New Moon: My Movie Review

I watched New Moon with my girl friend this past weekend. We talk about the books that we read and the movies that we watch but this is the first time we ever went to the movies together. It was nice.

I like New Moon. And I love Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black. He’s cute, he’s hot and “he’s sort of beautiful.” 🙂 Now I find Taylor more appealing than Robert Pattinson. I apologize to Rob’s fans. Not that I don’t like him. But just look at the bulked up, dark and smiling Jacob and then turn to the pale, slender, and always brooding Edward Cullen. Don’t you just want to turn your eyes back to Jacob again?

Robert is a lot more good looking without the pale Edward make-up and the restrained look. I’ve seen him on The Ellen Degeneres Show and yes, I did find him appealing on that interview. He was smiling and laughing and he’s sort of humble. And I like that kind of personality in a person, celebrity or not.

In New Moon, Edward left Bella. Heartbroken, she turns to Jacob for comfort. The movie stayed pretty close to the book, although there were a few changes and they weren’t that bad. As usual, it’s exciting to see the characters that we’ve only read about in the books, like the werewolves and the Volturi.

The movie is better than Twilight, as I hoped it would be. I’ve read a movie review of New Moon where the critic had a problem with the acting. It was flat, he said. I don’t even know what that means. I’ll have to look it up. How are lovesick teenagers supposed to act anyway? The acting was okay for me.

The only thing that I wish they could have done better was the transformation of the werewolves. One second, Paul and Jacob are human, and the next, they’re werewolves. The special effects are great, but I just wish that they could have shown how they have transformed a little bit slowly so we could see maybe at least a close up of the face changing into that of a wolf’s. After all, this is the first time we see them transform.

But overall, I like New Moon. Can’t wait to see Eclipse. And did I hear it right? It’s going to be shown in June? Only seven more months.

Read my New Moon Book Review here.

Twilight – A movie review

Warning: Spoilers Alert!

Okay, before I get any nasty comments, I know that not everybody is interested in the Twilight series and Twilight the movie is not for everyone. But as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I admit that I got hooked and I just had to see the movie.

It was okay, at least for me. I went last Saturday at 12:30 pm at Kildonan Place and there weren’t a lot of people. None of that frenzy that I’ve been hearing on the news in other places. Most were teen-agers and young adults and there were a handful of pre-teens and young teens with their mothers.

The movie tried to stay with what happened in the book, although they changed some parts which I will mention later.

I like that the movie also started with Bella’s prologue about how she’d never given much thought to how she would die, but that dying in place of someone she loves is all worth it.

The entire movie was mostly dimly lighted. But I guess that was to be expected as in the town of Forks, it is mostly cloudy. That is the reason why the Cullens decided to live there. Because vampires can’t go out it the sunlight. Or they would sparkle like there are thousands of tiny diamonds embedded on their skin.

First difference that I noticed is that Bella met Jacob early on in the movie. In the book she met him towards the middle of the story. But if you think about it, Bella and Jacob knew each other since they were kids.

The actors who played the Cullens are all handsome and beautiful, and noticeably pale and white. And Robert Pattinson! Wow! I never really noticed how handsome he was in the Harry Potter movies. But he got a lot of close-ups in the movie and boy does he have smouldering eyes like Edward Cullen. And Kristen Stewart is pretty, too. They make a good couple.

Okay, I’m gonna control myself now before I sound like a giggly school girl. 🙂 And let me tell you, there were applause and giggles in the theatre every time Edward got those close ups and every time he and Bella stare at each other and when they kiss. But then I think the director and the actors were successful in that because that’s the reaction the readers get from the book. I just wish there was at least one scene when Edward would have brushed his icy fingertips on Bella’s cheek.

Or I would have loved to see the part where Edward was telling Bella that it’s twilight and how it’s the safest time of day for them and also the saddest. That would explain the title of the movie, wouldn’t it?

What bothered me a little was that Bella and his dad Charlie ate out in the diner a lot. In the book, Bella would always prepare dinner for Charlie. It shows how she was taking care of him. I didn’t miss the author herself, Ms. Stephenie Meyer. She appeared as an extra in the movie. She was one of the customers in the diner.

In the book, Bella was using a computer with a slow dial-up internet connection. In the movie she was using a laptop. Can I just mention that the actor who played Mike Newton is also handsome? I didn’t think that he would be. The actor who played Jacob Black is cute, too. But we won’t see a lot of him until the second installment.

Also in the movie, Charlie gave Bella pepper spray, as protection. It was funny, but it did help a little when bad vampire James attacked her in the dance studio. In the book, James bit Bella on the hand, but it the movie, he bit her on the wrist. Yes, it was crescent-shaped, too.

There were a few lines that made the audience laugh, and of course Bella’s clumsiness can be funny at times.

And of course, in a movie where there is a vampire who’s impossibly fast and strong, there has to be special effects. They were alright. I just thought I’d mention that, too.

The changes and omissions are forgivable. I guess they add a different flavour to the movie. As I’ve said, the movie was okay for me. I give it a score of three out of five stars.