I’m a couple weeks late after the newest Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows trailer came out but I only saw it when I went to see Inception. It looks like it’s going to be phenomenal! I do have to say though that this whole splitting the last book in a series into two movies is just wrong. Harry Potter, Eclipse…I mean come on…we’ve bought and read all the books, we’ve gone to all the movies, we’ve bought the DVDs…do you have to stretch the beejezus out of the last one? Come on!
Rant said, the Harry Potter trailer looks awesome. I could almost be convinced that it would be worth it to see it in two parts. Almost. All I can say is that they have to do it right – and not just stretch it out painfully so that they can make the two movies. They both have to have standalone substance.
I finally managed to get in to see Eclipse over the weekend. I can honestly say that from Twilight to New Moon to Eclipse, the movies have definitely improved. But of course, boatloads of money will do that for you. I’m still not a huge fan of Robert Pattinson *gasp* but I’m very impressed with Taylor Lautner in this go-around. I found him to be very interesting (and hot) as Jacob, and am now wavering in my self-professed “vamp-girl-for-life” persuasion.
Rated at 54% on the tomatometer at Rotten Tomatoes, the film did have some great moments, like the fight scene between the vampires and the wolves which was exciting and fast-paced. I’m not sure I’m a fan of the diamond bodies – something about it just doesn’t resonate with me but that could be because I’m a crumble-to-ash-when-staked kind of girl. Old school. Nonetheless, in the new school, it was still pretty cool.
The core of the novels, I didn’t really enjoy the love scenes between Bella and Edward as much as I did when I’d read the books. In the film, I found them long and drawn-out. They were tedious and sappy, and I wanted to get to the action sequences. Something about Edward in this movie also felt a lot older to me – he didn’t seem as young as he did in the other two movies. Maybe that’s what made the love scenes seem awkward. Not entirely sure. I did like the interaction between Bella and Jacob – they were far more interesting. Plus you can’t help rooting for Jacob – the little underdog…er…wolf.
I also really enjoyed the back stories of each of the Cullens, and I especially liked Jasper’s story. I thought he was really great in this film – loved his humor and found that he reminded me of Louis from Interview with a Vampire at times (when he was conducting the training of the vampires and werewolves to fight the newborns), which was very cool.
Overall, I’d say it was a decent representation of the novel, and a film that most Twihards will enjoy. Me, I liked all the action scenes, Jacob’s constantly shirtless tanned body, and the nice one-liners throughout.
Edward: Doesn’t he own a shirt?
Not to mention the first kiss between Jacob and Bella which was so funny.
Charlie: What’s going on?
Jacob: I kissed Bella. And she broke her hand. Punching my face.
Classic. Love Charlie!
The film had both good and bad moments, but overall I enjoyed it. I thought that Xavier Samuel who played Riley also did a good job of being Victoria’s little minion. But in the end, he dies, poor thing. Dakota Fanning as Jane, in the little we did see of her, does a great job combining the little girl looks with stone cold killer. Got chills from that one…nice. Not sure who the other two Volturi were but didn’t care too much on that front. Jane and Felix were enough for me.
Overall I would rate Eclipse, the movie, 3 out of 5 stars. It was fun and stayed true to the book which fans will love. Couple that with Edward’s broodiness and cool vampire hair, and Jacob’s chiseled abs, and well, you’ve got box-office millions. Enjoy!
I started reading Shiver and immediately loved the language. I loved the lyrical and descriptive sentences, as well as the fact that it was based on two points of view, both Grace and Sam. That held me rapt for about the first twenty pages. However as the story progressed, I found that I didn’t love the multiple points of view as much as I thought I would have, primarily because it’s in the first person. It was very difficult to keep track of who was speaking…ie., who was the “I” in that particular chapter. It got confusing at times, and I found myself having to go back and check the chapter title.
In many YA books, we expect writers to have some unique plot definition or twist – in Maggie Stiefvater‘s vision for Shiver, werewolves change into wolves when the temperature becomes warm. Though more or less believable, it still seemed very thin to me and was never explained enough so that I was satisfied or fully convinced. I found it odd that the wolves could change from a blast of air-conditioning. Just didn’t seem plausible.
