The Agony and the Ectasy

Agony being our horrible loss to that lame excuse for a university in the north... Why on earth were they even allowed to come into contact with the ball that much! Ridiculous! I can't talk about it, my heart hurts too much!

Ecstasy being the terrific time I had this weekend with my friends and my cousin Rhonda. My cousin and I didn't see much of each other growing up and now we have the opportunity to reconnect. Believe it or not, I am so grateful to Facebook for being the major facilitator in this whole thing and on a whim, Rhonda came down to see the movie Twilight with me and my book club. We had the best time. We saw the movie twice in less than 24 hours, had a great lunch date with my mom, she was able to meet all of my dear friends and I sincerely hope she had as much fun as I did. I know all my book club buddies thought she was teriffic and figure if she can handle all of us for a night she can handle anything! Come back soon, girl! We need to have some more fun!

Now, as promised, here's my little Twilight review (admit it, you've been checking this blog with anticipation for DAYS!)

After seeing the movie at the midnight release, I didn't exactly know what to think of the whole thing. There were things I loved and things I loathed, but after seeing it for a second time (in less that 24 hours mind you) I have finally made up my mind. I {mostly} liked it!

After the midnight showing, I left the theater feeling a little underwhelmed. There were certainly things I liked. The scenery was beautiful and gorgeous and just how green I imagined it would be. The people were all for the most part beautiful, too. And as far as following the book, I have to say it did that pretty well, too. However, so much of the scenes did not live up to their potential. In fact, after a completely botched meadow scene and some horribly laughable special effects I kinda checked out for a little while. There was enough interest and tension to draw me back in, but I ultimately came out slightly dissapointed due a few things. First, (at first glance) lack of humor. These books are funny. So much of that was gone and what seemed all to be left was a poorly developed teen angst movie. Gone is the witty banter between Edward and Bella and the few but terrific playful interaction between the Cullen's as a family. Second, due to all the teen angst, low budget effects and some cringingly unfortunate over acting, the movie tends lean more towards an after school special in a few moments. I came out really just thinking that although it wasn't awful and I had been entertained, I couldn't help but wonder about what could've been.
The second time was another story. I went in knowing what I was getting myself into. No unrealistic expectations this time lead me to relax a bit more and enjoy a lot of what I had missed the first go around. There were very subtle jokes and small character ticks I hadn't picked up on the first time that seemed more natural and fitting to the characters in the book. I also knew just when to grit my teeth and hold my breath for the next few moments and try my best to completely ignore the certain parts that sent me cringing. I came out the second time through really REALLY liking it. So, my advice to you is be prepard. Be prepard for some cheese, be prepared for some angst and be prepared for some fun, because in the end, that's really what it was, just fun. To me, it's not the most perfect representation of the book, but it certainly was neat to see a few parts of it come to life.

SPOILER ALERT!!
Now, in the spirit of the boy scouts, here is my list of the 10 most important things to be prepared for when you go to this movie:
10. Be prepared for giggling and sighing teenage girls. They are everywhere. They're even IN the movie, not just surrounding you!
9. Be prepared for Charlie Swan (Bella's father) to completely steal the movie. He was hilarious and very well played.
8. Be prepared for Jessica Stanley. She is perfect.
7. Be prepared to not know where Jasper is, but wonder what on earth that strange blond boy who's trying to act like Edward Scissor Hands is doing with Alice and what he even has to to with this movie.
6. Be prepared for Jacob Black's smile to be the cutest thing you've ever seen
5. Be prepared to witness everything we hoped for in the awesomeness of Vampire Baseball
4. Be prepared for a lot of unnecessary tree climbing on the part of Edward--WHAT is up with that?!
3. Be prepared for tension. Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson deliver on the tension (just not all the time on the acting.)
2. Be prepared for some very messed up key book moments-- like as in they totally ruined it. But also be prepared for some great ones and even some new elements I even wish had been in the book in the first place.
1. Be prepared for New Moon! The screen writer has been contracted and the leads have signed back on! You know I'll be there-- probably twice.