New Moon

Okay. I think that we all know that I am a fan of the Twilight series. I was reluctant to read the books because, well, the concept just seemed kind of cheesy to me. But I was looking for something to read and when my sister, Laura, told me how much she enjoyed the books, I knew it was time to investigate. That was probably a year or so ago and let me tell you... I LOVE 'EM! I have read each book twice and as soon as I am done with the story line Brett has me following (some Marvel comics... occasionally melodramatic, but some interesting characters) I am ready to read the Twilight books again!

I think that we also all know that I was NOT really a fan of the first movie. I remember when Brett and I went to see it. I was sitting in the theater just waiting for the lights to come on so I could apologize to Brett for dragging him to such a stinker. He however, not having read the books, thought the movie was just fine. He didn't really have any expectations going into it, so he just sat back and enjoyed it. And then there's me. Okay, I hate going into a movie with high expectations, but listen – I just couldn't help it, okay? I like these books. I love the characters. I mean, Alice??? Hello! LOVE HER! And Emmett? Come on. Every girl's dream big brother! But in the first movie, the story left little room for character development, the effects looked cheesy, the makeup looked bad and the acting was... not great. I bought the DVD when it came out hoping that over time my opinions would soften. I still let the movie run on my computer now and then but it didn't get better. Like leftovers from a bad meal... it just became easier to swallow.

BUT... I am happy, I mean I can't even BEGIN to tell you how happy I am, to say that New Moon was better in EVERY WAY! As much as I tried not to get my hopes up for this sequel, I couldn't help it... the trailers were TOTAL wins! I knew that this movie had a new director and a much bigger budget, and because I know the stories, I knew that some of the actors who bothered me so much in the first film wouldn't be in this one much.

Oh my goodness. I LOVED it! As far as story goes, the movie followed the book pretty closely. The only thing that I felt was lacking was, again, a characterization thing. Jacob is GREATNESS! And he was great in this movie. But he was serious the whole time. In the book, Jacob brought Bella back to life because he was bursting with joy. Her own private sunshine. And there wasn't really time for happy Jacob in the movie. Too bad. Kristen Stewart and Robbie Rob Pattinson still didn't give stellar performances in my opinion, but they certainly upgraded from bad soap acting to after school programs. We went from Days of Our Lives to The Cosby Show. An improvement.

AND THE WOLVES! The wolves looked SO good! I was SO pleased! The effects were just great. Kudos to the wolf guys because they looked so real and so smooth.

I also LOVE how they do Charlie in these movies. He's such a good guy.

I was all around pleased with this movie and I am looking for an excuse to see it again. I'm hoping Kyndall and Erin might suggest it! We need to hang out anyway!