The relationship (the driver of this novel) between Grace and Sam was far too bland for me, and I found myself skipping through their later interaction because it just became too boring. Ok, I get that he loves her and he’s shy and sensitive, and she loves him (and has always loved him), but it just dragged and dragged and dragged at times. It also just seemed like it went from watching each other furtively in the woods for six years after the attack to being in love, so there was very little relationship development which translated to very little reader/character connection. There seemed to be very little tension between Sam and Grace at all.
I found myself flipping the pages with Sam and Grace mooning over each other to get to the action scenes and find out what was happening with Beck. Now he was an interesting character! I would have loved to have known more about him, and also get a little more dynamic between him and Grace…sort of ex-father figure and new love interest. Who where the three people he turned and why did they want to be turned? I also liked Isabel a lot – she seemed to have far more spark and dimension than Grace. I wanted to see more of her, and loved that she was so feisty when she was out looking for Sam in one of their barns.
Another thing that annoyed me was that Grace’s parents were far too absentee without enough explanation. We have no rational explanation as to why they were the way they were. I mean, at least make something up – maybe Grace was secretly adopted or maybe when she got bitten, they pulled away from her, or something. It seemed too far-fetched for them to be as distant as they both were, almost as if they were written in just because you know, you can’t have a sixteen year old living in a house on her own.
I also thought that the reason that Grace never changed in a werewolf after being bitten (because she was left in a hot car by her clueless father) was far too flimsy. It just didn’t hold much weight because it needed to be explained better. I mean first of all, what kind of parent leaves their kid in a car, no matter who clueless they are? What was it about the heat that made her remain human? And as far as that leading to meningitis to induce a fever as a cure, I don’t even have words for that. It’s just not fleshed out enough. After the meningitis vaccine, why does Jack die? And why does Sam live? It just didn’t make sense, or wasn’t explained clearly.
Other unresolved plot questions: Why does Sam only get a few years while Beck had over twenty? Why exactly can’t the werewolves live in a warmer climate? Why did Sam shift to human when he got shot? Why did Olivia want to so much to be a werewolf?
Peeves aside, my favorite thing about this book was unequivocally the imagery. Maggie Stiefvater is an excellent writer and creates a world that is so visual that you get drawn right into the middle of it, even if you don’t want to. I loved that about Shiver. Her writing is rich and evocative. That acknowledged, I really did not connect with either of the main characters. I felt that both Grace and Sam felt too transparent. Sam, who should have been so strong and fierce, just seemed weak to me. I did not like him as a male protagonist at all. Beck and Isabel were more my style.
Overall I would rate Shiver 3 stars. As many other reviewers have said, fans of Twilight will enjoy this story, especially younger teen readers.
Daybreakers has been out for a week but I have yet to see it. This vampire movie takes a new approach to the vampire-mania across the nation – it portrays a world where vampires are the majority and humans are the minority, hunted and farmed for blood. Enter power, corruption, and politics. Nix teen-angst, sparkles, and cool vampire hair. Oh wait, the cool vampire hair is still there. Like blood, I guess you can’t have a vampire flick without it. At least this one has fangs.
The reviews from Rotten Tomatoes look decent, at 66%, which in the Rotten Tomato world is pretty darn good. And I heard the 6 Second Review guy this morning say that he’s in because the vampires don’t sparkle. Classic.
Check out those 6 seconds here.
Maybe I’ll get a look at it this weekend. For now, here’ s the trailer if you haven’t seen it.
Ok, so maybe Blade Trinity wasn’t one of the best, but seriously you have to love Ryan Reynolds and his dry, witty comments, “I picked Danica up in a bar, and spent the next five years playing hide-and-go-suck as her little vampire cabana boy.” He cracks me up everytime, not to mention his interaction with Parker Posey, “Her name is Danica Talos. You met her earlier. And unlike typical vampires, her fangs are located in her vagina.”
