn't exist in the reality of relationships, and if someone as jaded as me can get swept up into the story, then I think almost anyone can enjoy Twilight.
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