Monday, November 24, 2008

Twilight

Before I can even comment on the movie I need to touch on the ridiculousness of my fellow theater patrons. Going to see a hotly anticipated movie on opening night, I knew I had to be prepared. We showed up about 45 minutes before show time and some of the other girls were already there. They had saved seats for us, I think our group was about 12 in total, and shortly after we arrived the usher made an announcement that the show was sold out and there would be no seat-saving. The term alone conjures up images of school field trips and naturally caused us all to laugh a bit... at first.

All of a sudden we realized that two grown women behind us were calling the usher over. This poor girl, who was probably still in High School, went over to them and tried to mediate as the women accused younger girls of "saving seats" for people who were not in the theater yet. The usher announced that seats could be saved for people who were in the theater and at the concession stand or restroom. This started another round of jokes that the 3 people we were waiting for had stomach problems and/or were waiting for change at the concession stand (which was only partially a joke as I had to wait about 10 minutes for change of a hundred myself).

Then it started to get awkward. The women were insisting that the people for whom the seats were being saved were not there yet and so their claim to the seats was null and void. Then they sat down in the seats with the coats. I kid you not.
Shortly after they pull this little stunt, the true seat holders show up with their snacks and the women are forced to get up, although they do not do so quietly. All of this is going on a few rows behind us and several people in my party are too embarrassed to turn around to which I say, "If they're going to put on this much of a show, they can't expect me not to watch. Besides, I already have popcorn, I'm all set."

Now one of my friends has to go to the bathroom, so we begin joking that she'd better hurry or the women will sit in her seat. Meanwhile, the women are grabbing their teenage daughters from several rows ahead of us and as they walk toward the exit I hear one woman say to the usher "Well we'd better be let in first at the next show." My friend goes to the bathroom and comes back within a matter of moments. "The line was too long" she explains "but wait til you hear this, the women's daughters are all out there crying going 'Why did you get us kicked out of the movie?!'" We erupt in laughter and then go on to enjoy the movie.

My Review:
Okay, I went in with fairly low expectations and I was pleasantly surprised. The movie was good and they did a decent job with with screenplay, condensing 400 some-odd pages into 122 minutes. The things that bothered me the most were as follows:

1. Rosalie - In the books, she is supposed to be the most beautiful girl ever, blond and model-esque. The actress who plays her, Nikki Reed, is pretty, but she is (pretty obviously) naturally a brunette.

2. Jasper's Hair - Not sure why they decided to give Jasper this ridiculous mop of overly gelled blond hair, but it was a terrible decision. He looks ridiculous, making it very hard to take his character seriously. Also, Jasper is supposed to have this heightened ability to make everyone feel at ease, too bad he looked so tense the entire movie that I thought the actor who played him, Jackson Rathbone, surely had terrible gas pains throughout most of the filming. He is the newest vampire to go "vegetarian" so I get that he is supposed to look uncomfortable around Bella, but in the book he adjust and winds up liking her and in the movie this never happens.

3. Bella doesn't hatch the escape plan - In the book the whole thing is Bella's idea and in the movie she just kind of goes along with it. This might not seem like a big deal, but I think it is a key moment for Bella showing that she is really quite clever and it shows the Cullens that she is smart as well.

Finally
4. The Cullens wardrobe. The costume designer, Wendy Chuck, claims that she read the books in preparation for the job, but I'd like to know if she read the same book I did because the Cullens are supposed to be impeccably dressed. In my mind they were all dressed from head to toe in Prada. In the movie she puts Edward in a denim button-down. Seriously? Why don't you just have Old Navy sponsor the whole thing?

Bella she managed to get right, but the Cullens are supposed to be stylish. In the scene at their house she puts Rosalie in the most ridiculous stripper shoes and this horrible necklace. The closest Wendy Chuck gets to getting it right is the scene where they are introduced and the whole family is basically in white. It gives them a very mystical feel. Other than that I think she should have gone in a totally different direction.

Oh, there was one decision she made that I think was pure genius, putting Edward in a pair of Wayfarers in the scene where he and Bella basically debut as a couple in the parking lot. Robert Pattinson looked so cool here, I almost swooned.

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