The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

High hopes...that's what I can say I had for this film...high hopes, yet, little expectation. 

I first got into the Twilight world after Twilight hit the big screens. The spring before hand, I had heard rumblings that a film called Twilight was being filmed around here, heard what it was about, and completely lost interest. Come January (a few months after the film was released), I was at a different film with a friend and her 17 year old daughter...as we walked out her daughter grabbed us both and pulled us into the theater across the hall, which was just starting to show Twilight. First of all, I do not condone sneaking into theaters...to the point, where that was the first time that I had ever done it--and I was 31.  Second...that was the moment that I was sucked into a crazy world. The books were all read in days, and the movie was seen 8 times in the theater!

The story of my Twilight experience is long...and not quite as crazy as others that I have heard...needless to say, through Twilight, I met some amazing people, both online and in real life...in fact, I connected with someone on the other side of the Pacific, and now she and I are great friends--online and in real life. But I'm not here to discuss my plunge into this world, from which I have come up for air, and rather like not being obsessed anymore.   I think that the media craziness killed it for me...it's everywhere, you can't turn around without seeing something having to do with the world that Stephenie Meyer created...can you say overkill??

I was SO excited when New Moon came out last November. Thinking it would be as good if not better than Twilight. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT! I loved the wolves and how they were done, but the acting was horrible...the story lacking...and they moved away from the book in odd ways that made you honestly dislike Bella more than the books did. The greatness of Twilight was that it was low budget and campy...it was simple and drew you to it. New Moon was like the guy you meet, think is going to be great, yet is constantly trying to do the right thing to impress you, to the point of annoyance--the guy that's trying too hard!

Though I saw it in Twilight, it was far more prominent in New Moon...Kristen Stewart (who plays Bella Swan) is a horrible actress.  I know she is loved by many...but not because she can act, but because of the character, Bella, that she plays.  Doesn't anyone else see this??  She delivers her lines all in the same manner...like she could care less.  She has little, to no, range.  After seeing New Moon 5 times in the theater, I gave up trying to really like it.  And my obsession into the series effectively ended then.

And now, Eclipse has arrived.  This being my favorite book in the series, I'll be honest, I was rather scared to see what shambles it might end up being on the big screen.  Unlike with New Moon, I refrained from watching all the clips that were released, and tried to ignore trailers that were on the television, trying not to get overwhelmed with it all and build up hope for a great movie.  Though with it being everywhere, I ended up seeing a few.  The first trailer made me mad.  It was all about the rather tedious love story, "Bella, I'll protect you!" "No, Bella, I will!"  "I'm better for you, Bella" "Don't you touch her, you Dog!"  Where was the action??  This book has action, suspense and a love triangle.  All this trailer gave me was the love triangle, and I got mad.  I wanted nothing to do with this film, if that's all it was!  Then...then I saw the second trailer, and I got kinda excited.  I didn't want to give it my all, and end up highly disappointed like last time, but true excitement emerged!  This trailer was filled with the action that was missing from the first.  It showed wolves attacking the newborn vampires, the Cullens showing amazing moves...this was the story that I loved! 

Now that I have seen the film, I can say, it's definitely the best of the bunch!  Like the book it touched on the love triangle--Bella coming to terms with the fact that she really loves both Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner), and then having to make a choice.  Both Edward and Jacob coming to terms with the possibility that she may not pick them.  The banter between the two boys (yes they are merely boys) as they discuss which is better for her.

The fight scene was AMAZING!!!  I loved it, and frankly, there should have been more of it.  It was intense, and rather well put together.  I was on the edge of my seat, refraining from reacting verbally to all the hits and slams that were happening on the screen.  That 5 minutes of the movie is what truly made the entire 2 hours and 4 minutes bearable...well that and that banter between the boys, that was amusing, at times.

Here is a featurette on the battle scene:

I truly loved that they showed bits of Jasper's (Jackson Rathbone) and Rosalie's (Nikki Reed) past.  These were very important to understanding those characters.  I'm glad that they kept those bits in, as well as the legends of the Quileute tribe.  I feel those background stories really enhanced the overall Twilight story, in the books and therefore the films.

It did truly bother me that they changed the actress who played Victoria for this film.  Rachelle Lefevre was a great Victoria.  I believed her to be unruly and evil.  I think that getting rid of her hurt the continuity of the films, not to mention, that Bryce Dallas Howard is not the evil, vengeance vamp type.  She just can't sell it.  I won't go on and on about it.  There was controversy, fingers were pointed, we ended up with a new Victoria...sad, but true.  Luckily, she wasn't in it too much, so it didn't completely ruin the movie.  Though, I can guarantee that Rachelle would have been much better with the fighting scene, as well as showing pure evil, but alas, we shall never know.

I'll be honest...the scenes that did not include Kristen Stewart were great!  They flowed and were believable.  Once she started talking or became the focus of the moment, all was lost.  Not only was her acting horrid, so was her wig!  I'm sorry, it has to be said!!  They should not have allowed her to chop off her hair into a mullet for the movie she did between New Moon and Eclipse!  The hair pulled me out of the movie, I don't know how many times!  It was odd looking, and often looked greasy.  It was just plain bad!  On the other hand, since we are talking about hair, they FINALLY figured out how to make Rosalie's hair look good.  Maybe it takes 2 tries to get the wig right (since she dyed her hair in Twilight), I don't know, but her hair looked real and that was missing in Bella's hair.  Below is a picture of it...though there are points where it looked MUCH worse than this!

