Friday, November 20, 2009

New Moon

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"and good luck with shootin' the moon..."

What an AMAZING Twilight/New Moon day I had yesterday.

First of all Jennifer and I went to Target where I got the cutest new boots and I got some jammies for my Bella... they're adorable and they have feets!! :)

Then we went to Hot Topic to see some of thew NM stuff and see if there was anything that I couldn't live without... the employees brought out some of the Twilight merchandise they had stuffed in the back that was now on clearance so we got some trading cards, a pillow case for $3 and I bought the Twilight lunchbox. XD Yep.

The movie theater experience was incredible. We went to the Mainstreet 6 AMC downtown in the Power and Light District. It's fairly new, hasn't been up a year yet and it was our first time there. That alone was mindblowing! I'm so, so glad that we chose to go to that theater. It was super fancy, if I do say so...

The staff was very helpful and uber professional. They sold merch there, which was kinda strange... t-shirts, posters, bags... They had a collectors cup if you bought the large drink so we both did that. Bad idea. I peed twice before the movie started and then 10 minutes into the film I had to go again (now, you know I didn't leave my seat, though! I would have just peed myself first before missing any of that film!)

Speaking of pee, (there's a sentence I never thought I'd say...) the bathrooms were exquisite! Each stall featured an Academy Award winning actress. (I got Lauren Bacall both times I went pee... Jenn got Reese Witherspoon both times.) In each stall they had their own private sinks and hand dryers, astonishing!

This theater had assigned seats, which I adore. I think every theater should have assigned seats! We were right in the middle of the rows, pretty much dead center.

Now.

Onto the film.

**SPOILERS**

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The opening title sequence FLOORED me. I do believe I literally held my breath. Wow. The dream sequence in the beginning was just as I had imagined it to be and this is where we first get to see Edward's new sparkle.

Wow.

I could write an entire paragraph on the sparkleage that is Edward Cullen. THAT is how a vampire is supposed to sparkle.

Now, sorry Catherine... you know I love you, I know that you didn't have basically an open budget in order to make Twilight, so I will cut you some slack, but goddamn. Chris Weitz NAILED it.

Also, I am uber impressed with the new way the vampires run. I know that's something very simple, but it was definitely something that needed to be fixed from Twilight.

Edward and Bella talking in class about Romeo and Juliet and about suicide was great. It was heavy enough, not dulled down for the audience, I really appreciated that.... that honesty with such a mature subject.

Bella/Kristen Stewart looks sooo much more beautiful in this film than she did in Twilight and I'm happy to see she didn't try and chew her face off the entire film. (The lip biting was a tad too much in the first film.)

Edward/Robert Pattinson looks dashing and handsome. I'm glad that they didn't wax his eyebrows like a girls this time around... however the airbrushing on his stomach in the Volterra scene was a tad overboard. (No one believes that that's his real stomach.)

Jacob/Taylor Lautner for some reason annoyed me a bit. Mostly I think it was the god awful wig, perhaps I was distracted by that... I did notice the girls shrieked when he took off his shirt after her motorcycle crash.

The Wolf Pack could use a step up on their acting skills... I'm not familiar with all of their names, I do know that I love Alex Meraz. He's a great actor, but mumbled his line just before he phased. The guy who plays Sam Uley was good too... I liked Emily, she was great and I loved her scar... Hopefully I like the wolves better in the next movie.

Speaking of wolves... I know in the book they say these wolves are like, fucking huge, but my god... did they have to look like big foot?! I think they maybe were a tad TOO large... How is Jake supposed to nudge Bella's hand in Breaking Dawn if they stand 10ft tall?

When did Angela Weber get hot?

Now... onto the good parts!!

Jasper. Jasper apparently has a sense of humor in New Moon, which is strange since he's usually... um... not funny? But it works! I love that Jasper is now the comedic relief! He was so high-larious in the first scene he's in... the school scene... "Happy... uh... nevermind."

I was freaking BEAMING with happiness that we finally addressed Jasper's powers! When Edward is talking about the families talents in Twilight he explains that he can read minds, that Alice can see the future and that... oh no wait, let's just forget about Jasper's awesome ability to taste/alter emotions! *spits*

The stranger chick next to me kept looking at me every time Jasper/Jackson was on the screen because I would cover my mouth. Hahah!

The birthday scene: There were 3 scenes that Chris Weitz had to get right in order to win my love and devotion. The birthday scene, the months and when Bella saves Edward. Well, two out of three ain't bad... I was not as amazed and blown away by the birthday scene as I had hoped to be. *insert mayjah sad face here* Jackson was incredible, it was nothing wrong on his part... his growl? Wow... His eyes, his stance, his snapping of the teeth, the look of remorse/fear/shame at the end? Perfection...

The scene was not intense enough for me... it's THE moment in New Moon. It's the entire reason for the book and it's supposed to capture just how hard this is for not only Jasper and Edward, but the entire family. Jasper didn't come CLOSE to Bella... that was the biggest let down and then he stood there while she was sitting on the ground covered in blood... meanwhile in the book they literally have to DRAG him away.

I loved how it started, I love how Jasper ducked Carlisle and the blur of him as he ran towards Bella, I love the crashing of the piano, I just really wish I would have seen more struggle...

I guess this is the part where things can never live up to how you imagine them in your mind when you're reading.