Blade Trinity was nothing like its two predecessors, but overall I enjoyed it for mindless, vampire-filled entertainment. And yes, complete with FANGS and BLOOD. Hooray!
I’m only posting about this because I watched it right after I went to see New Moon (check out my review), and it was cathartic. I needed blood, guts, and fangs. I needed “real” vampires. And I got them, even if they were bad ones. So the moral of this story is that some things are good for something. Or maybe, the sad fact is that every not-so-good vampire movie ever made will get better after watching any one of the Twilight movies.
So I finally dragged myself to the theater to see New Moon. I was really excited to see it and then when the reviews started to come in, I just felt my anticipation wear off. It wasn’t bad…it just wasn’t great. It did have some good, redeeming moments. But overall, it didn’t leave a huge impression on me. Rotten Tomatoes has it at a resounding 29% on the Tomatometer.
New Moon book fans will be happy that the script stayed very true to the book. In this installment of the Twilight Saga, I thought the chemistry between Bella and Jacob was awesome and believable. Taylor Lautner’s acting was very realistic. I’ve read that some people have said that he cannot act – I don’t believe this to be the case at all. I thought he played the character really well. In fact, I believed him more when he told Bella that she should go home and stay away from him, more than I believed Edward. I also thought Kristen Stewart acted heaps better when she was opposite Taylor Lautner than Robert Pattinson. Their relationship just seemed far more solid to me.
Speaking of Edward, Robert Pattinson once more failed to deliver for me. The best part of the movie with him in it was the fight scene with Felix which was pretty cool. But overall, his acting just makes me cringe. Although I will say that his acting in the scene with Aro was decent – but then again, who wouldn’t be decent with Lucian from Underworld!!! That guy is awesome! Aro was creepy and scary and very “vampire-ish” which is how vampires should be. I also thought Alice was pretty bad, as in B-grade actor, bad. Her jokes that were great in the book (especially in the scene with Jacob – wet dog) just felt flat with her poor delivery. Loved Charlie, even though he wasn’t as witty as he was in Twilight. Dakota Fanning was good in her very brief scene, although I would have liked it if she’d been a touch more PO’d after not being able to hurt Bella. Maybe a hiss or or a snarl or something. Oh right, these vampires use their hands to bash people in not their fangs.
Which brings me to my biggest peeve…
How can you have a vampire with no fangs? How can you have a vampire movie with no blood (I mean a paper-cut, come on)? Jasper’s face when he was rushing toward Bella didn’t look like a hungry vampire – he looked like a normal person with funny contacts who was constipated. And then the sparkling just undermines it all for me. I think we need to make up a new species for these vampires, something like Vamp-Sparkle-Fairies or Vamfairies or pansy-ass vampires. Cause they aren’t real vampires…Bram Stoker would not be amused, people.
Damon: “Because I live in the real world where vampires burn in the sun….This book has it all wrong.”
Ok fine I didn’t mean to go off on a tirade just yet, but seriously, fang-less vampires? They’re like vampire eunuchs.
So my favorite part of course, despite having seen it a bunch of times, was the werewolf fight scene with Jake. And I loved the part in the end where he was the wolf and he said goodbye with Bella’s image in his eye. Man that was a tender moment. Silly Bella, letting him go.
I also loved the scene with Victoria and the wolves, I thought that was pretty cool. The movie had a pretty decent soundtrack too.
Now seriously I am a vampire girl, first and foremost. I’ve never been a werewolf fan (even though I love Lucian in Underworld). But in this saga, so far I am Team Jacob all the way. He just looked warm. He was everything I imagined Jacob Black to be from the book. It’s funny because after I read Twilight, I was an Edward fan, and now after the movie, I am totally a Jacob fan. And those abs…there are no words. He was yummy and I connected with him on screen. Plus his almost-kiss with Bella was far more believable and sexy than all of the terrible, terrible kissing scenes between Bella and Edward. You know, I can’t believe that those two are a couple given that they have ZERO chemistry. Their kisses are horrible. All I can say is that if they win MTV “Best Kiss” then people really have their eyes closed in the movie theater. It’s not even in the same realm as The Notebook or Spider-Man for “Best Kiss!” In fact, I would probably go as far to say that the girl-girl kiss in Not Another Teen Movie was a lot better. That’s how totally awkward they were, no kidding.