All and all, this film didn't disappoint.  If you're a die hard fan, you will love it, there is no question.  I just finished rereading the book before seeing the movie, and I was impressed at how many lines were directly pulled from the text, and some of the best lines too.  This sort of thing excites me about a film, because then you know they are sticking more to the book, instead of taking the story to a whole new place.  The scenes were created very similarly to how I saw them in my mind as I read.  This also is a plus, at least for me.  Of course parts were left out, changed, and moved around a bit...but taking a long book and putting it into a movie, that's going to happen...I think they chose well, on the parts they left in, except I have one question, in Jasper's flashback, they left out mentioning his friends Peter and Charlotte, just curious how that will all fall into place once they try to bring them into Breaking Dawn.  That would have been some nice foreshadowing...

The next Twilight Saga film will be Breaking Dawn (shown in two parts--very Harry Potter of them).  I'm really not sure about this one at all...but we shall see how they go about creating those graphic scenes and interesting storylines.

**Oh, and super plus to seeing Eclipse in the theater...seeing the Harry Potter 7 trailer (for parts one and two) on the big screen.  I'll admit, that made me more excited than the movie I was there to see.**

BTW-This, along with all these movies/stories, are NOT appropriate for children.  In the theater I was in, there were 5 year olds there!  Really??!!  Just because you want to see it, doesn't mean that you should drag your young children along with you.  This is especially true when it comes to Breaking Dawn!!!

Harry Potter 7 Trailer Has Arrived!

Though the first part is not coming out until November and we have to wait until July for part two, this week marked the release of the first trailer of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  This trailer made me so excited, I could hardly contain it.  It covers the entire book (therefore both movies), and really amps up the drama and suspense.  Watch below, and tell me that you don't want to see this movie!!

Toy Story 3

I think that the summer movie I was most looking forward to was Toy Story 3. Yes, a kids movie...yet, a movie that follows loved characters on another amazing adventure. The Toy Story movies follow the premise that once you leave the room, and no person is looking, your toys come alive. I think for me, this really tapped into my own childhood. I remember acting like I was closing the door, but then opening it again quickly, in the hopes that I might catch my toys coming alive--and all this years before the Toy Story films hit the screen.

Through Toy Story 1, we met all the characters that we would follow through the following 2 movies. We saw Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen) become apart of Andy's room, and Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) realize that Andy has more than enough love for all. In the second movie, we saw Woody stolen by a collector, where he met a few characters from his Western world, that later, joined into the family of Andy's room. Yet, Buzz and the other toys set out to save Woody, so that all could be right in Andy's room again. Both great adventures, and wonderful uses of imagination of what toys would actually do. I love the army men that spy on birthdays and holidays, to see what new toys might be joining the crew. I love that Woody has meetings with the toys to go over the happenings in the house. I love the banter that Buzz and Woody have. I could go on and on.... The third installment does not disappoint.

With the first movie being done 15 years ago, we now are seeing Andy as a young man, set out for college. I love the way that the timeline follows the actual time that has passed. Andy is faced with cleaning out his room. His mom tells him, either it goes to college, into the attic, it gets donated, or it's trash. We see him choose which toys will stay and which will go.  We see him choose to take Woody with him to college and the rest of the toys are put into a garbage bag, set to go to the attic.  Alas, Andy's mom finds the bag before it gets to it's destination and the toys are taken to the curb.  Thinking that they are being thrown out, they jump into a donation box.  All the while, Woody is trying desperately to convince them that Andy did want to keep them.

The toys are donated to a daycare. When they arrive, they meet a slue of seemingly nice toys. Soon they find that they really aren't welcome. All and all Woody works to save the toys and get them back to Andy. There is great adventure in this film. The humor that resides in the previous 2 is there, ten-fold. The one difference in this film is the touching conclusion.  I will say that I cried, in two spots, and I could see where some may cry in a third.  The first is when it looks like it's the end, and the toys take each others' hands and the look in their eyes is one of giving up (yes, I know it's a cartoon, but it's a well done cartoon).  The second would be when Andy's mom realizes that Andy is leaving.  I would think that this would really touch those parents that are seeing their child off to college within the coming months.  The final moment in this film is by far the best moment in the film.  It's a moment where you see how much each of these toys touched Andy's life, and how he really feels about them. All through the movie, the toys are just wanting to be played with.  That's why they exist, that's their purpose.  Yet, their owner has grown up.  In this moment, Andy is giving the toys away to a little girl, Bonnie, who will take good care of them.  After introducing each toy to her, and telling her all about them, he plays with Bonnie.  They go into the world of imagination, and those toys get their wish, Andy plays with them one more time.  Now I am one that does tear up easily, but this moment was just heart felt and well written, I'm tearing up a bit just writing about it.

Toy Story 3 is a wonderful movie for the entire family. Parents and children will love it! Though personally, I think that under 4 is too young for the movie theater (more for the other theater goers), you will have to be the judge of that yourself.