After a failed attempt to see the film on Thursday night, I finally was able to see The Twilight Saga: New Moon yesterday afternoon so that I could weigh in on all the hoopla. Long story short, I really enjoyed New Moon and found it much, much better than the first Twilight film:
To be clear, I did NOT find New Moon to be a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but, considering how poorly written the books are, the movie did a good job of making the story more compelling. I liked the allusions to the Romeo & Juliet story … something I missed in reading the book. If you’re gonna make reference to a piece of literature, you might as well go for the greatest writer of all time. Thankfully the melodramatic hysterics present in the book were toned down A LOT in the movie … tho, I laughed my ass off during the scene where Bella was seen sitting in the same chair for “3 months” — LOL! For me, the werewolves make the movie … they are much more interesting than the vampires, I think. Add to that the fact that they are mostly nekkid in much of the film and, well, you can see the appeal. I also found Rachelle Lefevre‘s performance as Victoria very compelling … she just has a cool look and I thought she did an excellent job in the role. It just KILLS me that she was fired from playing Victoria in the future films because the movie studio wanted a bigger name in the role. Rachelle IS Victoria … this movie proves it. The FX are great, I loved the wolves in action … I found the chemistry between Bella and Jacob much more palatable than her chemistry with Edward. Taylor Lautner is good as Jacob. The scenes with the Volturi were really comical but passably entertaining … all in all, I did enjoy myself at this movie. Twilight fans should love it … and how anyone can NOT be Team Jacob is beyond me.
Oh and if you need another endorsement, just read what writer Anne Rice has to say about New Moon the movie:
Saw New Moon last night. Definitely in the tradition of Bronte’s Jane Eyre and DeMaurier’s Rebecca: a romance about a young girl longing to be taken seriously by a powerful male figure. No wonder it strikes a chord in so many.
After the movie, David and I made our way to the 2nd Stage Theater to see the Blank production of The Santaland Diaries starring Nicholas Brendon (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame). After the jump, check out a fun pic I got to take with him and hear my thoughts on the play …
The Santaland Diaries is a one man show based on the writings of David Sedaris. They tell the “semi-true” tale of Sedaris‘s stint as a holiday elf working at Macy’s in NYC. Brendon is AMAZING in this show … he shows a full range of emotion and expertly delivers some of THE funniest lines Sedaris has ever written. I strongly urge those of you here in SoCal to see this show … it’s really very funny. Nicholas was so cool after the show, he graciously posed for this fun pic :)
After the play, David and I hightailed it to Pasadena to party with our dear friend Gillian on her birthday:
Gillian held court at the 35r and we had a blast. It was so fun celebrating with G last night :)
Tonight, David and I will be spending our last night together before he flies home for the next week. I’m not sure what we’re doing but I’m letting him decide. I’m really gonna miss him … we’ve been together for so long now, I don’t want him to go ;(
@Joe- there is absolutely NO WAY Rachelle was “not available enough” when it came to these movies. The woman and her managers I’m sure realize this role is most likely the biggest of her career… I doubt she couldn’t make time. They definitely gave the role to someone else for different reasons.
I went last night, and I couldn’t help but laugh every time RPatt came on the screen. He looks constipated, and I have to agree that the Alice flash forward was so ridiculous that the entire theater laughed. I mean I get the Splendor in the Grass nod, but it was seriously laughable.
I was also really disappointed with the CGI wolves. Hey Summit, call whomever did the wolves for the Underworld series and asked them to jump on board for the last two movies. Heck you could even call the Blood and Chocolate guys.
I can’t even think of New Moon, all I can think of is Xander Harris! Nicholas Brendon looks awesome in that photo and I’m so pleased to hear that he kicked butt in his show.
You can’t remember the references to Romeo and Juliet in the book because there aren’t any. She references Wuthering Heights, and Bella and Edward talk about Heathcliff (who was the original brooding hero, and destroys everyone around him, which is what Edward is afraid of).
The movie jus uses Romeo and Juliet because they assume all the stupid teenagers (and apparently adults) will only know this piece of literature. But it’s actually a bad swap because Edward wouldn’t think about their relationship as R&J at that time because he leaves her to save her, and does not accept that they are fated to be together like in R&J.
None of this actually matters though, because watching R-Patz act is like watching a pretty cat with deadly constipation.
@ckp — Oh right, it was Wuthering Heights. I can’t say that I blame them for using R&J instead, it works better in a Hollywood sense.
i agree with you trent. rachel will and will always be victoria in our hearts ugh.
SORRY ABOUT THIS! when you are reading this dont stop or something bad will happen! My name is summer i am 15 years old i have blonde hair,many scars no nose or ears..i am dead.if you dont copy this just like from the ring, on 5 more sites.. or..i will appear one dark quiet night when your not expecting it by your bed with a knife and kill you. this is no joke something good will happen to you if you post this on 5 more pages
Trent, that’s why I love you. TEAM JACOB and TEAM WOLF-PACK! What’s not to love? I have to agree, my favorite scene in the movie was when the Wolf Pack was first introduced. I genuinely got excited, and that surprised me. I thought the movie was a really good adaptation from the book, my main complaint was that in the final scene some of the dialog felt out of place, more like Eclipse material, though it was minimal (Particularly talking about Bella’s “Don’t make me choose because I would choose him” Plus, point aside, Edwward is the jerk that prohibits her from seeing Jacob in the books. What the hell?). I also agree that the climax of the movie felt a bit short for me. The Volturi wasn’t as epic as I would’ve wanted, but we already suspected that was going to happen from the promo pics. But New Moon is definitely more watchable than Twilight, and it showed that they had a bigger budget this time around.