Lastly, I just didn’t get the over-tortured screaming in the dreams. That was just painful. Like nails on a chalk-board painful. I think the movie could have survived and been far better without it. I’d be having dreams like that after seen glowing red eyes in the forest in the middle of the night, not because some vampire dude who can’t act left me high and dry.
Overall, I’d give the movie, New Moon about 2 stars. I’d recommend waiting for DVD or Cable Television. Heard Showtime‘s got the rights. Save your $10. I think I felt exactly the same for Twilight.
You will remember my last post on the subject – the hilarious vampire parody that just makes you laugh so hard, it hurts – Intercourse with a Vampire. Well, get ready for more! Its talented, funny creator, Jake Fleisher, has just posted two new follow-up episodes. Get your New Moon anti-gas medicine here!
Dating a vampire in high school is awesome, but sometimes love shouldn’t be eternal.
Episode #1: Something is cold in this bed, and it’s not your feet.
Episode #2: Introducing your parents to your boyfriend’s family is always going to be nerve wracking. A bit more so when his family are bloodsuckers.
Episode #3: Vampires can move at superhuman speeds. Where they squander that gift is their own business.
Check out my friend Brad Blanks’ (celebrity journalist extraordinaire) interview with every teen girl’s fantasy, Robert Pattinson aka Edward Cullen and his human love muffin, Kristin Stewart aka Bella Swan.
Brad Blanks interview with Robert Pattinson. Surprise, surprise, he interviews way better than he acts!
Brad Blanks interview with Kristen Stewart. This girl has a brain, even though she doesn’t come across this way in the media most of the time. Very interesting.
“About three things I was absolutely certain. First, Edwart was most likely my soul mate, maybe. Second, there was a vampire part of him–which I assumed was wildly out of his control–that wanted me dead. And third, I unconditionally, irrevocably, impenetrably, heterogeneously, gynecologically, and disreputably wished he had kissed me.”
Ok I have seriously got the giggles and I can’t stop. Enter Nighlight, a parody. Just looking at the cover made me laugh, and when I read the blurb, I literally had to hold my stomach from laughing so hard.
Keep reading.
“Pale and klutzy, Belle arrives in Switchblade, Oregon looking for adventure, or at least an undead classmate. She soon discovers Edwart, a super-hot computer nerd with zero interest in girls. After witnessing a number of strange events–Edwart leaves his tater tots untouched at lunch! Edwart saves her from a flying snowball!–Belle has a dramatic revelation: Edwart is a vampire. But how can she convince Edwart to bite her and transform her into his eternal bride, especially when he seems to find girls so repulsive?
Complete with romance, danger, insufficient parental guardianship, creepy stalker-like behavior, and a vampire prom, Nightlight is the uproarious tale of a vampire-obsessed girl, looking for love in all the wrong places.”
I am a Twilight fan, no doubt. I enjoyed the books, and am very excited for the New Moon movie to be released in a couple weeks. So why am I writing about this? Well, at the end of the day, spoofing to me is a curious form of flattery. As with most spoofs, you’d have to have read the books to understand the humor parallels and get the actual parody, so it wouldn’t be something that I’d recommend reading in isolation. But if you’ve read the Twilight saga and you’re looking for a good laugh, this book looks like it will hit the spot. I cannot wait for the movie version of this – I know it’s coming, just don’t know when yet.
If you want to buy Nightlight, it’s available today at Amazon. You can also read a copy of the first chapter at Entertainment Weekly just to see what’s hilariously in store.
I just did, and I think I just peed my pants! Hilarious!
