twilight saga: eclipse–the movie
i only saw it today so that should say how excited i was. but i would describe my drive to see it as more of a curiosity. in general, i thought it was better than the second one. but “new moon” was the worst book (or most boring, whatever) so i think all the movies in the saga will be better that it was. “eclipse” had a better storyline, better soundtrack, better acting, better special effects. i did enjoy reading that the wolves couldn’t have genitals in order to keep it a PG-13 rating. they just stuck extra hair “down there”. bella’s character/kristen’s acting annoy me and i snub my nose at pattinson’s portrayal of edward. he just doesn’t hit the mark for me. i’d sum it up by saying he’s just pansy-ish on screen and doesn’t capture the complexity and quiet strength of the book character.
i will say that i was extremely pleased with rosalie’s and jasper’s backstory. i’ve never seen nikki reed look more beautiful as rosalie and i thought the delivery of her lines was impeccable. she really is an amazing actress, just watch “thirteen”. i’m looking forward to her bigger role in “breaking dawn”. and jasper was such a cutie. i always wondered why they never really gave him a southern accent in the movies. and it was like BAM! there it was 🙂 i guess when he takes on a position of authority, the southern twang makes an appearance.
the fight scenes were quite entertaining and not nearly long enough. definitely not nearly long enough. i enjoyed the effect of when the vampires were torn apart–it sounded like breaking glass and twisting metal. bree’s appearances tugged at my heart. especially after reading “the short second life of bree tanner” and knowing how doomed she was. i was also impressed with xavier as riley. he acted brilliantly. which is why he gets to be my post image.
as far as the drama went with the love triangle, i couldn’t care less. i wanted to see more of leah and seth. i feel like i cared about everyone else except bella and edward. i’d say that the best parts of the movie for me were rosalie, jasper, and the action sequences. oh, and bella’s ring looked like a $5 piece of fashion jewelry. but that’s just me.
book to movie: the host
most avid readers and twilight fans have already heard the news that stephenie meyer’s novel “the host” has been given the okay to become a movie. check out stephenie meyer’s website for more information. here’s her post:
I’m so excited to be working with Nick Weschler, and Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz to bring The Host to a visual format. They’ve all been a dream to work with, so lovely and collaborative, and I feel like we’re in a really good place to make a great movie together. And then to have Andrew Niccol writing and directing? Truly awesome. If you’ve never seen Gattaca, go watch it now. One of my favorite movies of all time. It’s such a great example of character driven science fiction, which is ideal for The Host, no? I’m having an absolute blast imagining different dream casts, which I would post if people didn’t take my silly blogs so seriously these days. I’m looking forward to seeing the cast lists you come up with in the fansite forums, and if any of them match mine.
So, very exciting. Yay Host!
XO
Steph
at first i was like “oh neat, guess i should go see that”. then i started to recall the story and got really excited. i remember the beginning grabbing my interest then the last 100 pages or so being crazy suspenseful that i was flipping the pages in a maniacal blur. but the rest of the book was slow going to me: reading about Wanderer wandering around the desert and her experiences in the caves with unbody-snatched people…yeah, pretty cool but i just wasn’t clicking with it. but in movie form???? hellz yeah! i can’t help but think that a movie with help add some umph to the story as they take some liberties with it. maybe condense what happens in the caves so it’s more like “bam! bam! bam! stuff’s happening all over the place!”. i’ll be there to watch it. and meyer tends to take her book to movie transitions very seriously as you can tell from her post, so i’ll bet the movie has something spectacular to offer even if the book was not the ish.
twilight
again, no synopsis here. it’s all to do with vampires and werewolves and young love. part of me feels like i’m discrediting myself completely by suggesting this series, but i did read it before all of the hoopla began and…whatever, i liked it.
twilight series books 1-4
this series is basically my tried and true recommendation. this is the gem that i recommended to the 3 non-readers (from “my rant”). it’s not one of the deepest stories i’ve read and some have even criticized the ending as being lightweight, but it sure is entertaining. whatever your preconceptions are, you should just give it a try. it will keep you hooked all the way through the behemoth of “breaking dawn”. i thought the whole idea of vampires and werewolves was extremely unoriginal and i was delighted with the fresh mythology that stephenie meyer cooked up.
meyer has a knack for coming up with very entertaining stories even though she may not be the greatest writer. it gives hope to aspiring novelists and mediocre writers like myself. from a fantasy lover’s perspective, this takes a nice piece of the cake. it’s easy to lose yourself in the adventure and sexiness of the story.
i’m wondering if it’s even worth addressing the commercialization of this series. <<still thinking…>>
movie notes: i was actually one of the ones that loved twilight. the acting was quite nice, wasn’t it? this was one of the closest book to movie adaptations i have seen in a long time and i appreciated that. i now offer a chill pill for all you grizzly bears.
the bookend. 