@Chase and @ Katie: I laughed every time I read that the Jacob in the book is annoying as hell. First because that’s probably why I love Jacob’s character. His sense of humor, dry wit and sarcasm. *drools*. Secondly, I think the statement is biased because Edward and Bella are AS annoying!!!!! Readers just want them to be together, that’s why Jacob becomes a problem, lol. That’s why Trent is rightfully says that the movie script does a good job in distilling the book because, IMO, we ARE seeing the book Jacob and we ARE seeing book Edward, and we are seeing Bella. The difference it’s that the movie gives you a more cut-and-dry look at them as characters, which I think hurts Edward and Bella the most, because their relationship can be kind of ridiculous when you really look at it … =/ Anyway, Jacob really reaches his full “annoying” potential in Eclipse *drools again*, and I expect we would see more of Jacob’s attitude and biting humor. At least I pray for it.
i also think book jacob is annoying but i have to keep telling myself… he’s 16 he’s 16!!!! lol. i forgive him some annoyance for that alone. but there is no TEAM JACOB. bella and edward are destined to be together… ying and yang and all that good stuff.
@trent…i am not impressed with bdh in much of her acting sense, but i always pictured victoria differently… and she fits how i saw her in my mind better. rachelle is beautiful and DEFINATELY looked better in this movie than in twilight (she had RED hair this time. lol) but never filled that role for me. idk, why… i was excited when i heard of the recast sad for rachelle, but i was happy
new moon: lame
nicky brendon: AWESOME!
I am SUPER JEALOUS that you’ve been making friends with the Buffy cast, Trent… Hanging out with Aly and Amber and now meeting Nick – GAWD – charmed life ;)
i agree. i agree. i agree. completely. for some reason i feel like kristin and taylor’s chemistry was less cheesy and awkward than rob and kristin. during most of the twilight movie i just felt myself cringing like the whole movie was just ONE LONG AWKWARD MOMENT. and yes. as bad as the books are (writing style), the movie did one better. i love it. amazing.
So that your readers are all informed, please note that Stephanie Meyer, the author of the Twilight Saga is a Mormon. Buying her books, and see the movies is basically handing over money to the Mormon Church to help them continue to spread anti-gay propaganda.
The more you know …
Well I’m Team Jalice- Jasper and Alice. Love those 2. Thought Dakota Fanning, thought she did pretty good. The end? Corny much- Marry me bella. I know that’s how the book ends but come on seriously lame. Kristen’s acting was soooooooooo much better except for the kiss me part- retarded. Rob- lose the chest hair. It’s really gross. The Jacob taking his shirt off part was very random. While everyone else was screaming we were cracking up. Overall way better than Twilight- still pretty crappy though.
Trent,
No, there are actual references to Romeo and Juliet. There are frequent references to the fight between and eventual death of Paris and Romeo that are paralleled to Edward and Jacob. As well as Juliet’s suicide being compared to Edward’s plan to kill himself when he hears that Romeo/Bella is dead.
* in the book I mean, as well as the movie. You should not be so quick to judge books and movies negatively because someone answers your unsure-ness with any answer. It is easy to find many Romeo and Juliet quotes in that book, I just found some five minutes ago when going over the book to remember where it ended.
It was so hard to watch such beautiful eye candy for the first hour and a half of the movie (Taylor Lautner) – then suddenly be forced to witness R. Patz remove his shirt.
It was really very revolting.
My husband has a better chest than that.
You know there’s gonna be a porn based on this series, I’m waiting for that.
They actually did reference R&J in New Moon. They were reading it in school before Edward left.
Hi T- I enjoyed the books, once I started reading them I couldn’t stop, to say they were badly written, surprises me. Can you image how many Teens that S Meyer has now encouraged to read?? Saw New Moon and I keep thinking to myself am I still Team Edward???
The book references Romeo and Juliet many times throughout the series, just never intelligently or with a sense of beauty, so it’s very easy to miss. I am re-reading the series for an embarrassing number of times and the furthur I get the more “chagrined” (LOL) I am for Stephenie Meyer. There is no denying the attractive force the story has but the writing is horrible. The hysteria surrounding it is phenomenal but that can be with anything fan-driven. I’m sure accomplished writers/novelists see the books as laughable but are silenced because of the millions of dollars it continues to heave in. If you ever watch Stephenie doing interviews or speaking about it, you can see how intimidated she looks/gets. You simply can’t write her name on the same lines as other authors with fan-driven books like J.K Rowling, Ann Rice, and J. R. R. Tolkien.
Still, I am a fan at heart. (for many reasons I still can’t explain)