See, I saw Twilight before I read any of the books, so then when reading the book, I pictured some parts of the movie and I was fortunate enough to picture the cast while reading - but now it's a lot of pressure for these directors to live up to the expectations of the fanbase and I can finally understand why so many Twilight fans were let down after the first film -- it's not their fault, the actors fault, the directors fault -- everyone has their own imagination and that will always be more vivid than anything they can depict on screen.

Moving on... I loved the talk with Carlisle and Bella, that was very well executed and I really loved when he placed his finger under her chin for a split second. That was adorable.

Bella's scar? Badass. Perfect.

The breakup scene was moving and definitely well done... and then as I said he had to get it right... the months.

I had really hoped that he would leave just a blank screen, a black or white screen with simple writing, "October", "November", "December"... however, I LOVED it. That's one of my favorite parts in the book and I can't get through it without putting my bookmark in, setting the book down and putting my head in my hands and bawling. That part just is so overly emotional for me.

Bella writing/talking to Alice while she's away? I loved that addition... That worked well into the film.

Daddy mustache was funny in this one. :) Made me giggle...

Let's see, the hallucinations of Edward... well, it was never addressed that he never actually came to visit her in some form, that she was just imagining him and going crazy... so those who haven't read the book aren't going to understand that.

The cliff diving was great and Victoria was badass... that color red for her hair was WOW.

The scene where Jacob is driving Bella home and Carlisle's car is parked out front? From that moment until Alice and Bella are on the plane --- that was executed EXACTLY how I pictured it in my mind... The phone call made my heart ache. I hate that part in the book... I mean, I hate it with good reason, because it's wrenching... I love it and hate it, if that makes sense...

I was sad that we didn't see Alice and Bella or Bella and Edward talk on the plane... so we miss Alice talking about Jasper and we miss Bella and Edward talking about souls/death/heaven.

When Bella saves Edward? I almost wish that it were dragged out just a liiiittle bit more, just so that it left you more on the edge of your seat like, "dammit Bella, RUN FASTER!!!" You know? But the sparkle, the stepping out into the sun and when she SLAMS into him? Amazing...

"Heaven," he utters... don't think I missed that. *beaming*

I loved the little moment that they had together and their kiss... that kiss was my favorite of the film. His pain was back. It was somehow pain and relief... hurting either way. Hurting to be closer to her, hurting because he knew the Volturi would do something, hurting because he knew that hurting her would never be over... still unable to walk away. Amazing.

Onto the Volturi!

Jane? Wow. Dakota did fantastic. Her acting is so subtle. She's stellar, a real pro. After she realizing she has no effect on Bella her face changes just ever so slightly to reveal her disappointment.

Aro. Aro is my favorite... Aro is in the top 5 of my favorite characters from the Saga. When I heard that Michael Sheen would be playing Aro I knew that everything would be okay, but still, you picture someone a certain way and so you expect that.

Michael said that his daughter was disappointed that he had black hair when she pictured him bald... truth be told, I always pictured Aro with white hair... I'm not afraid of Aro, I don't hate the Volturi. I know they are not bad. They are just old, set in their ways and they make the rules... I get that... and I love Aro's laughter, his buoyancy. Aro/Michael Sheen BLEW me away! Fucktastic.

The fighting scene with the Volturi was sort of freaking incredible. I can't wait to see that again. Wow. Bella's reaction to Edward/the fight was great. Kristen did great in that scene.

The vote...

*sigh* I loved that Bella told Edward to shut up... however, I'll be honest to say I missed half of this scene from the mere shock that Jasper said "yes". I haven't read the book in a while, but I was pretty sure he said no? I thought that two of them said no... I thought it was Jasper and Rosalie...? Course, I could be wrong and I don't have my book with me... anyone wanna open theirs up to Chapter 24 and tell me verbatim what Jasper says in the vote scene?

And then the end... the ending couldn't have been more perfect. Freaking amazeballs. Edward's hella long pause before he utters the words, "marry me, Bella," and the sound of Bella catching her breath.

Freaking incredible. Wow. I was like, so uber impressed with that.

Overall?

I give it 4/4 stars and say that it was 100% improvement from Twilight. I can't wait to see it again!

YAY WOO!

What did you think? What were your favorite parts? Least favorite parts? Etc? Think Chris Weitz should direct Breaking Dawn?

1 comment:

slista said...

Ummm so many thoughts so I'm just going to write a couple things...

Sparkling = huge improvement

I'm still Team JASPER but man oh man, Taylor Lautner... he makes me feel like I'm committing jailbait just by looking at him. Gorgeous. Poor high school boys expected to live up to these men ;-)

Loved the way they had the months pass.

I thought the Bella-dream scenes were a little overdone... who screams like that in their sleep? It just seemed over-the-top.

I wish the animation & graphics with the wolves was just a little better...

I kind of liked the embellishment with the scene in the woods with Harry and Victoria. It was a little creative license taken that I think worked well.

I also wish that Jasper had gotten a little closer to Bella, and that he had needed "dragging" out.

Unfortunately, I'm still not loving the dialogue between Edward and Bella, I think it tends to have language that just isn't... authentic? Stuff that sounds good on paper but not on the screen? I don't know... it just feels... scripted.

Overall, I thought it was a huge improvement, but it's still having trouble living up to my (perhaps too high) expectations. I'm really excited for Eclipse though - getting to see Jasper training some vamps and werewolves? Awesome :-D