Hello hotness! Team Jacob away! I am actually excited to see this movie next month. In previous New Moon reviews, I’ve made my opinion about Edward, played by actor Robert Pattinson, pretty clear. I know I’m probably in the minority but he’s just not a good actor, even though yes, I agree that he’s cute especially with that “cool vampire hair“. Kristen Stewart also seems to be stronger acting-wise in some of the clips, and I think that will definitely be needed in this installment of the series. But Jacob, well I feel some real potential in that one. From what I’ve seen, Taylor Lautner’s acting is very credible and I have the urge to want to connect with him onscreen, which is always a good sign for me. I predict that fans may be making a move between “Teams” after New Moon drops on November 20th, 2009.
The new uber-long trailer for New Moon premiered at the VMAs last weekend, but if you missed it, you can
see it in HD here. Definitely looks like Summit got a truck-load more money to fund this installment of the Twilight series
so I’m hoping for great things. Not sure if more money will ever help Robert Pattinson’s wooden acting. Wasn’t impressed in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, not impressed here either. He reminds me of Hayden Christensen, both undeniably hot, but let’s face it, neither of them will ever win an Oscar for acting. But hey, if MTV does an award for “Best Hot Silent Vampire,” he’d win it hands down. I’m a big fan of Dakota Fanning so it should be interesting to see how she does in the
role of Jane. And Taylor Lautner looks like he’s ready to bring it – at least his acting is more believable, bringing some balance to the flatness of the other actors. Check back for my review after New Moon drops on November 20th 2009.
I’m a couple weeks late after the newest Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows trailer came out but I only saw it when I went to see Inception. It looks like it’s going to be phenomenal! I do have to say though that this whole splitting the last book in a series into two movies is just wrong. Harry Potter, Eclipse…I mean come on…we’ve bought and read all the books, we’ve gone to all the movies, we’ve bought the DVDs…do you have to stretch the beejezus out of the last one? Come on!
In many YA books, we expect writers to have some unique plot definition or twist – in 
Ok, so maybe 
see 
So I finally dragged myself to the theater to see 
Speaking of Edward, Robert Pattinson once more failed to deliver for me. The best part of the movie with him in it was the fight scene with Felix which was pretty cool. But overall, his acting just makes me cringe. Although I will say that his acting in the scene with Aro was decent – but then again, who wouldn’t be decent with Lucian from 
How can you have a vampire with no fangs? How can you have a vampire movie with no blood (I mean a paper-cut, come on)? Jasper’s face when he was rushing toward Bella didn’t look like a hungry vampire – he looked like a normal person with funny contacts who was constipated. And then the sparkling just undermines it all for me. I think we need to make up a new species for these vampires, something like Vamp-Sparkle-Fairies or Vamfairies or pansy-ass vampires. Cause they aren’t real vampires…Bram Stoker would not be amused, people.
part of course, despite having seen it a bunch of times, was the werewolf fight scene with Jake. And I loved the part in the end where he was the wolf and he said goodbye with Bella’s image in his eye. Man that was a tender moment. Silly Bella, letting him go.
I imagined Jacob Black to be from the book. It’s funny because after I read Twilight, I was an Edward fan, and now after the movie, I am totally a Jacob fan. And those abs…there are no words. He was yummy and I connected with him on screen. Plus his almost-kiss with Bella was far more believable and sexy than all of the terrible, terrible kissing scenes between Bella and Edward. You know, I can’t believe that those two are a couple given that they have ZERO chemistry. Their kisses are horrible. All I can say is that if they win MTV “Best Kiss” then people really have their eyes closed in the movie theater. It’s not even in the same realm as The Notebook or Spider-Man for “Best Kiss!” In fact, I would probably go as far to say that the girl-girl kiss in 
“About three things I was absolutely certain. First, Edwart was most likely my soul mate, maybe. Second, there was a vampire part of him–which I assumed was wildly out of his control–that wanted me dead. And third, I unconditionally, irrevocably, impenetrably, heterogeneously, gynecologically, and disreputably wished he had kissed me.”
Hello hotness! Team Jacob away! I am actually excited to see this movie next month. In previous 